denial

Based on an international fitness survey, 80% of American adults ranked their overall health as either good, very good or excellent whereas only 17% ranked it as fair and 2% as poor.

Meanwhile, 64.5% of Americans are overweight and 30% are obese.

This means at least one third of obese people are ranking their overall health as good or better., and that is if only obese people put themselves in those bottom categories, which leaves no room for the elderly or people with chronic illnesses. I’m sorry, but if you are obese, there’s no way you are physically fit, excercise regularly, or eat a healthful diet, not to mention the myriad of diseases many obese people suffer from.

So far from being a problem of media and images of 100 lb models, the problem seems to be a big, fat denial.

I’m not saying this in a judgemental way, but the obesity problem is an American health problem that needs to be worked on. It’s an issue that needs fixing, for our kids and for our future. My mother is obese and I don’t want her to deny herself into an early death.

We need to wake up and maybe stop be so accepting. I’m not saying it’s okay to criticize people’s bodies because that is a personal thing, but peoples habits instead. If i were embarrassed to admit that I never went to the gym, I would probably go now. Right now I get more odd reactions saying I can run three miles (heh, the one time I did) than when I say I never go, with which everyone sympathizes. I work at a restaurant and see the kind of food people consume daily without even thinking about it. Maybe they don’t know that one individual pizza from this restaurant has 2,000 calories (seriously!) so when they add on only a side salad and a pop with 2 refills they’re already well on their way to gaining weight that day. But they should know. They should know because they’re educated about nutrition or because the restaurant is open and gives people its nutrition information. Instead, it used to have the information of some of the "healthier" items listed on its website and it has taken even those off.

I am still aghast about this massive denial.

*edit*
more stats:
the average american gets 2.52 fruits and veggies a day (combined!)
only 11% of people could accurately estimate their caloric needs
In response to what type of calories cause weight gain:
31% answered Calories in general are what causes weight gain (i.e. all calories are the same)
29% answered Calories from fats are most likely to cause weight gain
18% answered Calories from carbohydrates are most likely to cause weight gain
1% answered Calories from protein are most likely to cause weight gain
20% answered Not sure
wow… the answer is that all calories are the same.
47% of people think that they need less than 30 minutes of excercise a day.

good thing we are all so healthy 😡
20% answered Not sure