Obesity only here in the USA ?

Got a hard hard head

I've just made a post in another thread about how fewer and fewer people, especially children, are spending so much time with video games, pc's, macs etc. and aren't partipating in as many outdoor activities and they would have been before the birth of the microchip.

I wonder if there is any correlation between the increase in child obesity and the advance of technology in the home? When I was between 8 and 14 years old, I spent the vast majority of my recreational time outdoors.

know1

RW81233 wrote:

First of all American Samoa has the highest rate of obesity per person. Second, all late-capitalist, first world nations are experiencing an overall rise in the average size of the human body. Third of all obesity isn't the "epidemic" our President and his wife would lead us to believe that it is. For instance did you know that being 5 pounds underweight is as bad for you healthwise as being 75 pounds overweight! Or that being "overweight" (25-31 BMI I believe) actually gives an individual a longer life expectency, and that goes up as you age. That focusing on losing weight and keeping it off has never been demonstrated to have any positive health outcomes (mostly because there's a 95 percent fail rate in dieting and that indicates yo-yo dieting fat/thin/fat/thin...etc which is worse for you than just being fat).

There are multiple things that are contributing to our fear of "fat". One is that being REALLY overweight IS detrimental to your health, so there's an element of truth in pushing the obesity myth. Two, in the U.S. we live in a society that now privileges thinness (because it is a marker of social class and has become the norm in regard to attractiveness), this is different from 1800s and 1900s when being fat meant you were rich enough to consume a lot of food (therefore no social stigmatism). Three there's a SHIT TON of money to be made in the diet industry, the snack food industry, the grocery industry, the corn industry, the soda industry, and so on which infiltrate the minds of youngsters so much so that by the age of 5 we know virtually every snack food available for consumption. This means that YES it is the Man's fault when they create the very desires that make us "fat" then encourage us to get "thin", Know1 you're suggesting that our "desires" for bad foods just come from personal "failings" but that would suggest that we disregard the omnipresent commercialization of junk food (try as we might it's pretty fucking difficult).

What happens then is a perfect self-perpetuating capitalist platform where we purchase food and soda that gets us fat, then purchase more shit (like weight watchers, gym memberships, stomache stapling, and so on) to try to get thin. And yes the Man is extremely fearful that this gets found out, which is why they buy off researchers to create findings that support corn syrup, and stupid shit like that which means that the common person is confused as to which way is up. A perfect example of this was on Jaime Oliver's show last week where a girl said her dad died because he was obese, when no peer reviewed study has found anything more than a 9 percent corrolation between obesity and mortality. Yet we think this is true, b/c the Man makes money off of our belief that it is.

I just get a laugh whenever the lines "we live in a society that teaches us ______" are used as an excuse for anything. Contrary to what a lot of people seem to believe, people can think for themselves and have the freedom to make their own choices. If they decided to just blindly follow "society" (and what does that mean, anyway - society is different for each of us), then they are likely doomed to begin with.

morello

Problem here in New Zealand as well. I know I've put on too much weight in the last few years too!! ;-)

Kel Varnsen

Got a hard hard head wrote:

I've just made a post in another thread about how fewer and fewer people, especially children, are spending so much time with video games, pc's, macs etc. and aren't partipating in as many outdoor activities and they would have been before the birth of the microchip.

I wonder if there is any correlation between the increase in child obesity and the advance of technology in the home? When I was between 8 and 14 years old, I spent the vast majority of my recreational time outdoors.

I do know that, at least in North America where there is so much available land, a big part of the problem is that the goal for a lot of people is to live in a big house in the suburbs with a big yard and all of that. The problem with living in these suburbs is that instead of being able to walk to the store, or to a friends house, or to school, people have to drive everywhere.

MayDay10

I dont know. Looking out my window at work in South Jersey, there is a very large percentage of FAT people outside walking by all day long. They dont look healthy at all. A lot of them walk slow, heads down, some limping, etc... a lot of times smoking cigarettes and stumbling into one of the many local subshops or pizzarias.

