Why We're Fat
Imagine a country where more than 50 per cent of adults are classified as overweight or obese, and where the rate of childhood obesity has tripled in 10 years. This is Australia, where the average person has gained about a gram of fat every day for the past 15 years.
For a country that prides itself on an outdoor lifestyle, it seems too many have thrown a few too many prawns on the greasy barbie, and maybe a few too many snags, chops and fries as well.
The health implications of being overweight and inactive are huge.
Maintaining a healthy weight and participating in regular physical activity halves the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Research also shows it leads to the prevention of stroke, hypertension, colon cancer, osteoporosis, late-onset diabetes and depression.
“If our current pattern of eating and exercise does not change, Australians will continue to get fatter,” says Dr Garry Egger of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s working party on obesity.
Following are a few observations.
we consume too much fat
It’s obvious: we’re eating too much and exercising too little. In addition to its taste, it seems there’s an innate desire to eat fatty food as if to store enough energy in good times to ensure survival when food is scarce. But in a modern urban society, where fast-food chains occupy almost every block, that instinct is working against survival. Although our total kilojoule intake hasn’t increased hugely, our fat intake has.
Fast food, which is typically high in fat, makes up one-fifth of every dollar spent on food in Australia, more than double what it was 10 years ago. Many studies have shown that kilojoules from dietary fat are more likely to end up as body fat, unlike the kilojoules from carbohydrate or protein. “Meal deals” and “super-size” servings also contribute to the problem. The result is that we’re eating more than double the recommended daily intake of fat.
we shift responsibility
There’s been a spate of court cases against the major fast-food chains, claiming their foods contribute to illness. There are claims that consumers aren’t adequately warned about meals that could cause obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels.
Yet there has to be some level of restraint, self-control and self-responsibility. Fast-food burgers, pizza, fried chicken and take-away meals contain up to 67 grams of fat—two day’s supply in just one meal.
Obviously, these foods can be an occasional treat to complement a generally healthful eating plan, but please, not as a regular part of one’s diet. It becomes a problem when there are so many treat foods available, that people don’t eat healthful foods the majority of the time.
we move too little
In addition to our poor nutrition status, 30 per cent of adult men and 37 per cent of adult women do not engage in enough physical activity to maintain or improve their health. A 1994 study by the NSW Department of Health suggests that almost half the adult population are inadequately active.
While 8.7 per cent of Australians regularly attend health-fitness centres and gyms, it is nevertheless difficult to determine if these people are less likely to be fat. A 1990 National Health Survey did show that overweight or obese people were less likely to exercise than people of an acceptable weight.
Although our level of exercise for recreation and leisure hasn’t changed, we’re moving about less. Modern society’s fascination with convenience and energy-saving devices could be partly responsible for our expanding girth.
The use of golf buggies, remote controls, escalators, elevators, home-delivery, drive-in, drive-thru, and even the electronic can opener, to name a few, amounts to a considerable reduction in energy used for every day living both at work and in the home.
the barriers to exercise?
According to Kenneth Cooper, founder of the aerobics movement, the four main reasons people don’t exercise are “no time,” “no place,” “no motivation” and “no money.”
A seeming lack of time to exercise also features strongly in recently released research about the reasons people do not exercise. This was followed by “laziness, the fear of injury, initial poor health and the need to rest.”
You can overcome any of these barriers; it depends on the way you think—your attitude—and that’s all. According to Dr Egger, a key component of weight control is to focus on your attitude toward movement. “We need to look at extra movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience,” he says.
what’s needed?
To achieve health benefits from physical activity, it’s recommended to accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity on most days—but preferably every day.
Accumulative exercise is a relatively new concept based on research suggesting the benefits of regular activity can be obtained from shorter, more frequent bouts of exercise.
The study of 56 obese, sedentary females examined the differences between a short-bout exercise group (performing multiple 10-minute bouts of exercise) and a long-bout exercise group (performing one exercise bout). Both groups were instructed to exercise five days per week progressing from 20 to 40 minutes.
The group who exercised in short bouts exercised on a greater number of days, for a greater total duration, and had similar improvements in cardio-respiratory fitness and weight loss compared to the group who performed one extended bout of exercise. Prescribing exercise in several short bouts may also help tackle some of the major issues preventing people from exercising.
so, what’s the best way?
The current pattern of food consumption and energy expenditure is making Australians fat. A major shift is needed to incorporate more movement into our lifestyles, and increase our consumption of high fibre, low-fat foods, such as beans, peas, lentils, unprocessed grain produces, fruits and vegetables.
5 Reasons . . .
physical activity decreases
- Less time—longer working hours
- Sedentary office-based jobs
- Computers and watching TV rather than playing active sports
- Lack of energy
- Fear of exercising in unsafe neighbourhoods
why we’re getting fatter
- Wider range of foods available
- Increased consumption of fat
- Increased consumption of fast foods
- Decreased incidental exercise
- Decreased consumption of carbohydrate
why food-intake increases
- Social life—eating out, entertaining, holidays
- Comfort eating—bereavement, loneliness, boredom, stress
- Convenience foods—busy life (work, caring and family), enjoyment
- Greater choice and variety of food
- More money to spend on eating out and on holidays
to “accumulate” exercise
- Walk all, or part of the way to work
- Where possible, walk or ride a bike instead of taking the car
- Take the stairs instead of the lift
- Take a walk in your lunch break
- Choose to park your car some distance from your destination, then walk
| This is an extract from August 2003
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