The information coming out about weight loss, obesity and our risk of preventable deaths is becoming public more and more each year. People in the health and fitness business are excited about the changes. Things we've been saying for years are now being proven and introduced through government funded studies. Even just ten years ago fitness experts who suggested this were considered to be making false claims, claims that were only available to the medical community.

Health is a touchy subject. Some people I speak to just don't want to hear it, they say I don't understand, they are ONLY speaking to me about weight loss and that they have such-n-such special medical considerations. They use these considerations to make excuses for not eating correctly. I explain to them the reasons and benefits of improving certain area . This information is usually ignored due to false concepts of what is really healthy eating.

It will be interesting to see the annual statement that the Surgeon General gives for 2003. Last year the report stated that weight is no longer a strictly personal issue. We are all affected by skyrocketing insurance costs, it has been proven that in the US there are 300,000 obesity related deaths, compared to 400,000 tobacco related deaths. My question is how many of those tobacco related deaths were actually obesity related? The report says that these deaths could prevented or at the very least improved through weight loss. This is where I must find fault with the report and say that it is this type of government message that has lead to the current obesity epidemic. Again people are told to lose weight, they are told health will improve with the weight loss and while this is somewhat true, the weight loss in itself will not solve the problem. Many, many times a weight loss is actually detrimental to the individuals health. Yes the weight is gone and for some reason health risk factors, such as blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol levels improve but if this weight loss was just a weight loss and not a body fat loss also those risk factors will soon (within months) be back to high or higher levels. So weight is lost yet the individual is still not well, blaming it on old age, or maybe an overactive youth. There are many excuses, they take more effort than the actual doing.!

Everything we see in print is focused on weight loss and to me this is one of the main causes of obesity. We've been dieting since the 60’s, yes there are other factors; over processed foods, junk food our inactive life styles, etc. What many people do not understand is that an individual can be thin or even just the "right weight" on the charts and be clinically obese. The body fat percentage is over 30 %. Obesity is based on our bodyfat percentage. We need to look at body fat reduction and general well being as a guideline for our perception of good health. If our perception of what it really takes to improve health and have true weight loss changed so that bodyfat reduction was the measured factor, we would all have improved health and a better quality of life.

Remember the medical community can keep us alive longer, it is up to us to have those years be quality years. We are responsible for our own well being.