Obesity In South Carolina Doubles In Adults, Triples In Kids

[hatrack]

"The best piece of advice a mother gives her child may be the ubiquitous mantra: "Don't put that in your mouth. It will make you sick." Although she may have been referring to a rock when we were 2, the food most Americans consume under the apt acronym "S.A.D." - or Standard American Diet - is doing just that. It's making us sick.

There is no longer any doubt that the odds of getting cardiovascular disease (the most prolific killer of Americans), Type 2 diabetes, stroke, certain cancers and arthritis expand with every extra pound. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 65 percent of adults in our "super-size it" society qualify as overweight or obese.

For Southerners, the news is worse. We live in a mecca for clogged arteries known as "the stroke belt." A penchant for sausage biscuits and all things fried is part of the area's proud culinary heritage. Unfortunately, heart disease doesn't brake for tradition.

In the past decade, obesity has doubled among S.C. adults - and tripled for children and adolescents. North Carolina is close behind. The situation is so perilous that the S.C. House introduced the Children's Health Obesity Act in January to knock out future generations of heavyweights. By setting standards for nutrition and physical activity and keeping a close eye on what kind of foods children eat at school, legislators hope to stall a health crisis that's steamrolling in our direction."

EDIT

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/11263909.htm

[napi21]

1. I don't think it's the food at all. I think it's because most kids don't

come home from school and go play outside, go ride a bike, play baseball, flag football, or anything else. They come home, sit down at their computer and play games, email, instant message...anything that doesn't require any physical exertion at all!

If anyone sits down, and just eats without burinig any calories, guess what? You gain weight!!!!

For many years now, the TV has become the babysitter. Recently, the computer or the Gameboy has become the entertainment.

O say, get your little butt out the damn door and go play!

[Maple]

3. Kids everywhere

have computers

[vpigrad]

4. Exactly, it's not the food.

Kids and adults eat less now than they did a 100 years ago. The difference is the activity level.

[napi21]

6. Thanks! It's all about calories consumed v/s calories used!

How hard is this to understand? If you consume more calories than you use, you gain weight. If you use more than you consume, you lose weight.

How hard is that?

All diets are based on that idea.

[physioex]

2. People in SC eat the...

The most unhealthiest foods imaginable. They sell fat strips at the super market. And where do people hang out for dinner? Where else but Popeyes Fried Chicken, yes my friends that chain still exists. Hardly anyone eats fresh fruits and vegetables....

[Baconfoot]

5. Why the increase? Haven't they always eaten like that? NT