If nobody thinks it's broken...how we gonna fix it?

This is a post from a health blogger Tony Findlay at Human E.C.O. System. It's a bit long, but I well worth your time...

Ok so over the last week I have seen quite a few news articles on various health stories, ranging from complaints in a lot of countries about their health care systems and a lack of possible solutions, to young school age children eating badly with poor food options from their school canteens, to the availability of "stimulant drinks" now becoming the basic form of low quality nutrient intake in mornings and-- of course-- obesity numbers rising.

It got me to thinking. Do people really care about their own lives?

Contrary to the best intentions of fitness and health professionals, who are trying to restore the health of their populations, it would appear that no, they don't care. You see, to make positive health changes means taking action which would then require people to take personal responsibility.

This seems to be an unlikely result-- and more importantly, a sad reality for the future. The number of overweight / obese members of the global population continues to increase, and this is not exclusive to adults. The number of children around the world has not decreased, meaning a future of overweight adults filled with preventable diseases.

 These "weight" situations brought about by too much body fat lead to other health conditions which, sadly, can be fatal. So I guess there is no disputing from the research that is currently available, that the root cause of a lot of "preventable deaths" could be changed if only the majority didn't have an "over-eating disorder".

Why would someone willingly choose a life that is fraught with pain through disease to then further exacerbate that discomfort by indulging in supposed "comfort food?" Now that is a roller coaster ride that only has one outcome-- bad. Talk about food being a short term "fix" with long term consequences.


In reply to an article in TIME magazine on another professional networking site, one of the groups I am a member of, there was debate about the pros and cons of exercise being used as a way to get thin. I think that a lot of people believe this to be possible.

  This was part of my response: "For the record, exercise doesn't make you thin-- nor should we care. Rather let's learn how to show exercise as a human benefit then we can stop worrying about how we look, and focus on how we better perform in the human race called life."

If we take time to focus on the exercise aspect, then we should equally also address how food plays a role in our lives. It began as a source of nourishment while we avoided dinosaurs-- or so I hear. Then over time and through "marketing," it seems to have evolved through the ages to the point we're at now. Multi-billion dollar weight loss companies overlook the nutrient value and only stress calories to validate using weight values from standing on scales as the net sum of who we are as people. And don't even get me started about TV shows that use "edited emotional footage" to supposedly inspire others.
 

Compounding this is the marketing by food and drink companies who only "push the good times" in adverts in these shows, but, while it is true they provide low quality versions that appeal to the masses, there is no one pushing each of us to purchase these products.

So we have now come full circle in this blog-- back to personal responsibility.
If no one believes that they are at risk, as being fat isn't an issue until the Doctor says that it is and with Diabetes II on the increase (oh yeah, that is the preventable and if caught early, the reversible one), how we can stimulate people to focus on this simple fact:

Eat less and Move more.

 We the fitness industry members seem to have been unsuccessful in our efforts so far, but if we don't begin to have more luck then it seems that there is nothing but pain on the way for the health systems of every country all over the world. It certainly has inspired medical options as the alternative source of creating a healthy change, but sadly none of these have been proven to beat the original concept of using calories through movement and only eating what we need to survive.
Start today -- be responsible for your own "weight" and lower your fat levels.