The Nation's Obesity Report Card is Out! We FAIL!

Let's take a poll. Should I feel sad or bemused at the results of the recently released results of the "Obesity Report Card"?

We have more attention than ever on obesity.

Schools are adopting these cranial-rectal inversion policies enforcing limited snacks and beverages that are not "healthy".

PE programs are getting more (but probably not enough) emphasis in school-age kids.

Diet books are a multi-billion dollar industry.

Almost every tabloid has at least one story poking at weight issues with celebrities.

Every year there's a new buffet of diet hoaxes, pills, herbs, quick fixes, and fads from which to choose.

New bariatric patients continue to surge into the ranks.

And yet the rates of obesity rose in 23 states.

Granted, this is based on a study following BMI, which may not be an accurate overall assessment of your actual health level. But still it's troubling that there are so many steps being taken to do what in my view amounts to legislating health (how cooperative are most people when they have to do something "just because"?) while apparently the effect isn't quite as successful as hoped. People won't want to be fit unless they come to decide they need to do it on their own, and quite frankly our society is one that values excess and indulgence.

On top of that there's stress from our economy. Uncertainty on whether you'll have a job or a home next week.

Foods that are healthy are expensive compared to the unhealthy stuff. Some people who dedicate a good bit of time to learning about healthy living and frugality can proclaim this to be false, that it is possible to eat well and in a healthy way without spending a huge amount of money. Unfortunately it still takes effort to reach that point, to learn the techniques, and quite frankly, there's an investment to be made in changing lifestyle.

It's not easy. Ergo, we reach for snacky foods and cheaper foods and fast foods instead of the vegetables and healthier choices.

One of my favorite lines from the article is "research suggests that overeating is a key reason kids are overweight." I love it when they find the obvious, as if people are actually overweight because of exposure to some kind of floor wax; were they actually expecting to find something to justify the idea that it's not our own fault we're overweight? Apparently there are still people holding out hope that fat actually is caught by inhaling bad air or some kind of angry sky wizard waves a wand and somehow makes that small three-slices-of-pizza lunch multiple in the gut; it's not because that tiny three slices of pizza should have been one slice, yeah? Something is causing me to simply make calories multiply after I swallow the food. That must be it.

Anyway, there's the link to the article. Take a gander. Let me know if the whole situation is amusing or sad.