On any given day last year,
nearly one out of two American women and one out of four American men were on a diet
over $50 billion was spent on dieting and diet-related products
four out of five 10-year-olds worried about getting fat
33 percent of children and 66 percent of adults were overweight
Despite the attention and expense associated with the problem, we got fatter. Why? “Americans mistakenly focused on dieting rather than focusing on fitness and exercise—with weight loss as a natural byproduct,” according to Dr. Henry Lodge, co-author of two bestsellers, Younger Next Year and Younger Next Year for Women,
How will our efforts be different in 2009? Outdated ideas will begin to be replaced with approaches that work. Here are some predictions:
Old Idea: Losing weight was considered a personal problem to be solved through individual responsibility.
New Approach: Communities will take a collective approach to promote healthy lifestyles, especially weight loss. Entire countries, such as Japan and Mexico, will adopt weight loss programs for adult citizens. Within the United States, personal trainers, formerly associated with the rich and famous, will be used by increasing numbers of individuals with more modest means.
Old Idea: Losing weight involved reducing the amount of food consumed; hence, dieting was restrictive and involved deprivation. The types of food eaten were more important than caloric content.
New Approach: Eating for health and vitality will be the goal; weight loss will be the by-product. The quantity of food may even increase during a weight loss program if fruits and vegetables replace fried foods and sugary drinks. Because calories do count, information on the caloric content of fast foods and food products will become increasingly available—sometimes voluntarily provided and other times mandated by law.
Old Idea: The threat of global warming was debated and considered, at worst, to be a distant future problem that would be solved through technology.
New Approach: We understand that each person leaves a fitness footprint. By eating food that is locally grown, seasonal and organic, the pollution resulting from transporting food and using pesticides can be reduced. Switching from disposable plastic water bottles to glass or metal water containers will reduce waste and exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.
Old Idea: One size fits all.
New Approach: Special programs will address the needs of identified groups. For example, fitness gyms will introduce more programs targeted at children. Programs targeted at boomers who are entering their senior years—such as Silver Sneakers, which emphasizes stability (balance), strength training, functional training and increased energy—will continue to expand. A buffet of choices will be available even in small communities.
Old Idea: Exercise is best undertaken in a gym and involves a repetitive and disciplined routine.
New Approach: The introduction of exergaming (consider Wii and Dance Dance Revolution) will bring fun and appealing exercise activities back into the home. Green Gyms, an exercise program involving constructive outdoor ecology projects, will expand throughout the United States because it meets both social and fitness goals. A return to the popular exercises of childhood (using a Hula-Hoop, jumping on a trampoline, dancing and playing outdoor games) will occur.
Old Idea: Vanity was the primary incentive to lose weight. Dieters wanted to look better.
New Approach: Functional training—that is, exercises that improve the body’s ability to function whether carrying groceries, climbing stairs or unloading the washing machine—will be emphasized. For example, training with the use of kettle balls will strengthen the body’s core, thereby reducing back problems, improving posture and building muscles that support the spine.
Old Idea: Medical intervention, in the form of drugs or surgery, provided the solution to health problems associated with lifestyle choices. Physicians were responsible for maintaining the health of their patients.
New Approach: We’ll acknowledge that exercise is medicine, replacing drugs and surgery as the first line of defense against lifestyle-induced health problems. The wellness industry, which grew from $100 million a decade ago to $2 billion in 2008, will continue to grow exponentially as individuals take greater personal responsibility for their health and fitness.
Old
Idea: Successful fitness and weight loss programs were based on
deprivation and hence required heroic amounts of willpower, typically
beyond the reach of ordinary individuals.
New
Approach: Strategies for making healthier choices involving diet,
physical conditioning and improved self-care can be taught and
old ways of thinking changed,
according to Dr. Martin Binks, director of behavioral health at the
Duke Diet & Fitness Center and author of The
Duke Diet.
Qualified
health professionals are becoming increasingly available and this
support can be found in nontraditional ways such as one-on-one
telephone coaching sessions or through on-line support.
Old Idea: Employers did not involve themselves in employees’ lifestyle choices.
New Approach: Medical insurance costs doubled since 2002 and reached $12,106 for a family of four in 2008. To bring these costs down, employers will offer employees incentives to make positive changes (such as quitting smoking or losing weight) or charge penalties for those who refuse to change habits that elevate healthcare costs. Employer-subsidized online lifestyle coaching for employees will become more common.
Old Idea: Thin was the preferred ideal.
New Approach: We will seek fitness at every age, size and time of life. Individuals can be overweight and fit, or they can be thin and unfit. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes. Finding the appropriate weight and level of fitness for each person, given the circumstances of his or her life (for example, a pregnant woman’s needs versus a seventy-year-old’s), will be the goal.
Information on how to improve our health and fitness (even reduce our physiological age, according to Dr. Lodge) bombarded us in 2008. Decisions in 2009 about what and how much to eat along with how much to exercise will determine the next trends.
Will
we continue to get fatter until, as currently projected, 75 percent
of us are overweight in 2015?
Despite occasional missteps and temporary setbacks, human beings tend
to move forward toward richer, more fulfilling and healthier lives.
If history is our guide, these predictions will become reality in
2009.
"
Thanks for sharing your commitment. We are all in this together.
Coach Carole
Posted by: Carole | February 02, 2011 at 11:29 PM
This is really great! Perfect for me, I'm planning to enhance my body thru exercise and diet and I think this article will help and guide me all the way. Thanks!
Posted by: social weight loss | January 30, 2011 at 02:30 AM