# Why is everyone so relaxed about obesity? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935 "2015-04-17T20:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/21 "2015-04-17T23:10:06Z")
You can’t hike on your period? That doesn’t exactly make hiking a feminist activity. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/22 "2015-04-17T23:10:33Z")
For most of human history, physical work is something you had to do in order to survive. It’s only been a few decades where physical work is something people chose to do for fun because it was something outside of their normal routine. So when it comes to hiking as a recreational activity, your friends are giving the normal response and you’re the outlier. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/23 "2015-04-17T23:12:04Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > (Truth: many (fellow) women happily foster and deploy the persistent myth that it is terribly common for this physical process to be much more than a ho-hum annoyance of preparation to ensure there will be no need to ever borrow someone’s jacket.) Some women have very easy periods. Some have difficult periods. It’s dismissive to assume that all women have your experience. Unpleasant to really painful cramps, backaches, diarrhea, scary clots, heavy flow – all happen and are normal. And none of the above will make one want to go hiking. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/24 "2015-04-17T23:25:58Z")
I always think it’s funny how often if you are watching an old tv show that has the quintessential “fat kid” on it, by today’s standards they would be normal or even skinny compared to all the fat or obese kids I see today. I was a bit of a fat kid when I was in school but I was never obese and I was always active, I basically lived outdoors. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/25 "2015-04-17T23:33:39Z")
Loneliness and being unmarried are bad for health too, and those have been going up in recent years. We evolved not to starve. It may not be the glamorous answer, but that is why obesity is so common and growing. Asking people to avoid calories and engage in unnecessary activity when we evolved to avoid starvation doesn’t work very well. The people who felt comfortable doing that didn’t have kids. Anyway, treating obesity like an endocrine issue and figuring out how the body signals fullness, whether there are sufficient fat cells, whether the fat cells are full, etc. is what will cure obesity. But we are a few decades away from a working cure in my view. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/26 "2015-04-17T23:36:48Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Yup. See the whole “Fat Acceptance” movement. I don’t think that is the fat acceptance movement, it is more of a movement about letting people live their own lives. Abdominal fat is unhealthy, but so is poverty or lack of education. People with graduate degrees live about 10 years longer than high school dropouts (obesity takes about 3 years off life expectancy by comparison). Mandating everyone be shamed into being married, middle class with a college degree isn’t something I’d support even though those people have better health, nor do I support shaming every fat person. If a person is fat and they think trying to lose weight isn’t in their interest (for whatever reason) that is their decision. The problem is when people start using health as an excuse to demand others follow their fashion advice. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/27 "2015-04-17T23:53:24Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Some women have very easy periods. Some have difficult periods. It’s dismissive to assume that all women have your experience. > > Unpleasant to really painful cramps, backaches, diarrhea, scary clots, heavy flow – all happen and are normal. And none of the above will make one want to go hiking. For me, the only good thing about periods is that I give myself a break from exercise during those days. I soldier through cramps, bloating, fatigue and shit when I absolutely have to (like at work). But I’m not going to do that on a weekend, just so that I can watch other people have fun while I’m in pain. And no, not every woman will admit she doesn’t want to do something because of her period. I don’t think I’ve ever done this. Probably because I can see myself donkey-punching the woman who tries to shame me for using my period as an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/28 "2015-04-18T00:34:11Z")
Personally, I think the vastly changed environment is a much better explanation than people got too many trophies and took too many selfies for why the obesity rate grew so much in the last 40 years. I mean 40 years ago, if you weren’t literally creating the internet, you probably had no access to it. Now, a ton more jobs and a ton more leisure activities are sedentary because of it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/29 "2015-04-18T00:58:54Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Where’s the part where a makeover party is fun? I like hiking, but seriously, I’d rather dig ditches than have a makeover “party.” Ugh. Why are people so relaxed about looking bad? ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/30 "2015-04-18T01:51:27Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Loneliness and being unmarried are bad for health too, and those have been going up in recent years. Actually, study results on single v. married people’s length of life have been extremely mixed, and the study methodologies are also extremely mixed (and sometimes questionable, as the one that counts divorced and widowed people as never married). The one that sticks in my mind is the one that indicates that single women outlive married women; but married men outlive single men. If true, it’s ironic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/31 "2015-04-18T01:52:27Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Ugh. Why are people so relaxed about looking bad? Yeah, no one’s so sick or depressed that they can’t put on a nice outfit and some mascara and lipstick! