Obesity Prevention: An Overview
Over 130 million adult Americans are either overweight or obese
(see Obesity Statistics). Even more worrisome is the rising number of children who are also overweight or obese
(see Childhood Obesity). These numbers, plus the health risks associated with obesity
(see Health Effects of Obesity), are making obesity one of the most serious health problems in society today.
As with most conditions, the old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," also holds true with obesity. Fortunately, in most cases, obesity can be prevented. How?
Obesity prevention begins with understanding that the actual cause of weight gain is as simple as eating more calories than the body can burn on a daily basis. Therefore, preventing obesity is about maintaining a balance between "calories-in" versus "calories-out."
Obesity Prevention: Increase the Burn
Understanding how many calories you burn on a daily basis will help you understand how many calories you should be eating in order to maintain this equal balance of "calories in" versus "calories out."
Everyone burns a different amount of calories each day. Things such as age, activity level, medications, medical conditions, and genetics play a role in the number of calories a person can burn. Some of these factors you cannot control -- age being the most obvious. However, there are a number of other things that you have direct control over. Experts agree that one of the most important things that you can do to prevent obesity is to increase physical activity.
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