Americans are obsessed with both food and dieting. As a nation, we love to eat—eating out more often, where meals are often higher in fat and calories than taking meals eaten at home; eating larger portions; and indulging in dozens of delicious "new" food products found on our grocery store shelves every year.
But we also spend $30 billion a year on commercial weight loss products and services hoping for a quick fix to our weight problem. And what a problem: with all that eating, about 133 million Americans—up to 66.3 percent of the nation—are either overweight or obese. What's more, dieting is failure-prone, and the statistics are even worse when it comes to those who can keep the weight off.
The answer to this weight loss/weight gain cycle lies in how you manage your weight on a day-in, day-out basis. Your diet—the way you eat—is ingrained into your lifestyle. To change your weight—whether you want to lose a few pounds, or more, and keep them off—or to ensure you don't succumb to the expanding-waistline syndrome, you must permanently adopt a healthy lifestyle. Experts have demonstrated through research that this approach of weight management is more reasonable and promising than traditional dieting strategies.
Unfortunately, it's not just all that tempting food that stands in the way of your efforts to achieve and/or maintain a healthy weight. Technology has altered Americans' lifestyle: most of us, most of the time can be found sitting—in front of a computer or TV, in a car, at a restaurant. An estimated 25 percent of adults—and an even greater percentage of women—report they are sedentary and engage in no physical activity during leisure time. In 2003, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that fewer than 44 percent of women get the recommended daily amount of physical activity (defined as moderate intensity activities such as brisk walking or bicycling for at least 30 minutes per day, five days per week); 39.5 percent get insufficient physical activity; and 26.7 percent report getting no leisure-time physical activity. And as women age, their tendency to be sedentary steadily increases.
Being overweight increases your risk for many diseases. If you are overweight, you are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death for both men and women in the U.S.
Overweight people are more likely to have high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and high cholesterol, which is also a risk factor. They're twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes—a major cause of death, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, amputation and blindness—as those not overweight.
Additionally, several types of cancer are associated with being overweight. In women, these include cancer of the uterus, gallbladder, cervix, ovary, breast and colon. Being overweight can also cause problems such as gout (a joint disease caused by excess uric acid), gallbladder disease or gallstones, sleep apnea (interrupted breathing during sleep), and osteoarthritis, or wearing away of the joints. Anyone with risk factors for health problems must be concerned about extra weight.
It all seems so simple: eat less, exercise, lose weight. But few people succeed in losing more than a few pounds on diets and even fewer succeed in maintaining that weight loss. An estimated 90 percent of dieters regain the weight in five years. One reason is that many factors other than overeating can play a part in weight, including your genetic makeup, cultural influences and natural hormonal and neurologic regulators.
Extreme dieting programs can sometimes be harmful and are rarely successful over the long term. Thus, weight loss should not be your only or even your primary goal if you are concerned about your health. Instead, the success of your weight management efforts should be evaluated not just by the number of pounds you lose, but by improvements in your chronic disease risk factors, such as reduced blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, as well as by new, healthy lifestyle habits. In fact, some experts believe that weight is not the sole cause of the diseases associated with being overweight, but that the accompanying unhealthy foods and sedentary lifestyles also contribute to these diseases.
On the flip side, some women are underweight, despite having tried to achieve or maintain a "normal" weight. Having a metabolism that burns too many calories can be as dangerous as being overweight. Underweight women are susceptible to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, resulting in a loss of bone density and muscle tissue.
A Word About TeensTeenage girls today feel a lot of pressure from the media, friends and sometimes their own parents to be very slim. This pressure can create a distorted body image, making them see themselves as fat when they are not fat or fatter than they really are.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), 40 percent of newly identified cases of anorexia are in girls ages 15-19, and over half of teenage girls use unhealthy weight control behaviors, such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, taking laxatives and vomiting. The obsession with weight starts early—NEDA reports that 42 percent of first- and third grade girls want to be thinner, and 82 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of getting fat.
Fad dieting can keep teenagers from getting the calories and nutrients they need to grow properly. Stringent dieting may cause girls to stop menstruating and prevent girls from developing adequate muscle tone. If the diet doesn't provide enough calcium or vitamin D, bones may not lay down enough calcium, which may increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life.
The flip side to teenagers feeling pressured to be thin is that some may have legitimate concerns about their weight that adults dismiss. Adolescent obesity can carry serious lifelong health consequences. The best advice to teenage girls: Instead of dieting because everyone is doing it or because you are not as thin as you want to be, first find out from a health care professional or dietitian/nutritionist whether you carry too much body fat for your age and height. If you need to lose weight, follow the sensible guidelines laid out here. Depending on your age, your health care professional may recommend you eat more low-fat dairy products than is recommended for adults because of your heightened need for calcium.
