The Health, Fitness, Wellness industry has been the object of my passion for nearly 40 years. Through the years, I have worked with a variety of businesses, organizations and personal clients. My professional experiences along with being a mother of two has moved me to become an advocate for healthy changes in schools, families, neighborhoods and businesses. Along with that I have partnered with and trained fitness and wellness professionals as well as business and community leaders who share this passion for helping individuals and communities foster positive healthful change.
While I am proud of all the good things that we accomplished in so many areas, effecting hundreds of individuals, families, schools, and neighborhoods, I am also saddened and dismayed to see that our society and nation as a whole, has continued to become unhealthy, overweight, and over fat. We seem to be in a downward spiral, unable to pull ourselves out.
Take a look at these numbers. 
The Centers for Disease Control and the National Center of Health Statistics reports that in 1963, we were an over fat nation with almost half (46%) of adults falling into the overweight, obese or extremely obese classification.
By 2010, that percentage had climbed to 75% - Three quarters of the adults in the United States! (1) The number of overweight children has tripled and the incidence of obesity in children has doubled. With all the effort, education and resources to combat these trends, sadly,we have failed.
Health Care Costs
What does this trend mean long term? I am not talking about the basic short-term crisis we face as we remain mired in our fatness. I am talking about the long-term health and financial consequences to our country and our society.
We are extremely blessed to live in a country with so much abundance and so many resources. But our most precious resource, and the one that will determine the future of our nation is our youth.
How is our current crisis affecting our children and our country? First, obesity is related to almost every disease, including: Cancer, Heart Disease, Stroke, Type 2 Diabetes, Liver Disease, Respiratory Disorders, Osteoarthritis and Mental Health Conditions, including Depression. This may sound like I am overreacting; like I am some fitness nut who thinks that everyone should meet some ideal of weight and fitness. But these are the statistics and this is what we may be headed for as a country if we don’t change our course.
In essence, we are creating a generation of DIS-ABILITY. Is this the future we want for our children? And what is the cost of all this self inflicted disease?
One study estimated that obesity accounts for 21 percent of medical spending, a staggering $190 billion in 2005.
The following graph depicts the projected health care costs directly attributed to overweight and obese adults. It shows costs rising from about 300 Billion dollars (This many zeros: $900,000,000,000.00) in 2015 to almost 100 Billion dollars over the next 15 years. This is more than tripling our health care costs! And this is ONLY for adults and ONLY represents DIRECT costs. It does not take into account indirect costs such as loss of productivity due to sick leave,
The crisis we face is that our health care system relies on a healthy younger generation who can work and contribute. This system provides for the older generation who may no longer be working and who, as a result of age, tend to have greater health care needs. How old will you be in 15 years. If you have children, how old will they be? Will any of us be able to support such a heavy burden to our system?
Instead of cultivating this system, we are effectively destabilizing it. It scares me to think about this future, the future of our kids and the future of our families and neighborhoods, over something that we can mend; something that is certainly possible and really not so difficult. We cannot have a healthy community or nation when that which is our essential make up (our citizens) is not well.
We have proven throughout the history of our country what we can do when we are united toward a common cause.
We must get back to nurturing our essential selves and build a better future for our families and our society.
I decided to write a book about Wellness because I believe that people can and will make better choices if they know how, and have the tools/resources to do so.
I believe that people who make better choices about wellness, contribute toward a healthy society. And that by being mindful about food, movement, well-being, and relationships, we can change the world. My book (unofficially titled), From Overwhelmed to Inspired will be out soon. I hope you will join me on a journey toward Wellness. Together we CAN do this!
