Americans may be cutting down on spending, but they aren't cutting down on the amount of food they put in their mouth.
"Every state in the U.S. have failed to control obesity and Ohio is not an exception," says Board Certified Nutritionist, Doctor M Shayesteh.
According to a recent report by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ohio has the 10th highest rate of adult obesity in the country, tied with Arkansas. The report, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing America 2009" found Ohio and Arkansas with obesity rates of 28.6 percent. Last year's report ranked Ohio at 17.
Dr. Shayesteh says the major issue Americans are facing with obesity is the lack of knowing the difference between what's right and what's wrong. Putting it in perspective, going to a fast-food restaurant and ordering a triple cheeseburger, large fry and pop, you'll consume 2400 calories. That is more than the amount you should take in in a single day. How do we fix an epidemic that has such a strong hold on the nation?
"It's time for people from the top to the bottom to be educated. It's time the restaurants, our government, get into the picture and focus on the beauty of preventative medicine," says Dr. Shayesteh. "We are what we eat and through the proper nutrition, we can actually prevent most of diseases, and in most cases, if you have any certain diseases, can be corrected just by changing your nutritional lifestyle."
Dr. Shayesteh says every change should be family-centered, on both nutrition and exercise. If we teach kids to follow suit, the future will be on the lighter side. He adds, "Diet simply means having a knowledge of making good choices, and that is the one that is missing. That is the one causing the problem."
