Blog

Obesity shortens life spans

Karan MunsLeave a comment

Obesity sucks. It makes the heart work harder to pump blood through such a large body. The lungs have to work harder to provide the body oxygen. Basically an obese person’s body has to work so much harder than a body at a healthy weight has to work. The extra stress that excess weight puts on the body causes a much shorter life span. It is pretty safe to say that most people want to live a long, healthy, and happy life. Obesity shatters that dream.

Obesity can shorten a lifespan by eight years. Eight birthdays, eight long years of happy and healthy memories could be lost because of having 20% more body fat than their ideal weight. Eight years is enough time to complete high school and college for most students. Obesity not only shortens the life span but it can cause a person to have up to 19 years with chronic illnesses. 19 years is a long time to be plagued with preventable diseases. Read the time magazine article about obesity and life here.  People with a BMI of 40 or higher are considered to be extremely obese. Extreme obesity can shorten the average lifespan by up to 14 years. Most of these deaths are not considered to be death by obesity but obesity is the underlying cause. The direct cause would be something like a heart attack or a stroke learn more here .

Most deaths from obesity are preventable with the correct treatment plan, and correct diet and exercise. Learn more about how to handle obesity and gain control for the American Heart Association here.

Obesity vs smoking

Karan MunsLeave a comment

Obesity is a terrible thing. It’s a bigger problem in American than smoking now and contributes to the rising cost of healthcare and leading cause of death in America. Around 23% of the American population are obese while only 16.8% smoke. About 300,000 people die from obesity every year. The American culture is not doing anything to help fix the problem. Fast food is more easily available to people in all types of communities and making the healthy choice is not the same as making the easy choice. This causes the obesity rates to rise.

There are tons of anti-smoking campaigns like these ads here and here. There aren’t as many anti-obesity campaigns because calling people obese is considered mean even if their BMI is over 30 and they are extremely unhealthy. There are some campaigns that try to combat obesity by telling kids to get out and play like these ads here and here. These ads are directed at children though not adults. Any reminders to be healthy are going to help though there just need to be more of them. Advertising for smoking is seen all the time while obesity is clearly a bigger issue for America at the moment.

Obesity might not seem as scary as lung cancer or not having pretty skin, common issues smokers face, but it can directly cause health problems like heart attack, stroke, hypertension and diabetes and can end in death pretty quickly. Even a 10% weight loss can decrease risk for many of these diseases learn more here here.

My butt is big analization

Karan MunsLeave a comment

The ethos of this ad is that it is coming from Nike a large, super popular athletic clothes company that has been popular in the main stream for a very long time. A lot of professional athletes use Nike gear. This woman’s message has to be credible since Nike printed it and tons of famous athletes use their products.

Pathos is present in the way the narrative part of the ad is worded. This woman’s butt is big and she’s proud that it’s big. This affects others because it causes them to think, “well, if my butt is big like hers then that’s okay with me too.” This promotes body positivity and makes the people that see this ad more likely to feel good about themselves and accept themselves as well.

Logos is present because of the arguments made in the words on the ad. It is fine to have a big butt because working out is what gets people big butts and working out is good for you. Working out and getting a bigger butt causes a person to be able to do all the things mentioned in the ad like score the best deal at clothing sales or keep warm in bed.

The reason this ad uses Kairos so effectively is the fact that our society is at a place where accepting and loving bodies is not the norm. Most girls think that their body could be smaller or skinnier or shorter. Men think that they think that they are too short, not buff enough, or too flabby.

The audience is pretty general for this ad it’s targeted toward people who don’t love their bodies and are afraid of having too big of a butt from working out. Nike is trying to convince people to work out in their clothes to get a bigger butt to get all the rewards of having one.

The ad is all black and white except for the girl in the middle. This was done to keep the focus on her and not on the background. The background fades from dark gray to white because the eye naturally goes to the lightest part of the image and the woman is centered in the white space to make people look at her and not the background.

This ad definitely tells a story of a woman who has come to terms with her body not being society’s ideal body type. The models typically seen in magazines are thin and frail. They don’t have big butts. She learned at some point that society doesn’t get to dictate how she looks. She does.

