US Obesity Rates Continue To Soar. It’s Time For A Real Solution – A Whole Food Plant-Based Solution.

In a recent article in the Washington Post, Ariana Eun Jung Cha writes:

“In 1990, there were plenty of people who were overweight and obese. But the problem was relatively limited with not a single one of our 50 states having an obesity prevalence equal to or greater than 15 percent.  Today, all of them do.”

In 2005 – 2008, 33.9% of persons aged 20 years or older were obese. (age adjusted to the year 2000 standard population)

As of 2014, none of the U.S. states had an obesity prevalence under 20%.

The US Dept. of Health and Human Services seeks to lower the national obesity prevalence to 30.5%. It’s listed as one of its Healthy 2020 goals.

So there were no states that had an obesity prevalence equal to or greater than 15 percent in 1990. My question is: If we reach a national obesity prevalence of 30.5% in 2020, will it be looked at as a success? If so, it would mean that our standards for public health will have reached an abysmally low point. By the looks of things, it doesn’t even appear like we are going to be able to reach this pathetic goal.

When I became a registered dietitian in 1990, obesity was already being recognized as a public health problem. Numerous national and state public health obesity prevention initiatives have sprung up since then.

The most recent on the national level are “Let’s Move” and “Choose My Plate”. These well-meaning initiatives, like initiatives before them, encourage regular physical activity and increasing fruit and vegetable intake. It’s hard to argue with these recommendations, but if you dig deeper, you will find that the recommendations aren’t much different than what was being recommended in 1990.

Dairy is included as a food group that is necessary for human health and low-fat or fat-free versions are recommended three times a day. This is counter to mountains of scientific evidence and, let’s face it, basic common sense.  And although oil is not listed as a food group, it’s included in diet patterns because oils contain essential nutrients. Nowhere is it mentioned that we can get these essential nutrients and many more with much fewer calories attached. It’s a much better idea to get our plant fats from whole plants rather than from extracted oils.

In addition to government sponsored public health initiatives, for-profit organizations have also been around to help people lose weight. They almost always succeed in the short-term and almost always fail in the long-term (5 years or greater).

I once worked as a nutrition consultant for a large health insurance company and one of my jobs was to review member applications for health care coverage for bariatric (obesity) surgeries. All such applicants are required to list numerous non-surgical attempts at weight loss verified by a health care provider. Almost without fail the list would include the most popular weight loss companies such as:

• Jenny Craig
• Weight Watchers,
• Nutrisystem
• Herbal Life and
• Optifast

They’d also often list popular fad diets like:

• The Atkins Diet
• The South Beach Diet and
• The Zone Diet

I used to get a kick out of how often members would say that these diets or programs worked. I found myself tactfully asking them to rethink their position as they were preparing themselves for body-altering surgery that was necessary because these diets or programs, in fact, didn’t work.

According to the former American Society for Bariatric Surgery (now the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, or ASMBS), the number of procedures increased from about 16,000 in the early 1990’s to more than 103,000 in 2003. The ASMBS estimates that 220,000 people in the US had surgery in 2008.

American taxpayers and consumers have spent billions of dollars on government public health initiatives, for-profit diet programs and countless diet books over the past 25 years. It appears that the war on obesity has been as effective as the war on drugs.

How much longer will it take for Americans to realize that another approach is needed?

During my time reviewing applications for bariatric surgeries, I don’t remember one applicant listing a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet as a non-surgical weight loss method that they had tried. No one ever mentioned that they tried diets promoted by Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. or Dr. Terri Shintani.

If you are suffering from obesity and you are looking to lose weight while regaining your health, it’s time to try a WFPB diet. To be healthy you have to eat healthy. Eating healthy requires you to eat a WFPB diet. A diet DOMINATED by fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes (beans, peas and lentils). Following a WFPB diet will allow you to recapture your health. If you need to lose weight, you will. Once you start feeling so much better, it will be easy to maintain the healthy lifestyle you’ve adopted. Soon your ‘diet” won’t feel like a diet. You’ll just eat foods that you love and that love you.

Click here for a “cheat” sheet to get you started.