Listening to the radio on the way to school, I heard a news report concerning the upswing in the number of surgical procedures done in this country. As they touched on a procedure I had undergone myself, I decided to listen for awhile.
The number one health complaint, according to this reporter and the statistics he cited, is back pain, at least among American adults. Having had my own spine fused a couple of years back and being very aware of the problem of back pain, what he had to say was a bit troubling.
According to statistics, about 20 percent of those who undergo major surgery really aren't better off afterwards, with a lot of folks even worse. Most do get some relief, although the level of improvement varies from individual to individual.
Then, the host of the radio program went on to say that in a lot of cases, less care would have been more suitable. Less as in less surgery, and more suitable as in more lifestyle change.
While injuries account for a lot of back problems (a fall on the ice precipitated my back issues), most likely the biggest impetus for all the back problems in our country can be traced to out-of-shape overweight people. My having been incapacitated for a time led to my gaining a significant amount of extra weight which has slowed my recovery from the problems I developed.
My back has now fully recovered from my surgery two year ago, but I am still feeling pain. Recent checkups made me face up to the real problem causing the pain to linger. My weight gain in the past few years is stressing my lower back and putting extra pressure on my joints, a problem I can deal with by returning at least to my pre-injury weight.
RTI International is a think tank that did research on Americans that reinforced conclusions to which a lot of health researchers have come. Obesity has become the greatest health risk in the country and the problem is accelerating from year to year.
Researchers generally agree that statistics demonstrate that about 35 percent of Americans are obese. Not just a little overweight, not just a little plump, but truly obese. Two-thirds of Americans are now overweight to some degree.
Comes the question, why? Why have U.S. citizens come to this state of being? Somewhere between 100,000 and 400,000 die each year due to complications brought on by obesity with health care costs relating to obesity running in the neighborhood of $147 billion dollars annually. That's $147,000,000,000 or about $50 for every man, woman and child living in America. Obesity has become far more debilitating than drinking and smoking put together.
The why is the more. More food, less nutrition. More free time, less exercise. More entertainment with participants seated and not moving, and less activities or entertainment requiring the movement of one's body.
"Less is more" is a catch phrase dating back to World War II when it was an artist movement that emphasized simplifying art composition. Less is more had been the guiding principal in most architectural work in recent years and less is more is even getting traction in the music community.
Of course, there are always experts who think they have simple solutions to what ails us. Barry Schwartz came out with a book "More is Less," pretty much ascribing America's problems with health and other areas as a result of our having too many choices -- too many activities, too many choices of food and too many choices in goods and services. He apparently thinks that Americans individually lack the brain power to handle all these choices with the result that we all suffer and are miserable.
The Huffington Post has a very simple way to correct America's health crisis. They believe that the way to go is to place a 20 percent federal tax on all kinds of sugar. In this way, the government will economically force citizens to eat more healthy foods thereby making them better off.
Isn't it amazing how the socialist/communist/Marxist mindset always resorts to the same mode of affecting change: Force. Force them by tax or law or by intimidation.
Things do need to change for our good and that of our country. We need to lose weight and to get physically stronger.
Pills and diets may help lose weight but the most effective way is to involve your cardio-vascular system. Weak, sluggish muscles are also weak on the cellular level, and the cellular level is where change has to come. Eating bad food and living in a polluted environment has left toxic wastes in our bodies, a process that has gone on for years in most folks' lives.
I'll continue this column next week with thoughts on nutrition and exercise. I think I can show where less can be more.
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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 01/22/2014