Increasingly, and it really doesn’t matter where you are; the mall, a movie, on an aircraft or at the gym in any city of the industrialized world, we are surrounded by an epidemic of obesity. It’s a problem; plain and simple..speaking from personal experience I have lived life in an over-weight and unhealthy body so I have seen the stage, so to speak, from the front row...obesity is a problem that bloats in its own excess. That is to say that despite all of the information being made available it is not being consumed, or digested by those who need it the most. Forgive the pun, but we as a society are enabling a culture of excess that will surely continue to affect the health and well-being of untold future generations if we continue to let it go unchecked. Think about it; we currently have adult onset diabetes being diagnosed in prepubescent teens...problem you ask? There’s no problem; if it was really that bad somebody would have already done something...right? Problem; what problem?
It seems that no matter where you look there are far too many overweight and obese people -- I am not being alarmist or politically incorrect; I am just calling it as I see it. I recently attended a provincial sporting championship; basketball to be specific, and several coaches were borderline morbidly obese; and I’m being conservatively non-judgemental here...and, there were also big-boned teenage athletes; borderline obese athletes who elected to take a shot from midcourt, having run out of steam and quite literally unable to maintain their charge to the hoop. Granted, the athletes; obese or not, were out playing and being actively coached; however, our society’s enabling mindset readily picks up where it left off once the final buzzer sounds and the gym lights go out...because friends and mostly family members; the centres of the enabled individual’s universe are already there with open arms and a quick fix of immediately gratifying rewards containing sugar and spice and everything nice. To say it’s discouraging is an understatement: it’s downright maddening when you “see obese parents walking around with their 5 and 6-year-old fatlings. These kids don't have a chance.” At least that’s the way Amby Burfoot describes it in his recent Runner’s World article that clearly takes aim at the epidemic of obesity.
With the ongoing and topical international debate on health care; where Canada is being touted as an example of global access to same, we as Canadians are becoming increasingly hypocritical in that we avail ourselves to accessible healthcare but on the flip side of the coin continue to flaunt it by accepting excess consumption as a right, rather than a pathology, bestowed upon members ofa morbidly obese majority. It’s criminal in that we punish drivers who smoke cigarettes in a vehicle when minors under the age of nineteen are present; however, we continue to look the other way when we see a parent, supposedly leading by example, in size XXXXXL fleece track pants, feeding junk food, cola and high calorie foods to minors; their minors who, despite our best efforts to educate, do not know any better as the lessons learned at school go shamefully unreinforced on the home-front. . And, what is even more upsettling is the fact that communities across the nation are making active living opportunities more accessible to all regardless of social strata. Social support is now there to help youths play hockey; financial support is there to join organized sports teams and participate in other competitive and recreational sporting activities - but really; when you get right down to it how much does it cost to go for a walk with your children? More to the point...any question of price point is rendered moot when you consider the reward of walking and talking with your child is priceless.
Basically, education is the key and if we continue to promote wellness as a way of life we will eventually be in a position to undo the societal damage brought on by obesity in a generation and a half...however, if the past decade has proven anything we’ll need to keep our fingers crossed...as the DO AS I SAY AND NOT AS I DO approach to setting an example; and leadership in general, appears to have taken hold of the masses.
Everyone knows; or should know, that there’s a need for active living...on a recent trip to Hawaii the governor of the state himself addressed parents and children alike on the benefits of active living, healthy eating and on the reciprocal responsibilities that a parent has to a child and a child to the parent. Moreover, the governor spoke to the latent expectations a child has of their parents and the need for parents to step up and deliver on those expectations. Basically, the governor was calling parents out and reiterating how now is the time to lay the foundation for tomorrow’s leaders. This in itself was truly eye opening...what better speaks to a problem, a systemic problem than when the governor of a state uses the NFL’s Pro Bowl Family Day as a platform and venue to speak to the rudimentary necessities of active living, healthy eating, meeting expectations and familial responsibilities. You tell me...does that suggest there is a problem at the individual level?
Similarly, the NFL has launched a child focused activity program to promote activity at home and at school. And, corporate North America has also taken the plunge to sponsor active living across the board...after all, a healthy employee is more apt to be productive and a healthy family will also help to reduce related employee absenteeism. And, by extension the rising healthcare costs related to HMOs and Canadian extended health care coverage will also fall to come under better control. Accordingly, as we work to strip away the layers of inactivity and eliminate the epidemic of obesity we will undoubtedly free up tens of millions of dollars that could be better spent on creating wellness initiatives, increasing health promotion and establishing community based wellness programming instead of treating the effects of sedentary excess long after the fact. But again, is there a problem? Granted, the examples I make are being painted with broad strokes; however, the basic tenet holds that underlying community health far outweighs the pathology of systemic morbid obesity.
Currently there is a global drive underway to mainline change and eliminate inactive and sedentary lifestyles. We need to wake up and jump-start our collective days with the mindset that today is the first day of the rest of our lives... simply put; we as a society must embrace exercise on an individual level and promote it as an individual responsibility accountable to everyone who looks to us for guidance. If you want to see change: be change. So think about it; seriously, but not for too long...time is wasting and we need to step up and lead by example today.
That is why I believe “The Chance of a Lifestyle” programming concept has been so well received. FITNESSfive42 has developed wellness programming that facilitates active living and helps to set an example of what you can achieve by being an agent of change. The Chance of a Lifestyle actively promotes the do as I do approach to healthy living in the workplace.
So; get up, get out, get active and promote life as a member of the team; after all you can’t win if you don’t play...and you already know how the game needs to be played! Together we can overcome the current obesity epidemic by engaging in active living and setting an example for our children and their children’s’ children. We are the future and by extension we must BE CHANGE.
Break the cycle; run your ass off....
