Obesity in America revisited

Great Debates
21

I lived in San Francisco for a while.
The Bad public transporation was what made me lose weight! I couldn’t afford a car there, and it was much quicker to walk somewhere (as SF is a relatively small city, area wise). I didn’t change the way I ate.

Now that I’m in Texas, I never see anyone walking. My neighborhood doesn’t even have sidewalks. I’ve even een people circling around a parking lot so that they don’t have to walk an extra 10 feet. I know it’s hot here., but c’mon!
I am also amazed at how few people cook anymore.
granted, i was bad for a while, too. it seemed so much quicker to go out and grab a bite. Now that I make an effort to cook every night, I know this isn’t true. It just takes some planning, is all. I think that we go out to eat so much because we, as a whole, are exhausted at days end.

I think,too, that this problem is starting earlier. As a kid, i used to play outside all the time. I loved my roller skates and lemon twister. It seems that the kids I see now only play nintendo.

sigh that makes me sound old and I’m not yet!

22

As an overweight Seattleite, I can say that Seattle people are, on the whole, slimmer than their counterparts in other areas. I attribute this to our “healthy” lifestyle, the prevalence of hiking, biking, jogging, etc. Why do you think REI and Eddie Bauer are headquartered here?

23

However, being at work doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t get any exercise at all. A lot of people, including my friends and I, take advantage of short breaks to go take a walk. Sure, 15 minutes twice a day isn’t going to melt off the weight, but I’ll tell you one thing, it’s pretty damn refreshing after sitting at a desk for 2 or 3 hours straight. It wakes us up, and we feel better than we would had we sat around at break too. If more people realized this, maybe their energy levels wouldn’t be the only thing to improve.

24

My uncle told me one time to pay attention to the TV commercials for food products and restaurants. The commercials add symbolism to food and end up associating food with sex, satisfaction, pleasure, security, comfort, etc. I now notice this in almost every commercial I see.

25

TV commercials everywhere associate everything they are selling with sex, comfort, pleasure, etc. The US is not unique in this respect.

26

And, up to about a year or two ago, Japanese workers had by far the longest hours of any country in the world. And, after living here a significant amount of time, they probably drink more than any other country as well - shameful as it is, they could put all my high school mates to shame.

Other little-known trivia: Japan is also the world’s leading condom consumer <g>.

27

Dragon Ash wrote:

Um, you do realize, don’t you, that Seattle is right next door to Redmond, Washington – home of Microsoft.

Microsoft was large and geeky loooooong before the “dot com fad” came along.

28

Yes, that is exactly what it does. (Assuming a balanced diet, with the necessary vitamins, minerals, etc) Remember we are talking about the necessary nourishment to maintain a healthy body, not necessarily about not being hungry.

We should differentiate between two different things: hunger and undernourishment. You cannot be undernourished and fat. The diseases you mention are caused by not getting enough of certain vitamins etc. Here we are discussing quantity.

This reminds me of some years ago, on TV, some airhead actress was discussing hunger in the world and mentioned how she knew well what hunger was because once her car broke down somewhere and she had to go without food for like 4 hours and she was so hungry…

The fact that your body is asking for food does not mean it is healthy to give it food. If you overeat most of your life, later, eating healthy portions will make you feel hungry. Children are taught to overeat.

If you give your body the calories it burns and no more it cannot store any surplus as fat. There is no way around that (in this universe at least). You can eat a healthy diet, low in calories, which will keep you from being fat and will not be the cause of any other diseases caused by shortage of vitamins etc. If you are fat and not getting enough vitamins, then you are eating a very poor diet and you need to get a better diet.

So, IMHO, the point made by Terminus Est about the poor and fat is a valid one. If they are fat they are not undernourished (I am not going to use the word “hungry”).

29

I think lee’s point is that is is quite possible to be nourished calorie-wise, and still be malnourished nutrient-wise, and that, moreover, the foods that are inexpensive are relatively low in nutrient value.

