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The title of this blog usually refers to roller coaster rides and riders having a minimum height requirement. Recently, this has been taken to the next level at the new Universal Studios' Harry Potter themed park in Orlando, FL. Potential riders were turned away from the 'Wizarding World's' ride because their girth was too much for the safety restraints to secure them. This Yahoo! post exclaims the predicament.
Most people remember the feeling of not being tall enough to ride an amusement park ride, but some would-be riders of the signature attraction at Universal Studios' new "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" theme park in Orlando are being turned away because of their girth. The ride, "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," employs individual restraints to keep each guest tucked in to his or her seat, but the restraints aren't large enough to accommodate heavier riders.
The article goes on to state a growing problem in the US, people are becoming significantly overweight (quote link does not work).
That's all fine and good, but considering the average weight of an American man is 191 pounds (and rising: in 1960 it was 166 pounds), "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" could be turning away quite a few potential revelers.
I am not going to make an outright political statement here, but I am going to make a cultural critique. This effect is not limited to the US anymore just to point out the problem's extent. Everyone argues why the world is getting larger, I have a theory below.
We as Americans are getting larger due to two main reasons, lack of exercise and diet. The lack of exercise makes a person unhealthy. Before the exercise craze of the 1980's, most adult Americans did not exercise significantly. In the past average Americans were not the healthiest around, but at least the majority were not overweight. This leaves one last culprit, poor diet. I truly believe what is packing on the pounds is an overload of sugars in the diet. The easiest sugar sources to remove would be soft drinks and snacks. Even if one accomplishes that goal, the amount of sugar found in food sources such as cereals and other processed foods are enormous. Go to a supermarket and look at the amount of sugar in "healthy" cereals? Most tend to have a minimum of 19 grams per cup and the second ingredient on the box is sugar!! Multiply this amount through most of the foods we eat. Sugar has little nutritional value and creates body fat if a significant amount is consumed. Excessive amounts of consumed sugar is the problem.
First of all, Happy New Years y'all! This post is over a socially complex topic that needs addressing for the health of American citizens for decades to come. Overweight people in our society. This study based upon the effects of eating cheese on weight loss flies in the face of the prevailing wisdom often given to us by our medical doctors. High fat food that has the ability to reduce weight? It turns out that an individual's metabolism is increased through the ingesting of conjugated linoleic acid found in cheese. This does not surprise me that an element like this in a supposed bad food makes people thinner to a degree. Look at the French, they eat lots of rich foods and remain thin. The issue at hand has a weight loss diet competing with a healthy diet.
Fat in general has been labeled a negative factor ever since the Framingham Heart Study (began in 1948) identified a diet high in animal fats contributes to heart diseases. If you dig further into the topic, it specifically is saturated fat that contributes to heart disease and not unsaturated fats (mononunsaturated and polyunsaturated). Unsaturated fats are beneficial for humans and are necessary for life. The general name "fat" also gives us a visual impression of an overweight individual. Cheese is loaded with unsaturated and saturated fat, so the benefits from linoleic acid would not outweight the negative effects from fat. Here is the conflict. Yes, excessive amounts of fat in cheese could potentially (depends on individual) contribute to heart disease, thus, limiting the amount of cheese would be advisable.
What contributes to gaining weight is excessive calorie consumption in comparison to the body burning calories through physical activities. Excessive calories are stored by the body as human fat. Consumed fats (from food) are low in calories. The human body does not take in significant amounts of calories from food fats. Even though saturated food fat is not healthy, it will not lead to significant weight increase. Excessive calories tend to come from an overload in carbohydrates, i.e. sugars and breads. Here is the conflict within the layman's reasoning. The reality is a healthy diet may lead to weight gain. Other side of the coin is an unhealthy diet may lead to weight loss. Dr. Atkins diet, if not carefully intepreted, can result in a poor diet leading to weight loss. The conundrum of the French eating rich foods like cheese makes rational sense if analyzed in the proper manner.
Conquering the overweight American may require more studies similar to this cheese study and rethinking the way we view certain foods. Healthy and weight sensible are different. More factors than mentioned in this blog are at play. The final step would be to properly educate the public.
