BOOMER BUST
“You are obese! What are you going to do about it?” Weight affects Boomers beyond the scale
By Chris Shogren-Thompson
Baby boomers span the world of middle-age to the throngs of retirement. Our lifestyle is different than when we were 20 and most of us realize it when we throw on our clothes, bend over to tie our shoes, or walk up a flight of stairs.
We are fighting love handles to beer bellies, facing the reality that our metabolism just isn’t the same as it was a few years ago.
The New Year has come and many of us have started the proverbial treadmill: Exercise, diet, and new goals to be a thinner, fitter, healthy person. The real question is whether or not this year will be any different than the many years before. Will we actually lose the weight? Will we honestly stick to our exercise regime? And realistically, why should we?
I walked into my doctor’s office for my annual check-up. I stepped on the scale. Of course that was after carefully selecting what I would wear that day. Flips flops were a must paired with shorts and a very lightweight top. That alone would be worth a pound or two.
My doctor walks into the examining room. He looks at my chart. He looks at me and reiterates the facts I already know. You are 5’6” tall and you weigh 187 pounds. I nod my head. He then says the blowing words, “You are obese and you need to lose weight!”
My doctor may be an anomaly. According to a 2009 Yale University’s Rudd Center policy brief, “Weight Bias A Social Injustice Issue,” when physicians see overweight patients they tend to spend less time with them in the examining room, engage in less discussion, are reluctant to perform preventive health screenings such as pelvic exams, cancer screenings, and mammograms, and do less intervention.
I am thankful he asked the follow-up question, “What are you going to do about it?”
Now for some, those words alone would create despair, but for me it was a challenge. When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t see obese. I saw healthy proportions, middle-age setting in. But as he said those words, all I could see was the camera crew descending upon me after being nominated by my kids for “The Biggest Loser.” That’s a scenario I did not want coming to fruition.
The American Heart Association released a 2010 report updating statistics of the number of men and women who are categorized as overweight with a body mass index (BMI) of 25.0 kg/m2 and higher at 66.7% of women and 78.5% of men age 45-54; and 69.5% of women and 79.6% of men age 55-64. Those that are considered obese have a BMI of 30.0 kg/m2 and higher are 34.3% of women and 39.8% of men age 45-54; and 38.5% of women and 40.7% of men age 55-64.
The bottom line is that two out of every three women and three out of every four men are overweight. These numbers should alarm any of us.
It’s time we take a long hard look at weight loss not as the latest fad or New Year’s resolution, but as a “must-do” for ourselves and our families.
Anessa Kaul, RN at the Arizona Heart Institute, sees patients on a daily basis whose health concerns are impacted by overweight and obesity factors. She stresses the importance of maintaining a healthy weight.
Kaul indicates there are risk factors overweight boomers face that are to be expected: Being overweight naturally impacts our heart. The increased risk of adult-onset diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol should not be overlooked, nor some cancers.
There are risk factors though that Kaul addresses which seem to be under our radar screens.
She points out one of the greatest risks we have when we are overweight is the potential of passing health risks down to our children. As we pack on the pounds, we send a “health sentence” to our family.
If mom or dad have diabetes, high cholesterol, arthritis or any number of ailments that often accompany weight gain, those will be the bullet points “Johnny and Jane” will need to remember for a lifetime as they edge toward middle-age and retirement. “Thanking” mom and dad for their medical history while contemplating which specialist they need to see themselves will be the tribute we parents receive, like it or not.
The carrying of extra pounds can also create added stress in our lives, often affecting our relationships with our spouse, kids, and parents, along with the mere rejection by society on the whole.
Our emotional stability can teeter with the growth of our girth, leaving us to deal with anxiety and throwing us into depression. As we look in the mirror, our body image may diminish over time, giving a sense of low self-esteem. As we sink into an emotional abyss, suicidal thoughts and acts can surface.
With America in the throw of a recession, the last place we want weight to impact our lives is in the job arena. The U.S. Department of Labor announced in a January 8, 2010 report that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 10 percent.
The Yale University brief pointed out that a 2007 study of over 2,800 Americans found overweight individuals to be 12 times more likely to experience weight based employment discrimination than “normal” weight adults, obese individuals were 37 times more likely, and severely obese were 100 times more likely to be discriminated against.
The report goes on to say overweight people earn one to six percent less than non-overweight counterparts and receive fewer promotions.
Your 2010 living well regime will be dependent on you. The question is, “Will you make it a life choice without regrets?”
“You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it,” said Lee Iacocca, former Chrysler Corporation CEO. “It's called perseverance.”
Imagine the future for your kids and your grandkids, let alone yourself. Tie your shoes and run up a flight of stairs. Your grandkids are waiting for you to arrive.
Chris Shogren-Thompson currently serves as Vice-President on the Board of Education in Winthrop Harbor, IL, is a freelance journalist and a contributing writer to www.REELChicago.com.
