Obesity Trends, Apple’s Future, and Tech Innovations
Understanding the Rise in Obesity
Big Macs, deep-dish pizza, cheese nachos, ice cream – logic suggests there is no shortage of reasons why America has exploded in size over the past generation or two. Then there is the fact that you can often buy it and eat it in your car. But the reasons for obesity aren’t that simple; otherwise, Americans of all races would be equally overweight across the country.
Some of this can be explained by environmental and social factors. For example, some regional diets are based on frying everything. Americans often buy cheap, industrial food with high fat content. A new theory is slowly gaining acceptance: diet, exercise, and genetic predisposition are all vital factors. Recent studies have discovered a virus in around 30 percent of obese people. This virus is present in only 11 percent of thin people.
Obesity Camps for Overweight Teenagers
In the Ben Stiller film Heavyweights, he plays the sadistic director of a ‘fat camp’. While a comic exaggeration, the original fat camps weren’t much better. Moreover, it seems the children attending weren’t always gentle with each other. Despite the expense (about $7,500 for a summer), many attendees were compulsive overeaters and could trace their weight gain back to that behavior. The best camps now concentrate on obesity rehabilitation, using cognitive behavioral therapy. The results have been encouraging. Wellspring Academy, one of the most famous, charges $6,250 per month.
How Fat Is the World? Global Statistics
Obesity isn’t just an American problem; one in three people worldwide is overweight. The WHO predicted that by 2015, there would be 2.3 billion overweight people globally. Here’s a look at some national statistics:
- USA: 66.9% overweight. (Men’s Health magazine highlights steakhouse cheese fries with ranch dressing).
- American Samoa: 93.5% overweight. Samoans are naturally large people, but recent dietary shifts away from the traditional Pacific Islander diet (bananas, fish, coconut) have contributed.
- United Kingdom: 61% overweight. (Mentions Mars Bars as snacks and Paul Mason, once the world’s heaviest man).
- Germany: 66.5% overweight.
- Egypt: 66% overweight.
- France: 49.3% overweight (despite delicious cheeses, baguettes, etc.).
Steve Jobs’ Legacy and Apple’s Future
The world lost one of its greatest entrepreneurs when Steve Jobs died in October 2011. We look at his legacy and what is next for Apple, his greatest creation.
When Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, few were optimistic about the company’s future. Because of Jobs’ obsession with retaining total control, Apple was losing the commercial war; it was an isolated manufacturer of expensive niche products. The story of Jobs’ return to Apple in 1997 and the subsequent turnaround will be studied in business schools for generations. The result was a series of products (like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad) that revolutionized multiple industries. The perceived danger is that Apple, without Jobs, might eventually become overly reliant on focus groups, losing its innovative edge.
Ticket to the Future: Upcoming Innovations
Flying cars, synthetic meat, 3D-printed human organs… Here’s a look at innovations potentially coming our way in the next few years:
Synthetic Meat
Get ready for meat grown in a factory, never part of a living animal. It’s promoted as a more environmentally friendly way to satisfy the global appetite for burgers. However, a current challenge is that test-tube meat is often flaccid.
Space Tourism
New Mexico is home to the newly opened Spaceport America. People may soon take off on Virgin Galactic flights into space. Richard Branson announced Virgin Galactic in 2004, and many people have purchased tickets for the initial flights. The initial price was around $200,000-$250,000 per person.