Why is it so Hard to Lose Some Weight?

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has declared that there is a health epidemic in America. This epidemic comes from America’s love affair with food. I’m speaking of course of the obesity epidemic. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) 34% of American adults are obese. The numbers for children are just as startling with an 18% obesity rate. These are the numbers for obesity, which is extreme overweight, the percentage of Americans overweight (just fat) is even more astounding and the rates are projected to do nothing but rise. Korean people, due to the high amounts of rice and vegetables in their diets, tend to not be as fat as American people (the current obesity rate in Korea is 6%). However, be careful, there is a relationship between the number of years spent in America and obesity, as the number of years goes up, the risk of obesity goes up.

Obesity costs everyone, even those of normal weight. People that are overweight or obese tend to have more health problems, especially diabetes. This leads to increased health care costs which are paid by insurance companies. In order to cover these costs, the cost of insurance is raised for everyone. About a decade ago, the tobacco industry was sued because their products were creating sick people who required extra medical care. The tobacco companies had to pay huge sums of money for this. Now, most states add a large tax to the price of a pack of cigarettes to pay for the increased medical costs they must pay for smokers. There is talk of a similar lawsuit for places like McDonalds because their products contribute so greatly to the obesity epidemic. The idea of a “fat tax” has been raised, which would be placed on all unhealthy foods. A fat tax would not only help pay increased medical costs due to obesity, but would also discourage people from eating unhealthy foods.

Of course there are the costs from the physical effects, including a decreased life span. However, the largest costs of being overweight are psychological. In a psychological study, a group of participants watched a normal weight person on a videotape applying for a job. A second group of participants watched the same videotape, but the video image was compressed in such a way that the same person applying for the job looked fat. If the image was made to look fat, participants were less likely to recommend that the person in the video should be hired and a lower starting salary was offered than if the job applicant looked skinny. Not only is it harder for obese people to get a job, they are less likely to be promoted and make less money at all levels of the job. In another study, previously obese people that had lost at least 200 pounds were asked whether they would rather gain back the weight or have their arm cut off. They overwhelmingly chose losing their arm.

            Diets and diet aids are a multibillion dollar industry. The most recent product was Alli which promised to melt away fat in a way I don’t care to describe. However, it’s always something, the South Beach diet, the Atkins Diet, the grapefruit diet. The list goes on and on and includes such radical things as stapling the stomach so that less food fits into it.

However, the truth of the matter is that the majority of people that try to lose weight do not lose weight. Many have success early, but either fail to lose more, or gain back the weight that has been lost. There are many factors fighting against the dieter. The body is designed to store fat and guards fat jealously. The number of fat cells in the body never decreases. When a person becomes obese each of their fat cells swells up until they are so large that they split into two. The obese person has many more fat cells than a person that has never been obese. However, when the obese person loses weight, the fat cells simply deflate like a balloon, but they never go away. Additionally, the body has a “set point” for weight, a preferred weight. In much the same way that a house’s thermostat ensures that the temperature remains above the level you set, the body defends its preferred weight, if actual weight falls below this set point, the body’s metabolism slows down in an attempt to raise the weight again.

            The easiest solution to the obesity problem is to not become obese. Easier said than done, I know. However, if people would stick to a traditional Korean mix of food with lots of vegetables and little meat and sugars, they should be just fine. We should all try to avoid processed food and get out and exercise.