Australia - a bunch of FATTIES
October 5th 2006 23:44
The media is abuzz at the moment with new research revealing Australia will officially take over America’s prized mantle of being the fattest nation in the world (per capita) by 2020. Unless we do something about it.
Why is it that we’re a bunch of fatties? Could it be because we spend too much time at work, doing non-physical activity to earn a quid? Or perhaps we eat out at the local takeaway 3 or 4 times a week, using drive thru so we can get home in time for Law and Order. Instead of walking the dog when we get home we head straight for the PC to check our emails and write a few blog entries, or perhaps indulge in too many online games. There’s obviously a bucketload of reasons and factors. It boils down to too many calories in, not enough energy expended. It doesn’t matter what the reasons are, we’re just not as physically active as we should be and we eat crap. That’s the nutshell explanation.
Currently we’re one of the top 3 most obese nations in the world. So I’m assuming that in line with this we have pretty high rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure and all the wonderful ailments that accompany being overweight. Our childhood obesity problem is really now an epidemic. Kids in their teens are becoming type 2 diabetics. Quite rare 30 or 40 years ago. Alas, not all is lost. Unlike 30 or 40 years ago we also have so much more information available to us now regarding dieting and healthy living, so many more diets to choose from, with every man and his blue dog telling us how to lose weight.
Recently it was revealed that an area in Cuba has a large number of people making it to their 90’s and beyond (like Okinawa in Japan). The people interviewed said they kept physically active, enjoyed their coffee and socialising, drank in moderation and still had active sex lives. The mental picture isn’t pretty but it’s impressive nonetheless.
My tip is this: turn the PC (or TV) off and go and do something physically active. Right now. Live on the wild side, eat an apple and go for a 20 minute walk. Oh and be sure to wear a hat. MB
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Why is it that we’re a bunch of fatties? Could it be because we spend too much time at work, doing non-physical activity to earn a quid? Or perhaps we eat out at the local takeaway 3 or 4 times a week, using drive thru so we can get home in time for Law and Order. Instead of walking the dog when we get home we head straight for the PC to check our emails and write a few blog entries, or perhaps indulge in too many online games. There’s obviously a bucketload of reasons and factors. It boils down to too many calories in, not enough energy expended. It doesn’t matter what the reasons are, we’re just not as physically active as we should be and we eat crap. That’s the nutshell explanation.
Which mouse are you?
Currently we’re one of the top 3 most obese nations in the world. So I’m assuming that in line with this we have pretty high rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure and all the wonderful ailments that accompany being overweight. Our childhood obesity problem is really now an epidemic. Kids in their teens are becoming type 2 diabetics. Quite rare 30 or 40 years ago. Alas, not all is lost. Unlike 30 or 40 years ago we also have so much more information available to us now regarding dieting and healthy living, so many more diets to choose from, with every man and his blue dog telling us how to lose weight.
Recently it was revealed that an area in Cuba has a large number of people making it to their 90’s and beyond (like Okinawa in Japan). The people interviewed said they kept physically active, enjoyed their coffee and socialising, drank in moderation and still had active sex lives. The mental picture isn’t pretty but it’s impressive nonetheless.
My tip is this: turn the PC (or TV) off and go and do something physically active. Right now. Live on the wild side, eat an apple and go for a 20 minute walk. Oh and be sure to wear a hat. MB
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
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