Who Are The Fattest People In the World?

Who are the fattest people in the world?

Don't know? Never mind, just read on to find out!

According to a new report by the Trust for America's Health, a non-profit health organisation, the obesity rates have swelled during the last year in 31 American states, with not one state reporting a lower obesity rate.

Two-thirds of American adults are obese or overweight, as revealed In their report titled "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America".

The rate of adult obesity across the United States increases from 15 per cent between 1978 and 1980 to 32 per cent between 2003 and 2004. For the same period, childhood obesity increased more than three-fold. Some poorer southern states were also affected by the epidemic. For the first time, more than 30 per cent of residents in Mississippi are classified as obese.

The report also pointed out that approximately 25 million children are obese or overweight. It is sad to say that today's children are likely to be the first generation to live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents.

Overweight and obesity are risk factors that can lead to heart disease. Besides health issue, obesity epidemic can also have a negative impact on workforce productivity. When the workforce becomes less healthy and productive, the US economic competitiveness will start feeling the pain. Moreover, bigger portion of the revenue generated from businesses is diverted to obesity-related health care costs.

Health experts cited poor nutrition and physical inactivity as the key reasons for such epidemic. For example, Americans love watching TV programs over long hours and pop into their mouths with junk foods such as cookies, chips, french fries together with fizzy drinks and bears.

New York City has in fact made it mandatory for restaurants to provide detailed nutrition and calorie information to patrons with trans fats banned. It is known that trans fat helps raise so-called bad cholesterol levels and hence increases the risk of heart disease. Food manufacturers and restaurants used to add trans fats to increase the shelf life and flavour of foods.

To prevent from getting into obesity, it is important to have a healthy lifestyle starting from young: regular exercises and healthy diet. Sound simple but when it comes to reality, most people will find it hard to follow.

But do remember one thing, getting off the extra kilos on your body is definitely not an easy task. So it is better not to add the extra kilo from the beginning.