Health Crisis

I remember hearing on the radio a few weeks ago that obesity has grown to become a bigger health crisis than hunger. This initially seemed like a shock (especially given the fact that I was in the midst of organizing a food drive to help fight hunger over the holidays), but when I took a minute to ponder, it really wasn’t such a surprise.  In fact, when I investigated further, I found that some countries have seen as much as a 100% increase in obesity rates over the past 20 years, and that the global increase in this time period has been 82%! 

This made me think about various strategies to promote healthy lifestyle and healthy eating.  At an event Friday night I was reminded of a September post (“Calorie Counts”) where I discussed the new McDonald’s menus in the U.S., which highlight the caloric content of items.  A friend mentioned that on a road trip, she felt extreme guilt while ordering when the calories in her potential meal were staring her right in the face.  Now this single recollection might not be reflective of the mass effect of this effort, but I couldn’t help but think that regardless of how big or small or local or global, strategies to fight this obesity crisis should be welcomed.  Experts had projected that the McDonald's campaign wouldn’t be effective, but even affecting one person is an accomplishment in my eyes. 

Here’s an article on the obesity health crisis if you’re interested: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/13/health/global-burden-report/index.html