One evening last week my wife and I ate at a newly opened Mexican restaurant where we were served plenty of great food. We enjoyed it until I noticed three morbidly obese ladies and their equally obese male companions in a booth near us. I am sure they were each over 350 pounds! Looking around I counted 28 patrons in the room, seven of whom were markedly obese! That’s exactly 25%! It took my appetite away. Sorry, I don’t mean to judge them, but they represent one of the major health problems in the US today, and I am not the first to note it. Newspapers are filled with articles on obesity just as bookstores are packed with diet books. Our First Lady has established a program to fight obesity in childhood. Everyone knows there is plenty of need!
Then Saturday we went to the Music City Marathon to watch our skinny son run 26.2 miles and his equally skinny 14 year-old son run half that far. Looking at them I was reminded of what my former partner said, “You’re not healthy unless your mother thinks you’re too skinny.” Then my mind wandered back to the patrons at the Mexican restaurant; what makes the difference in their weights? Could exercise and diet have anything to do with it? I am convinced!!!