QUESTION: I am pretty overweight and want to make weight loss my New Year's resolution. Any advice?

ANSWER........................................

Obesity is a huge, pun intended, national problem. Studies have shown that at least 50 percent of people over age 20 are overweight or obese. At any given time almost 50 percent of women and 30 percent of men are trying to lose weight.

Why are so fat? Although this is a very complex issue, it is one that is probably easy to answer. We eat too much, of the wrong foods (I found one study that noted that junk food makes up 25 percent of the NZ diet), and do not exercise enough. Although I know this sounds like I have over-simplified the problem, this is the basic underlying cause behind our obesity epidemic.

Our eating habits add to the problem. We eat too fast, which contributes to overeating (there is not enough time for our body to tell us we are full). Do you put another forkful of food in your mouth before you finish chewing and swallowing what is already there? Our portions are way too big.

Airlines are having a problem with increased fuel costs flying us around due to increased average weight of passengers. The airline seats are not big enough for some, spurring controversy as to whether extremely obese people should be forced to buy two seats. The Coast Guard is considering revamping its regulations for calculating the number of people that can safely be onboard a ship. Although I have not heard this yet, can a recalculation of safety for the number of people allowed in elevators, and possibly other situations, be far behind?

The obesity epidemic is reaching our children as well. I found one study that noted that only 4 percent of kids age 6-11 were overweight in the 1960s and early 70s, but this had climbed to 7 percent by 1980, up to 11 percent by the mid 90s, and is up to 16 percent now. For teenagers the numbers are very similar, up from 5 percent in the 1960s to 16 percent now.

So, big deal, why should we care if we are all fat? Well, obesity is rapidly approaching smoking as the leading modifiable risk factor for death. Being obese increases the risks for many diseases. Heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes (as well as insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome) are diseases most of us are aware of that are increased by being obese.

Yet many people do not know that obesity is also a leading risk factor for many types of cancer; these include colon, uterine, gallbladder, kidney, esophageal, breast as well as others. Many other diseases, such as gallbladder disease, depression, lung disease and sleep apnea are also more common in overweight people.

With obesity increasing risks for all this, it is not surprising that studies have shown that being overweight decreases your life expectancy. Add to this that quality of life and a person's general feeling of their own well-being is also negatively impacted by being obese. What does all this tell us? Being obese decreases the quality and quantity of a person's life.

To turn your families life around sign up to GetKidsActive.com and for more information email the GKA team.