Although most people claim to be unique and individual, it would only require one to take a friendly stroll down the street to see that most people are followers rather than trendsetters. From tattoos, to 20-inch rims, to Reality TV, human nature seems to dictate that we follow fads. Above all the major fads that are currently available, I find the current diet-craze to be the most sickening (pun intended).
Atkins, South Beach, Mediterranean, and the list goes on. This diet “culture” is taking up a significant portion of not only people’s everyday lives, but also all media outlets. How and why have dieting become a fad? Why is dieting all of a sudden in vogue? Why are we making people rich off of something that we could be doing ourselves?
The answers to the first couple questions are quite simple and very apparent. For some reason, in the last couple years, people realized that it might be detrimental to their health if they remained significantly overweight. I should be careful to note that there is a difference between being overweight and obese. Being obese is a serious health risk. Unfortunately, multitudes of people in this country are certainly obese as opposed to overweight.
With images from Shape, Flex, Cosmopolitan, and Seventeen magazines glaring at us as we walk through the grocery store, we’ve become enchanted with the notion of “a perfect body.” Indeed, we have become psychologically bombarded as these likenesses become ever-so-prevalent.
There are many facets to the reason as to why dieting has become so important. Among them is the suburbanization of America. I surely believe one cause is that as more and more people flea the city and move outward, they are faced with a different mind-frame. Included in that mind-frame is “Bally’s Total Fitness Center,” and the like. Typically, people who move from the city to the burbs have ascended to a higher social class. And what’s important to the upper-echelon of society becomes a part of the mainstream for all of society. Hence such diets as the “South Beach Diet,” from Miami’s South Beach, where the rich and the famous often reside.
The problem of obesity has grown to enormous proportions in recent years. Many recent reports have noted that obesity is set to overtake smoking as the #1 leading preventable cause of death in the US (see the link below). On March 10, 2004, CNN reported that in the year 2000, 400,000 deaths were attributable to obesity-only 25,000 shy of tying Tobacco for deaths that are considered preventable. I find it interesting that this was not nearly the case 50, 27, or even 11 years ago. So, the question is, what has changed since 11 years ago?
Well, obviously the onset of McDonald’s and its many look-alikes has become amazingly problematic for the prospect of good health. The burgers, fries and everything, are all greasified and completely fattening (I know because I used to work the grill at my hometown McDonald’s). Furthermore, the proliferation of TV lends itself to less activity and more docile behavior. Finally, the depleting of many mandatory Physical Education classes in K-12 schools.
A very good friend of mine, whom I’ve known all my life, was once very much in shape, and now would fall under the category of obese. A while back, she told me that she didn’t begin to be overweight until High School when she was only required to have one semester of P.E. in a space of four years. Having known her, I watched the trend, but had not made the connection until she said that.
The point she makes is a good one, and one that I would call very accurate. Unfortunately, as society becomes more enchanted with math and science, many of the gym classes that were once requirements are being squeezed out. This is sad because science has shown us that an active lifestyle can increase metabolism, which is a common trait amongst those who are in shape.
Finally, I think the lack of parental prowess is also to blame. I find it shameful that people always want to pass the blame from themselves onto others. This is the case with the myriad of lawsuits that have been brought against establishments like McDonald’s. Some of these lawsuits involve parents who want to sue McDonald’s for not warning them of the potential for obesity by eating their food. Anybody with taste buds and nostrils should be able to detect the high grease content in the food. These parents know the food is not healthy, but insist on buying it for their kids-some on a daily basis. Yet when their kids are overweight, they want to pass the blame (maybe over guilt that they feel when they discover that their progeny is being teased at school because of their weight, but that is another topic for another time). They seem not to have the capacity to deny their kids a Happy Meal, or lack the capacity to urge their children to be physically active. Consequently, we have many children growing up overweight.
Thank God my parents had good enough sense to use their authority and a simple one word response when my siblings and I begged for McDonalds, “NO!” As a result, we came to cherish the opportunities that we had to eat out or to eat fast food. We were often reminded that the food is not healthy and-important to my family-wasn’t economically frugal if eaten everyday.
My point is that I do believe that most of the diets out there are effective if followed like they should be. However, I contend that the best way to stay in a safe weight bracket is to be active and develop better eating habits-and that goes for everyone. However, much like most things in life, it is easier to learn these positive behaviors when we’re but small children. So instead of suing major corporations, we should be encouraging our school systems to add more effective and consistent P.E. courses, while holding parents accountable for what they allow their children to consume. This way, children will grow up healthier, and will have developed eating habits and active lifestyles that are conducive to overall good health. This seems, to me, to be the most feasible method, the next diet to appear on bookstands nationwide is not!
Check out this link: http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/29/obesity.threat.reut/
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