DTWNews

While natural health food stores are becoming more and more popular these days, there is still a lot that needs to be done to combat the major health problems in the United States. There are many resources that are available, including the odd natural health food store online to help people who do not live close to one, to help Americans get healthy. If you are still unconvinced, here are a few facts that you should know.

1. An optimal diet is as low as possible in unhealthy carbs, these include both sugar and other refined carbohydrates, and is also low in fat, especially when concerning saturated fats and trans fats. A healthy diet is also void of red meat and highly processed foods.

2. A recent study has shown that more than one third of adults in the United States and approximately 17 percent, which equates to about 12.5 million, of children and adolescents aged two to 19 years are obese.

3. In many ways, healthy eating is the purview of the wealthy in the United States. There are many places in the country where fresh, healthy foods are not available at reasonable prices so those without the extra capital must choose instead cheaper more processed foods. In fact, one out of seven low income preschool aged children is obese.

4. By state, obesity prevalence ranged from the lowest which was 20.7 percent in Colorado to the highest at 34.9 percent in Mississippi in 2011. Unfortunately, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20 percent. 39 states had a prevalence of 25 percent or more. In fact, 12 of these states had a prevalence of 30 percent or more, the majority of which you will notice were in the south, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia.

5. Americans spend tens of billions of dollars each year to lose weight. Some of the more common fixes include gym memberships, Weight Watchers and other similar programs, operations, health foods, nutritional supplements and whatever the latest diet fad happens to be, even a natural health food store online. Get more here.