Losing Weight and Feeling Great

‘fat’

I saw an interesting article on the obese American the other day.  The article makes the prediction that if we continue as we are, 86% of all adult Americans will be overweight or obese by the year 2030.

Before that, by 2022, 80% of Americans will be at the very least overweight (if not obese).

So, what is the definition of overweight and obese?  A body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more.  Overweight is considered at between 25 and 29.9 BMI.  Just as an example, a woman 5 foot 6 inches tall weighing 186 pounds has a BMI of 30.  (Naturally that can vary somewhat, depending on how muscular you are, but any way you look at it — at the very least you’re likely overweight at that weight and height.)

Want to calculate your BMI?

The Obese American — The Study

These figures come from a study published by the journal, Obesity, which was published online July 24 of this year.

The study was authored in part by Lan Liang, Ph.D., with the federal government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and was led by Youfa Wang, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of International Health and Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

OK, credentials aside, are we doomed to be a nation of fat people?  What are some of the other numbers the study came up with?

In the Year 2048…

The possibility that 100% of Americans will be overweight or obese.  Now, researchers’ credentials aside, I find that extremely hard to believe.  There will always be people who are a normal weight, or underweight.  So the credibility of that number is far-fetched, to say the least.

But, could the 86% by 2030 be correct?  Hard to tell.  If we continue with our current habits, possibly so.  But that’s an awfully big “if”.  Anything can happen between now and then — we’re talking 22 years here.

Still, it’s a hard study to swallow (puns aside).  The fact is that unless we do decide to change our ways, more and more of us will either not lose or will gain weight in the coming years.  And what’s going to be doing to our health?  If we’re not doing great right now, what’s it going to be like once we reach 60?  70?  Do we really want to be confined to a wheelchair or bed because we didn’t take care of ourselves today?

At any rate, you can read more of the article here, and decide for yourself if you will be an obese American in 2030.  Me — I don’t intend to!