New data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the nation’s obesity epidemic is spiraling out of control.
According to the data, nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population is obese, making an astounding 70 percent of the country now either clinically overweight or obese, which puts those with an ideal or normal body mass index in the minority for the first time. And, according to other research published earlier this year, those with healthy body weights are more likely to be vegetarian or vegan, as plant-based diets are linked with maintained lower body mass index.
The findings point to an alarming rise in obesity rates among the nation’s children—one in ten preschoolers (2-5); one in five children aged 6-11; and one in five between the ages of 12-19 are now clinically obese. For adults, the obesity rates also continue to increase, up from 30.5 percent between 1999-2000 to 39.6 percent between 2015-2016.
So, what’s causing this epidemic?
There’s no one culprit, scientists note, but certain factors are playing a key role in the expansion of the nation’s waistline: sedentary lifestyle habits, excess sugar, salt, and fat in the diet, stress, medications, and lack of sleep all play considerable roles.
But there’s concern that one of the most reversible causes of obesity and weight gain is the nation’s excessive meat habit. A study published in 2016 by Australian researchers at the University of Adelaide found that “meat contributes to obesity prevalence worldwide at the same extent as sugar,” Professor Maciej Henneberg, head of the Biological Anthropology and Comparative Anatomy Research Unit told Science Daily.
These findings are significant; meat has long been touted as a necessary part of a healthy diet, but according to the researchers, its protein content – not fat — puts pressure on the body’s digestive system, which often “reserves” the meat-based protein for digestion at later times when it can handle the load at intervals – storing it in the interim, as, you guessed it, fat.
Add to that the widespread use of antibiotics in the nation’s meat supply, which is used often to boost an animal’s growth time to market weight, and it’s no surprise that antibiotics would have the same effect on the people who eat the animals laden with drugs.
There’s also the chemicals in livestock feed that may play a factor in weight gain. Much of the livestock animals in the U.S. are fed genetically modified corn, soy, and alfalfa, which are heavily treated with the endocrine-disrupting herbicide, glyphosate, known to cause metabolic issues at extremely low doses.
But there’s good news. Simply replacing animal-based foods with plants may be enough to reverse obesity or excess weight and aid in the prevention of diseases linked to higher body mass index, like cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes.
In June, research published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that subjects who ate a vegetarian diet lost twice as much weight as the control group and reduced body fat at a higher rate than those who ate meat.
“In the modern world in which we live,” noted PhD student Wenpeng You of the Adelaide study, “in order to curb obesity it may make sense for dietary guidelines to advise eating less meat, as well as eating less sugar.”
Takwimu mpya zilizotolewa na Kituo cha Kudhibiti na Kuzuia Magonjwa zinaonyesha kuwa janga la uzani wa taifa linazidi kuongezeka. Kwa mujibu wa takwimu, karibu asilimia 40 ya watu wa Marekani ni wanene kupita kiasi, na asilimia 70 ya watu nchini humo sasa ni wanene kupita kiasi au wanene kupita kiasi, na kwa mara ya kwanza, watu wenye kiwango cha kawaida cha mwili (BMI) ni wachache. Utafiti wa hivi karibuni unaonyesha kuwa watu wenye uzito wa mwili wa kawaida wana uwezekano mkubwa wa kuwa mboga au mboga, kwani vyakula vya mimea vina uhusiano na kudumisha kiwango cha chini cha mwili. Utafiti huo unaonyesha ongezeko la kiwango cha unene wa mwili miongoni mwa watoto nchini humo, mmoja kati ya watoto kumi wa shule ya mapema (watu wa umri wa miaka miwili hadi mitano), mmoja kati ya watoto watano wenye umri wa miaka sita hadi kumi na moja na mmoja kati ya watoto wa miaka kumi na miwili hadi kumi na tisa wana ugonjwa wa kunenepa kupita kiasi. Kwa watu wazima, viwango vya unene wa kupita kiasi pia vinaendelea kuongezeka, kutoka asilimia 30.5 kati ya 1999-2000 hadi asilimia 39.6 kati ya 2015-2016. Kwa hiyo, ni nini kinachosababisha janga hili? Hakuna mtu mmoja anayesababisha tatizo hilo, lakini kuna mambo fulani yanayofanya watu wengi wafanye hivyo: tabia ya kuishi bila kufanya kazi, kula sukari, chumvi, mafuta, mkazo, dawa, na kukosa usingizi. Lakini kuna wasiwasi kwamba moja ya sababu zinazoweza kubadilishwa zaidi za unene kupita kiasi na kuongezeka kwa uzito ni tabia ya kupita kiasi ya nyama ya taifa. "Utafiti uliochapishwa mwaka 2016 na watafiti wa Australia katika Chuo Kikuu cha Adelaide uligundua kwamba ""nyama inachangia kuenea kwa unene wa mwili ulimwenguni kote kwa kiwango sawa na sukari,"" Profesa Maciej Henneberg, mkuu wa Biological Anthropology na Comparative Anatomy Research Unit, aliambia Science Daily." Nyama imekuwa sehemu muhimu ya lishe yenye afya, lakini kulingana na watafiti, protini yake, sio mafuta, inaweka shinikizo kwenye mfumo wa kumeng'enya mwili, ambao mara nyingi huhifadhi protini ya nyama kwa ajili ya kumeng'enya wakati wa baadaye wakati unaweza kushughulikia mzigo kwa vipindi, kuhifadhi kwa muda mfupi. "Kujumuisha kwamba matumizi ya antibiotics katika ugavi wa nyama ya taifa, ambayo hutumiwa mara nyingi kuongeza wakati wa ukuaji wa mnyama kwa uzito wa soko, na haishangazi kwamba antibiotics itakuwa na athari sawa kwa watu ambao kula wanyama ""liwa na dawa.""" Pia kuna kemikali katika chakula cha mifugo ambayo inaweza kucheza sababu katika uzito. Wanyama wengi wa mifugo nchini Marekani wanalishwa mahindi, soya, na alfalfa zilizobadilishwa chembe za urithi, ambazo hutumiwa sana na glyphosate, dawa ya kuua magugu inayoathiri mfumo wa ndani, inayojulikana kusababisha matatizo ya kimetaboliki kwa kipimo cha chini sana. Lakini kuna habari njema. Kuchukua chakula cha wanyama kwa mimea inaweza kuwa ya kutosha kuzuia unene kupita kiasi na kusaidia kuzuia magonjwa yanayohusiana na kiwango cha juu cha mwili, kama vile ugonjwa wa moyo na ugonjwa wa kisukari wa aina ya 2. Utafiti uliochapishwa katika jarida la American College of Nutrition uligundua kuwa wale waliokula mboga walipoteza uzito mara mbili kuliko kikundi cha kudhibiti na walipunguza mafuta ya mwili kwa kiwango cha juu kuliko wale waliokula nyama. "Katika ulimwengu wa kisasa ambao tunaishi, "alibainisha mwanafunzi wa PhD Wenpeng You wa utafiti wa Adelaide, "ili kuzuia unene wa mwili inaweza kuwa na maana kwa miongozo ya lishe kushauri kula nyama kidogo, pamoja na kula sukari kidogo".