# Why Are We Getting So Fat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 3, 2001, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-getting-so-fat/64222 "2001-05-03T15:32:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f19dbf/32.png) [@dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-getting-so-fat/64222/41 "2001-05-05T15:05:18Z")
People watch TV more these days which isn’t very active and it warps your mental map (how you think the world is as opposed to how it really is ) - you see all these fit actors never exercising and eating lots of take-away products ‘placed’ there as adverts. Also… Bad food tastes nicer than healthy food so you need a stronger willpower to eat healthy and it can be more difficult to find - mcsalad ? I broke the pattern, i exercise regularly and eat healthy ( most of the time ), its ace, you feel so much younger and alive when fit, exercise for that - not to lose weight. There is a lot of money in brain washing people into eating too much and then trying to sell them a ‘quick’ fix diet or exercise product, the media are out to get you, turn off the tv and stop reading those stupid magazines ! Then again, it could all be part of a government conspiracy to make us fat and easy to control ( its all TRUE !!! ) ---
**Author:** ![dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f19dbf/32.png) [@dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-getting-so-fat/64222/42 "2001-05-05T15:12:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > \*\*I don’t think it’s laziness. > > For most of mankind’s history, the battle has been to find enough calories to keep us from starving. Our bodies are efficient. > > Modern society doesn’t entail the daily struggle to find sustenance. We work just as hard, just not with our bodies, and the food comes easy. If we want to be healthy, we have to make our bodies work. > > I’m 6 foot, and 200 pounds, with essentially no fat on me. What I do is work out hard everyday, and eat whatever I want. I usually gain a little in the winter and lose it in the summer. > > Since I started training for a marathon, my food consumption has basically doubled. > \*\* this is true, exercise works, forget diets, forget ‘how much do i weigh ?’ stuff how much exercise do you do each week ? THAT makes the difference… ---
**Author:** ![dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f19dbf/32.png) [@dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-getting-so-fat/64222/43 "2001-05-05T15:16:28Z")
I live in the UK and have travelled a lot. Americans are no different than everywhere else, some people are fat and some are not. The ones that are (in general, i know some people have medical conditions ) do less exercise and eat ( usually very cheap ! ) crap from the supermarket - check out the basket of the fat guy at the till. Europeans drive around in cars, watch tv and eat crap as well. Modern french people are generally fat, the traditional ones are not - different diet and they NEVER snack between meals. Your average american does eat more than your average european BUT this is usually because they are a lot taller ! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-getting-so-fat/64222/44 "2001-05-05T16:39:58Z")
In addition to the easy availability of McDonalds-style fast food, there’s another ingredient that’s been added to the American dietary mix over the last couple of decades: Pizza delivery. Pizza is not really “fast food.” You can’t just go up to the counter in Pizza Hut and pick up a pizza from under one of the heating lamps (unless you use their all-you-can-eat lunch buffet). However, you **do** have the option of ordering a pizza to be delivered, afterwhich you just sit around and wait for the pizza – during which time you’re probably watching TV and munching on Doritos. Had you not ordered the pizza, you’d be preparing dinner yourself, which acts as a very very mild form of exercise compared to TV watching, and (more importantly) tends to keep you away from the Doritos. So Domino’s Pizza may be as much to blame for the modern “American obesity epidemic” as McDonalds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-getting-so-fat/64222.md?page=2)