OBESITY

We had an ice storm yesterday.

On my  way into town this morning to get sand from the town sand pit, an interesting subject was brought up on MPR (Maine Public Radio.)   The subject was obesity.  

By the end of the 2020 decade, one half of the people in the United States will be considered obese.     

From an Ol'Buzzard point of view, having lived through eight decades, the cause is obvious:  

• Fast foods
• More processed foods
• Less physical lifestyle due to technology making our life easier and less physical; young people spending hours on computers and computer games; people spending hours in front of televisions, snacking throughout the day....

Back during the forties and fifties people ate at home, meals prepared at home from non processed foods.   Snow removal was done with a shovel, not snow blowers and snow plows.  Families did things for themselves, not hire out maintenance and yard work.   People walked whenever possible, most families had one car.   Kids did not have cars, they walked or rode bikes.     Kids hung out with their friends, they did not want to be inside. 

The list could easily be expanded.  The fact being, as a young man living through the forties, fifties and sixties I never saw people the sizes that seems almost standard today.    People considered fat back then would not even be noticed by today's standard of fat, and morbid obesity today is common place.  

So what can we do about it?

Nothing.

This is where we are as technology relieves us of arduous physical daily obligations, and makes our life less physical and and more sedentary.  Our food are higher in calories and processed chemicals, and snacking is now an integral part of our life styles.   

We are, without realizing it, evolving into a slightly different species.  We are living through an evolutionary change.

Just my observation.
the Ol'Buzzard