The Obesity Epidemic. Don’t Fall Victim.

It’s scary to learn that it is predicted that 30-50% of our kids will develop diabetes, which is closely associated with obesity, before they finish high school¹. The good news is that obesity is usually preventable and treatable.

It is estimated that most Americans consume 300 more calories per day than they did 25 years ago². Too many of us eat a high fat, high calorie diet and live sedentary lives with sedentary jobs. And it’s understandable, given our culture of excess in the US. Cheap food and “Super-size” portions characterize the American restaurant culture in the last 20 years.

When you eat out, if you are like most Americans, you eat what you are served. The problem is that those servings are usually significantly more than what you need to eat in a single meal. Some restaurants serve such large portions, the calorie intake is more than an average adult needs for an entire day! In the name of competition, restaurant portions have gotten simply ridiculous – a lemonade at a well-known family restaurant contains 350 calories. And if that was not enough, it comes with free refills. One refill and you’ve consumed 700 calories in liquid alone! That's one third of the calories a 35 year-old woman needs in a day.

If you eat out often, be mindful of what you are ordering and what you actually eat. Don't be embarrassed to ask for a doggy bag to take leftovers home. Try ordering half portions or sharing a dish with a companion. Or order soup or a salad appetizer to fill up on before you eat anything heavier. Just by ordering water in place of a sugar- filled soft drink, you will eliminate as much as 350 calories from your intake.

Snack foods are a big problem for kids and adults, because most packaged snack foods are mostly empty calories, and they are cheap and easily available. Most snacks contain few real nutrients. This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy any snacks. Here are some ideas to control snacking so that it doesn’t contribute to weight gain:

• Watch your portion size: a handful of snack chips is 100 calories: potato chips, corn chips, and the like. That’s 6 large tortilla chips or 20 potato chips or mini-pretzels. Count them out before you eat them.
• Try to be more mindful of eating snacks. Avoid eating distractedly in front of the television or computer, when you may eat much more than you realize.
• Find alternatives to snacking when you are feeling stressed or sad. Try a brisk walk, writing in a journal, or talking to a friend.
• Remember that baked, multigrain, and vegetable chips -- like carrot and sweet potato -- have more nutrients and less fat. Nuts can also be a good choice, as long as you eat only about 7 or 8 at a time, since they are nutritious but have lots of fat and calories.

There is no additive or fortifier that protects our health and our waistline like the real thing: real, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. If we focus on real food and moderate exercise, and lighten up on the snacks and the restaurant portions, we’ll have a good chance of beating the obesity epidemic ourselves, and helping our kids beat it too.

1 http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20030616/one-in-three-kids-will-develop-diabetes

2 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=44504