Americans have a big problem. We are simply unhealthy. Consider the list… obesity, poor nutrition, over eating, lack of exercise, and not enough random acts of kindness, Americans have all of these by the ton. An appalling 33% of Americans are obese according to the CDC (center for Disease Control and Prevention) or CDC.GOV, obesity has grown 60% in the last 20 years.

Many people don’t get the recommended minimum hours of exercise each day, they eat more than 65% of fat, and they exceed the standard daily caloric intake for adults which is 2000. We have become stagnant, and fast food restaurants have invaded most of our diets. An average meal from Mc Donald’s, consisting of a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese and fries, has 1400 calories and 67% of fat. That’s almost the entire daily limit of fat for a healthy diet in one medium sized meal. The problem starts in adolescence. The average child sees more than 10,000 food advertisements a year, according to downtoearth.com. Many of these ads are for high calorie, sugary snacks. One report on a childhood obesity conducted by the Institute of Medicine says that nearly 17% of children ages 2-19 are obese. Obesity at this level can lower the life expectancy, contribute to diabetes, lead to heart disease and drastically alter our quality of life.

You can improve your health with just a few simple steps. First, make sure you get plenty of nutrients . You can do this by eating a well balanced diet with a multivitamin. Secondly, practice random acts of kindness. This will help you stay positive and open-minded. Become known for your generosity, open doors  for strangers, compliment your classmates, or bring in healthy treats for the class. Thirdly, replace pop with water and fruit juice. Drinking 64 ounces of water a day will help you become more mentally aware and give you more energy. Eat three meals a day and two healthy snacks a day. With so much pressure on us with school, home lives, and personal lives, who has time for all that? Well, being kind takes not time at all and as far as our diets and nutrition they differ along with our required minimum exercise quotient. Now that we know what to do and how important it is to do it, lets refresh and refocus our energy towards improving our lives.