Obesity is a growing problem here in the United States, one that is threatening the lives of children and adults alike. In fact, by the time that we reached the year of 2010, it was found that more than seventy eight million adults were considered to be obese and more than twelve million children were. Currently, up to one third of adults are considered to be obese and another one third are medically classified as overweight, leaving only about one third of the population at a healthy weight for their height. By the time that we reach the year of 2030, now just over ten years from our current date, the number of obese adults is expected to represent up to fifty percent of the entire adult population.
There are many reasons that obesity has simply skyrocketed in recent years. For one thing, access to unhealthy food is more prevalent than ever before, as can clearly be seen in the growth of fast food restaurants throughout this country. In fact, the number of these types of restaurants has actually as much as doubled since the 1970s, now more than forty years ago. And with this food often being very high calorie and full of unhealthy fats and added sugars as well as high levels of sodium and refined grains, it’s no surprise that many people who eat it on a regular basis find themselves gaining weight relatively rapidly.
And it’s easy to heat fast food. After all fast food is, well, fast. After a long day at work, getting a fast food meal can present an incredibly tempting option, especially if you’re physically and mentally exhausted. For parents who work long hours, getting their kids a fast food meal can seem far more palatable than having to go home and cook dinner from scratch. And this is very much how the cycle of obesity begins – and how it continues to perpetuate itself.
Along with a poor diet lacking in nutrition but high in calories and saturated fats is a lack of exercise seen throughout the country. Much of this has to do with the widespread usage of screens of various sorts, from tablets to phone screens to televisions to computers. In fact, the average kid spends more than seven hours in front of various types of screens on any given day, drastically lowering the amount of actual physical activity that they get over the course of the day, the week, etc. In fact, up to two thirds of children don’t get any notable physical activity at all throughout the day, raising their risk of obesity and health problems as they age into adulthood.
And the statistics don’t show that adults are particularly more active. Still only one third get the weekly recommended amount of physical movement and activity, and only around five percent actually move for at least thirty minutes on a daily basis. Again, this can often be attributed to using screens for much of the day, as well as to having a busy life in which it can be hard to fix exercise in.
But exercise is so important, and there are so many ways that it can be accomplished. After all, every person’s exercise routine does not have to look the same. For instance, up to thirty percent of those who exercise regularly simply walk in order to get their exercise. Others might run, and still more lift weights. Some will even play team sports in order to stay fit.
You might consider joining a gym, where you will have access to premium fitness equipment and even personal trainers. But if you’re nervous about using premium fitness equipment in front of others, a home fitness store is also likely to have premium fitness equipment, and premium fitness equipment can typically be found at sports stores too.
Using premium fitness equipment in your home can make working out easy, and this premium fitness equipment can help you to drop the weight that you need to lose. In this way, premium fitness equipment can help to lower your risk for everything from heart disease to diabetes to having a stroke at a young age thanks to being obese.
