Get active!

Being overweight is not normal — get active and do something about it.

In Australia, we are fatter than we have ever been. Fifty years ago it was rare to see an obese person and those who were fat more often than not suffered from a glandular condition. Today more than half the population is overweight, making being overweight seem normal and obesity more acceptable. While there may be some comfort carrying excess weight when those around you are also overweight, there’s no comfort when you join the epidemic numbers falling prey to chronic illnesses like heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. There’s no comfort when you can’t wear the clothes you’d like to wear, play with the kids, fit comfortably in a seat at the movies or on a plane or bear to look at yourself in a mirror.

Our ancestors were rarely fat — why? They were active. Since humans invented the wheel there have been so many inventions that reduce time and consequently the amount of energy we expend. We save time driving cars, chucking clothes into the washing machine and dryer, taking the lift instead of the stairs, ordering home-delivered meals and outsourcing household tasks. It gives us more time to open a packet of biscuits to munch on while we work on the computer, watch TV or DVDs.

One hundred years ago our ancestors were busy hand-washing, hanging the clothes on the line, walking to the shops and school to pick up the kids, cooking and baking in the kitchen, mowing the lawn and then, when they had time, planning their own entertainment, which would probably be something active like going to a dance.

It proves two things: