so the latest numbers are out and they don’t look good for mississippi. the cdc has reported that we are once again the most overweight and obese state in the country. 34.9% of our state is obese. that means, if you randomly picked 10 mississippians, the odds are that at least three of those individuals would be obese. another four would be overweight. that leaves just three individuals that would likely fall into the “normal” category – and three is optimistic.
when the latest numbers come out so do the cynics. these are the people that will say, “i’ll eat to that!” or “at least we are first in something!” unfortunately, these are people that just want to ignore the problem and continue living a life of ignorance. there are also the people that recognize the problem but are not sure what to do about it, so they just go about their regular routines and trust that somebody, somewhere will do something to fix it. luckily, there are people in our state that recognize the severity of this issue and how it literally weighs us down economically and socially who are actively trying to fix the problem. they are community leaders, politicians, business owners or just moms and dads that have resolved to make their household healthier. you see, we can all be part of the solution to making a healthier mississippi!
here are 10 ways that you can help get our state healthier. please implement, practice and share these ideas so that we can all be active in fighting obesity and making mississippi better!
1. start with yourself. eat healthier, get active and stop making excuses!
2. eat meals with your family at a table. teach your children the right way to enjoy food.
3. support/shop local. local businesses have more of an investment in their communities and will respond to their communities needs more appropriately than national and multinational operations.
4. support restaurants that offer healthy options and vegetarian/vegan meals.
5. buy from your farmer’s market and local farmers. we have an OVERabundance of healthy good in mississippi and somehow manage to NOT take advantage of it.
6. participate in free exercise opportunities such as fleet feet’s poker runs or liveRIGHTnowonline.com’s hill runs. even better, you can develop your own neighborhood or community run/walk/bike group.
7. take advantage of what mississippi has to offer – warm climate, fertile land, an abundance of natural resources and ample water ways – instead of complaining about what we don’t have.
8. don’t play the blame game. we are all part of the problem until the problem is solved!
9. make exercise fun for you and your family. instead of buying your kids toys and games that will be used indoors, buy them an outdoor game or toy. reward your children for being active and eating healthy.
10. avoid fast food like the plague and learn how to make “fast” meals at home with real food!
do something proactive and be part of the solution!