Wellness Wednesday

While this is a little tongue in cheek humor – obesity is truly an epidemic in the world today.   It is a significant factor for several chronic diseases including stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.   Obesity is responsible for around 300,000 deaths annually in the US alone making it the second leading preventable cause of death after smoking.

Obesity rates have increased over the past few years exponentially – climbing from 15% between 1976 – 1986, dropping to 13% in 1996 and then climbing in 2006 to 34.3%, 2016 to 39.8% and 2018 to 42.4%.

Factors that are contributing to this rapid increase include ultra processed foods, high sugar/high fat foods, decrease in physical activity levels, not getting enough sleep or having poor quality sleep, chronic stress which causes the body to produce more hunger hormones, and genetics.

Children do not spend time outdoors as they did in the earlier years listed above so sedentary lifestyles have increased the rates of obesity in children and adolescents.

Obesity is associated with mental health disorders such as depression, panic disorder, anxiety, and insomnia.

We can STOP this by eating healthy foods, avoiding sugar and sugary drinks (read the labels to check sugar content), get good quality sleep, get more physical activity, manage your stress levels, limit time watching TV, scrolling the internet, talk to your physician to get a plan for you and for those you love.

Regards,

Terry Richards, CFO