Zero Hedge is running a four-part series on obesity. I will be posting it here, to save you the fretful exercise of having to click over to ZH.
“The Weight Of The Nation”: Documenting America’s Obesity Epidemic: Part 1 – Consequences
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/14/2012
68.8% of Americans are overweight or obese: this stunning fact, setting aside the unsustainability of US fiscal or monetary policy, means that something must change in this country, or very soon it won’t matter if America has $20 trillion or $1 googol in debt: everyone will be simply too fat to care. And, shortly thereafter, too dead. Now that America’s obesity epidemic is rapidly, and finally, becoming a front and center topic of conversation, and one which can not be excluded from any rational healthcare policy discussion, increasingly more media has started to narrow in, pardon the pun, on the causes, consequences, choices and challenges involved in recognizing that America does in fact have an obesity problem, and that the sooner proactive steps are taken, the better for everyone. As Charles Hugh Smith pointed out recently, sickcare represents a(n at least) 8% hidden VAT tax to all Americans, of which obesity is the primary cause for outflows: this number will only grow, until it too becomes merely one more unsustainable line item in America’s increasingly improbable income statement. Starting tonight, HBO is releasing a 4 part documentary titled “The Weight of the Nation – confronting America’s obesity epidemic” to bring more attention to a systemic threat which if left unchecked will, by 2020, impact 75% of America’s population. We present the first movie in the series below, and will bring the remaining three parts shortly.
From HBO:
The first film in ‘The Weight of the Nation’ series examines the scope of the obesity epidemic and explores the serious health consequences of being overweight or obese.
The first character we meet is Cindy. Born and raised in Bogalusa, Louisiana, Cindy is the mother of two grown sons and now a proud grandmother. Cindy allowed HBO into her home and life to discuss some very painful things. Only 99 pounds when she got married, Cindy has struggled with her weight ever since her first pregnancy. And it’s only gotten harder.
Health and behaviors in early childhood can have serious consequences later on in life. The Bogalusa Heart Study – of which Cindy was a participant – shows that overweight and obese children have risk factors for heart disease, even at a young age.
The obesity epidemic is a problem that’s emerged over the last 30 years. It threatens our nation’s social, economic and physical health. But, unlike a natural disaster, obesity is often preventable. Although overall obesity prevalence rates appear to be leveling off, there are still far too many Americans who are overweight or obese and who continue to develop health problems as a result. In order to end the epidemic, everyone must be part of the solution.
At the level of our DNA, we’re programmed to eat as much as we can to survive and store the extra as fat for future energy use. In a world where calorie-dense, sugar-laden and fatty foods are available around every corner, that’s a problem. The good news is that, even if the propensity to gain weight is written into our genes, we’re not fated to a lifetime of fat.
As we take a look at communities across the country – from New York City to Santa Ana, California – it is clear that we have all been getting heavier. But the problem doesn’t affect all communities equally. The sad fact is that obesity rates are higher in some ethnic communities and in lower-income states. The trends are so extreme that they are attracting the attention of health officials and lawmakers.
Obesity among children is also rising, and it’s a real threat that may have lasting health consequences. As Anna Busby says, based on her observations as the nurse of the Bogalusa Middle School Health Clinic, overweight and obese children are at risk of being “on dialysis in their thirties if we don’t do something now.” The good news is that we can make a difference in our children’s lives both now and as they get older by helping them adopt healthy eating behaviors and become more active.
There’s a powerful connection between being overweight or obese and having heart disease as an adult. The heart, our hardest-working muscle, spends every second of every day vigorously pumping blood to the farthest reaches of our bodies. The larger we become, the harder our hearts have to work to keep blood circulating. The bottom line: being overweight or obese places you at a higher risk of developing heart disease and suffering a stroke as an adult.
Beyond the cardiovascular system, excess weight has negative consequences throughout the body. “Almost every organ system in the body is adversely affected by having excess body fat,” says Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis.
