During week 6, we welcomed a guest speaker to come and talk about the youth obesity epidemic. Baker Harrell, who is Founder/CEO of ACTIVE Life Movement, explains that, in order "to build strength, to enhance muscle size, to improve endurance and cardiovascular fitness, and to live a long, full life, it is important - if not essential - to remain healthy." Here's the link to the ACTIVE Life website:
http://www.activelifemovement.org/
This Austin based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization is dedicated to organizing the movement for healthy change in America. Their mission is to make healthy the norm by generating a persistent demand for healthy living among all sectors of society. After visiting this website and learning more about the organization, it became very clear as to why Harrell came and spoke to us about obesity. Our overall quest as a society is to better understand the root causes of the US youth obesity epidemic.
In the book "Why We Hate Fat People," the author explains how we are trying to understand our own attitudes about fatness. It is important to recognize that fatness has always had political connotations. Many years ago, historically speaking, fatness has always been associated with power, health, and well-being. The wealthy were typically fatter than the general population. Today, however, the reason that so many people think the rise of obesity is a cause for alarm is because of our own chronic feelings of helplessness.
Because children and adolescents mature along a spectrum of chronological age, assessments of youth overweight and obesity are more difficult than evaluations of adults. The many disparate and interrelated factors associated with the US youth obesity epidemic make comprehensive research on the issue a daunting task. We're looking for a balance, to make healthy the norm and to create a demand for healthy. It is important for all of us to commit to end this problem in order to save the future generations.
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