Be heart-healthy this Valentine's Day

A friend of mine posted the link to this short CBS News article on Facebook, so I'm going to repost it here as food for thought.  Take a look at the statistics, but also make note of the fact that excess weight is finding its way into other countries.  Cardiovascular disease is becoming the plague that we can actually do something to prevent.

Obesity: Global Epidemic Could Trigger Heart Disease "Tsunami" by David W. Freeman

I'd like to note that I have spent a few months in Southern Africa and have observed countries who drive far less, walk far more, spend more time outdoors, and tend to have fewer modern comforts.  One can still find KFC in the bigger cities, but fast food is regarded as more of a treat than a daily meal.  On the other hand, meat and starch, especially in areas of the Kalahari, are staples of the Afrikaans diet.  Additionally, this particular area has more development thanks to its wealth of natural resources, and cars are more common, likely because they are more easily afforded by the employed.  This is where I could see the expanded waistline.

I am no expert, but I have traveled, spending nearly 2 years in unfamiliar places, and I have often been surprised by how much thinner people are once I've stepped out of the states.  I think that, yes, stressful desk jobs contribute to weight gain, as do fast food restaurants, the convenience of having a car, and the simple pleasure of sitting on the couch to decompress and watch television with comfort food at hand.  Never mind the stress eating.

Doesn't Italy get something like 43 days off each year?  Maybe Americans need more time off from work, fewer cars, less of a dependency on fast food, and more interest in maintaining an active lifestyle.  I don't think we can hope for more days off, but we can be proactive about eating more of the right stuff and less of the wrong stuff, and we can make the effort to be more physically active when we aren't sitting behind the desk.

Saying it is one thing, but how do we actually make the improvements?  Will heart problems be the reality check?