But we also spend $30 billion a year on commercial weight loss products and services hoping for a quick fix to our weight problem. And what a problem: with all that eating, about 133 million Americans—up to 66.3 percent of the nation—are either overweight or obese. What's more, dieting is failure-prone, and the statistics are even worse when it comes to those who can keep the weight off.
The answer to this weight loss/weight gain cycle lies in how you manage your weight on a day-in, day-out basis. Your diet—the way you eat—is ingrained into your lifestyle. To change your weight—whether you want to lose a few pounds, or more, and keep them off—or to ensure you don't succumb to the expanding-waistline syndrome, you must permanently adopt a healthy lifestyle. Experts have demonstrated through research that this approach of weight management is more reasonable and promising than traditional dieting strategies.
Unfortunately, it's not just all that tempting food that stands in the way of your efforts to achieve and/or maintain a healthy weight. Technology has altered Americans' lifestyle: most of us, most of the time can be found sitting—in front of a computer or TV, in a car, at a restaurant. An estimated 25 percent of adults—and an even greater percentage of women—report they are sedentary and engage in no physical activity during leisure time. In 2003, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that fewer than 44 percent of women get the recommended daily amount of physical activity (defined as moderate intensity activities such as brisk walking or bicycling for at least 30 minutes per day, five days per week); 39.5 percent get insufficient physical activity; and 26.7 percent report getting no leisure-time physical activity. And as women age, their tendency to be sedentary steadily increases.
Being overweight increases your risk for many diseases. If you are overweight, you are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death for both men and women in the U.S.
Overweight people are more likely to have high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and high cholesterol, which is also a risk factor. They're twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes—a major cause of death, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, amputation and blindness—as those not overweight.
Additionally, several types of cancer are associated with being overweight. In women, these include cancer of the uterus, gallbladder, cervix, ovary, breast and colon. Being overweight can also cause problems such as gout (a joint disease caused by excess uric acid), gallbladder disease or gallstones, sleep apnea (interrupted breathing during sleep), and osteoarthritis, or wearing away of the joints. Anyone with risk factors for health problems must be concerned about extra weight.
It all seems so simple: eat less, exercise, lose weight. But few people succeed in losing more than a few pounds on diets and even fewer succeed in maintaining that weight loss. An estimated 90 percent of dieters regain the weight in five years. One reason is that many factors other than overeating can play a part in weight, including your genetic makeup, cultural influences and natural hormonal and neurologic regulators.
Extreme dieting programs can sometimes be harmful and are rarely successful over the long term. Thus, weight loss should not be your only or even your primary goal if you are concerned about your health. Instead, the success of your weight management efforts should be evaluated not just by the number of pounds you lose, but by improvements in your chronic disease risk factors, such as reduced blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, as well as by new, healthy lifestyle habits. In fact, some experts believe that weight is not the sole cause of the diseases associated with being overweight, but that the accompanying unhealthy foods and sedentary lifestyles also contribute to these diseases.
On the flip side, some women are underweight, despite having tried to achieve or maintain a "normal" weight. Having a metabolism that burns too many calories can be as dangerous as being overweight. Underweight women are susceptible to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, resulting in a loss of bone density and muscle tissue.
A Word About TeensTeenage girls today feel a lot of pressure from the media, friends and sometimes their own parents to be very slim. This pressure can create a distorted body image, making them see themselves as fat when they are not fat or fatter than they really are.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), 40 percent of newly identified cases of anorexia are in girls ages 15-19, and over half of teenage girls use unhealthy weight control behaviors, such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, taking laxatives and vomiting. The obsession with weight starts early—NEDA reports that 42 percent of first- and third grade girls want to be thinner, and 82 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of getting fat.
Fad dieting can keep teenagers from getting the calories and nutrients they need to grow properly. Stringent dieting may cause girls to stop menstruating and prevent girls from developing adequate muscle tone. If the diet doesn't provide enough calcium or vitamin D, bones may not lay down enough calcium, which may increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life.
The flip side to teenagers feeling pressured to be thin is that some may have legitimate concerns about their weight that adults dismiss. Adolescent obesity can carry serious lifelong health consequences. The best advice to teenage girls: Instead of dieting because everyone is doing it or because you are not as thin as you want to be, first find out from a health care professional or dietitian/nutritionist whether you carry too much body fat for your age and height. If you need to lose weight, follow the sensible guidelines laid out here. Depending on your age, your health care professional may recommend you eat more low-fat dairy products than is recommended for adults because of your heightened need for calcium.
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