"The Heaviest Place on Earth"

Recently, I had the privilege of taking my daughter to Disneyland to celebrate her 4th birthday (Happy Birthday pumpkin!). I call it a privilege because anyone who is able to take time away from daily life responsibilities and drop a significant amount of money to spend the day with a four-year-old who has seemingly limitless energy and spunk, waiting in mile long lines for rides and attractions that only last a blink of an eye, while ducking and dodging thousands of strangers in between is, in my book, privileged. Regardless of the resources and moxie it takes for one to endure the challenges that come with such an outing, these are what memories are made of. Especially for a little girl's special day. My hope is that the memories she took away from this day are far from what I took away.

On average, Disneyland welcomes approximately 40,000 visitors (give or take several thousand depending on the season) daily. The plethora of people you come across, including 'cast members' are of all walks of life, foreign and domestic, varying in age from 90 days to 90 years old. Moreover,  which is the premise of why I share this with you, these people come in different shapes and sizes.

Although Disneyland has been dubbed "the happiest place on earth," I would argue that it could also be dubbed "the heaviest place on earth." A vast majority of the people, including kids, that I observed on that glorious day were out of shape, overweight, obese, and just plain unhealthy. In the many hours I spent at the park, I witnessed older folks with horrible posture using walking aids, middle aged obese people using electric scooters, husky grade school-aged kids dragging their feet while carrying cotton candy and licking their triple scoop ice cream in chocolate dipped waffle cones covered in peanuts, and young parents pushing their plump toddlers in strollers while puffing on cigarettes. Oh the memories!

Personally, being part of the health industry and contributing to the wellness of humanity by being a fitness professional, the memories of that day sadden and disappoint me. The Center for Disease Control states that in 2010 approximately 69% of American adults are overweight or obese and 12.5 million American children and adolescents are obese. These statistics are 4 years old now and not to mention self-reported cases. Can you imagine what the true numbers are now? Albeit Disneyland is in no way a complete representation of America's population but I think about 40,000 people is a substantial sample size.

I'm no politician, magician or prophet and I don't have the single solution to this problem.  However, I do acknowledge that this is a problem and I want, nay need to do something about it. And I should hope you want to as well. If you care at all for the well being of anyone in your life, including yourself, and you want to be around long enough to create positive happy memories to last a long healthy lifetime, I challenge you to consider the words of Gandhi; "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Just maybe, when you are privileged enough to visit Disneyland at 90 years old, walking around on your own two feet upright with a spring in your step, you will come away with memories of a spectacular day at "the HAPPIEST place on earth."

Lester, B.S.

NSCA-CPT, FMS, Personal Trainer