Not only are the Rich getting Richer, the FAT are getting FATTER!

We read this story today and it really sparked some discussion between BS and myself. (Click pic for full article.)

Here's the brief synopsis:

"People who are 100 pounds (45 kg) or more overweight are the fastest-growing group of overweight people in the United States, researchers reported on Monday.

They found the proportion of the severely obese was 50 percent higher in 2005 than it had been in 2000 -- a startling rate of growth."

What the hell is going on here? It seems like we (as in 'we the people') are spiralling down toward a sad end at the bottom of a huge barrel of cheezy french fries. The human body wasn't designed to eat this much food and look like this. The article goes on to talk about how that even though bariatric surgeries have increased more than 15 times in the past 8 years, we are still getting fatter.

And it's not even just that the skinny folks are getting fat. That's still happening, as more than 30% of Americans are "overweight." The "killer" here is that the most fat of us are getting even more fat. That even as we realize the normal BIG & TALL stores are running out of sizes for us to try, we continue our quest toward world-record fattitude.

Look, I'm not here to say that eating healthy and being thin are easy... I've been "overweight" since I was 10 years old, in varying degrees. But in the past 5 years, weight loss programs such as WW have taken off, and the internet is certainly helping to assist even the homebound or shy who don't want to hit the meetings.

What I am saying is that with all the media attention and dire health warnings out there, why are the ranks of the superfat are dramatically increasing?

To answer that question we look toward those responsible. Certainly each of us maintains culpability. But we need to look toward our food sources and our infrastructure. More of us work in little containers in big office buildings, never getting off our fat asses except to go to lunch. And when we go to lunch we are bombarded with amazing foods rich with bacon and cheese and sauce and bread.

I think we'll need a true culture shift, much like when a company needs to change the attitudes of their workforce. That culture shift toward healthy eating and healthy living is the only thing that will stop the insanity and lead us to thinsanity.