Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Obesity rates leveling off?

After a quarter century of increases, U.S. adult obesity rates have not measurably increased in the past few years, but levels are still high, according to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

About 33 percent of adult men and 35 percent of U.S. women -- more than 72 million people -- were obese in 2005/06, according to a new, comprehensive survey that includes physical examinations.
The new rates were slightly higher than the 31 percent and 33 percent reported in the 2003/04 survey, the CDC said, but the increases were not considered statistically significant.

So... maybe we're hovering at just one and three. But we're not heading in the right direction.

I went to show slides of some of my misadventures to a suburban middle school class last week. Afterwards, all the kids wanted to come up and ask if I liked to ski, or liked to snowboard (both) and if I had ever been roller blading, and surfing, and if I liked to ride my bike, etc. Then one kid, who probably had me by 40 pounds, I mean a big, big kid, asked if I liked to quad.
At first I didn't know what he meant. Then he explained that he, his mom, his dad, and his brother all like to go quadding up in the mountains every weekend. It really bummed me out, not just because I don't like quads, but because here was a kid who obviously needed some physical exercise, and instead he was being taught by his parents (who I'm assuming may be in the same boat) to spend the day sitting on his already ample rear end.

Maybe the leveling off in rates is only temporary.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sadly there are too many fat quad families tearing up the trails. In fact I think there must be a minimum weight limit to buy a quad.

Anonymous said...

Maybe he meant, "Do you like to blast your quads?". Cause I love to do that - almost as much as my abs and glutes.

Anonymous said...

See? Banning ATVs would be good for the America waistline.

Then again maybe we're fat because we can pick up dinner at Safeway rather than hunting & gathering over hill & dale.

Or change channels with a remote instead of getting up and turning the dial.

Or reading blogs like this instead of getting over to the library. See I knew it!

Out There blog is why America is fat.

AndyW said...

Out There blog is also the source of conflict in the Middle East and a contributor to global warming. Out There blog causes malaria in Africa and deforestation in Brazil. Out There blog led to the extinction of the red-footed booby and the eruption of Mt. Pinaturbo. Out There blog forces soil erosion in the Ogalla aquifer and tick infestations in British Columbia caribou. Out There blog doesn't have a chin: Under the beard is another fist.

Anonymous said...

Out There blog kills kittens too!

Dave Philipps said...

The red-footed boobie is not extinct.
http://www.danheller.com/images/LatinAmerica/Ecuador/Galapagos/Birds/Slideshow/img3.html

AndyW said...

That's just what Out There blog wants you to believe.