The-Slight-Edge

Afterword 191
Health Check-in
Consider these sobering statistics:
rate of adolescent obesity has tripled from 5% to 17%.
And overweight individuals (BMI 25-29) account for another 1/3 of
the population.
breathing problems, and an increased risk of many degenerative diseases.
factor due to excess weight.
for 300,000 deaths per year.
I think we can all agree that the majority of Americans are finally waking
up to the concerns that the rapid rise in obesity is causing, due to the array of
health risks it poses and the deaths related to it each year. So there is a cure: our
daily choices!
Most Americans gain a few pounds a year and rarely notice. Does anyone
else smell the Slight Edge here? But those few pounds a year are what is leading
to the explosion in the growth of obesity, which translates directly to the related
ailments type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and arthritis.
James Hill, director of the University of Colorado Center for Human
Nutrition said, “ If we could simply stop the weight gain, the public health
impact we would see would be enormous.”
The size of portions has greatly increased from 20 years ago. Take a look at
the diagram of calories for 2 slices of pizza.
20 years ago
500 calories
Today
850 calories