Fad Dieting Is Killing Our Kids
May 30th 2008 02:25
By Katherine Nelson.
Fad dieting is a big problem and with the way the economy is going, there isn’t much chance it will get any better. It is said that there are 54 million people on fad diets at this very minute. Fad dieting it is such a large problem because it isn’t actually a cure for obesity; it is just a quick fix. So we take the easy way out again. Although taking pills and drinking liquids is a lot easier than changing your lifestyle, it is not at all good for you. There are many problems with fad dieting such as the health effects. The main issue with fad dieting is weight cycling. Weight cycling can lead to diabetes, hypertension, and death. Only 5-10 percent of diets actually end in weight loss. The 90-95 percent that fail quite often become depressed and suffer from low self-esteem. They often feel guilty and all of these symptoms lead to gain of weight. So they try to loose weight but end up putting on weight and potentially risking their health.
To lead a healthy lifestyle, it is necessary to posses a balanced diet and exercise regularly. The best way to loose weight is to loose it gradually. If you loose it too fast, it is most likely that you will not be unable to keep the weight off. According to the American Medical Association, two thirds of people (202,728,950) in America alone are trying to loose weight. Of these, only a fifth is trying to loose weight properly and these are the ones that are likely to succeed. It is recommended that to loose weight, one should participate in at least 150 minutes of exercise per week and eat healthily. You should not cut out any food groups in hope of loosing weight because that will only result in you not getting enough nutrients therefore getting sick. This is yet another fault in fad diets. Fad diets cut out food groups and that is how they work. If you go on a fad diet, you will not receive the necessary nutrients and this will severely affect your health.
Many experts disagree with the use of pills and drinks for quick weight loss. Denise Bruner is the president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians. She believes that, "Rapid crash diets are usually not diets people can follow consistently," this is why people should learn, “Practical ways to manage their weight.” Fad diets are not the way to go. Gail Frank, a professor of nutrition at California State University and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association supports this statement. In an interview, she states, "You run the risk of stressing your body," and how, "It sounds good, but the reality check is that we're throwing the systems of our body out of kilter." With such experienced professionals standing for no fad diets, one would have to wonder why people would be dumb enough to use them.
There is also a problem with people’s perceptions of their body. Two thirds of all people believe they are overweight. Clearly their perception is inaccurate. There is no way known that out of every three people in the world, two of them are overweight. Although that is the case in Australia and America, it defiantly isn’t the case in third world countries. In these countries it is very rare to find someone overweight, let alone normal weight. So the average would defiantly be a lot lower than two in three. People should change the way they think about their bodies, they shouldn’t be so negative. 46% of women are continually trying to loose weight and 45% of college students, male and female result to anorexia and bulimia in order to look thin. Is this really the future we want for our country? Where people are killing themselves to be thin?
Fad dieting is a big problem and with the way the economy is going, there isn’t much chance it will get any better. It is said that there are 54 million people on fad diets at this very minute. Fad dieting it is such a large problem because it isn’t actually a cure for obesity; it is just a quick fix. So we take the easy way out again. Although taking pills and drinking liquids is a lot easier than changing your lifestyle, it is not at all good for you. There are many problems with fad dieting such as the health effects. The main issue with fad dieting is weight cycling. Weight cycling can lead to diabetes, hypertension, and death. Only 5-10 percent of diets actually end in weight loss. The 90-95 percent that fail quite often become depressed and suffer from low self-esteem. They often feel guilty and all of these symptoms lead to gain of weight. So they try to loose weight but end up putting on weight and potentially risking their health.
To lead a healthy lifestyle, it is necessary to posses a balanced diet and exercise regularly. The best way to loose weight is to loose it gradually. If you loose it too fast, it is most likely that you will not be unable to keep the weight off. According to the American Medical Association, two thirds of people (202,728,950) in America alone are trying to loose weight. Of these, only a fifth is trying to loose weight properly and these are the ones that are likely to succeed. It is recommended that to loose weight, one should participate in at least 150 minutes of exercise per week and eat healthily. You should not cut out any food groups in hope of loosing weight because that will only result in you not getting enough nutrients therefore getting sick. This is yet another fault in fad diets. Fad diets cut out food groups and that is how they work. If you go on a fad diet, you will not receive the necessary nutrients and this will severely affect your health.
Many experts disagree with the use of pills and drinks for quick weight loss. Denise Bruner is the president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians. She believes that, "Rapid crash diets are usually not diets people can follow consistently," this is why people should learn, “Practical ways to manage their weight.” Fad diets are not the way to go. Gail Frank, a professor of nutrition at California State University and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association supports this statement. In an interview, she states, "You run the risk of stressing your body," and how, "It sounds good, but the reality check is that we're throwing the systems of our body out of kilter." With such experienced professionals standing for no fad diets, one would have to wonder why people would be dumb enough to use them.
There is also a problem with people’s perceptions of their body. Two thirds of all people believe they are overweight. Clearly their perception is inaccurate. There is no way known that out of every three people in the world, two of them are overweight. Although that is the case in Australia and America, it defiantly isn’t the case in third world countries. In these countries it is very rare to find someone overweight, let alone normal weight. So the average would defiantly be a lot lower than two in three. People should change the way they think about their bodies, they shouldn’t be so negative. 46% of women are continually trying to loose weight and 45% of college students, male and female result to anorexia and bulimia in order to look thin. Is this really the future we want for our country? Where people are killing themselves to be thin?
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