The movie WALL-E grasped the current American Health crisis and portrayed their concern via satire. The popular Pixar animation took place well into the future during a time when health standards no longer existed. Today, that depiction seems like a reality. The healthy American is growing bleak amongst the populous of our country. In a recent study published by the PLoS One health journal, it has been found that our 180-year-old formula for determining obesity may be incorrect.
The study used a patient’s ratio of fat to lean muscle mass as the “gold standard” for determining obesity. It is suggested that this could be a better indicator in determining a person’s risk for health problems. The new formula found half of women, and 20% of men who previously thought they were fine to be obese.
It’s like, just when we thought we couldn’t get any fatter we did, and the trend does not look promising to change. As technology increases, so has the percentage of obese Americans. We can play the blame game and point fingers at the reasons America keeps getting chunkier, but one main reason is because of the ever-growing ideal of instant gratification. With the recent increase in health supplements that think short term rather than long term, Americans are losing weight at a drastic speed. Coincidentally, each action has a reaction, and the American’s taking these weight loss supplements normally gain the weight back. In fact, most end up piling on even more pounds than they had before. So how do we fix it?
The obesity problem is a product of our culture, and no one is immune to culture. Not even the counter culture sect of America. The only way to correct this issue is a paradigm shift within thinking. Being healthy is not a matter of taking a weight loss supplement; its not even about being toned, or sculpted. It is about living a healthy lifestyle through exercise, rest, and proper diet. To change the obesity problem, these facts need to be acknowledged and more action needs to be taken by the government.
