Physical Fitness In America

Americans today are living in the generation of big screen TV’s, the all you can eat buffet and armchair quarterbacks. Finding ways to accomplish things with as little physical work as possible has become revered and take out pizza has replaced mom’s home-made lasagna. With the fast pace at which Americans live and the desire for everything to be easy and fast driving many individuals it is no wonder that America is loosing it’s battle against disease and obesity. During a 2006 study the National Center for Disease Control determined that the percentage of adult’s age 20 years and over who are overweight or obese was an astounding 67 percent. As if that were not bad enough, it showed that the lack of physical fitness leading to obesity was affecting not only the adults, but their children as well. The numbers for adolescents age 12-19 were 18 percent, children age 6-11 were 15 percent and children age 2-5 had an overweight or obese percentage of 11 percent. These percentages are shown to have been on a steady incline since their studies in 1971. Aside from obesity, afflictions that have been linked to poor physical fitness and obesity such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes took the lives of over 1 million people in 2006 alone. In America 1 The World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland released data that showed when looking disease (such as cardiovascular and heart disease, cancer and diabetes) mortality rates before age 75, America came in dead last out of the 19 nations studied. Americans have abandoned hard work and nutrition for convenient and fast. Many American families no longer have a sit down dinner prepared at home. When Americans choose to grab fast food instead of a home cooked meal they are subjected to high levels of hydrogenated vegetable oils and preservatives. Portion sizes that have become “the norm” in America are two to three times the size of normal portions in other countries. The thought of “bigger is better” has caused Americans to keep super sizing their way to an ever increasing waist line and fatal diseases. Along with the lack of proper nutrition, Americans have become lazy. Going to play basketball has been replaced by playing a basketball video game. The importance of daily physical activity has been lost. Even the schools that are in charge of educating the population have reduced physical and nutritional education, along with taking away the time children have to run and play outdoors. In America 2 Although the detrimental changes to physical fitness in America have been taking their toll on all ages, it can be reversed. Nutritional changes may be difficult for many people to make at first. Bodies become mentally “addicted” in a sense to fatty, sugar packed and over processed food. But after just a few short weeks of beginning to eat healthier, the body begins to crave the new healthier foods much more. Adding between 7 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day to the American diet can help give a person the required nutrients and fiber their body needs to begin functioning properly. Reducing intake of animal fats, drinking between 90 and 100 ounces of water a day and reducing sugar intake may seem like an impossible task considering how much of the American food choices consist of all the negatives and little of the good. When choosing to prepare fresh food at home, however, you can monitor the amounts of sugar or fats that are going into your dinner, making it much easier to make these changes. Diet alone is not enough, however, to get Americans physically fit. It will take hard work. Exercise and physical activity is essential to a healthy body. The National Institute of Health recommends at least 30 to 45 minutes of continuous physical activity every day at the very minimum. Adding weight training to exercise can help your body to burn excess fat better, and aid in overall body strength. This will help you to enjoy more strenuous activity without becoming quickly exhausted. In America 3 Although Americans have fallen into a lifestyle that promotes ill health and disease, a few simple lifestyle changes can help to turn around this trend and get Americans back to being lively and physically fit. Copyright © 2009 PhysicalFitness.com - All rights reserved. Website Privacy | Terms | Contact