Fast Running Blog

I know this is preaching to the choir, posting something like this on a running blog. But just in case any of you needed more motivation to eat right and exercise here you go:  http://healthyamericans.org/report/88/
Click on the link to the .pdf of the "2011 Report" on the right side of the screen.
I think that if you know anyone who does not exercise or eat right it is worth getting them a copy of this report...

I saw this yesterday. It blows my mind how in some states, 1 out of every 3 adults is obese, and 1 out of every 5 children is obese. Not just overweight...obese. Colorado is #1 (least-fat state), with "only" a 19% obesity rate. In 1995, this rate would have ranked Colorado dead last, and no state had an obesity rate greater than 15% in 1995. In only 16 years, we have become twice as fat.

What changed since 1995?

I was a junior in high school in 1995. Believe me, there was plenty of junk food back then, and I ate plenty of it. We all did. It's not like Kraft Mac 'n' Chesse, microwave pizza, Mountain Dew, or packaged cookies are new inventions. So what is different? Are portions bigger? Are soft drinkers sugarier? Is "real" food less accessible? Are we more sedentary? All of the above? It just blows my mind that things have gotten this bad in 15 years. I actually eat healthier now than I did when I was a kid, so have been in a bit of a vacuum and have had no idea what the rest of America is doing. I'm stunned.

It really is quite sad and disturbing. Its probably a combination of all the things you said, Paul. Reduction in activity, poor food choices, bigger portions, etc.

Another interesting graph... look at the USA vs. a sampling of some other countries...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Obesity_country_comparison_-_path.svg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Obesity_country_comparison_-_path.svg)

Paul, Everything you said is correct but there is more. This is at the heart of what my research focuses on. One of the most recent developments in the field is the concept of "epigenetics". The easiest way to explain this is that there are long lasting changes on (not in) your DNA that alter how your body expresses the proteins that make it function day to day. The scariest part of this is that a number of studies both in lab animals and in people have shown that what your parents ate before you were conceived and while you were in the womb alter these DNA marks and predispose you to a number of diseases. This also includes other environmental and activity factors. What it says is that once things started going downhill with pollution, diet and activity each subsequent generation has a higher hurdle to clear...

Wow! I usually have something funny to say about posts on here but there is nothing funny about this. Kind of doom and gloom. I'm kind of like Paul. I don't eat really healthy now but much better than I did in 1995.

I'm on vacation this week at a relative's house, and it's been a real eye-opening experience for me.  I'm used to mainly fruits, veggies, whole grains, yogurt, etc.  The house here has not a single one of those.  Not. A. Single. One.  They come home with groceries, and it is 2 sacks full of chips, 1 of cookies, 1 of donuts, hot dogs, beer, cigarettes, and some milk.  I've felt terrible with this eating- no energy, stomach hurts, etc.  I honestly love fruits so much, it is amazing to me how some people never eat them.  And living in the south now, I've seen a lot more fried foods, biscuits and gravy, etc.  If a fair portion of Americans eat this way, I can understand how so many people are obese.

In some ways it doesn't affect me, except my health care money (and taxes) are paying for the health problems others have due to lifestyle choices.  Such is the state of affairs in this (formerly great?) country of ours now.  But I can't control much outside myself and my family (where my little 3 year old daughter the other day was requesting a salad!).

By the way, that picture of obesity rates between nations is stunning.  Being 25% higher than the next closest country is not an award we want to win.

I'm definitely not the perfect example of eating healthy (I enjoy my ice cream and candy as much as the next person, probably more!)... but I definitely make sure to eat a very balanced diet... lots of veggies, etc. Otherwise I'll feel like crap in training! And in terms of the "extra" stuff... when I'm running 100+ miles a week, I feel like I deserve it! When I backed off my training after UVM, I actually lost weight, b/c I paid more attention to what I was eating. It comes down to accountability.

