“The most common form of malnutrition in the western world is obesity,” this is according to Mervyn Deitel. And I guess he is never wrong with his statement. Indeed, a large percent of the American population is obese. According to the article, The Bad, the Ugly, and the Good, today’s youth are more overweight than the adults. What could be the its cause? What can we do about it? Obesity is basically caused by bad diet, inactive lifestyle, and great social determinant. However, there are a lot that we can do about it.
We need to exert our all-out effort in order for us to lessen and, eventually, eliminate the cases of obesity not only in the Western but also in other parts of the world. I have to admit it; I am one of those people who observe bad diet. Junk food is my buddy, soda is my pal, sweets are my mates, and fastfoods are my companion. How unhealthy, right? Especially here at De La Salle University, it is really unavoidable to eat unhealthy food. Just imagine, once you step out of the campus, numerous fast food chains are all over the place and that could be your choices for your lunch everyday.
It is in fact becoming a joke that a Lasallian will definitely be getting fat due to the food available around instead of becoming thin due to the loads of work in college. Remember, there are things you can do. Yes, there maybe lots of restaurants serving lots of calories but you have the choice. You can bring your own lunch at school – don’t think it is too childish; I am doing that as well. Also, you can order salads at the restaurants – you just have to look at the menu wisely. I also do not have a heart for exercise.
It is not in my vocabulary. The only time I do it is during P. E. classes. Except that I walk a lot. I enjoy walking. Actually, not before because I used to be so lazy to walk. But when I reached 3rd year highschool, my barkada and I got used to walking on our way home. Since then, I enjoyed it. However, I do not think that walking is enough knowing my diet and the fact that most of the hours I spend at school I just sit down. This is also one thing that the author of the article pointed out. Indeed, it is true.
And if you come to think of it, a five-minute walk will not really be a big help when you are inactive for almost eighteen hours each day. I agree with what the author is suggesting. Why not the professors give activities which allow the students to move their body? And I also like what Ms. Mascardo is doing by letting us do Physical fitness tests each week. These are also just some of the small things we can do. A theory that is being looked upon is the effect of the society to the rate of obesity.
First World countries are obviously rich people so they can afford to buy food which adds to their calorie intake. While those countries that belong to the Third World do not have much capacity to buy greater amount of food and most of them really work on-hand. This basically explains why Americans are more likely prone to having higher obesity rate. It is never too late for us to act against this problem. Through the simple ways shown above and given by the author it is never impossible.
We just have to have the guts and the determination to truly stop the increase of obesity. We would not want an earth full of rounded people, right? Have you watched the film Wall-e, where people got so fat and they cannot even stand up because of not doing anything – literally anything; they all just lie down and do nothing? That is not an ideal world and society for us, isn’t it? So let us take good care of our health and let us not take it for granted. As they say, health is wealth.
