Weight of the Nation

Can you be thin and still be obese? YES. What this means is that just because you are thin in appearance your insides may not be as healthy as your outsides look.  You might just have genes that allow you to not gain excessive amounts of weight but your diet could be full of fat and/or sugar and you are not physically active. 

Being obese is more than just being overweight.  Overweight and obese individuals are at increased risk for many diseases and health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, chronic pain, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, cancer, stroke, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. With that said you can also be in perfect physical condition and have these medical issues because of your genes.  The only difference is losing some of the weight can help you to better manage your medical problems and live a longer and healthier life. 

So what causes obesity? Energy imbalance – we eat too much and exercise too little. It’s that simple.  Making small changes can make a BIG difference.

Why am I bringing this up?  HBO is showing a two part documentary on Monday, May 14^th and Tuesday, May 15^th for free on HBO or HBO.com called The Weight of the Nation and I’d like everyone to watch it.  I think it will be a real eye-opener to confronting America’s obesity epidemic.  Check out this website for more information.  http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/?cmpid=ABC1215

Some more eye-opening facts:

Over one-third of U.S. adults (~36%) are obese. That number is way too big!

Approximately 12.5 million children and adolescents aged 2-19 (17%) are obese. Again a huge number!

BMI helps determine obesity. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. To find your BMI, click HERE.  To find your child’s BMI click HERE.

I belong to the FANNS group - Food and Nutrition Network of Solano County and we are currently working on ways to get this documentary and message to our community.  Once we have some events scheduled, I will be sure to post them on my FACEBOOK PAGE  So if you are not a fan, please "like" my page to stay involved.