Self-defeating behavior at its best

There are any number of paths to take when discussing the obesity epidemic in America, and most of them have been beaten to death. We are all basically aware by now that obesity rates have gone parabolic in the last two decades, doubling in adults and tripling among children. Reasons are well-documented--we're not exercising enough, we're eating too much, we're eating the wrong foods, the quality of food produced has declined, ad nauseum.

But a study published yesterday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine placed a new spin on the issue, finding that Americans are in fact engaging in self-defeating behavior when it comes to their health. In a study that categorized activity by type (sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous), doctors found that:

Only 5.07 percent of Americans reported doing any vigorous-intensity activity like running, while at the other end of the scale, more than 95 percent said they had engaged in the highly sedentary activity of eating and drinking. The next most common activity was another sedentary one -- watching television or a movie, which eight in 10 Americans did.

The "most frequently reported moderate activities were food and drink preparation (25.7 percent), followed by lawn, garden, and houseplant care (10.6 percent)," the study said.

It's already been well-documented that relatively few Americans are engaging in sufficient vigorous exercise. But I think that the finding that the most frequent moderate activity (the next level below vigorous) was preparing a meal is more interesting. I'm not even certain how this qualifies as a moderate activity to begin with, but it's the absolute epitome of self-defeating behavior. The only thing I can imagine that would be worse would be if Americans' most vigorous activity in a day was to get in their car and drive to the McDonald's drive-thru.

Self-defeating behavior is never pretty, and it's something that I've discussed in multiple contexts already on this blog. But this is a new one, and I don't have much to add on the topic except to shake my head and say, "wow".

[PhysOrg.com]