# The "Large" lady in the pub
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 29, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617 "2006-06-29T07:16:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2006, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/101 "2006-07-01T12:02:41Z")
> [@robardin](#):
>
> :eek: :eek: :eek:
>
> You don’t happen to live in [the Houston area](http://www.webmd.com/content/article/99/105092.htm), do you? 😉
>
> I would not say I see plenty of people “much over 300 lbs”. Do I see them? Sure… But I wouldn’t say more than 1 out of 500 is over 300 lbs, and certainly not among the women!
>
> Now with a threshold 200 lbs., I might agree with you. But 300 is really quite heavy, even for us porky Americans!
That’s because you live in Flushing and not Sheepshead Bay, Mineola or Inwood. As a broad statement it is fair to say that there are less obese Asians in a given population than Caucasians or sub-Saharan Africans, when examining Americans who grew up here opposed to immigrants. ( See how neatly I avoided saying \*\*\*-Americans? 😃 )
[cite supporting claim made above](http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/race_class/othergirlsstuff.html)
> [@](#):
>
> African-American, American Indian and Hispanic-American women have the highest risk of becoming overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Only one minority group,\*\* Asian Americans\*\*, has a lower rate of obesity than the general population.
(my bolding )
Flushing is flush with Asians, I used to shop there for my Korean groceries when I lived in Astoria. I do sometimes have ocassion to spend time with large groups of Asians, especially Koreans. earlier this week I stood on a lawn with roughly 60 Koreans between the ages of 12 and 18. I could count on one hand the number who were obese. 5 out of 60 is low, I suspect that obesity in teenagers in America is way above 8-10 %.
Cartooniverse
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/102 "2006-07-01T16:56:56Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#):
>
> As a broad statement it is fair to say that there are less obese Asians in a given population than Caucasians or sub-Saharan Africans, when examining Americans who grew up here opposed to immigrants. ( See how neatly I avoided saying \*\*\*-Americans? 😃 )
Yeah, and you ended not making any sense in the process. A “sub-Saharan African” is not the same thing as an African-American. When you’re talking about weight, sub-Saharans as a whole are probably the skinniest people on the planet.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/103 "2006-07-01T17:01:57Z")
Well no, the context:
> [@Cartooniverse](#):
>
> when examining Americans who grew up here opposed to immigrants.
made it clear he was talking about American-born Americans of sub-Saharan descent; to distinguish them, no doubt, from those of Moroccan extraction and so on.
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/104 "2006-07-01T17:41:24Z")
So doesn’t it make sense to call those people…I dunno…_African-American_ as opposed to sub-Saharan African? Or how about just saying black?
**Cartooniverse** acted like it was some kind of acheivement that he didn’t use a hyphenated American term to describe the people he was talking about(presumably because it’s divisive and nonpatriotic or somesuch). But then ironically he went to call black people “sub-Saharan African”. Okay, and that’s better why?
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### Author:  [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/105 "2006-07-01T21:05:16Z")
> [@fetus](#):
>
> I think her point is that while the “18 stones” comment seemed to be intended to draw a collective gasp and shudder from the UK comment, 252 lb is nothing on some of the people she sees every day. Same here–I see people (women particularly) who are well into the 300s and 400s on a daily basis at my college.
I call BS on that one. Yes, you see heavy Americans, but 300-400 pounds is still extremely rare in women. I had a roommate who might’ve tipped 300, and she was by and far, far, far the fattest woman on campus.
Rather, I suspect you’re being trapped by the mass media mentality holding women to far stricter standards than men. I dated a guy who weighed 275, and, well, he just didn’t “look” that big to me, because fat in men far more acceptable and far less noticeable due to cultural brainwashing. Took a while to realize he was just as fat, unhealthy & crippled by the female equivalents. Since then I’ve been looking around a bit more closely, and there are a whole lot of lardbutt men out there; around here, even more so than women. We simply don’t perceive men with 100+ extra pounds the same way we perceive women with 100, 75, 50, or even 15 extra pounds.
That being said… I applaud the OP’s biting comeback. Carry on.
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### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/106 "2006-07-01T21:32:17Z")
> [@you with the face](#):
>
> So doesn’t it make sense to call those people…I dunno…_African-American_ as opposed to sub-Saharan African? Or how about just saying black?
>
> **Cartooniverse** acted like it was some kind of acheivement that he didn’t use a hyphenated American term to describe the people he was talking about(presumably because it’s divisive and nonpatriotic or somesuch). But then ironically he went to call black people “sub-Saharan African”. Okay, and that’s better why?
Well, there was a thread that went on and on and on and on about what white folks call black folks, what white folks ought to call black folks, what black folks call black folks and so on. I didn’t want to plunge down that path is all, ok?
Have it your way. Black folks and white folks who grow up in America are fatter than Asian folks who grow up in America. Howzzat ? 🙂
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/107 "2006-07-02T15:30:34Z")
> [@you with the face](#):
>
> So doesn’t it make sense to call those people…I dunno…_African-American_ as opposed to sub-Saharan African? Or how about just saying black?
Fo’ shizzle, my nizzle. 🆒
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### Author:  [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/108 "2006-07-02T18:45:46Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#):
>
> Have it your way. Black folks and white folks who grow up in America are fatter than Asian folks who grow up in America. Howzzat ? 🙂
I wish I had known this earlier in life. I could blame my obesity on my Caucasian parents. “Hey, if we were Asian, I wouldn’t be as fat. Now, Mom, Dad, leave me alone!” 😃
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### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-large-lady-in-the-pub/362617/109 "2006-07-03T15:41:26Z")
One is pleased to be of service.
😉
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