For several years obesity has been considered an epidemic in our country.  According to the CDC 34%  of Americans are considered to be overweight 30.5% are obese.  That means over half of our adult population is overweight or obese.  Georgia is ranked 14th in the nation in obesity with 26% of adults being considered obese.  But the most alarming statistic and the one making most headlines is 13% of our children are obese or overweight.  In Georgia we are ranked 12th in the nation of youth obesity with 16.4% of our youth 10-17 years of age being considered obese.  Georgia is ranked 13th highest state of inactivity.

The word epidemic most often brings to mind images from our history; recalling epidemic infections such as: influenza, diphtheria, polio and others.  Many of us were not around for an eyewitness account of these epidemics; however, we have heard about them in history class or seen their tragic effects retold through storylines in movies.  The pictures painted in our minds eye of the victims of those epidemics are of poor helpless children who start with a slight cough and end up bed ridden with extreme fever and delirium. The victims claimed by these cruel unbiased infections were just that, innocent victims.  They had no warning no way of knowing if they had been exposed or infected.

Our modern epidemics such as AIDS in the 80's and now obesity in the 2000's bear a much different appearance then those from our past.  The epidemics of our generation are largely lifestyle related.  In the instance of obesity the combination of choices to not eat a healthy diet or participate in regular exercise put people at a very high risk for becoming obese.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because most of us have control over our risk for this disease, meaning we can do something about it!   A curse because it can be related to lifestyle choices people tend to ignore the facts or live in denial about their own risk.  Obesity is not just a dangerous disease to live with but one you can die with.  There are numerous chronic illnesses related to obesity such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, Several types of Cancer, not to mention the pure physical hardship on your body from carrying so much extra weight.

"But it is hard to find time to exercise and eat a well balanced diet in my busy, busy schedule", you say.  Trust me I understand; so, If you are struggling with squeezing in "live a long healthy life" on your do to list then here are some easy helpful hints for you:

• Find your time to exercise by that I mean the time of day. Not everyone is made to exercise at the same time.  Years ago unfortunately, I discovered that my time was early in the morning.  So I got up at 5am to head to the gym.
• Find an activity that you love or at least like. You are much more likely to stick with an activity that you enjoy rather than exercising purely for exercise sake. Finding an exercise buddy also increases your chances of sticking with it.
• Eat the colors of the rainbow. If you do not have a lot of time to put into daily menus then an easy way to eat a healthier diet is to eat lots of different colors throughout the day and week.  (And no, M&Ms do not count)  I am talking natural colors of green, yellow, orange and red
• Brown is the color of health in your diet. Another easy way to increase your nutritional health is to switch from white to brown as in rice, bread and pasta.  Limit the amount of white in your diet even with potatoes orange is better than white.

If you would like more information on this topic or other health related topics please contact me, DeDe Harris, Health Educator with The Partnership for Families Children and Youth at wdtconsulting@monroeaccess.net or 770-856-1251.