Canada’s has an obesity epidemic on its hands!

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If you believe the headlines, Canada is in the middle of a serious epidemic. One of such enormous proportions that 1 in 4 Canadians is already affected – and the number is rising!

*yawn*

Yeah, that’s right, I’m tired of hearing about our so-called “obesity epidemic.” From public service announcements, to newspaper headlines to CBC’s latest “Live Right Now” series … please! Sure, we might be a little heavier than the generation before us, but is it really an epidemic – a word associated with the rampant spread of disease?

If 1 in 4 Canadians is now obese – and weren’t just a generation ago – wouldn’t that mean that 1 in 4 of us could no longer sit in an airplane seat? That all of our cars would need to be built with larger seats? That king-sized mattresses would make queen-sized mattresses obsolete? Or worse, that 1 in 4 of us is suffering from illnesses linked to obesity?

I would think that if one out of every four people in my community was obese, I’d see a whole lot of very large people waddling about my neighborhood. But I don’t. I just see the same old mix of people I’ve always seen.  

And the same thing goes for children. We hear so much about how this “obesity epidemic” is impacting our children the hardest. But where are all these poor children because when I look at the class photos of the children I know, I see maybe one or two slightly larger children in each class. But this has existed since the beginning of time – there’s always a few bigger kids, a few smaller kids and a bunch in the middle. Wasn’t it like that when you were a kid too?

So what does “obese” really mean anyhow? I’ll tell you what it means. It means anyone who scores a BMI of higher than 30. Which is me. Yep, by the BMI, I am obese.

But I would never refer to myself as obese. Sure I’m no bikini model, but by medical standards, I am perfectly healthy: blood pressure, glucose levels, cholesterol … you name it.

Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s important to try to restrict processed foods, eat junk only on Halloween, and do some physical activity every day. I just don’t think it’s worthy of headline space and the term “epidemic.”

Do you agree that this issue has been blown out of proportion or am I sorely deluded? Tell me!