Also, kids are so sedentary nowadays it is unbelievable and sad. When I was growing up in the 80's and early-mid 90's, a day didnt go by that we werent playing baseball, soccer, football, street hockey, etc... Driving by the same fields, 99% of the time they are empty. When kids are actually playing there are usually about 3-6 kids as opposed to the 15-20 we would have on a daily basis. So many kids are obese now, thats not good.

Judging from what I see first hand and know from my background and training in Exercise Physiology... Obesity is a large problem which is rapidly getting worse.

_

polaris_x wrote:

Starfall wrote:

You can thank the multinational megacorporations who get government subsidies to pump obscenely high amounts of processed foods, GMOs, high fructose corn syrup, soy, and other stuff into our diet.
Ubiquitous, and dirt cheap.
When it's cheaper to buy a McDonald's meal for $3 than a real, honest healthy meal...you know you have a problem.

don't tell this to the corn growers ... they believe they are feeding the planet!

Have you seen the documentary King Corn? I recommend it.

mikalina

Plain and simple, our portions are just HUGE compared to other countries. We also eat way too much.

polaris_x

scb wrote:

Have you seen the documentary King Corn? I recommend it.

thanks ... i'll look for it ...

people have to understand nutrition when they look at the role of processed foods ... when you get pumped full of this artificial stuff ... some of the crap creates these defencicies where you are essentially craving more of it ... hence people over eating ...

facepollution

The main problem is the fact that most people don't have the first clue how and why their body stores fat. Whilst governments focus on demonizing saturated fat and promote a high carb diet, they completely circumnavigate the fact that high carbs > insulin release > fat storage.

Get_Right

1. processed foods-of all types
2. sedentary lifestyle
really thats all there is to it

Hope you had a good trip Jose!

josevolution

Get_Right wrote:

1. processed foods-of all types
2. sedentary lifestyle
really thats all there is to it

Hope you had a good trip Jose!

Hey yeah it was utterly fantastic ,the 1st thing we did when we got home was order Chinese take out ...

Get_Right

josevolution wrote:

Hey yeah it was utterly fantastic ,the 1st thing we did when we got home was order Chinese take out ...

chalk it up to jet lag!

JDB

Really they shouldn't let fat, stupid or lazy people breed. Losers.

RW81233

know1 wrote:

RW81233 wrote:

First of all American Samoa has the highest rate of obesity per person. Second, all late-capitalist, first world nations are experiencing an overall rise in the average size of the human body. Third of all obesity isn't the "epidemic" our President and his wife would lead us to believe that it is. For instance did you know that being 5 pounds underweight is as bad for you healthwise as being 75 pounds overweight! Or that being "overweight" (25-31 BMI I believe) actually gives an individual a longer life expectency, and that goes up as you age. That focusing on losing weight and keeping it off has never been demonstrated to have any positive health outcomes (mostly because there's a 95 percent fail rate in dieting and that indicates yo-yo dieting fat/thin/fat/thin...etc which is worse for you than just being fat).

There are multiple things that are contributing to our fear of "fat". One is that being REALLY overweight IS detrimental to your health, so there's an element of truth in pushing the obesity myth. Two, in the U.S. we live in a society that now privileges thinness (because it is a marker of social class and has become the norm in regard to attractiveness), this is different from 1800s and 1900s when being fat meant you were rich enough to consume a lot of food (therefore no social stigmatism). Three there's a SHIT TON of money to be made in the diet industry, the snack food industry, the grocery industry, the corn industry, the soda industry, and so on which infiltrate the minds of youngsters so much so that by the age of 5 we know virtually every snack food available for consumption. This means that YES it is the Man's fault when they create the very desires that make us "fat" then encourage us to get "thin", Know1 you're suggesting that our "desires" for bad foods just come from personal "failings" but that would suggest that we disregard the omnipresent commercialization of junk food (try as we might it's pretty fucking difficult).