In any case, I'm rambling, but what I wanted to say is that a pet peeve of mine is how its perfectly socially acceptable for heavier people to poke fun at skinny people, but if the opposite happened - well, that would just be plain mean!! Obviously I'm generalizing a bit, but its just sort of a weird double standard that I've noticed over the years.

I taught health & wellness class when I was in grad school, so this is a topic I am very passionate about. Not everyone wants to be a skinny distance runner... I totally get that... but staying at a healthy weight would prevent so many chronic health problems and reduce the amount of money spent on health care by BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars!

The health care industry and medical schools need to put more focus on preventative medicine and living a healthy lifestyle, not merely treatment of disease.

Jake, I agree with the double standard. It is sad that when the now "average" American sees a runner they assume we are the sick ones, just so sad...

Andrea, That is the scariest part about my research. Most of what I have learned over the last decade says that the only way to stay healthy is proper diet and exercise. I agree with it and live it but we are talking some major social reform. That is why I like this report because it attempts to find ways to change peoples habits. Easier said than done though. I think the thing that people like us (myself included) don't understand is that many of these people never had a good example. I grew up exercising and eating right, I never had to overcome the problem in the first place. But a serious attitude shift needs to take place to convince the people coming from 200, 300 and even 400+ lbs...

Something else that amazes me (in a positive way) is how "uncool" smoking has become in the last 20 years. Seems like very few people smoke these days, and you're a total dork if you do. It is banned in most public places, and the public perception of smoking is quite poor. And not just in Utah, I'm talking about other places too! Perhaps the same will happen with "artificial food".

Paul, I sure hope so...

While I can't argue with the data -- we are definitely getting fatter -- I think that we have started to see some very positive changes in both our food system and consumer attitudes/interest about the foods they are consuming. Even though obesity is still on the rise, I think many people are least seeing the negative impacts and truly desire to make the necessary changes to their dietary habits and physical activity levels. 

It is alarming the things that are available to us in our grocery stores -- so many artificial ingredients that you can't even consider some things as being food (i.e. check out the label of Sunny Delight "orange juice" sometime...). It will definitely be a slow process, but as Paul said, I think artificial and highly processed foods will become increasingly more "uncool"  and undesirable. You can already see these changes being made gradually just by the evolution of many products in grocery stores -- the new buzz words you see on packaging such as "all natural", "no artificial ingredients", "hormone free", "no high fructose corn syrup" etc. Manufacturers wouldn't reformulate their recipes and reprint their labels if consumers weren't demanding these products. We have also seen many consumers demonstrate a newly-found interest in their food over the past few years with the increased popularity of farmers markets, food co-ops, community supported agriculture, etc. Even though these types of things operate on a much smaller scale, I think it's at least a step in the right direction and will help bring about bigger changes in the future.

The problem is, allie, that it is much more expensive to eat (and buy) healthy.  Large corporations have, aided by farm subsidies, been able to make "fake" food so cheaply that it is harder and harder to buy raw, natural foods. Couple this cost with general inactivity and it is a disaster waiting to happen.  It is not as difficult for single, motivated people, but people with large families living on minimum wage incomes can't afford healthy food; not to mention access to it.  When I lived in DC I was appalled at the inner city groceries and what they stocked, in order to get vegetables people would have to travel way outside of their neighborhoods - in most poor cities people rarely venture much outside of a couple miles outside of where they have always lived.  This was also the case in rural Tennessee. 

I also think that people just eat too much.  Instead of eating to not be hungry, many people eat all the time and eat to "fullness" - a perpetual cycle.  We have been trained to think that huge mountains of food are necessary, when really, it doesn't take that much to provide your body with the sustenance it needs.

All this said, I do feel badly for many overweight people, I can't even imagine how hard it is to even get *started* to exercise - when I go backpacking and carry an extra 50 lbs on my back I realize how hard it would be ...

