Want To Slim Down? Live In A City.

"This city is what it is because our citizens are what they are" ~ Plato

And if you happen to be from St. John's, Newfoundland there's a 36% chance that 'what you are' is obese. After yesterdays post "Newfoundland Is Fat", I happened to read an article published in the "Globe & Mail" titled "Fat of the land: How to keep slim" written by Margaret Wente (which is less than popular here in Newfoundland).

Never less Wente discusses Statistics Canada's newest study.

"Forget about South Beach and glycemic loads. Here's some really useful advice, courtesy of Statistics Canada, about how to keep from getting fat.

Live in the city, not the country. Big-city people are a whole lot thinner than rural types. But make sure you choose Toronto or Vancouver, not St. John's. I like Newfoundlanders, I really do, but St. John's weighs in with more fat people per capita than anywhere else in the country (36 per cent, versus Toronto's slender 16)."

- Globe & Mail

Wente later discusses the problem of childhood obesity, naming a wide range of culprits from "the disappearance of phys ed from schools" to "inner-city crime", but in the end its the parents role which bears the brunt of the blame.

Personally I don't blame my parents for my obesity, but I will go as far as to say that my weight problem has a lot to do with my family, as my brother, mother, grandad and I (to list a few), have all struggled with weight through-out most of our lives. Whether this is a result of parental upbringing, cultural cues, genetics, etc....etc....or a combination of these reasons I'm not sure.

Regardless of the cause, I'm making the necessary changes to ensure that obesity is a problem of my past.