In the battle to lose weight, it is not uncommon to hear horror stories of girls starving themselves or taking a “magic pill” that is said to shed pounds fast and easy. While this may be a common method, it is by no means a healthy one. The United States is at a critical time in the obesity epidemic spreading around the world, and according to doctors, there is only one solution to lowering obesity rates in America: exercising.
A new survey done last week by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows adults are being prescribed by doctors to exercise more than they have in previous years. About 33 percent of adults who visited their physician in the last year were told to exercise more. This statistic is up from 23 percent in 2000.
The reason for the upsurge in this diagnosis is likely caused by the state of the country on the obesity statistics scale. Nearly one third of adults in America are obese, which means one third of adults have a BMI greater than 30. The health status of the country is also at a standstill. The percentage of adults who are obese has hardly changed in a decade. This might seem like good news since the obesity rate is not rising, but it certainly is not a positive number to have unchanged for such a long period of time. Instead of the percentage staying as is, the number of obese adults in America needs to start diminishing.
Out of all the adults who were recommended to get out and move more, women were the most likely to get the advice. Not surprisingly, out of all the diseases, people with diabetes were commonly told the same. The demographic that changed the most since the survey was last done in 2000 was the age group of 85 and older. In 2000, only about 15 percent had been told to exercise and most recently 30 percent have been hearing the advice.
The fact that America is at a tipping point (literally) on the scale of obesity is a good reason why doctors are starting to be more honest and straightforward with their recommendations for losing weight. There has also been a lot of research done in the past few years that has shown the added benefits of exercise.
The hope is that people start to listen to their doctors and most importantly, to their bodies. Working out is not always a top priority in everyone’s life. At a time when most of us are either in school, getting ready to graduate, or just landed our first job, there is not a lot of free time to come by. The fact is, in order to get our country and our health back on track, exercise has to be scheduled into all of our days no matter how busy we get.