Even a small amount of excess weight, accumulated slowly at the rate of a few pounds a year over many years, can lead to type 2 diabetes. Being over 45 years of age, having a family history of diabetes, being physically inactive and being overweight or obese can increase a person’s chances of developing type 2 diabetes. If poorly controlled or left untreated, type 2 diabetes can lead to a number of serious health problems, including heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, amputation and even death.
Obesity is not only one of the top public health issues facing our country; it’s also a threat to our nation’s bottom line. Rising obesity rates threaten to drag our economy down through higher health care costs and lower productivity. Currently, 69% of American adults are overweight or obese.
GreasedUpWillie says:
I will have to look for this documentary. I think it is good that we as a nation are starting to recognize the way processed food is targeting our evolutionary triggers for salt, sweet, and fat. Sometimes pushing ones self away from the table can be an amazingly difficult thing to do. With all we spend on healthcare as a nation, this issue should be at the forefront. The question is how do we find the balance between personal responsibility (stop eating!), and the targeted fat bombs that much of the industry produces?
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15th May 2012 at 8:46 am
stan says:
Most people eat more than they really need too, even if they are not overweight. Some folks are gifted with a great metabolism. I was one of those people for the first 40 years of my life. Now at age 48 I have to watch what I eat. I have completely cut out sweets and candy and ice cream. But I still eat too much.
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15th May 2012 at 9:35 am
Dragline says:
It’s a good start, although it covers some old ground. I’ll be curious to see parts 2-4.
The Big Q: Have we reached Peak Flab yet?
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15th May 2012 at 9:36 am
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
More Long Pork come the crash. And with all that fat, you can make a confit of it.
So stock up on lots of kosher salt, cure#1, pepper and other yummy spices. Get yourself a smoker. Start practicing now on pigs, cuz there ain’t much difference between humans and pigs in the meat department.
There is always a silver lining if you look for it.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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15th May 2012 at 9:49 am
AWD says:
HZK:
You got the recipe for soylent green? Eating human meat give you the shakes, or so says the movie “book of Eli”. The fat can be made into soap, something in high demand after the crash.
Americans resemble pigs more and more every day. They line up at the slop troughs (buffets) every day like swine, and about as smart.
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15th May 2012 at 11:55 am
todd says:
“Britain’s “Fat and Fags” Health Policy”
http://www.fff.org/comment/com1205e.asp
“…then it becomes another argument against socialized medicine. When a person is directly responsible for his own (medical)bills, there is a strong and natural incentive to curb behavior that makes those bills soar. When other people pay for the consequences of his behavior, however, that incentive disappears.”
“When people are dependent upon the state for the means of life, including medical care, then the state can and will dictate the terms on which life is to continue. It is not surprising that a medical system controlled by a political process is imposing a political agenda. In Britain today, medicalized social control aims primarily at smoking, obesity, and excess alcohol consumption. Tomorrow, it may target carbon footprints, sexual promiscuity, mental illness, or criminal inclinations. By their nature, bureaucracies grow and ignore the boundaries of their own absurdity.”
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15th May 2012 at 1:00 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
@AWD: Human beings are omnivores, they cannot survive on a diet that is 100% meat (unlike cats which can). So start dehydrating some veggies or canning them.
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15th May 2012 at 1:34 pm
GreasedUpWillie says:
@HZK – Long pork! I love it, too funny. Can you get spare ribs or baby back off of a person?
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15th May 2012 at 4:41 pm
taxSlave says:
Primal diet – Animals and plants – no processed food.
Simple.
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15th May 2012 at 8:02 pm
GoAheadEnvyMe says:
u and your fat ass…yea i called ya fat….look at me, i look so good naked even my underwear gets turned on…
do you have any idea how gross and dizguzting you are? just look at all that guttage, all that poundage…it’s like Fright Night all over again…
stop shoveling all that shit into that hole you call your mouth, get your nasty ass lard ass up off the g*ddam couch and go do some exercises…
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15th May 2012 at 10:05 pm