Seven Castles

Obesity

                                      

October 19, 2006

 

Considered the epidemic of the 20th century, obesity is fast becoming one of the world's biggest problems, with better technology and improved living standards, there is a significant amount of disease arising from the problems of obesity, e.g. heart problems, blood pressure, blood fat, everything... More people die in the world every year due to over-eating than due to hunger. Yet, despite all this people still think they can eat the way they do and live forever, they just stick their heads in the sand and ignore the situation or blame it on something else like genetics.

 

Genetics does play a role in obesity. It increases your chance of obesity but does not guarantee a ticket to obesity. A person born to a family of obese individuals are just more likely do develop obesity. However, the way that society functions nowadays is also an important factor. Everyone is so busy now that they hardly have time to prepare meals, so they would eat out and give money to their children to go purchase lunches, usually unhealthy (i.e. burgers, fries, pizza) mainly fatty foods. There are places that provide healthier alternatives but it does not appeal to the children/teenagers' tastes and that healthy eating habits should be developed at a young age because obesity can lead to many health concerns later on in life.

 

I think obesity is just a reflection of where technology is taking human civilization. Remember "survival of the fittest"? It is true. This is our way of speeding Mother Nature to ultimately rid us all; only we are doing it ourselves. The problem is the culture of our society, people do not go out and play on the street anymore, and they sit indoors, watch TV or play computer games. The saddest part of all for me is not that people are lazy, but that so many do not know what constitutes a healthy mean and have no idea how to cook one. However, someone would argue there is just no way you can eat or buy healthy food anymore. All food that you eat are extremely refined and changed to give the best taste for the least money!

 

Unfortunately, these days, people are just poisoning their bodies with fast foods or unhealthy foods. They choose to live their lifestyles and there is the creeping obesity. Some people like to eat because eating makes them happy. And to think about it, when you are eating, you do not tend to think about your problems or worry about what is going to happen. You eat, you get full, and then you are happy. With a world full of problems, it can be the only thing that makes you happy. You do not really think of the consequences.

 

Some children buy the Happy Meal just for that stupid toy, and then they are eating the fatty chicken nuggets or French fries and drinking pop. In this past summer another worrying trend began to surface. Teens spent their time in KFC or McDonalds to do their homework because there was air-conditioning and of course they ate - parents took their younger children as a treat for good grades.

 

Obesity would not be a problem if everyone has good self-control, and being humans, self-control needs a very strong grip. It is not only with food, but it is the same with games, music, entertainment, etc. These could all be very, very addictive. It is the same with food, and food is harder because food is a natural necessity. You feel hunger, and it is less likely for you to starve yourself. If you gain a lot of weight, it is hard to lose. You have to wake up everyday, push yourself to exercise, watch every little thing you eat, and it is a miserable feeling. That is why it is easier to give up trying to lose weight.

 

Obesity can be controlled. Parents definitely can play a role for their children, they can control what they eat, and it really does help. However, later on in teenage/adult years, the most control lies with the individual, because it is the individual who makes the choices what they should eat and what they should not.

 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2006年10月19日 星期四 05:27】【 加入博采】【打印】