Speaker 1: We heard about this CDC study and how the average Americans is 15 … Average American. I’m having quite a Monday today. If you’re listening for the first time all summer, give me a break and I’ll be better tomorrow. The average American in 15 pounds heavier than 20 years ago. Now, we’re going to let medical specialist, Dr. John Michels, do all the talking. Good morning, doctor, how are you?
Speaker 2: Hi, John.
Dr. John: Doing well. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: All right, give us the skinny on this study. Why are Americans fatter than they were just two decades ago?
Dr. John: Well, it’s multiple components. One, we are eating a higher amount of carbohydrates, a higher amount of sugars than we were, and we are far less active than we were 20 years ago. We are seeing in front of our iPods and our iPads and our phones and our computers and our television screen, so the combination of increased carbohydrates and caloric intake and less activity is why we are heavier as a society.
Speaker 1: Now, haven’t we always had rolls with dinner and eating sandwiches and had our share of potatoes? How are we having more carbs?
Dr. John: Well, interesting enough, as we are eating far more processed foods and part of this is, the medical community in the United States, we were promoting a high carbohydrate, low fat diet for years. Now that we’ve looked back on the trends in health in the United States, we’ve seen that obesity has increased since we were promoting those diets. We’ve recognized we need to take that food pyramid and turn it upside down.
Speaker 2: All right, Dr. John Michels joining us on Memphis Morning News. And, you talked about technology. Even just … There are so many basic things that can now be handled by computer, we lose probably a couple thousand steps a day on stuff that we used to have to do, even getting up and … I know a lot of people are probably a little too … Maybe we’re too young, but getting up and changing the channel. Even just simple stuff that would take 20, 30, 40, 50 steps, now a computer takes care of. Now, we’ve become almost a victim of our own technology.
Dr. John: We have. We are far too sedentary as a society, because technology has enabled us to do so. Even things like going to the store and having to buy clothes, we can now do online. You click on Amazon and you can have anything delivered to your house within a day or two. Our activity levels have significantly declined as a society and it’s having hazardous consequences on our health.
Speaker 1: All right, so we just take a few extra steps, maybe get foods that only have one ingredient, like a vegetable, a fruit, or a meat, and probably drink more water in that mix as well.
Dr. John: Absolutely, I say look at the ingredients on the back of the packages of what you’re consuming. If you can’t pronounce it, you shouldn’t eat it, because if you don’t recognize what it is, guess what? Your body doesn’t either and it doesn’t know what to do with it.
Speaker 2: Medical specialist, Dr. John Michels, thank you for joining us on Memphis Morning News. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this CDC report. Have a great day.
Dr. John: Thank you. You too.
Speaker 1: We could talk to him a lot longer. I’m going to circle his name, and he’s on a tight schedule today.
