For example, consider a study conducted by a group of retired Army generals looking at the nation's overall defense readiness. What they discovered was that one in four young adults was too fat to serve. This means that by definition, without any help from our enemies, we have reduced the number of people defending us by 25 percent.
Or this: At any point in time, some percentage of any population will be obese. In the mid-to-late '30s of the 1920s, the age group when 20 percent of the population was obese was in the mid-50s. By 1986, this group had grown into people in their early 20s.
Let's talk wallets and wallet books. USA. The annual national cost of childhood obesity is estimated at $11 billion for children with private health insurance and $3 billion for those on Social Security, which is just the tip of the financial iceberg. A recent study found that the cost of obesity-related diseases is $147 billion annually. That's more than $400 million every day. In the time it took to read this article, it cost more than a quarter of a million dollars. The current epidemic of childhood obesity will be a serious threat to population health for at least the next few decades.
The good news is that the first step to a solution is always clearly identified. The bad news is that we are extremely reluctant to take this first step.
The obesity problem is not a problem created yesterday, nor will it be solved tomorrow. The root of the problem is the continued presence of "hidden genes" in the bodies of modern humans. These genes, as part of the biological-chemical structure of our ancestors, led our ancestors to store food, but this is now over. With our current lifestyles and eating habits, there is no need to store food/nutrients. When food was scarce, people with slower metabolisms could live better because they stored fat better (in short, because of their genes). Now, in modern society we do not make any physical effort to find food. We all buy food from the grocery store, so we all weigh more.
In low-income families, both children and Adult obesity is more common, and low-income families generally have an overweight problem. Unfortunately, healthy foods are more expensive.
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