While most American’s dreamed of some day getting \”off the daily treadmill\” , there is strong evidence that the average American employee needs to do the exact opposite.
Obesity levels in America have reached epidemic levels in our nation and 2 out of every 3 adults are now categorized as overweight. This has put a tremendous strain on our health care system. Costs are spiraling out of control. While Congress and the President grapple with the means of providing health care to everyone perhaps it is time to ask ourselves who really is in control of our health.
It is estimated that 84% of all medical claims in the United States are the result of poor lifestyle choices such as poor diet, lack of exercise, and smoking. Those statistics seem a bit brutal when you consider some of the underlying reasons for our expanding waistlines. However, until Americans ( and their employers) face the fact that health insurance is not a replacement for healthy living our health care crisis will most likely to continue.
Have we gone soft? Are we in fact a lazy nation biurka młodzieżowe that has grown fat while the rest of the world suffers? No. We are growing larger because we are working harder. Sounds counter intuitive at first but this is a trend affecting every developed nation in the world. There is in fact a rising global obesity epidemic, including the nations of Japan and China.
The culprit? In a word: Chairs. The sedentary nature of employment prevents most employees from moving enough during the day to maintain optimal weight and health. Add to this the long commutes to work and the lack of exercise after work and it easy to see why the waistlines of many nations are growing along with their health care expenditures.
While we sit our bodies shut off the production of an enzyme known as Lipase, critical for burning fat. Calories meant to be burned by the muscles as fuel are stored instead in our adipose tissue (fat cells). Our metabolism and lymphatic systems slow as well making us more vulnerable to weight gain and disease.