An interesting article about California's farm subsidies can be found here: http://farm.ewg.org/pdf/california-farm.pdf , I don't think California is unique. 

You bring up a great point Bonnie.  It's no wonder low income tends to coincide with obesity and disease.  I have many diabetics on a fixed income on my home health service--how's a grandmother with $600 a month supposed to pay the bills and feed herself and the grandkids that have been dumped on her?  Well, processed and cheap is the only way.  If you can only go shopping once a month fresh produce is generally a joke.  Nope.  Gotta buy canned stuff, ramen, mac and cheese, and hot dogs.  Medicaid, medicare, all of them have taken massive budget cuts.  Families with disabled children no longer have respite care and can't leave to go work.   Charities and community groups that can help are spread thin and drying up.  I've been exposed recently to a lot of situations where people simply can't afford to be healthy. :(  If you could get in the kitchen and get serious about cooking staples bought in bulk like whole wheat flour and beans and keep a garden, I suppose it's feasible, but for someone that is fragile and in failing health, once again, no can do.

April and Bonnie - Great points and I totally agree.

Here's a timely article: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=16307808

I recognize that having access to healthy food that is actually affordable is just one facet of the issue, and I know this is a small example that will likely have little impact. But I think it's a good start.

The internet started to go mainstream right around 1995. I don't have any numbers, but it seems like video games and satellite TV have risen greatly in popularity since the mid 1990s.

I think the number one culprit in obesity is soda. Some people even drink it to stay hydrated instead of water.

I think it's great to be careful about the kinds of food we eat. But I think the number of calories consumed, minus the number of calories burned, plays a much bigger role in weight gain than the kinds of food we eat. I recently read a news story about a nutrition professor who ate 1800 calories per day (I think) of junk food and actually lost weight and was healthier (according to BMI and other commonly used health metrics). Just an anectdote, but it was interesting to me.

If anyone has seen the movie Idiocracy, they will now how far the comment Steve just made about drinking the wrong beverage to stay hydrated could go...

That's interesting Steve!  You are probably right on about the soda.  You could easily drink thousands of calories in a day of that stuff.  I've also heard that diet soda is somehow just as bad--boosts appetite for junk and people eat more when they drink it.

Lots of great responses on this thread.

Steve I think that are right that it kinda does all boil down to calories in vs. calories out. The problem is that most folks have no clue how quickly calories can add up in certain types of foods. It easy to polish off 1000 cals of jelly beans in about 3 minutes. Eat the same amount in fruits & veggies, and you'll be so full that you'll be sick to your stomach! I think that is where getting the balance of "good" foods really comes into play. As it was said on here before, most people tend to eat until they feel "full" and thats why fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are so important. They fill you up w/ less calories.

Jake, just a little word of caution, you are probably better off filling up on fruit, veggies and nuts (preferably almonds/walnuts) than grains.  I am not completely off of grains, but I have cut back (I have not had pasta or rice for almost a year and limit the amount of bread I eat) and I feel better and am 10 lbs lighter.  Grains and carbs are just not that necessary or healthy. 

Grains are new to the human diet and many (read Paleo for Athletes: http://www.trainingbible.com/pdf/Paleo_for_Athletes_Cliff_Notes.pdf) believe that this genetic adaptation is what is causing a lot of autoimmune disorders, especially celiac disease.   

Agreed. Grains make you fat.

Good blog here, written by a cardiologist:
http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/

I had to look over my shoulder and make sure nobody saw what I was reading, y'all speak blasphemy in the land of grain and cattle(Kansas).  I don't think whole grains are a problem at all unless you actually have celiac disease.  I think it depends heavily on your own genetics and body.  I bought into the whole gluten-free rage for a while.  When I tried cutting grains and dairy I gained weight, felt like crap, and got injured.  Now, I know that there was a lot more involved with that than diet..but now that I am eating reasonably(1500 calories a day, anything I want but generally a good mix, including bread, red meat, and dairy), I feel phenomenal and have lost 10 pounds. I think it's the processed sugar and flour and otherwise empty calories that really get you into trouble.  As best I can tell, beef, oatmeal, milk, cheese, and whole wheat bread are making me skinny...and oranges keep me regular. :)

For the record I DO eat some grains...I had to add them back into my diet because I was losing weight, which for me would be bad. Mostly just oatmeal and rice though at this point. But if I ever needed to lose weight, it would be the first thing I would cut.

