Fighting Obesity, Why Weight?

It's leading cause is eating a diet high in sugars and saturated fats, it can cause high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart attacks, and depression. It affects nearly 27% of Americans. I am, of course, talking about obesity. When I think of the plagues of modern times: AIDS, cancer, MS, it is upsetting to think that we are literally creating one with equally catastrophic impact and mortality rates.

But how can we even tell what is the norm anymore? Parents can no longer compare their children to other since the rates of childhood obesity are so high. Adults have supermodels and their critics pulling them in two conflicted dirctions when it comes to body image. How can you know what is really healthy when there are so many varied opinions on what healthful is?

To tell if you are underweight or overweight you can use WebMD's BMI calculator.  Keep in mind that these BMI calculators don't measure fat, just weight, so if you're a very athletic person your BMI may put you into the overweight category because of higher muscle mass.

In honor of National Chiropractic Health Month we’ll be blogging and tweeting about overeating and obesity this month. Please pass these resources along to anyone who may be interested!

Further Reading:

Obesity Trends (includes state-specific information)

Obesity: state prevalence and trends data (search)

Nutrition and the Health of Young People

HHS: Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Fact sheets on physical activity and health