“On my world,” everyone cares about the health and condition of their bodies as a spiritual practice, believing all is one, everything is tied in together, body/mind/spirit and each other. With this health-giving mindset, food education takes precedence and because there is no corporate greed, only healthy foods are available for everyone to consume. People can choose from proteins, fats or carbs depending on their current needs.
On this world, there was yet another news report on skyrocketing obesity today.
Without going into all the stats presented, let’s just make a long story short and sum up the article this way:
Obesity is continuing to rise.
It is causing astronomical health costs for all insurances, public and private.
Obesity was at 12% in 1989 (I remember this…when I was young, most of us were slim).
In 2010, we’re at 35.7%.
2018 projection: 47.5.
In other words, in just a few short years, half the people you look at in public will be obese…defined as having a BMI of 30.0 and above.
I used to take my grandmother, before she passed on, out for lunch on the weekends.
She was hard of hearing, and would always remark loudly “People are so FAT!”
We would scold her for it, telling her to keep her voice down.
But she would know. She had the perspective, due to being able to get out only so frequently due to health issues over the previous 20 years, and having lived life long enough to witness the dramatic change that took place before her eyes. People watching was her specialty.
My opinion:
People have become completely accustomed to two problems. So much so, they may be unwilling to change:
Borderline horrible quality of foods, and eating these foods in high quantities.
It has become a cultural standard.
When we socialize, we eat crap. When we see family we eat crap. When we watch TV we eat crap. When we hit the vending machine we eat crap. Most restaurants: crap. 95% of food establishments: borderline crap.
And portion sizes are often huge. This gives the perception of added value.
And this is the “norm” now.
If you do not buy in and adhere to it, you’re weird. Outside the “norm.”
So obesity is becoming the new “norm.”
Once we get past the 50% threshold, the majority of Americans will be the new norm:
Obese.
Just because it will be “normal” to be obese.
Are we all ready for the new way of things?
P.S. I just watched an overweight mom…by about 40 lbs…buy her screaming boys “Naturally and Artificially Flavored” fruit chews out of a vending machine. The boys stopped screaming once they had their chews.