The American Obesity Problem
You probably already know that the United States is the most overweight country in the world, but how big is the margin? Well, it has been reported that as much as 30 percent of the U.S. population is overweight. Compare that to 3 to 4 percent for Japan and Korea. Our closest neighbors, Mexico, come in second but are still 8 percent behind us. There is a huge disparity between the U.S. and other countries as far as obesity goes.
So what are they doing differently? It must be all that healthy food they’re eating, right? But that can’t be. Foods fried in oil, flower tortillas, corn, fried rice, are all the kinds of things I’m told to avoid when I’m on a diet. At least that’s what I get when I go to Asian or Mexican restaurants. And that’s what my husband go the two years he lived in Korea.
They do eat a lot of fish in Korea and Japan which is certainly healthier than other kinds of meat, but do they eat more fish than us in Mexico? That doesn’t seem to be the answer either. I would say its McDonalds and Burger King that are making us fat, but they have those in every country in the world and they are definitely making money everywhere. They open new American fast food joints in Asia all the time, but it’s not making them fat.
Could it be that people in other counties are simply exercising more than us? It’s possible. But I seem to recall reading recently that PC rooms and video games are extremely popular in Japan and Korea, not to mention 50 hour work weeks; I even read once about someone kneeling over from being in a PC room too long without moving. I don’t know how well Mexicans are doing with exercise, but with all the Spanish channels available on cable TV I’m sure they’re doing their fair share of sitting around in front of the tube.
So what is it? I don’t have the answer but it’s clear that they are doing something right. Will we Americans ever catch on and get in better shape?
