The obesity epidemic is out of control in this country due to poor diets, lack of exercise and overall lifestyle choices. It seems now that African-Americans and Hispanics are right up there when it comes to new cases of diabetes and hypertension. Much of those cases are due to the fact that those who are newly diagnosed are severely overweight to morbidly obese. The hard thing that comes with the territory is that many lower class communities and neighborhoods are seemingly being flooded with fast food places like McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, White Castles, and other well known burger places.
You go into these places and the majority of the workers there are overweight and some are obese. Most African-Americans and Hispanics are not aware of how serious hypertension and diabetes is especially for men since it can affect their sexual health by developing a condition called Erectile Dysfunction Disorder. Most of these conditions are due to excess weight and lifestyle choices. The diets of many Hispanics and African-Americans are consisting of a lot of grease, fat, salt, and starch. Hispanics eat a lot of corn and little of any other vegetables and African-America diets consist of a lot of starchy, fattening foods like potatoes, pasta, and a lot of high salty meats. What also contributes is the fact that both groups drink a lot of alcohol and smoke a lot whether it's cigarettes or cigars.
The obesity problem should be nipped in the bud at childhood since that's where it starts since children start to learn eating habits and food choices. A lot of children have parents who are having babies so young that many of them are passing their poor eating habits to them. What also doesn't help is that many schools only give kids one day of physical education class, but giving this day and age many parents don't have as much time as they used to for their kids since almost half the households in America are run by single parents mostly headed by females.
If more children got regular exercise the obesity problem among children and teenagers would decrease and they wouldn't be prone to diabetes and hypertension and other weight-related diseases and disorders. If people got at least 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week the obesity problem and issues of weight wouldn't be a problem and you would see people at the weight they should be at for their height. Americans don't eat enough home cooked meals and it wasn't 40 years ago when being overweight and obese wasn't a major problem since the percentage of people who were overweight wasn't nearly as high as it is today since people ate unprocessed food that was healthy and not full of artificial flavors, colors, and other additives and got regular exercise. There's that saying that if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it and it's in reference to the fact that some of the food people eat have additive names that are so long that many of them sound like tongue twisters.
People should start taking care of their health more since too many are relying on the assistance of gastric bypass and lap band surgeries to help them lose weight when it's easier to do it naturally instead of medicinal assistance. It's also hard because some people can't commit themselves to exercise and a healthy lifestyle since it's almost easier to just live sedentary and not do anything. A healthy lifestyle is a commitment to yourself and to those who love you. You would not only feel better, but you would also look better.
