Here in the United States, there are many causes of obesity. For one thing, people simply do not eat as they should be. In part, this is thanks to the widespread growth of fast food restaurants all throughout the country, the total number of which has more than doubled since the 1970s. At these fast food restaurants, food is delicious and convenient, but far from healthy, as it typically contains large amounts of saturated fats, refined grains, and added sugars in addition to having high levels of sodium. But for the busy person just trying to make it through the day and who might not have an abundance of energy left at the end of it to cook a healthy meal, the allure of fast food is certainly a strong one.

In addition to the lack of a nutritionally adequate diet, many people in the United States simply do not get enough exercise, something that has been found to be true for children as well as for adults. In fact, the lack of exercise is so profound that it’s estimated that only around five percent of all adults in this country are getting even just thirty minutes of exercise a day, with less than half of the adult population getting the weekly recommended amount of exercise. In addition to this, a scant one third of all children are physically active on a daily basis as well, a habit that could all too easily lead to health problems for them later on in their lives.

And the consequences of obesity are steep. Type 2 diabetes, for instance, is common among those who are obese (up to one third of the adult population) and even among those who are merely overweight (another one third of the population), as one third of all people in the United States will be diagnosed with it at some point in their lives. Fortunately, type 2 diabetes can be managed and even eliminated completely through the careful management of not only diet but of exercise as well. Those who are diagnosed with the condition can change their lifestyles significantly to eliminate the disease entirely, but this is not always an easy change to make.

And in addition to type 2 diabetes, there are many other detrimental health conditions that can result from being obese and being overweight, particularly when there is a lack of exercise. Rates of heart disease and stroke climb, along with hypertension and mobility problems that can come from carrying an excessive amount of weight for a long period of time, often the course of many years. Fortunately, however, many of these health problems can be reduced significantly or even eliminated entirely when exercise is brought into the picture.

There are many ways to exercise. For some people – up to thirty percent of all adults who exercise on a regular basis – walking is their main form of exercise. After all, walking is an easy way to add a little bit of exercise into your day, as it can be easily done for free, with no cost whatsoever accrued because of it. And thanks to walking, many people have found a great deal of physical health and fitness that they did not ever think was possible to them – in fact, walking has even become the most popular kind of exercise out there, at least here in the United States.

In addition to walking, many people find that using gym equipment is their preferred way of exercising. Gym equipment can of course be found at a gym, and many people find that getting a gym membership helps to keep them motivated, especially when their gym membership includes the option for classes or even for personal training. But if you don’t want to go to a gym but still want to use gym equipment, this is still more than possible to do.

This is due to the fact that gym equipment can be found at the typical home fitness store, which is likely to carry everything from the most basic of home gym equipment to high end premium fitness equipment. These sports stores will have a wide array of gym equipment and other tools to help you begin the process of getting active.