Obesity is a much bigger problem than society lets on. For the first time in history, obesity rates are higher than underweight rates.
There are a number of factors that can contribute to this. Energy balance, for example: the calories one takes in versus those used. One’s lifestyle/environment can contribute to weight gain: smoking, drinking, sad/bored eating, work schedules that don’t permit exercise, riding the bus/driving instead of walking, easy access to fast food/ the lack of access to healthier food and most importantly, the inability/lack of motivation to be active. Of course, health problems and family history are factors; certain diseases and medications can lead to weight gain, despite the diet of the patient. Hypothyroidism, Cushing Syndrome and PCOS are a few diseases of the like.
Fast food restaurants offer low-priced mediacracy and reel us in (i.e. $5 for 5 at Mcdonald’s). Oswego State partners with Dominos, Sub Shop and Wonzone’s Calzones to give students easy access to off-campus food. Not only that, but Mark’s, Cam’s and Fajita Grill grant students discounts when an ID is shown at the time of purchase. Fast food is simply easier to access and afford. We need to change that.
Habit eating is a major factor, especially among college students. While studying, often there’s a bag of chips and a Coca-Cola, nearby. When doing homework, one might order a pizza and have an energy drink. Students just pick up the nearest food item to keep themselves busy when they are bored.
Teenagers lack hobbies. Instead of going out and taking walks, reading books or playing a sport, we often stay in bed taking naps and watching Netflix because it’s easy. Faced with the option to watch a season of Friends on Netflix before work or go to the gym for an hour, often the former is chosen. We lack motivation to be active; we desire to just lay around all day long.
What shouldn’t be a factor to the lack of motivation is the availability of gyms, as there are gyms all over. Even if you don’t want to work out, there are zumba classes, club sports and yoga sessions to attend but you have to get out of bed and go to it. If you don’t feel like travelling, you can easily be active at your own home. Go for a run, do an at-home yoga sesh or get a group and do exercises. Even if the weather is bad and you don’t feel like going outside, quick 30 minute workout videos are easy to find on youtube. Jillian Michaels’ videos, for example, are easy to look up, and not hard for a beginner.
So why is obesity rising? It’s simple. It’s campaigned for. It’s “okay to be overweight.” There is nothing motivating Americans to get up and work for a healthy body. While campaigns advertise loving yourself and your body shape in an attempt to spread the ‘love everyone’ vibe, we are taking it as an out. These campaigns that convince us that our body is okay and we should love ourselves are not wrong. We should all love ourselves, and we should all love one another despite our differing shapes. However, instead of that being the message being taken out of them, we are taking it as ‘I am healthy.’ And that’s not true. They tell us it’s okay to be overweight, which is the non-sugar coated version of the campaign. Because of the constant acceptance and encouragement of unhealthy body shapes, we think it’s okay to skip the salad-everyday- and eat cake, to side-step the gym for a Netflix binge and to indulge on fast food and decadent desserts because “it’s okay, my body is still beautiful.”
What isn’t being promoted is the ugly truth: yes, you’re beautiful, but you’re not healthy. We should be skipping the decadent desserts more often and enjoying a nicely made wrap. Trek to the gym for 45 minutes instead of watching our 12th episode in a row and promote acceptance and love in a safer, healthier way.