30

I can’t see how that can be her point. Terminus est said

and lee seemed to mean to contradict that.

Yes, you can be fat and have a poor diet but that has nothing to do with being rich or poor. My point is that if you are fat you cannot say you are not getting enough quantity to eat. This is impossible. Now, if you are eating a poor diet you cannot blame anyone but yourself. Eat less bad stuff and more good stuff.

So I agree with Terminus Est and not with lee.

31

The real truth as to why there are more thin people in Seattle … is …

In Chuck Heston Voice: STARBUCKS IS FAT PEOPLE!

32

I try to avoid hot-button issues. Really. But this irritates me to no end, and dammit, this time I have to respond.

First off, some background. I’m 5’10" and have weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 230 pounds for at least the last six years. Yes, I’m big boned…good thing, too, because otherwise I couldn’t carry all the body fat that’s on my frame. (I do have some muscle under there, but it’s nothing to write home about.) This isn’t a new phenomenon, either. In my entire high school tenure, every other classmate I had P.E. with could run circles around me…yes, INCLUDING the girls (what, you think testosterone automatically makes you a better athlete or something?).

Reason? I don’t fuss about what I eat, what I eat is often, by pure necessity, what’s there, and I don’t like to exercise. Okay, sometimes I’ll walk several miles, I walk to nearly everywhere that’s convenient, and I love the new dancing games at the arcade, plus there’s a lot of work around the house most of the time, but that’s it. I don’t have the time or will for exercise for its own sake, and I have to be in certain places at certain times, so I can’t walk everywhere. I used to ride a bicycle, but Hawaii is one of the worst places in the world for cycling (the uneven terrain and terrible condition of some sidewalks are just the beginning of the problems); after my last bike got lost I didn’t even bother anymore.

Beyond that, I don’t have, and have never had, a job which requires a great amount of physical strength. The last track event I competed in was the Great Aloha Run in '87.

And I like diet soda 'cause it tastes good. Same with orange juice.

So the reason I’m so fat is that it’s not convenient for me to be otherwise. And that, my friends, is how America works. We’re not big on self-sacrifices for the greater good. We like convenience. And most of us don’t have the luxury of putting the time and energy into all kinds of Noble Causes. (Inlcuding some that are really worthwhile, but that’s another GD.) Why are we SOFTER AND FATTER THAN EVER?? Because we are.

Footnote: By far some of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen on TV (and yes, I know that’s saying a lot) were the incredibly preachy Subway commercials. Boy, ticking off millions of Americans sure is a great way to drive up sales! :rolleyes:

33

SUrprisingly, I have a real hard time with this answer, and I am not sure why. I don’t know - I guess I have a hard time with people who first blame everything but themselves for being fat, and then basically say, ‘yeah, so I’m fat, big deal, I’m fat and happy about it yada yada yada’. DKW, that may not quite be what you are saying, but that’s how it comes across. Of course it is more convenient being fat. It is also more convenient being a lousy spouse, parent, or employee. You have to work at being good to the people around you, and you have to work at being good to yourself.

I don’t know, I guess I am not expressing myself very well here. I just really find it depressing when people sound like they simply accept the fact that they are fat and aren’t willing to do much about it.

34

The more I think about it, the more I believe that the dieting industry is the answer. During the time that I’ve spent in Germany and France, I can’t ever recall seeing a diet add anywhere. Here in America, you can’t get away from them. But the problem is that people here have been trained to believe in instant gratification. They want diets that will allow them to lose weight in just a few weeks or months. Hopefully, everyone on this board is aware that all of these diets are ineffective in the long run. The only way to lose weight permanently is to make permanent changes in your diet and/or exercise plans. However, that just isn’t what people want to hear.

35

Really? I can’t think of a single thing in my life that inconveniences me more than being fat.

Why? What difference does it make to you?

