A Solution to the Obesity Epidemic: Non-Profit Organization Fit4Free goes to the root of the problem

Time magazine, CNN, The New York Times, and countless health officials have reported that our nation is in desperate need of a solution to the growing obesity problem. Fit4Free, a preventative health organization, proposes that we go to the root of the problem by making health education and fitness easily accessible to everyone. We believe that today's modern corporate giants should finance such programs to compensate for the damaging side effects of modernization.

Fitness expert Raphael Picaud is the founder of Fit4Free, an organization that he established to help improve the condition of physical fitness in the US. "The modern way of life facilitates poor nutrition and inactivity. We need to balance things out," says Picaud. "It's our social responsibility to create a healthy environment, and I believe that fast food companies should be involved in contributing to that cause."

Who Should Finance a Fitness Program for America?

There's been a lot of talk in the news lately about the growing obesity rate in the US, and the need for a nationally funded fitness program to get the country's citizens into shape. We are the fattest nation in the world, and getting fatter; about one third of adults, and approximately 11 percent of youths (6-17 years old) in the US are considered to be overweight. It's not merely a cosmetic issue: being significantly overweight, especially to the point of obesity, is a serious health problem that increases the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer and diabetes. According to former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop, "Except for smoking, obesity is now the number one preventable cause of death in this country. Three hundred thousand people die of obesity every year."

To address this problem, some people have suggested that the government should take responsibility and sponsor a federal fitness program. In that case, taxpayers would be paying for the obesity problem, but are we really the ones who should carry the burden? What about the people who are making us fat? It's no coincidence that Americans have grown larger as our culture has shifted towards a convenience-based diet that often relies heavily on fast food. No one is forced to eat fast food, but it's an appealing option for many low-income families with little free time to prepare healthy, balanced meals. Unfortunately, parents who think that a "meal deal" from KFC or El Pollo Loco is a well-rounded dinner are probably not aware of the nutritional content in such a meal. Because fast food companies are generally profit-minded, they do not make the effort to provide nutritious food to the public- only food that is cheap, fast, and loaded with plenty of fat to make it taste good.

In recent years, fast food giants like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have also created a presence in our public schools, providing students with a tempting- but less nutritious- alternative to sack lunches and cafeteria food. Fast food chains like McDonald's and Burger King market heavily to children, offering them toys and hosting state of the art playgrounds. To make things worse, popular video game distributors like Sega, Sony, and Nintendo allow for kids to be sedentary for hours in front of the television, instead of being active as kids should be. These corporations have enjoyed great success in the past twenty years and meanwhile, childhood obesity in the US has doubled from the 1976-1980 reporting period to the 1988-1994 period.

Considering the negative impact of fast food on the health of our nation, we here at Fit4Free believe that these corporations should be responsible for funding a national fitness program. We are not suggesting that fast food should be eliminated- it is a free country after all. But the fast food companies would be demonstrating much more responsibility and care for their customers if they contributed to a national fitness and health education program, in order to bring balance to the industry. Their customers can continue to indulge in the occasional fast food meal and still be healthy, especially if they are getting regular exercise and eating responsibly the rest of the time.

That is the message of Fit4Free, a non profit organization dedicated to bringing physical fitness as a community project and concern to people of all socio-economic levels. We hope to bring balance to our society by making access to gyms and health education free for everyone. In this progressive age of health science, there is a wealth of information available about preventative health, nutrition, and the importance of regular physical activity, but the general population is not reaping the rewards of these scientific advances. With sufficient funding, we hope to educate, equip and inspire the American people to use proper nutrition and regular physical activity to their benefit, and make our country the most fit, rather than fat, nation in the world.

Return