What group fitness instructors have nightmares about

Fat is the new thin

World hunger is no longer the worst problem facing humans. Hooray!

Well, it’s not exactly cause for celebration. While there are 800 million people starving worldwide, there are over 1 billion overweight people. That’s right, the overnourished officially outnumber the undernourished.

The reasons? Major shifts in diet and a decline in physical work. Particularly in Asian countries, more television and fewer fruits and vegetables are causing the formerly fit continent to balloon up just like its neighbors to the West.

Put down that Coke

However, many of us don’t have a problem sucking down other beverages that are just as sweet. A can of soda has close to 40 g of corn syrup in it (which is the same level of sweetness that you’d get from adding 12 teaspoons of sugar). Corn syrup is a particularly insidious sweetener, as the body doesn’t process its calories as well as it does with sugar.

The upshot of all this? Drinking a can of soda every day for a year is enough to add 15 pounds to your weight.

Fitness related?

Barely. But it’s fun to watch.