For anyone who has ever kept a calorie log, skipped meals, counted calories from fat, hated exercising and dieting or struggled to get that last five pounds off — you are not alone.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 66 percent of adult Americans are overweight or obese this year. Most of the other third of America is trying to lose five to 10 pounds.
Susan Fullmer, an associate teaching professor at the nutrition, dietetics and food science department, believes Americans obsess about their weight because of the media and our society.
“We just live in a society that’s very obsessed with appearance,” she said. “The media, movies, TV, commercials and magazines all created a perfect physical appearance that so many of us feel that we need to live up to.”
Fullmer said health should be the main focus. A good goal is to be healthier, not thinner, although the two usually go together. She said being moderate in your diet and exercise is important.
“Sometimes you need to change your lifestyle to be healthy,” she said. “Learn to be more moderate. Eat smaller portions; eat your foods based on the food guide pyramids. Watch out for packaged food. In general, the more processed the food is the more they tend to add sugar and fat, but not always.”
According to Time magazine, organic food sales flew from 2.5 percent to 14 percent in 2006.
“There used to be a time when organic food was seen as fiber and wheat grains and non-dye starches,” said Lauren Drewer, a fitness and wellness major. “Now you see organic foods everywhere, they’re not rare. They’re more expensive so consumers just need to decide if they’re worth the price. There are certain foods that I don’t think matter if they’re packaged, organic or natural but there are some that definitely show a difference.”
Drewer said peanut butter is one of the food choices consumers should chose to buy organic.
“Organic food is very clearly better for the environment,” said Lora Beth Brown, a professor in the department of nutrition, dietetics and food science. “The farming methods are better. Food that’s not organic is safe for the most part. I don’t think there are big measurable differences between people who eat mostly organic food and regular foods. There are really only subtle differences. Just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it’s nutritious.”
According to Diana Stevens, an exercise science major from Denver, Colo., the first step to a healthy lifestyle is commitment and sacrifice.
“I’ve noticed that all of the thin girls I know have restricted themselves from some type of food,” she said. “For me, it’s cream cheese. It’s not fun but you have to sacrifice to be healthy.”
Professor Brown doesn’t agree.
“It’s not about restricting yourself,” she said. “Pay attention to eating wisely. Make smart choices about food. Include vegetables, fiber and have reasonable portion sizes. Don’t starve yourself, cut calories or skip desserts. Don’t eat until you’re stuffed, tune into what you’re eating. Eat enjoyably, be satisfied and then stop eating once you are satisfied.”
When asked if it was better to eat three square meals or five small meals professor Brown said that it all depends on portion size.
“There’s a difference between a meal and a real meal,” she said. “A real meal involves several different foods on your plate and a plate in general. So much of the time we’re eating our meals on the run. A real meal has had some preparation time put into it.”
Brown said that it could be healthy to eat five small meals a day, but not five snacks.
“We all define a snack differently,” she said. “For some people a snack is a burger and fries. For some people it’s an apple. A real meal seems to connote moderately nutritious food and preparation time. Snacks are grazing your way through the meal. What we need to be cautious about is sequential eating. So many of us just open the refrigerator and grab something, then come back and grab something else until we realize we’ve had enough food that we call it dinner. That’s not dinner.”
Besides watching what and how we eat, exercise is also key to being healthy.
“Diet and exercise are connected,” Fullmer said. “We need to be more physically active. Americans eat a lot of calories because we have more calories at our disposal. More than we’ve ever had before. We’ve become very sedentary in a technologically advanced society. We need to learn to eat less and become more physically active.”
Both professors agree that exercise is important, not weight loss pills.
“The media and marketers have done a very good job at making us feel inadequate about our appearance,” Brown said. “They want to help us use their products to solve a problem that they’ve created. People who have a product to sell will do their part to create a demand for their product. They’re just trying to convince people that they need their product.”
Many Americans would agree our society is focused on appearance rather than health.
“In my mind, weight’s not the problem,” said Brown. “The whole population’s fixation on weight is the problem.”
Brown said she read a study done between American eating habits and French eating habits and the research shows that on average, Americans are more uptight about what they’re eating but are generally unhealthier.
“We may need to change the goal,” she said. “Weight may not be the real problem; it’s unhealthy living. There’s evidence that 51 percent of overweight adults and 32 percent of obese adults are metabolically healthy. They’re OK, but do carry extra weight. Twenty-four percent of normal weight adults are metabolically abnormal. That means either they have high blood sugar or have some type of health problem. These are people who are a normal weight but still have health problems. We’re focusing on weight when many of the problems would be improved if everybody paid attention to being physically active and eating a nutritious diet.”
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