This Is Your Body On TV

According to a study published in the Journal of the American Diatetic Association if Americans ate only what was advertised on TV we would all end up looking like the guy to the far right above, or worse.

Results suggest that a diet consisting of observed food items would provide 2,560% of the recommended daily servings for sugars, 2,080% of the recommended daily servings for fat, 40% of the recommended daily servings for vegetables, 32% of the recommended daily servings for dairy, and 27% of the recommended daily servings for fruits.

The really scary part is that ads during Saturday morning cartoons figured prominently in the study. Is it any wonder that there is a rapidly growing obesity problem among kids?

We all know kids watch way to much TV, not to mention that Phys Ed. is becoming a rarity in schools.  That all adds up to serious health concerns such as type II diabetes becoming more common even among teens, something unheard of a couple decades ago.

Among adults the health concerns are of course no less dangerous. Diabetes, heart disease, and any number of potentially fatal issues are associated with obesity.

People are naturally influenced by what is pitched to us on TV. Advertising firms are full of very smart people that do nothing but figure out how to exploit our brains in order to get us to want what they sell.
Therefore the best option is to not watch TV. Or at least channels that do a lot of this sort of advertising.

It's funny how many people I hear say they don't have time to get in 3 hours of physical activity a week, yet can give you all the details on any number of TV shows.

The way I deal with this is to say fine, pick a few shows you like to watch but stretch or get on the foam roller while watching, and don't snack.  And that they MUST schedule regular times to exercise, as this is the only way it's likely to get done - much the same as people know when their favorite shows are on, know ahead of time when it's your time to focus on your health.

Pretty soon I notice those clients begin to like exercising more, have less stress, and of course become more fit. Funny how that works.