Here in the United States, far too many people have become the victim of an unhealthy lifestyle. As of the year of 2010, nearly 80 million adults and more than 12 million children had been medically classified as obese. And this problem, if we don’t put a stop to it now, is only likely to escalate – and has done so in the years that have followed since. By the time that we reach the year of 2030, now only just over a decade away, up to half of all adults are likely to have reached the point of obesity.
Much of this can be attributed to an unhealthy diet. Speed and convenience have become king, and many people feel too tired to cook healthful and nutritious meals at the end of a long work day. With fast food restaurant locations having doubled over the course of the last 50 years or so, access to delicious and quick but wholly unhealthy food has spurred on obesity, filling people with refined sugars and high levels of sodium and unhealthy fats and beyond.
A lack of exercise in the general population also plays a key role. Unfortunately, this problem is rife among many populations, including children and adults alike. Among children, who should be getting around an hour of physical activity each and every day, only around one third are getting up and moving as they should be. Instead, kids these days are using more electronic devices than ever before. In the typical day, an average child will engage with various screens for as many as seven and a half hours, something that can seriously impact and limit the amount of physical activity that they ultimately get.
And many adults are leading sedentary lives as well. For the vast majority of the population, exercise is not a regular part of the day. After all, data has shown that less than 5% of all adults in this country are getting active for even a mere half of an hour in the day. In addition to this, less than half of all people who fall into this population are meeting exercise guidelines on a weekly basis. For far too many people, the days can seem too busy and too stressful to take the time to exercise, something that will be hugely detrimental down the road.
After all, the consequences of obesity are quite serious indeed. Type 2 diabetes has become a very real threat to many, with up to one third of the total population of adults in this country currently diagnosed – and many more likely to be diagnosed in the years that are to come. In addition to this, heart disease, cancer, and stroke all become more likely when someone lives at an unhealthy weight for quite some period of time. For many people, living this way and continuing to gain weight can be nothing less than a death sentence.
Fortunately, getting up and moving can help the weight to come off – and the body to become stronger from the inside out. Buying home fitness equipment at home fitness stores is an option that will be suitable for many. Home fitness equipment comes in many different varieties, and the typical people who work at your typical home fitness store can help to point you in the right direction. Of course, premium fitness equipment is also likely to be available, and this type of fitness equipment can bring all of the luxury of a gym or a health club right to your very own home.
But you don’t even need fancy fitness equipment to get a good workout in. In lieu of fancy fitness equipment or really any fitness equipment at all, even just walking more than you’re used to can have a profound impact on your fitness level and overall health. Starting with small changes like getting up and walking can make getting into shape feel much more manageable as well, something that many people struggle with at the beginning of any weight loss journey. At the end of the day, there is certainly no one right way to get in shape.