There are many benefits to dropping wheat, not only just to celiacs. The PaleoDiet stuff goes over this in detail, and again, I'll post the Heart Scan Blog:
http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/category/wheat

I opened a new can of worms!  ;)

Honestly, I don't really eat all that much in terms of pastas/grains. Mac & cheese is sort of a night before racing staple that I wouldn't want to get rid of, though!

You see a lot of people really load up on tons of pasta type dishes. Better to balance by going heavier on veggies and lean meat. Andrea and I have really made that our staple dinner over the past year+... Steamed vegetables and lean protein source. We take the leftovers for lunch the next day. Its worked really well for us both.

Once again, really, moderation is the key.  It isn't the grains that are evil, it is the amount and way in which we eat them that is the problem!  As far as their "assault" on our pancreas--plenty of studies show they have a higher glycemic index, true, but a lot of this is related to the raw amount and the combination in which we eat them.  Whole, unprocessed grains have a lot of nutrional value that need not be discounted.  Bean and wheat combined make a complete protein, there's iron in that wheat, and this is cheaper than beef and can be bought in bulk and stored(the money issue again).  Eat those grains in combination with lower glycemic index foods and in moderate amounts, and don't eat more calories than you actually need!(create a deficit and go for a run and you might lose some weight)  As said earlier in this thread--a lot has to do with calories in and calories out.  300 calories of bread a day isn't going to blast your pancreas like 2000 calories of it will!  I see no problem with going wheat-free if that's your cup of tea or you need to for health reasons, but no way do I hold wheat responsible for the obesity epidemic.  As also brought up earlier--it has more to do with television, video games, convenience foods, and desk jobs.  If we were all out plowing that field and milking them cows all day we wouldn't be so fat.

Great, now I'm going to waste part of my day googling to find a website to help me out....:)

Debating the merits of eating grains is missing the forest for the trees. I know people who just never eat "real" food at all: that is the problem.

Also, the food supply has grown far more than the average American has. If the average American weren't more active than they were 30 years ago the problem would be much worse.

The best way to change people's behaviour is with an economic incentive. End farm subsidies to raise the price of corn based products, impose a tax on the food that is killing us. Finally, allow health insurance companies to discriminate against the obese. Things would change pretty quickly I think.

Yes, bringing this back to the original sorry (sorry for getting side-tracked on grains...)

Agreed on all these comments.

I might have already posted this on another thread, but I really enjoyed In Defense of Food http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455 (http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455). I feel it is a very balanced view of the origins of the obesity epidemic. He also talks a lot about grains (including omega-3 versus omega-6), etc.

Yup, Michael Pollan is one smart dude ... and a great writer to boot!  One of my favorite quotes from the book, paraphrased (because I dont have the book with me) is, "it is just lucky that the food that is best for us is also the best for the environment".

and amen to the end to farm subsidies ...

I'm glad this thread has taken off. The problem is everyone here isn't the problem I wish we could get the average American as worked up about this.
Here is another log on the fire that someone just sent me today: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=201&sid=16345272

Another view:
http://www.thehandthatfeedsus.org/farming_america_Bad-Advice-for-a-High-Price.cfm

April, That is interesting I wonder about the contribution of the exploding population?

Thankfully the world is ending in 2012, so we don't have to worry about how we are otherwise doomed due to exploding population, dwindling food, water, & energy supply, debt, global warming, measles, and shrinking bumblebee populations.

And the default, you forgot the default, August 2nd.

Adam:

Very interesting research. I remember we discussed it during the relay in Arizona in 2008 and it immediately made sense to me. Just as soil conditions affect the quality of the plants, you would expect the womb conditions to affect the health of the child just as much if not more. The child does everything with his mother for the entire duration of the pregnancy. They are connected with a cord until the time of delivery.  How could you possibly expect that a mother could be negligent of her health and avoid passing the fallout to the child?

As far as the cause of the decline in health, I think we are dealing with a consequence of our spiritual decline. People who are weak in spirit and mind have no desire to eat healthy or be physically active among other things.

I know this is a problem in WI.  We live on brats, cheese, and beer!  I'm a Phy.Ed. Teacher and I educate my students to make and think healthy choices.  For the most part between K-5th grades they are active and eat healthy if their parents provide healthy choices for them and give them activities/opportunities.  The school limits portions and I think does an okay job of providing a variety of food choices, but not always the correct portions.  Once the students reach 6th grade they start getting involved in everything under the sun.  Some of my students are in 3-4 sports or activities at any given time.  On top of that they need to find a way to study and get homework done.  Yes, there are some that don't participate in any sports and there always has been.  I think those percentages probably remain close to what they were 20-30 years ago (just a guess).  My observations are that for one we are too busy and it's being instilled in our children that eating properly is an after thought.  This leaves less time to prepare healthy meal choices and runs us down with stress.  When stress or over exertion sets in the first thing we crave is a pick me up like sugar or some salty junk food.  This is caused by skipping meals or being too busy to think about eating and then when we do eat we over eat.  The other part of the equation is the reverse food pyramid.  We are a heavy protein based society (at least WI is) and therefore we eat way more protein than we really need.  Yes, protein diets can help lose weight, but only if you're eating lean proteins and avoiding the junk food and carbs.  The meat portions are too large and the vegetable portions are too large.  If our schools and restaurants promoted a more plant based diet and reversed the portions of vegetables to meat I believe we'd see fewer problems with obesity.  The other problem is that almost everything has become processed to help us live our busy lives.  We rely too much on processed foods even when we think they may be healthy or certain foods appear to be healthy they really aren't.  I have no factual data that suggests processed food choices are increasing, but I do believe they are cheaper than organic for the most part.  Finally, very few of these very busy people are burning enough calories to burn the high amounts of sugar and fatty proteins.  This is all a result of people working longer hours to make ends meet.  People over exerting themselves in activities because we want more hurts our health among other things. 

Erik,
I agree WI is a special case (my dad lives there and I spent a number of summers there). With that being said I think the brats, cheese and way too much beer (biggest parties in my life there) and dare I say too much time sitting and watching a Green Bay game instead of tossing the pigskin in the backyard are to blame. The stress issue I think is only a part of the problem and centers more around socioeconomic circles. As a scientist and working with a number of clinicians we are very guilty of overexerting ourselves. I do not know a person who is successful in my career path that does not work at least a few 80+ hour weeks each year (a few that work 100+). However, we are also some of the thinnest people and none of the people I work with need bells and whistles for their activities. The majority of my peers do still find time for either running or cycling and the simpler the better. You raise some interesting points but I still think TV, soda (other calorie dense foods), lack of activity, etc. have more to do with it than just our work ethic. I agree with Sasha in a way that most people just don't care enough. Their lack of spirit per se sends them down the path of least resistance. So overall I think we are on similar pages I just think more finger pointing needs to be put on personal responsibility than blaming stress.

Sasha,
I do want to point out that it is not just the mothers to blame. There are a number of studies out there now to show that marks put on the father's DNA prior to fertilization also influence the offspring's ability to adapt to "extreme" diets. Though obviously the mother has a lot more influence so you got the main focus. This higher hurdle per generation is one of the main reasons I think there has been such a drastic acceleration in the raise of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases.