Our lifestyles are less healthy than our grandparents

Obviously, our grandparents´way of life was very different from ours. In my view, our current lifestyles are worse than before, but which are the most significant differences between both lifestyles and how are these differences affecting our health? It is said that our eating habits are getting worse over time. According to the WHO, worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. Overweight and obesity is a risk factor for diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, or some cancers. High-fat, high-sugar and high-salt foods are mainly the cause of this situation. Generally speaking, we can say that our diet is worse than our grandparents´. Researchers of Carnegie Mellon University state that stress levels have increased dramatically in the last three decades. Some common effects of the stress are fatigue, sleep problems, anxiety, lack of motivation or focus or even depression. As a result, stress nowadays has a bigger negative impact on our health than in the past. Another important point is the sedentary behavior. Compared with our grandparents, we spend more time in environments that limit the physical activity and require that we are sitting for long hours. Sedentary lifestyles increase all causes of mortality, double the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes and increase the risks of colon cancer, high blood pressure and osteoporosis. However, some people are aware of the importance of having a healthy lifestyle these days. We can say that the attitude about having a healthy lifestyle is polarized among people today. I mean, on the one hand, there are people who are very conscious of how important a healthy lifestyle is in their lives. On the other hand, there are people who don´t care about their health at all and don´t have healthy habits. To sum up, I personally believe that, in general, our lifestyles are getting worse. However, I think that we have easy access to a huge amount of information which can help us to know how important it is to have healthy habits, specially those related to healthy eating habits and having an active lifestyle.