The NYTimes ran a well-written op-ed on Sunday that focused on obesity. Here's the link to that article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/opinion/is-obesity-ok.html. It brings forth a question that many in the health field have pondered aloud while the lay public have largely remained silent. Is that because so many of those adult American's are obese and simply don't want to talk about it? According to the Center's for Disease Control (CDC), more than one-third (34.9%) of adults in the US are obese. They are at increased risk for heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Scientist are in agreement that most of these diseases are largely preventable. And with an annual medical cost of 147 billion dollars, it is no wonder that we are finally talking and writing openly about obesity. The question on the table is do we embrace ourselves or others that are obese to accept and love themselves 'as is', or do we acknowledge that it is a medical diagnosis with a real sense of urgency? Read it yourself, along with the positions taken by those who responded, especially that penned by Honor Murphy of Easton, MD, and ponder for yourself.
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Image by Marta Monteiro The New York Times June 28, 2014 The Opinion Pages
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html. Accessed on July 1, 2014.