Yesterday our local paper reported that South Australians are now the fattest in our nation. We also hold the honour of having the highest incidence of heart disease and high blood pressure. Apologies, being yesterday I cant link to the article but there wasn't anything earth-shatteringly different about it. It was the usual doom and gloom about the growing obesity epidemic.
One just needs to sit and people watch in Rundle Mall or visit the food court of any large (or even smaller) suburban shopping centre to see that this statement is likely to be 100% correct. What was interesting was the range of comments on the adelaidenow website in response to the article. From the "its a community problem so lets take a community approach to fixing it" to "its just laziness/apathy/lack of time/lack of knowledge ..... blah blah blah". There were the "sugar is the demon" to the "fast food chains are to blame" arguments. We were certainly divided in our opinions.
I have my own opinion about why the growing rate of overweight and obesity is a problem but hells bells I'll be buggered if I knew how to fix it. I guess that is the million dollar question, isnt it? I do believe though that until something changes INSIDE an individual, nothing will change outside.
On a slightly different note (but not far off topic) I took Mitchell for a skating practice last night and overheard this conversation between two women (one a mother of a primary school aged child and the other a teenage or early 20s girl.)
Mother to the girl: How much weight have you lost? (smiling and looking impressed)
Girl: 15 kilos (I couldnt see her face)
Mother: How did you do it?
Girl: No carbs and I exercise for 3 hours a day.
Mother: Oh, do you go to a gym?
Girl: No, I do it at home. Lots of cardio.
Mother: Oh, do you go to a gym?
Girl: No, I do it at home. Lots of cardio.
Mother (starting to look somewhat concerned): Oh my ... (speechless) ... cant remember what she said next.
Girl: Yeah, its hard. Really hard.
Then the girl went on to say that she was planning to lose another 5 kilos (which she clearly didn't have as extra body fat to lose). The mother looked aghast and tried desperately to talk her out of it but I could tell she had made up her mind that the 5 kilos had to go (which would probably tip her into the anorexic category).
I so badly wanted to sit her down and give it to her straight but that is not my place. She must make her own mistakes and learn from them even if it takes decades to achieve. How sad though. She looked fantastic at her current weight but she couldn't see it. If only she knew that being a bag of bones would not equal happiness.
Ok, I'll step off my soapbox now.
:-) M
Sorry to hear that about SA! One of my observations I've noticed, (just general) - is often smaller rural towns seem to have a higher percentage of overweight peeps than city centres. Not always but rather often, - am thinking of WA here. I know of people in inland rural towns (where ppl perceive there is less to do), whose life is work, drink, smoke, eat fatty food the next day to deal with hangovers, not really dress up as there is nowhere flash to go, - and no-one else does. Once they head to the city, they seem to get fitter, drop a bit, take more pride as they feel they perhaps need to, to 'fit in'.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the girl you mentioned and that she feels she needs to maintain 3 hours cardio and no carbs to get where she wants and feel happy! I know I've had peeps say I look great about 70kg, (about 28-30% BF), yet I think ultimation for me is around 62kg, - perhaps slightly more if I can build muscle, - yet others say I look 'too skinny', - however I perform well and would never go to extremes to achieve it.
Pip, I must admit I was a bit miffed by the report that SA led the nation in the fatties stakes because if you ask me, there aint that much in it. But hey, who am I to argue the point? As for this girl, I felt so sad for her. She had such a lovely figure with slim, shapely legs and a nice butt (I had the rear view) but she was determined to keep losing weight. I still remember when I went through such a phase in my 20s. So confused. So wrong. So lost. Life is MUCH better now :-)
ReplyDelete"She looked fantastic at her current weight but she couldn't see it." Sounds like someone else I know ;).
ReplyDeleteSS
I didn't have *any* weight issues when I was in my 20's...I was a tad on the skinny side for a couple of years but when I started weight training I developed a nice shape. I think we all need to learn from our mistakes, in the end nothing can take the place of a good balanced diet and some daily exercise (she'll soon tire of the 3 hour a day routine - it's not sustainable)
ReplyDeleteI don't know about SA...obesity is everywhere, especially in the lower income areas, you see it at the shopping centres, the obese stuffing their faces with fast food or attempting to lose weight by switching to "low fat" or "diet" everything...it's a sign of our times. Just talk to any woman over 70 or 80 and they'll tell you they prepared every single meal they ate rom scratch, rarely ate snacks, and the exercise they got was a brisk walk and good old housework. Lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle. Simple.
LOL SS :-)
ReplyDeleteFunny you should say that Sandra as my mum (now 76 years old) had a beautiful figure right through her 30s and most of her 40s. She did manual work for a living, cleaned, cooked and I've never known her to over-eat. Even when she had to lose some weight due to her diabetes she just got on with it: walking every day even though it was SO hard in the beginning and being more careful with her diet. No histrionics, no emotion, no whinging. She just did it and continues to manage her lower weight seemingly easily. No wonder she's my hero :-) :-)
M