Obesity causes type 2 diabetes

Karan MunsLeave a comment

Almost 90% of people that have type 2 diabetes are also overweight or obese according to the obesity society. Diabetes is a huge deal. It can cause blindness, serious kidney diseases, nerve damage that results in lower extremity amputation in adults. Read the full article here http://www.obesity.org/content/weight-diabetes. The best indicator of type 2 diabetes is being overweight or obesity.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body not being able to make enough insulin to keep up with the high levels of glucose in the body. The obvious way to help fix this is to lose weight and this would decrease the number of type 2 diabetics immensely. Statistics are hard to grasp on a topic like diabetes because so many case go undiagnosed but take a look at some of the information from the American  society for metabolic and bariatric surgery here https://asmbs.org/resources/weight-and-type-2-diabetes-after-bariatric-surgery-fact-sheet. Type 2 diabetes can often be improved even if a person only loses 5% of their total body weight.  That’s not a lot of weight, but it can cause big improvements. These improvements are necessary because for type 2 diabetics weight loss can often reverse it and at the very least improve it.

The diabetic population is made up of 5% type 1 diabetics, they’re typically diagnosed as children or adolescents, and they don’t naturally create enough insulin, and 95% type 2 diabetics. About 85% of health complications can be prevented with proper diet, exercise, medication, and frequent meetings with health care professionals. However, type 2 diabetes can be improved with just a 5-10% weight loss that a lifestyle change could easily accomplish. Check out this article detailing how to adopt a healthy lifestyle for obese diabetics http://www.diabetes.org/are-you-at-risk/lower-your-risk/healthy-eating.html.

Obesity rates and how to fix it

Karan MunsLeave a comment

Obesity is a growing problem in the United States of America. Over two thirds of the adult population and one third of the child population are obese. If obesity continues to trend like it has, then by the year 2030 about 51% of the population will be obese. The growing increase in obese people is sure to increase healthcare costs. Why on earth does the obesity rate continue to rise even though the people in America know that it is a problem?

Obviously there are things like genetics, not enough exercise, over eating, eating junk food frequently, and not monitoring health. However, there are some less obvious ways that cause obesity like hypothyroidism and insulin resistance. A lot of factors that cause obesity can be avoided with healthy eating and proper amounts of exercise. Other things like hypothyroidism and insulin resistance need medical attention in order to be fixed, but these instances are rare and healthy eating and exercising would help immensely in addition to medical attention as well. Check out more causes of obesity here http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/causes.

There are several places to find resources that can help people that are overweight or obese. The government has websites like my plate that makes dietary recommendations and exercise guidelines. Typically, a diet of complex carbs, like brown rice, whole wheat bread and whole grain pasta, lean meat, vegetables, low fat or no fat dairy and fruit are what makes for a healthy diet. A good rule of thumb for exercise is 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day. It varies from person to person though. Learn more about how to lead a healthy lifestyle here https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/.

Childhood obesity runs rampant

Karan MunsLeave a comment

Childhood obesity and adolescent obesity is crippling the United states. Obesity in children has double, and obesity in adolescents has quadrupled in the past thirty years see some more statistics here https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm. Obesity in children can be crippling to self-esteem as well as overall well-being. It isn’t surprising that childhood obesity has increased in such a rapid rate since adult obesity has increased as well, and the adults are typically the ones feeding the children. Lots of things can cause obesity in children. Typically, unhealthy behaviors are to blame and the environment that they are in. If the children are used to watching tv all day instead of playing outside and eating junk food instead of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats then they are more likely to be overweight and obese.

Advertising can also be blamed for some of this because fruits and vegetable don’t get as much as airtime as the big macs and whoppers do. Exercise isn’t advertised either because these are things that used to be taught in the home.

Living in bad neighborhoods can contribute as well. Poorer neighborhoods are more likely to be in a food desert than the wealthier communities. There are also less clean safe places to play in neighborhoods like these. Also for the average person junk food is much more affordable since they are overall cheaper, and they have a longer shelf life than healthy food that goes bad much more quickly.

In general childhood obesity can be caused by many things and causes a $14 billion dollar increase in healthcare each year read more on how this affects healthcare costs here http://www.healthycommunitieshealthyfuture.org/learn-the-facts/economic-costs-of-obesity/.

Obesity’s effects on the average American

Karan MunsLeave a comment

The number of obese people have increased 34% since 1960. 34% is a lot. Especially to have a 34% increase over 54 years. There are lots of things to blame the rise in obesity on and the food industry is a big one, as well as genetics. However, generally it is caused by overeating and under exercising. Learn more about that here http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Obesity/Pages/Causes.aspx.

This rise in obesity has caused the average obese man to spend an extra $1,152 a year and the average obese woman spends an extra $3,613 a year according to Forbes link to full article here http://bit.ly/forbesobesity. Now obviously this causes the cost of healthcare insurance to go up for the average person because the company is counting on healthier people buying at a higher rate to cover the cost of the unhealthy (and obese) people that will use the insurance more. It really is an incentive to be healthier because an employer can, under the affordable care act, charge obese employees 30-50% more for what they contribute to paying for healthcare if they refuse to participate in a weight loss program.