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/32 "2015-04-18T01:57:03Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > For me, the only good thing about periods is that I give myself a break from exercise during those days. I soldier through cramps, bloating, fatigue and shit when I absolutely have to (like at work). But I’m not going to do that on a weekend, just so that I can watch other people have fun while I’m in pain. > . That sucks; I’m sorry. Never really had any problems like that, but as my migraines became chronic, I noticed the Menstrual Migraine Monster (once for PMS \*\*\*and \*\*\* five solid days during). It was so bad that my doctor had me on the Pill and skipping the inert pills so I wouldn’t get the change in hormone levels. My mother says that her headaches – which in retrospect she thinks might have been migraines, but we’re not sure – got much, much better after menopause. Ditto her allergies. Fingers crossed, eh? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/33 "2015-04-18T02:16:31Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > That sucks; I’m sorry. Never really had any problems like that, but as my migraines became chronic, I noticed the Menstrual Migraine Monster (once for PMS \*\*\*and \*\*\* five solid days during). It was so bad that my doctor had me on the Pill and skipping the inert pills so I wouldn’t get the change in hormone levels. > > My mother says that her headaches – which in retrospect she thinks might have been migraines, but we’re not sure – got much, much better after menopause. Ditto her allergies. Fingers crossed, eh? Yeah. I know menopause has its own challenges, but I am looking forward to it. FWIW, my periods aren’t even that bad. But I know how awful they can be, and I’d never deign to shame a woman for just wanting to take it easy during that time. Attitudes like **Fallen’s** really work my nerves. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/34 "2015-04-18T02:43:40Z")
> [@Neem](#): > > I just think it’s depressing that the majority of the developed world is not able to do any sort of physical activity. We’re becoming blobs and we’re okay with that. Why? Desk jobs; and even service work isn’t that physical anymore. Mills are gone for the most part, even farming is automated. People commute too far from work and spend too much time sitting behind the wheel. It’s just how life is today. I did 15 years at a desk (although I will admit to being much older than you are) and over those 15 years of 60 hour weeks I added 70 pounds. I’ve now done 5 months of actual work in a shipping center - 20 hour weeks - and I’m down 50 pounds. You think its bad now, wait 40 years. I expect at that point lifespan in the US may be declining rather than increasing. Being long dead, I won’t mind but that’s my prediction. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/35 "2015-04-18T02:51:40Z")
> [@Neem](#): > > And bad health in general? Please do not go down the road of mistaking fitness for health. They are not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/36 "2015-04-18T04:44:50Z")
I try not to be too judgmental. I’m pretty sedentary, so I could drop dead of a blood clot at the drop of a hat. I eat a lot of red meat and refined carbs. I’m a bad person. All the same, I’m amazed at how many plates people can put away, or how much they snack between meals. If I tried to emulate them I’d wretch. I can see a lot of these poor lifestyle and cultural shifts leading to being 15-20 pounds overweight, or 50+ when you’re middle aged and your metabolism dies at 30 and you keep eating like when you were a teenager, but when I see wall to wall flesh in young 20 somethings my mind boggles. I imagine it must be rock bottom for a guy to wake up one day and realize he can’t see his junk. There’s been some interesting research into the gut microbiome and its effect on health. Maybe someday everyone will get a gut bacteria transplant to cure all their ills. Pass the cheese fries. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/37 "2015-04-18T04:46:15Z")
18-22 and already given up on physical exertion is no way way to go about life. ---
**Author:** ![CaptainAmerica\_1987](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@CaptainAmerica\_1987](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptainAmerica_1987)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/38 "2015-04-18T05:18:36Z")
Well there is no question our health today is under attack more than ever today. With 2/3rds of our country being overweight it is a concern in a sense because the DoD has said most Americans aren’t eligible to join the service. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/39 "2015-04-18T06:02:39Z")
The answer to the OP’s question is simple: we’re just worse human beings today than in yesteryear. We’re weaker, fatter, lazier, less empathetic, less responsible and just overall **worse** people today than the people of our parents and grandparents generations. Part of evolution is devolution of character. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/40 "2015-04-18T06:19:08Z")
Why didn’t you just suggest going for a walk and a picnic in the park, without actually specifying how long a walk it might be? “Hiking” sounds much too ambitious and equipment-dependent, even military. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935.md?page=3)