by Dean Traylor

Created on: January 11, 2010   Last Updated: June 10, 2011

In the battle against obesity, being active is not enough. Going to the gym, riding a bike, or simply walking can help; however, it doesn't defeat this condition, alone. What need to be examined is what people eat and how much they consume. The food one eats is just as critical as exercise in the battle against obesity.

In America, food is abundant: maybe too abundant.  There’s a lot for one person to choose from. Fast foods are possibly the most common business in most towns. Supermarkets and membership stores such as Sam’s Club and Costco have an impressive array of food to choose from.  And, if one is to count the variety and volume of vending machines at various places, food is almost around every corner and building in the country.

The question is, though, is it healthy and is it proportionally balanced for one person to eat? The problem is that most of the food available is depleted of the needed nutrition, and contains too much calories for one to be considered healthy.

Nutritionists and health exports have always touted that a typical diet should consist of no more than 2,000 calories. However, a typical lunch of burgers fries and soda at a fast food restaurant will be over 1000 calories (that's not counting the extra calories if the meal was super sized). Even a typical burger can run up the scales between 500- 700 calories.  This is not including the high fat and sodium content that these meals may have.

Then, there’s the issue of serving sizes. Most often, the portions of food Americans consume is double or triple the serving sizes. Again, this can add too much calories, fat content, or cholesterol which can do more than put on weight; it can cause high-blood pressure, and coronary heart disease, to name a few things.

Another problem with obesity in the country is the availability of soda, sugared drinks and sweets. For a dollar or more, someone can buy a sugar-content drink from a vending machine, liquor store, supermarket or fast food restaurant. Often, sodas are sold in cans or bottles. The cans are one serving and have on average of 30 grams of sugar and are over 150 calories. The bottles are 2.5 servings; that's more sugar and calories than one need in a day.

The biggest mistake people make is in believing they can compensate for overeating by doing hard, lengthy exercises. Many studies on this matter have proven that this has little impact. Simply put, high calorie meals may not be burned off entirely with more exercise. Also, some studies suggest that cutting the calories alone will help more than just exercising or being active. Doing both is even better.

Another problem with this concept that more activity curves obesity, is that there a lot of over active people who happen to be obese. There are sports figures such as Babe Ruth who come to mind. However, there others less known who happen to be very active and very obese. There's an example of a 200 pound, 5-1 aerobics instructor and 300 pound marathon runner, and (this writer can attest to) there are many century bike riders who don't exactly have the physique of a bicyclist.

Ultimately, to battle obesity, one’s eating habit has to change. Exercise is fine; however, it’s not enough to win this battle.

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