Fat America: A Look at Our Growing Waistline

The 1990s wasn't just the decade for a growing stock market, but also of waistlines. In the ten years between 1994 and 2004, the number of overweight American adults rose over 15%, and the number of obese American adults rose 28% (this according to National Center for Health Statistics).

Why is this? Basically, we're a rich nation and even the poor people are living it up in luxury. We can afford to buy and eat far more food than we need and work less for what we are able to buy. Physical exercise and proper diets aren't necessary.

Obesity costs about 117 billion dollars annually, which increases every year due to growing waistlines. No surprise when 66 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese. The toll isn't just on belt sizes, it's on insurance companies and healthy American adults who aren't overweight but are paying higher health costs for someone else's Big Mac.

It is becoming increasingly more difficult for overweight and obese Americans to purchase health insurance. If you are morbidly obese, it may be impossible. This raises a problem for workers who make close to minimum wage and can't afford health insurance.

Insurance companies have been treating the overweight and obese in the United States like they treat smokers-as a section of the population that costs more money than average, which is true, but not wholly fair when they need medical aid the most. It's not fair, either, that healthy Americans should have to flip the bill for their unhealthy neighbors.

It also smears the health statistics in the United States. You can find cancer statistics and heart statistics for age, race, location, but not for weight. If you're a healthy American, you (if your body weight is healthy) can't really know if the statistics apply to you and unhealthy majority of the population. Skinny Americans know that they are less likely to have cancer or other diseases, but don't know by how much.

But it's not just a financial hot topic. There are major health concerns to discuss. Cancer rates are through the roof, primarily because of America's unhealthy lifestyle.

Being overweight can cause high blood pressure, which can cause heart problems, heart attacks, and heart disease. Conversely, strokes can be caused by obesity. Excess fat has a special link to cancer, type-2 diabetes, and back problems. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of physical injury due to the burden on muscles.

Can this trend be reversed? Yes, absolutely, and within a generation. Statistics show children to be far less likely to be overweight or obese (just 17% of children and adolescence are obese or overweight), though children do have their problems with weight gain. Through prevention-a strong public program for a healthier America to show children, and adults, how to eat better and exercise-we may not be able to make skinny the adults already overweight, but the numbers will fall when fewer children grow up to be overweight or obese as adults.

It's not about "making" people eat a certain way or exercise a certain amount each day. It's about educating them on the effects of a certain lifestyle. If two thirds of American adults suffer from weight problems, it's undoubtedly true that two thirds of those sufferers do not know how or why they came to be the majority of a nation. By the time they realize or learn what they are eating-and by their not exercising-is costing them money and life it too late, because once the weight is gained, it is incredibly difficult to lose.

There is already an enormous advertisement campaign underway to keep people healthy, but it won't work unless there is personal intervention. The personal intervention should start with parents to children, teachers to students. Healthy choices lead to healthy living, and when it comes down to melting the fat off America's waistline, every American benefits in the end.