Michelle Obama: Health More Important Than Obesity

In a web chat on Tuesday, Michelle Obama discussed her anti-obesity campaign on AOL Health.

She was asked about how she helps her own daughters with regards to obesity. She said, according to Associated Press, that she discusses health and not weight.

This is an important consideration. Many websites offer help with dieting and exercises and many of them offer a weight tracker. This leads many people, parents and children alike, to think the weight of a person is the only indicator of over-all health. In fact, skinny people are often at risk for diseases as well that are linked to obesity, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.

There are many factors that contribute to a person’s overall health, and that includes genetics just as much as weight. Yes, obesity is a health risk that causes many problems but if the focus is more on eating right and being active, the weight will settle to a comfortable zone all on its own.

Many people become discourage when first trying to get healthy because their weight does not come down. If they are exercising, using weights for example, they will find that their weight will not decrease at the same speed as someone who does aerobic exercises. This is because they are increasing their muscle mass at the same time they are decreasing the size of fat cells. Muscle mass weighs more than fat cells do and so the benefits will not be seen on the scale.

Michelle Obama has done much to help provide insight to parents in how to combat obesity in children. The rate of obesity in America for children and adults has sharply increased over the past decade to today where 38 states have adult obesity rates above 25 percent. If a child is obese, he or she will likely be obese as an adult as it is about lifestyle choices. What a child learns in childhood, he or she will carry it over into adulthood.

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