Dear Current President of the United States,
I am not really into the bias of politics. But like anyone else who likes to read, I read about everything, including politics. My concern is the healthy lifestyle of the people – which incorporates physical fitness, healthy nutrition, and social, spiritual, and mental balance. I am enormously concerned about the health of the United States.
I travel all over the world and see new trends and new perceptions of the US globally – I am most concerned with the fact that America is seen as the fattest nation in world – with statistics undoubtedly confirming this. When I came to this country 13 years ago, it was with the perception of America being the strongest financial and military power in the world with a democracy and freedom unmatched by any other nation. What else did I discover? I found a nation of unhealthy, inactive, fast-food addicted people. Because of this, I was motivated to devise my own “American Dream”- which is to make this nation a leader in healthy lifestyle and physical fitness.
Presently, the media will have us believe that we are progressing because Mexico was recently crowned the fattest nation in the world, and America downgraded to the second fattest. This is not because, as a country, we have improved, but rather because Mexico out-ate us. Over the past decade, our nation has seen an 11% obesity rate increase – and the state I’m in, Texas, currently has an obesity rate of 61%.
I love this country, and this nation, and not just because I was born on July 4th, 1976 – exactly 200 years after the U.S. Independence, but because I see the potential that this country has to continue being a leading power, inspiration, and motivation to the rest of the world for years to come. President John F Kennedy wisely stated “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” Considering this, American leadership in the world depends on the physical fitness of our nation.
Now let’s talk numbers: the treatment of the 7 most common chronic illnesses, coupled with productivity losses, costs the US economy more than $1 trillion annually. 360 000 people a year die directly from obesity – a controllable condition. Just the state of Texas spends roughly $5.7 billion on obesity-related chronic conditions, including hypertension, cancer, type II diabetes and back problems. Another alarming concern is that 34% of children in America, and 40% of children in Texas are either overweight or obese, a statistic that when dealt with sooner than later can yield amazing results.
The solution to this “BIG” problem plaguing our nation is to work together. Albert Einstein had the perfect definition of “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Because I consider myself a relatively logical and sane person, I created the Health Fitness Revolution, a movement that will help me in my quest of making America healthy and fit. The movement alone will not be enough because obesity has reached epic proportions and it will take every segment of society to work in a synergistic manner in order to combat the disease of obesity. We need to coordinate the media, schools, corporations, politicians, non-profit organizations, religious leaders, parents, teachers, and athletes. Together, we all can make an impact in order to improve healthy living in our city, state, and country.
Working together will allow us to coordinate the efforts in order to make this great nation even greater in every aspect. It’s simple – with physical fitness, healthy nutrition, and mental balance, we can control, manage, or completely avoid 60-70% of known illnesses.The United States is a leader in democracy, finances, military, individual and religious freedoms – we have NO excuses, we WILL BE a leader in healthy lifestyle.
The steps we take today will be the recorded history of tomorrow – what will history say about us?
Sincerely,
