A physiotherapist is hoping to start a chain reaction in the community from a talk he plans to give next Tuesday on the obesity epidemic facing the community and society at-large.
Terry Hawken estimates 80 per cent of the clients he sees at the Innisfail Health Centre are overweight.
The issue has become so pressing, that he said he feels a public discussion about weight gain, lifestyle choices, and the obesity epidemic is warranted.
His free talk is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 1 at the Innisfail Legion.
Not only does he hope to pack the place with an audience willing to listen, but he said he also hopes to spur change in the community.
"I hope that if they've learned something new they talk about how it will affect them. I hope if teachers are there they will go back to the classroom and maybe ask ëwho eats breakfast?' I want us all to have this discussion," said Hawken.
He said he realizes that there is a stigma with attending such a talk.
"Overweight is the new normal. It's scary to think that that's how our kids are growing up thinking this is normal. This is not normal," he said.
Three out of five Canadian adults and one out of four Canadian children are either overweight or obese, according to statistics Hawken has compiled.
"We know excess weight isn't healthy and contributes to numerous diseases including cancer, stroke, heart attack, diabetes and early osteoarthritis. Unfortunately, our success at weight loss is abysmal," he said.
The New England Journal of Medicine recently suggested today's children may be the first generation to have shorter expected life spans than their parents, and obesity is the prime reason, according to Hawken.
"Our approach to weight loss generally doesn't work because only recently have we begun to understand what drives us to eat the way we do."
Sugar and fat stimulate neurotransmitters in the brain such as dopamine which focus our attention and causes arousal, he said, similar to drugs such as morphine, nicotine and alcohol.
"We essentially become addicted to the high levels of sugar and fat in junk food and fast food."
In addition, he blames the food industry for marketing bigger is better and cheaper.
"Full meal deals, super big gulp, combo deals are all attractive because they are cheap and fill you up. Marketing to children is especially criminal since they are unable to separate advertising from the truth," he said.
Society has become very inactive, he said, adding that very few people participate in regular exercise programs, despite the proven health benefits.
"Unfortunately, once the weight is on, it becomes very difficult to take it off and keep it off without a permanent exercise component to our lives. Exercise needs to become as routine as brushing your teeth," Hawken said.
One donut is approximately 200 calories. To burn that off, a person would have to run a 10 minute mile, walk four miles per hour for 30 minutes or walk two miles an hour for 60 minutes.
"Exercise has many physiological benefits, but it is also a very time consuming as a way of losing weight."
But people also need help to lose weight, he said.
He is suggesting government properly regulate the food industry and make healthy food cheaper and towns and cities be designed for people, not cars.
Tax incentives for all ages of people that participate in regular exercise programs should be offered, he said, and the medical community needs to provide the best advice and guidance.
"Most of all we need to ensure the health of our children is our main priority, and we need to do whatever it takes to change the direction we are heading," Hawken said.
