Is the Obesity Epidemic Only an American Problem?
April 29th, 2011 | 
Author: “What’s that accent?” the host of the hilarious British TV show about cars Top Gear asked a beautiful blond woman, who happened to be a member of the public. “American”, she giggled nervously, clearly expecting a nasty comment. It came in the form of, “No… You’re not fat enough to be American!” The message is clear. The United States have the reputation of being the fattest nation of them all. When we Europeans think about America, obesity has got to be one of the first images that pop into our heads.
Indeed, according to statistics, American obesity rates tower far above those of other countries. Not only has obesity been steadily on the rise since the 1980s, nearly 75 percent of US residents are overweight, according to data collected by the World Health Organization, with 30 percent being clinically obese. There are countries with even higher percentages of overweight individuals (Micronesia and the Cook Islands are among them), but the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, and Australia all have fewer very overweight people. South Korea only has an obesity rate of 3.2 percent.
Why is America plagued by an obesity epidemic, and is there any hope of making these scary numbers go down? My European and Asian friends who live in the United States believe that the American lifestyle and diet is the primary cause of obesity. Fast food consumption, highly processed and refined foods, and a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables and other wholesome meals seem to be at the root of this problem. And then there is another fascinating trend I’ve noticed by reading “fat acceptance” blogs.
On these blogs, people (mostly women) are complaining about the common notion that weight loss is achieved by eating less (consuming fewer calories), more healthily, and exercising more. One woman, who was furious after coming home from an appointment with her obstetrician about how to get pregnant, said that the advice to first lose weight and then resume her quest to conceive was discriminatory. Discounting the possibility that losing weight might increase her fertility, she further commented that eating better and boosting physical activity levels were not the answer.
Nobody wants to feel like an outcast and be treated with contempt, much less because of their weight. For some people, losing weight is not as straight forward as it sounds – and for them, real support is of paramount importance. But are these women aware of the fact that obesity prevention starts in the womb? While worrying about pregnancy signs like morning sickness and fatigue, could they stop for a minute to consider that being obese in the first trimester of pregnancy doubles their child’s risk of becoming seriously overweight later in life?
A recent WomenTALK survey of over a thousand woman on the subject of obesity prevention revealed that only 11 percent of women were aware of this fact. While we don’t think “mother blame” is constructive, the answer does appear to lie with positive lifestyle changes and better diets. When regular exercise and proper nutrition are placed on our preconception checklists, we might just offer an important contribution to our children’s future health and weight.
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