|
OBESITY EPIDEMIC
Our Food and Activity Choices
Are Making Us Sick
We Americans eat way too much and move way too little. Many of the foods we choose to eat every day are very unhealthy - fried, highly processed, laden with artificial ingredients, too much of the 'wrong' kinds of fats, way too much added sugar, and generally lacking in the quantity and variety of vitamins and nutrients we need each day to be healthy.
As a result of these choices our health is suffering. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and the list goes on. The saddest part is that many of these diseases, for most of us, are entirely preventable. We just need to educate ourselves, and make smarter choices.
> Obesity among Nebraska adults doubled between 1990 and 2002.
> 78% do not get the recommended amount of physical activity.
> 80% percent eat a nutritionally inadequate diet.
> 75% do not eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
> The average American eats about 215 pounds of meat per year - that's more
than 1/2 pound per day per person (USA Today AP, 11/14/08).
> One in three Americans born in 2000 will develop Type I or Type II diabetes.
FAST FOOD TIPS THE SCALE
> 60% of all Americans are overweight or obese; fast food is a major
contributor.
> Every day, nearly 1/3 of children aged 6-19 eat fast food (five-fold increase
since 1970).
> This generation may not outlive the previous generation.
> It takes 7 hours of continuous walking to burn off a super size coke, fries and
a Big Mac.
> A Super Size Fries contains 100 French fries (10 x the correct portion).
> The "KID'S Meal" is the correct portion size for an adult.
> By 2010, one in two Americans will be at risk for Type 2 Diabetes.
> Americans eat 100 acres of pizza each day.
> A biggie size soda has one cup of sugar in it.
Answer: Physical Inactivity & Unhealthy Food Choices
Question: Things you can change to improve your health.
PORTION DISTORTION
Correct Portion Equivalent |
pasta |
cue ball |
cheese |
3 dice |
Pancake |
CD |
Bagel |
hockey puck |
Muffin |
large egg |
Ice cream |
baseball |
Steak |
deck of cards |
Words to live by: Eat a modest amount of real* food (mostly plants), and move more. More words to live by: If you can't grow it, don't eat it.
*Hint: if it came in a box, has a long list of ingredients that are difficult to pronounce, and/or doesn't immediately resemble what it says it is (i.e. "fruit bar" with no detectable/visible fruit in it) then it's probably not "real" food.
RELATED WEBSITES
http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/cvh
http://www.smokefree-gov
http://www.cdc.gov
|