What happens then is a perfect self-perpetuating capitalist platform where we purchase food and soda that gets us fat, then purchase more shit (like weight watchers, gym memberships, stomache stapling, and so on) to try to get thin. And yes the Man is extremely fearful that this gets found out, which is why they buy off researchers to create findings that support corn syrup, and stupid shit like that which means that the common person is confused as to which way is up. A perfect example of this was on Jaime Oliver's show last week where a girl said her dad died because he was obese, when no peer reviewed study has found anything more than a 9 percent corrolation between obesity and mortality. Yet we think this is true, b/c the Man makes money off of our belief that it is.

I just get a laugh whenever the lines "we live in a society that teaches us ______" are used as an excuse for anything. Contrary to what a lot of people seem to believe, people can think for themselves and have the freedom to make their own choices. If they decided to just blindly follow "society" (and what does that mean, anyway - society is different for each of us), then they are likely doomed to begin with.

wrong it isn't until 8 are we, on average, able to think for ourselves. If we get much of our non-nutritional information about food by 5, through commercials, etc. then we are already poisoned before we've had a chance.

SENROCK

josevolution wrote:

Spent 10 days in in Italy and i did not see any obese people at all in fact the only one i would call obese was an American that was part of the tour i was on .. :oops:

that's crazy because Saturday on my way to work, my friend and I stopped off at starbucks near some outlets. We noticed a mile long line of people that appeared to be camped out. I said to her OH MY GOD DONT TELL ME THEY ARE IN LINE FOR THE IPAD!!!! she says wow look at them... They are ALL FATTYS! :? I said you see? These people need to quit playing video games and being online and freakin GET OUT more! Turns out they were in line for THE BIGGEST LOSER tryouts!

JDB

Losing weight is easy. Catch Aids.

Lesbelges

Get_Right wrote:

1. processed foods-of all types
2. sedentary lifestyle
really thats all there is to it

You forgot number 3!

3. Acceptance

People have accepted being overweight, which creates a vicious circle with 1 and 2 above.

LikeAnOcean

Lesbelges wrote:

Get_Right wrote:

1. processed foods-of all types
2. sedentary lifestyle
really thats all there is to it

You forgot number 3!

3. Acceptance

People have accepted being overweight, which creates a vicious circle with 1 and 2 above.

I hate it when these people who accepted they are fat act like I am unnormally skinny. I weight what I'm supposed to weight. My body fat percentage is in the healthy range. Next time my friend tells me I'm too skinny can I call him a fat ass?

A small framed person who is 5'10" 160 is hardly "Ethiopian". Especially when I'm stronger than him.

RW81233

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Lesbelges wrote:

Get_Right wrote:

1. processed foods-of all types
2. sedentary lifestyle
really thats all there is to it

You forgot number 3!

3. Acceptance

People have accepted being overweight, which creates a vicious circle with 1 and 2 above.

I hate it when these people who accepted they are fat act like I am unnormally skinny. I weight what I'm supposed to weight. My body fat percentage is in the healthy range. Next time my friend tells me I'm too skinny can I call him a fat ass?

A small framed person who is 5'10" 160 is hardly "Ethiopian". Especially when I'm stronger than him.

What is "what you're supposed to weigh"? Did you know BMI is just a table created by some dude in the 1800s on army conscripts? Then Insurance companies in the 1900s started using BMI and fatness to try making more money on their policies? Weight acceptance is both an understanding that being very overweight is not good, that being just little is just as bad, and that you can be healthy at many different weights. In the future people are going to look at threads like these and think that we were so primitive in our discussion of "fatties", "obese" people, and not talking about "thinnies" in the same way.

P.S. I'm 5' 10" 177-183 lbs depending with a "BMI" of 24-26 so it's not like I'm "fat" and whining about it I just think people should try to better understand what this so-called "obesity epidemic" is all about - making loot.

LikeAnOcean

RW81233 wrote:

P.S. I'm 5' 10" 177-183 lbs depending with a "BMI" of 24-26 so it's not like I'm "fat" and whining about it I just think people should try to better understand what this so-called "obesity epidemic" is all about - making loot.

Not BMI.. Body fat percentage.. generally, no matter what you weight, Men should have a percentage between 12 and 19%