Obesity in Michigan

I spent a week in Dearborn, Michigan (Henry Ford country) helping out my godmom with stuff. Now I've been there before but this time, I was flabbergasted at what I saw. And that is just how obese Americans have become! Especially in Michigan. It's just absolutely shocking. And it's not how fat some individuals are, rather it's the number of obese people I encountered as I walked along the street and malls. It really felt like a Twilight Zone episode. I guess one of the reasons why I'm noticing this so much, is that I've just spent a year in Estonia, where there is the occasional overweight person (especially when I looked in the mirror :-) ), but certainly not enough to really notice a trend. In fact, I'd hazard to say that most people in that region (the Baltics, Russia, Finland) seem to be quite fit and health conscience. In Michigan though - it's just so sad.

The kicker was when we entered a supermarket to buy some food for the week. We lined up at the cash register and I couldn't help but notice what the people in front of us had in their cart. It was overflowing with bags of potato chips (I counted 6 large bags!!), beer, pop, ice cream, candy, etc... I didn't see any juice or vegetables but did see some apples and peaches. Looking around at the other carts, the same sad story emerged. There is no mystery why these folks are fat.

I got curious at where Michigan ranks in the U.S. in obesity. They are ranked number 2, behind Mississippi, according to a recent report.

So are these obese people aware that they even have a problem? Apparently not - read here.

Found this sad graphic (circa. 2000) of those states in America where obesity is a problem.

So to say many Americans are fat & lazy may not be kind or fair or even accurate. But, from my standpoint, visually at least, it sure did look like it in Michigan last week...

Words that kept buzzing through my head over the week:

1. Apathy
2. Entitlement
3. Sleepwalking
4. Instant gratification
5. No self-esteem
6. Debt
7. Big a$$ cars

And maybe, just maybe, too much freedom may not be such a great thing afterall.