It’s not just about your health: it’s about safety. Cars and seatbelts aren’t designed to keep the nearly 1 in 3 US adults who are obese safe.
Those who are overweight are more likely to die in a car crash—and the odds go up as your BMI goes up.
While some are calling for a redesign of safety features that more match the composition of the average American, there are more benefits to helping people achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Safety is important, but so is health, and losing weight helps maintain both.
In the short term, there’s a bit of room to choose a car that is more suitable to your body type. For example, as cars have gotten bigger and more luxurious, they have become less safe for women and children, who are too short for many of the safety features, and risk having their heads go through windshields (hence the need to keep kids in booster seats longer). An adjustable seat is also important to any driver a bit taller or shorter.
In the long term, healthy weight loss goals will not only support your future wellness, they’ll support your ongoing car safety.
Eating healthy is a big step—not just calorie counting, but good nutritional intake. Better digestion (eating foods that are digestible, not synthetic, for example) leads to better nutrient absorption, leads to better maintained and functioning bodily systems, etc..
When purchasing a car, do you factor in your body type to the safety features?