You seem like a nice guy who just doesn’t get it. If you really care, do yourself a favor and do a search for “obesity”. The last 6 months alone should turn up at least 3-4 threads that cover very thoroughly everything you could ever want to know, not to mention what you thought you knew, about being obese.

stoid

36

Did I mention something about wanting to avoid hot-button issues?

Dragon Ash - Well, I suppose I could spend hours each day working out, which would necessarily include a considerable amount of weight work and endurance work. And it would most likely be hours, because the 30-60 minutes I spend each day walking and the very tiring yardwork I have to do periodically (ever try cutting down an entire tangerine tree, bundling up the pieces, and dragging them 60 yards to the curb?) and my weekly sessions with the dancing game at the arcade (Pump It Up…great game, I reccomend it) aren’t making a dent in my total weight.

What I described to you is how my life works. I’m not happy with it. But I’m not happy with the alternative, so I accept it. My eating habits haven’t once threatened my health so far, and as long as really going all out to get into shape (and I mean REALLY going all out…nothing else seems to be working) isn’t practical, I won’t bother.

Sorry if you have a problem with this but…well, tough.

One more thing…you think that carrying a few extra pounds is comparable to being a lousy spouse, parent, or employee?? Man, and I thought my high school principal was harsh… :smiley:

37

I’ve been fighting with my weight for most of my life. Back in the early 90s I took most of my savings and joined Jenny Craig. I lost a total of 50 lbs. (which was 20 lbs. more than I originally intended), became exercise compulsive (minimum 5-mile walk daily), and, as I posted in another thread, was diagnosed as borderline anorexic and put on Prozac, which made me gain 10 lbs. within a month…

Today, I’ve probably gained back 30 lbs. of the 50 I originally lost. For other reasons, I have no desire to return to Jenny Craig. One thing which I positively agree with is the exercise factor. The only time when I actually lose a good amount of weight is when I step up my gym visits, or force myself to take a walk every day. I generally watch what I eat, and admit to splurging now and then (for example, I allow myself to have a cheeseburger with fries once a month). The irony of this is that I’m a baker by profession, and constantly being around food actually deadens your appetite after awhile…

I’ve been out of work because of a back injury since late May, and I’m doing everything I can NOT to balloon into some shapeless object…eeeek…

38

I can’t believe that all the times this discussion has come up nobody has mentioned the obesity virus. There was a news story on the local TV news last week about new research that has been done with the virus since then. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find anything newer than this year old story on the web.

Basically, the virus has been shown to cause obesity in animal test subjects, and has been shown to be transmittable. The news story also briefly mentioned that the virus is present in 30% or more of obese Americans, but only 5% among non-obese carry it. There may be many reasons why a particular individual is obese. But this virus may explain why there has been an increase in the percentage of obese Americans over the last 20 years.

39

I am afflicted by the Sweet Tooth Syndrome but I have never heard of an obesity virus. Obesity may be triggered by a virus, genes or whatever BUT there is no way you can get fat if you limit your caloric intake. Not in this universe. AFAIK, there is only one known method of getting fat and that is the traditional one of stuffing your face.
It cannot be simpler:
calories ingested > calories burnt = gain weight
calories ingested < calories burnt = lose weight

It works the same in your finances:

For ages people have been trying to spend more than they earn without going bankrupt and to eat more than they burn without getting fat. I believe no one has yet discovered the way to do this.

40

When I visited Italy a couple of summers ago, we spent an afternoon at a public beach in Forte di Marme (on the Tuscan coast). Never mind the topless, every size and shape adorned a bikini! I remember seeing one young zaftig girl walking along the shoreline in a string bikini. At first I did a double take…my immediate next thought was, “Sheesh, how can you be seen in public like that?” But after I thought about it, the philosophy made sense: If you are happy, healthy, and live in a culture where weight is not of prime importance, why not wear a bikini? She walked with her head held high, not caring what others might have thought. And I say bravo to that!

BTW, I was the only one in my group wearing a one-piece…
unfortunately, coming from a country where appearance is everything, it’s difficult to shake the prevailing notion to hide one’s body flaws…