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 Outdated ideas will begin to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.
"
Our
health always seems much more valuable after we lose it." Unknown Author
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