No matter what your politics, the USA has a dirty little secret. Or maybe it is evident to all who take off their rose colored glasses. We are a country of obese people struggling toward a healthier lifestyle.

Below is a post by my wonderful executive coaching friend, A Danish man who lives in Hong Kong. It is interesting to get a non-American’s take on our epidemic. Take a look at his blog and see if you can benefit from his story and his take on addiction of all sorts.

What addiction do you fight?

What is the monster you need to slay?

You may just get your answers from Coach Tomas Bay.

Fat Monsters!

What addiction do you fight? What is the monster you need to slay? You may just get your answers from Coach Tomas Bay.

President Obama is currently on a mission to reform the US health system. The US spends around US$ 2.3 trillion on health care annually, and has the highest spending per capita globally. Yet, it is one of the only countries in the developed world that does not provide health care coverage for all its citizens.

There are a number of reasons for the higher cost per capita. The rising costs of medical technology and prescription drugs coupled with a high administrative costs as US deploys a complex multiple payer system are just some. The system has been called inefficient and ineffective.

So what does this have to do with Beat the Monster? Let me get to it… 75% of the US health care spending now goes to treat “preventable chronic diseases.” Most of these diseases are related to obesity, which in most cases is caused by bad habits.

The US is spending US$147 billion annually to treat obesity, US$116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and the many types of cancer that have been linked to the American diet.

More than 30% of the US population is obese (BMI>30) and that comes from a poor diet coupled with little exercise. This is where we come to habits! While the US is leading, overweight and obesity is becoming a general problem not only in the USA and the Western world but also in other countries such as China.

To battle obesity, New York City has just launched a campaign against high-calorie beverages. These sugary drinks have been a major factor in the rise of obesity. It has taken years to develop the ads, and they are in your face similar to some of the anti-smoking ads. They all show a sugary drink being into a glass where the liquid turns into human fat.

Governments have an important role to play if they so decide. During the last two decades, we have seen how smoking has been reduced in most developed countries due to education, higher taxes and enforcing laws making it harder to smoke. The USA lead the anti-smoking campaign and with great success. Obesity might be next but…

In the US, the health care industry presently finds it more profitable to treat chronic diseases than to educate people on diet and exercise. That is wrong! But obesity is highly political and there are many interest groups including the insurance companies, medical companies, the food industry, beverage companies and the list goes on… An article in NY Times this month said “The American way of eating has become the elephant in the room in the debate over health care.”

But it is not just about the system, it is very much about individual responsibility. I do believe in a health care system that covers all citizens but I also believe that each of us have a responsibility to take care of of our own health and the health of our kids.

With or without the support of the system, we cannot just abuse our bodies for years and then expect the system to take care of our lifestyle related diseases. We have to own this ourselves.

Dude, no time for losers. Step up and own it! Say NO to Fat Monsters!

www.beatthemonster.com