Reducing obesity requires an effective combination of diet matter, activity, and environment. Nutrition education programs in schools, for example, have been shown to have such an impact that BMI drops by about 0.5 kg/m² in students who take part (Marsigliante et al., 2022). In addition, sugary drink taxes have driven down consumption, including a 7.6 percent drop in sugary drink consumption and a 9 percent drop in childhood obesity. However, public health campaigns and workplace wellness programs also have important roles to play by promoting healthier choice and lifestyle adjustments that have major impact in lowering the obesity rate in target population (Walls et al., 2011). There are number of strategies that can contribute positive in reducing obesity.
- Mindful Eating
There are hunger and fullness cues and paying attention to them can help us not overeat. Eating more mindfully (which will help you eat fewer calories), however, involves taking time over meals, chewing thoroughly, and focusing your attention on what you're eating (Minari et al., 2024).
- Regular Physical Activities
Source: (WHO, 2022)
A regular exercise assists in burning calories and developing muscles for the body’s metabolism. The American Heart Association supports a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise to cut down the risk of becoming obese (WHO, 2022). Increased physical activity elevates the caloric expenditure of the body for energy. Engaging in physical exercise to expend calories, along with a reduction in caloric intake, establishes a calorie deficit that leads to weight loss or decrease obesity.
- Practice Portion Control
One simple rule to control calorie intake is to eat smaller portions by smaller plates, use measuring portions or stop eating when you’re still hungry but not full. Research also indicates that there is about 30% probability that the consumer consumes more when using large plates, bowls and the likes (Hetherington et al., 2018). Hence practicing portion control also helps one manage his/her weight, digest foods and have adequate energy to carry out daily activities due to conformity to better measure.
- Limit Emotional Eating
Having no idea how to handle your emotions, you can look for other ways to deal with them that don’t involve eating for comfort (exercise, talking with friends, doing a hobby).
Educate and Empower
Workplace wellness programs incentives for healthy behaviours, exercise facilities and other healthy meals have been proved to drastically reduce obesity. An American survey proved that business organizations with wellness management programs experienced healthy weight loss of their employees by 25% after three years. Based on writing of the Harvard Business Review, organizations with comprehensive wellness initiatives have lower rates of obesity in its workforce, showing that excellent solutions exists.
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