Obesity in America Plateaued ….
This is the newest obesity related news article to hit CNN. The headline is ‘U.S. Obesity Rates Unchanged’. By title alone, what do you think of this? Is this GOOD news? BAD news? Not news at all?
Here is the article: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/17/u-s-obesity-rates-unchanged/?hpt=hp_c2
U.S obesity rates unchanged
The prevalence of obesity in the United States seems to have plateaued, according to data released Tuesday. The numbers show 35.7% of U.S. adults and almost 17% of U.S. children and teens are obese.
“There’s been no change in the prevalence of obesity in recent years in children or adults,” says Cynthia L Ogden, Ph.D, an epidemiologist with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and the leading author of the report. “But I think looking over the last decade, it’s interesting to see how the prevalence of obesity in men has caught up with the prevalence of obesity in women.”
Ogden and her team compiled the data from 2009-2010 using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The survey measured the height and weight of almost 6,000 men and women and calculated their Body Mass Index (commonly known as BMI) to determine if they were obese.
They found that from 2009-2010, 35.5% of American men and 35.8% of American women were obese, with African-American and Mexican-American men and women having higher rates of obesity than white Americans. Obesity was more common among teens than preschool aged children and among boys than girls.
“This is a good news story but this is not the end of the story,” says Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, Dean of the School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of Morehouse College.
“We cannot feel good… until we see a decrease in the prevalence of obesity,” says Dr. Montgomery Rice.
In Rice’s opinion, efforts over the last several years to educate populations about the importance of daily exercise, to encourage the incorporation of healthy foods into school cafeterias, and to combat food insecurity throughout the country is having an impact on the number of Americans who are obese. But she cautions that more needs to be done and that doctors should focus on giving patients realistic weight loss goals when counseling patients about obesity.
“It’s a difficult conversation to have with an individual, to say ‘okay, you are obese.’” People kind of know what ‘obese’ is but not really.”
For example, as an OB-GYN, Montgomery Rice counsels her patients on the dangers of belly fat and the reproductive issues that could be affected or made worse by obesity. She also encourages patients to focus on losing only 10% of their excess weight at a time.
“What I hope doesn’t come out of this study is that we start to think we’ve made some significant improvement and we stop the efforts that have been put forth,” says Rice.
| Post by: Caitlin Hagan – CNN Medical Producer Filed under: Obesity |
So, lets chat for a moment about my take on this. I think the fact that obesity is not still on the incline is great! We have all lent our voices to this fight. We want people to be aware that obesity is an epidemic and a disease. We want people to get help before they reach the point of needing surgical interventions. And we all want doctors to do their part in fighting this fight, am I right?
This right here ” In Rice’s opinion, efforts over the last several years to educate populations about the importance of daily exercise, to encourage the incorporation of healthy foods into school cafeterias, and to combat food insecurity throughout the country is having an impact on the number of Americans who are obese. But she cautions that more needs to be done and that doctors should focus on giving patients realistic weight loss goals when counseling patients about obesity.” is what I really want to talk about.
Doctors, are you reading? Probably not, but their patients are. So here goes. A doctor needs to be realistic when approaching the subject of obesity. We all step on that scale knowing damn well that it those numbers are screaming out begging for mercy the moment they pop up. We know we are fat, fluffy, chubby or morbidly obese. We don’t need a doctor who is going to be arrogant about it, but we also don’t need doctors who are going to spare our feelings and glaze over the subject either. So, this is where self advocacy comes into play.
I can’t urge you enough, regardless of how dreaded the topic and how embarrassing the numbers, talk to your doctor about your weight. Talk to your pediatrician about your child’s weight. Ask for advice about nutrition if you simply don’t know what you’re doing wrong. Ask for labs to be drawn to rule out underlying factors. Lets take control and grab this thing by the balls! Lets get our families healthy and give our children a healthier future.
A little bit of awareness goes a long long way! The article above is proof! Congratulations America! You didn’t gain more weight! You may not have lost a lot as a nation, but you didn’t put it on either and THAT RIGHT THERE IS PROGRESS! I’m proud of us! Are you?
There is so much beauty in being a woman.
As I sat here this morning, with my cup of coffee in hand, looking out my window at the dreary, muggy, rainy January day before me I openly said “Pick a season!”. Thinking to myself that Mother nature is certainly a wishy washy woman, and a freaking moody bitch. Then I thought about myself, and how these months, this time of year, multiple seasons meld one into the other in my life and I don’t really choose a season either. So I sat and reflected for a bit about women in general.