Even though obesity is causing healthcare insurance prices to skyrocket that is not the worst thing about obesity. Morbid obesity is six times what it used to be in 1960. SIX TIMES! Morbid obesity is defined as someone with a BMI of 40 or above with significant medical problems that are worsened or caused by their weight. This type of obesity is typically the kind that creates the rise in the cost of health care because obesity itself isn’t what the doctors are treating. They’re treating hypertension, joint problems, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and a multitude of other issues. All of these illnesses contribute to the rising cost of healthcare for the average American.

Obesity and Health Care

Karan MunsLeave a comment

It is no secret that a ton of Americans are fat. Sorry, but somebody needed to say it (and I’m actually not sorry). This plethora of fat people is adding even more debt to the country. So maybe it is mean to call people fat but it is also mean to unnecessarily make tax rates go up too. 70 percent of adults in the United States are considered overweight, and this is a huge problem. ABC news reported on how the obesity rate increases the cost of health care and rates obesity as one of the leading causes of the overall increase in health care read more here.

Health insurance plans don’t cover obesity, but they do cover the other medical issues that obesity can cause like hypertension, type II diabetes, chronic heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. In 1990, according to fairfoodnetwork.org, the government spent $107.9 billion on Medicare and $43.3 on Medicaid. In 2016 the government spent $589.72 billion dollars on Medicare and $365.525 billion dollars on Medicaid according to whitehouse.gov. This means that government spending on Medicare increased by 446.5% in 16 years, and Medicaid increased by 744.2% over the course of 16 years. Some of this increase came from natural factors that had nothing to do with obesity but some of it has to do with the fact that in 1990 only around 11% of people were obese compared to 2016 and almost one third of the population is obese.

Healthcare in 1990 cost much less and this can be attributed to the fact that now almost one in three Americans is obese. Obesity is not in right now. It is extremely unhealthy and body shaming isn’t real. Obesity is unhealthy and it kills over 300,000 people each year according to wvdhhr.org

How can you run with the gods?

Karan MunsLeave a comment

Running isn’t always a learned and practiced activity. Some people just have an innate talent for running. For those that are not quite so lucky practice, practice, and more practice are really the only things that can shorten a mile time. Read the full article here.

In the article “Running with the Gods” that Kit Fox wrote for the popular running magazine Runners’ World Fox explains that running with Olympians went from being a dream to a reality for some runners. If someone has enough passion and works adamantly achieving goals that seem incredibly far out of reach become attainable over time. This story follows ordinary people that managed to train hard and long and qualify for the Olympic trials.

This is important because it shows that anyone can achieve what most people would say is impossible. Very few people ever get their mile time down to an hour and 20 minutes for men and two hours and 45 minutes for women. The people that this article follows lead pretty normal everyday lives aside from running every chance that they get. The group contains an engineer, a professor, a mother, a video game designer, a geographic specialist and a medical director.

This article is especially inspiring because it makes examples out of each of these exemplary people set. They show that it is a choice they make every day to be extraordinary and chase their dream until they come across a new goal to conquer. Every day people can run with the gods if only they choose to lace up their shoes.

Read more about training for the olympics here.

Nine ways to recover after a run

Karan MunsLeave a comment

People need to understand that running is very straining on the body especially for beginners. Everyone can run but not everyone can run and recover well. Recovering is nearly as important as the run itself. Muscles soreness, fatigue, and tired feet are among some of the things that beginning runners and people that don’t prepare for a run properly can encounter.

This article from runners’ world explains nine different ways to recover, how the work, and who uses them. See the full article here here.  It’s pretty cool to recover more quickly from a run than typical and also learn who else uses the same recovery method. Recovering is not going to affect everyone in the same way it’s important to keep trying different methods until a recovery method helps improve whatever problems a runner encounters on everyday runs.

Some things can’t be fixed just by using a different recovery method though. If a runner has joint pain, then it is important to find what is causing the joint pain. A recovery method might help make the pain go away quicker but some things shouldn’t be happening in the first place. A common fix for nearly any running related pain is getting better fitting shoes. However, running style could contribute to running related pain as well. In order to avoid most running related injuries, it is important to stretch, wear well fitted shoes and run with the proper form. Combine all of that with a proper recovery method and running won’t be any more difficult than lacing up your shoes.

For more recovery methods check out this article from Aspetar sports medicine journal here.

.