Obesity in America
Posts tagged Proper Diet
Malnutrition and Obesity
Aug 29th
Obesity is caused by several different factors such as overeating, diseases as well as malnutrition. It may come as a surprise to you that someone who is obese is malnourished, but it is very possible.
The reason behind that is that when your body does not have enough nutrients it craves for food. Usually this is junk food as that will give your body the quickest fix. However, this does not provide your body with proper nutrients, and thus you crave for more, and the cycle continues.
What Causes Malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when your body does not get enough nutrients so that it can function properly. This could be due to reasons such as poverty, or not choosing a proper diet. It could also be the result of a sickness or disease where the body rejects the food or is unable to absorb the nutrients.
There is little that you can do if you are living in poverty and just cannot afford to buy food, or if you are sick, then you may need to take care of your condition first. However, there is a lot that you can do to choosing a proper diet in order to prevent malnutrition.
Choosing a Proper Diet
The foods you should eat are fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts and seeds. And you should eat these foods raw as much as possible, as cooking destroys many essential nutrients.
They say ‘an apple a day, keeps the doctor away’, but you need much more than just an apple a day. Your body was designed to live off of raw and living foods. Studies have shown that plants can provide you with more usable proteins and other nutrients than any other foods such as meat, dairy and eggs. But most people do not even eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables as recommended by the FDA. As a result the majority of people are malnourished.
Hunger
Your body sends a signal that it is hungry when it needs more nutrients, not when it has eliminated all the foods from the last meal. This means that you can still have food in your stomach from your last meal when it sends the signal. Some of the so-called healthiest foods such as animal proteins can leave you in this state where you just keep craving for more and more before your previous meal has been digested.
Raw and living foods will not leave you in this state, as they are digested quickly and eliminated from the body in less than 24 hours. Therefore in order to prevent yourself from overeating you should stick to a raw food diet as much as possible so that your body will not cause you to overeat on junk foods.
Obese Kids – Risk of Diabetes
Aug 24th
At a recent American Heart Association’s annual scientific session held in New Orleans, scientists informed the gathering that many obese kids and teenagers have been tested and the results have shown that their carotid walls are almost same as those of a person who is nearly 30 years older than them.
As per American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), occurrence of obesity in kids and adults is a rapidly increasing epidemic with around 15 to 30 percent kids and adults being obese.
There could be many factors which may result in the obesity among the children in USA as per AACAP including the ones described below:
* Unhealthy eating habits
* Habit of overeating
* Lack of any physical activity
* Sometimes due to family history, genetics
* Steroids and some medications like psychiatric medications.
* Life full of stress and cultural factors like child abuse or deaths
* Emotional problems including depression.
The AACAP has further reported that kids who turn obese between 10 to 13 years of age have about 70 percent chance to turn obese adults.
There are many risk factors and complications which may result due to obesity among children like:
* High risk of heart disease.
* Having breathing difficulties.
* Increased blood pressure
* Having difficulties in sleep
* Risk of diabetes
As type 2 diabetes is being increasingly found in children, it is necessary that proper treatment is offered after accurate diagnosis to stop any further complication in them. Proper diet and exercise regime should be implemented for their health benefit. Make sure to bring your kid to your doctor if you have any inclination he or she has symptoms of diabetes.