We are often quick to label each other as crazy, be it in jest or in anger. We call each other bitches as terms of endearment and as terms of hate. We, as women, do the most damage to the image of what women are! We don’t build up ourselves and we don’t build up others. We just don’t.
Women are strong. Women will fight for what they believe in, and get down and dirty in the process. They will argue and go round and round and round like a dog chasing its tail, not because they are crazy, but because they are passionate. Women are passionate about EVERYTHING! Show us a new product and its either LOVE or not. It’s pretty clear cut.
Women are sensitive. If somebody we care about is hurt, we care. If you say something that strikes us wrong, we care. When a woman tells you she doesn’t care, she cares! Women care. Really, we do. We care a lot. About everything. We don’t like to see suffering or hurt. We like it less if we have contributed to it. And even less if we see an underdog being picked on. We rally together. Often against each other. But its not so much out of hate, at the core. Its out of misunderstandings, mistakes, and sensitivity.
Women are nurturing. We will spend a long long time, willing to give our all for something we believe in. We love to know that our little efforts lend themselves to a greater cause. We love to be a part of a village. We are all very well aware that we are stronger with friends and family. Nurturing comes naturally.
When you see the quote “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” remember all of the above. It is not because a woman is crazy, or mean, or a bitch. Its because she is passionate, sensitive, strong and above all else human.
Is there one moment that ties into your obesity?
I know that with in this community we have people who struggle with so many issues. I am aware that many have fought obesity all of their lives. I know that not everybody has an addictive relationship with food either. This week The Biggest Loser started, and while I confess that I NEVER watch this show & this week is not an exception, the Spina Bifida Association of America posted Ben & Buddy’s interview and my heart stopped a little. Why? A few years ago Ben’s first child was born with Spina Bifida as well as other birth defects. She lived for about five months. She never got to come home. In his interview he talks of how that time in his life was a frenzy of work and hospital, with grabbing what ever fast food he could in between. This marked the beginning of his problem. I understand this so much more than I wish I could.
The timing of this is rough. I’ve told you this is my bad season. But I feel its really important to admit that my weight spiraled out of control, very much the same way. And I Imagine that if many of us look back hard enough, we can probably pin point a turning point where our choices turned on us. Where it was easier to grab something fast and fatty than it was to care enough about what it was we were actually doing to ourselves.
Before Kailey was even born, I was up at the hospital day after day being monitored. My dad was with me for most of those trips, and he sat by my side for hours. Even then, before the baby was born, it was easy to grab something sinfully delicious from Au Bon Pain in the hospital, than it was to put thought into what I wanted to eat before or after the appointments.
Once our girl was born, we (my husband and I) really both went down hill with our weight in a big way. Trying to live in 2 places at once is impossible. We had our 1 year old son at home, nearly an hour away from the NICU where Kailey was. Kevin was working full time, two jobs. We had to be with Kailey, we had to be with little Kevin. Our future plans were in a holding pattern because we didn’t expect anything from one minute to the next. We lived with fear and joy jumbled together.
We may have not been incredibly tiny people, but we were by no means the obese people that we became in the months and years that followed. After a while, the chaos became normal routine, and the desire to look nice or to even care was replaced with simply the desire to get through a day. Food became something that comforted the pain. Crappy day? Have a cookie! REALLY CRAPPY DAY? Lets see what the bakery has & while I’m up that way I’ll hit the deli for a hero and maybe the market for some goodies to leave in the fridge for later.
The eating, stopped being about the convenience of the fast food places near the hospital or on the road. It stopped being about nourishing our bodies. Sure, we made it a point to sit down as a family every single night. We cooked a healthy square meal and sat as a family. But that wasn’t the food that made us fat. That wasn’t the behavior that got us into trouble. That wasn’t where there was clearly addictive tendencies.
And here I am now, 18 months post Sleeve Gastrectomy. Happily sporting a size 10 jeans, a large top, watching that damn scale play between 175 and 185lbs (seriously those Christmas cookies were a bitch!) and I have to confess to you that I STILL to this day, want nothing more than to hit the bakery when I have a really crappy day! Fortunately I live in Georgia where they wouldn’t know what a good bakery was if it landed on top of them. And even then, the chances that a bakery in Georgia having a Linzer Tart is about as likely as a pig with wings. So I’m safe, for now.
Kevin is 1 month post his sleeve gastrectomy and he is down 50lbs. He is learning the ropes well.
We both see the behaviors. We know them, can target them, can talk about them. THAT is a big deal, ya know? It takes a lot to be able to say “wow, I did this to myself” But folks, I did this to myself. Certain foods comfort me, when nothing else can. Even now.
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