# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/41 "2015-04-18T12:41:08Z")
I’m overweight, and I love hiking. Or I used to, before developing painful knee and foot problems (I know, exacerbated by being overweight). One of the best vacations I ever took was 6 weeks of hiking through the National Parks of the Southwest. Per the OP: More and more, young people don’t want to be bothered with anything involving physical effort. It’s much easier just to allow inertia to pile on the pounds, thinking that sometime in the future, the problem will resolve itself. The problem, though, is that older people have developed habits of eating too much and exercising too little. It takes a tremendous effort to break old habits and develop new ones. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/42 "2015-04-18T13:14:46Z")
I’m with **monstro**. To me, a hike doesn’t sound fun. I enjoy working out–on my own, at the gym. I may not go miles and miles, but I do my thing, and then it’s over. Hiking out in nature isn’t really my idea of a good time. Like **monstro** pointed out, we all have different paces. For me, a drink or a movie after work (or both…together!) would be my idea of a good time, but I’m not about to bemoan the breakdown of society if no one else wants to. (Well. Maybe the drinking. Don’t we want to match or parents and grandparents for alcoholism?! :)) ---
**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 18, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/43 "2015-04-18T14:10:33Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > 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. I don’t agree with that. We are more educated, less accepting of misogyny, child abuse, racism, ignoring suffering overseas, etc. Where did you get the less empathetic part? The fact that you are equating being fatter with being a morally inferior person is the crux of the issue. Everyone pretends it is about health, but that is the real reason people care so much about obesity (fat people are considered morally and sexually defective). If so, why can’t people just admit it rather than hiding that behind health scares? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/44 "2015-04-18T14:39:04Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t agree with that. We are more educated, less accepting of misogyny, child abuse, racism, ignoring suffering overseas, etc. Where did you get the less empathetic part? > > The fact that you are equating being fatter with being a morally inferior person is the crux of the issue. Everyone pretends it is about health, but that is the real reason people care so much about obesity (fat people are considered morally and sexually defective). If so, why can’t people just admit it rather than hiding that behind health scares? I assumed his post was sarcastic, but maybe not. I think we fail to reach the bar of social responsibility now as then, but our bar is set much higher so we are in many ways more tolerant of the differences in people and far more concerned with the social ills that affect others and not ourselves. But your final point is the one to note, it’s no different now than it was then, so many people seem to find the need to pass judgment on others while hiding behind artificial concerns such as health when they are really displaying their own superficiality and lack of character. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/45 "2015-04-18T14:56:00Z")
> [@Neem](#): > > We’re becoming blobs and we’re okay with that. Why? Intriguing question. I’d like to think about it over a Wendy’s triple and a few doughnuts. I do enjoy hiking though. You can carry a lot of food in a small backpack. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/46 "2015-04-18T15:02:34Z")
> [@Socrates](#): > > The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and **love chatter in place of exercise.** Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, **gobble up dainties at the table** , cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers. New problem my ass. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > I do enjoy hiking though. You can carry a lot of food in a small backpack. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/47 "2015-04-18T15:28:02Z")
it’s the new normal. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/48 "2015-04-18T18:11:16Z")
You do realize, don’t you, that what you’re talking about is obesity in the U.S., not the world as a whole? Although obesity has gotten greater in recent times in much of the developed world, it’s worse in the U.S. than in any other OECD country. (The other OECD countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.) See page 50 of this paper: > **[44117530.pdf](https://www.oecd.org/health/health-systems/44117530.pdf)** > > 2.34 MB ---
**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, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/49 "2015-04-18T18:19:37Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t agree with that. We are more educated, less accepting of misogyny, child abuse, racism, ignoring suffering overseas, etc. Where did you get the less empathetic part? > > The fact that you are equating being fatter with being a morally inferior person is the crux of the issue. Everyone pretends it is about health, but that is the real reason people care so much about obesity (fat people are considered morally and sexually defective). If so, why can’t people just admit it rather than hiding that behind health scares? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/50 "2015-04-18T18:36:01Z")
How about I don’t want to be uncomfortable or inconvenienced on my day off? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/51 "2015-04-18T18:41:11Z")
That’s why I’m not going to the makeover. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/52 "2015-04-19T00:00:51Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Please do not go down the road of mistaking fitness for health. They are not the same thing. I am not disagreeing with you per se, but what would you consider a better proxy for “health” than “fitness” (accepting that many will disagree about how to define each of them independently). A lack of fitness is minimally highly correlated with poor health outcomes, [more than obesity](http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/20150114/lack-of-exercise-more-deadly-than-obesity-study-suggests) is. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/53 "2015-04-19T00:25:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > You do realize, don’t you, that what you’re talking about is obesity in the U.S., not the world as a whole? Although obesity has gotten greater in recent times in much of the developed world, it’s worse in the U.S. than in any other OECD country. (The other OECD countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.) See page 50 of this paper: > > [The future of health systems | OECD](http://www.oecd.org/health/health-systems/44117530.pdf) Page 56. 50 is childhood. Update [here](http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2014.pdf). Being worst in the U.S. does not mean that obesity and lack of fitness are not problems elsewhere. To quote from that update: > [@](#): > > Overweight and obese people are a majority today in the OECD area. The obesity epidemic > continues to spread, and no OECD country has > seen a reversal of trends since the epidemic > began. Until 1980, fewer than one in ten people > were obese in OECD countries. In the following > decades, rates doubled or tripled, and are > continuing to grow. > Across the OECD, 18% of the adult population are > obese. More than one in three adults in Mexico, > New Zealand and the United States, and more > than one in four in Australia, Canada, Chile and > Hungary are obese. On the plus side - > [@](#): > > Overweight (including obesity) rates have almost > stabilised in Italy, England and the United States, > and have grown modestly in Canada, Korea and > Spain, in the past ten years. And in children > [@](#): > > Overweight (including obesity) rates have almost > stabilised in Italy, England and the United States, > and have grown modestly in Canada, Korea and > Spain, in the past ten years. For children the U.S. does not lead the pack - Greece, Italy Slovenia, and New Zealand are all worse off. And of note for childhood physical fitness the U.S. is near the top, believe it or not. (See page 49 of Wendell’s cite.) Really obesity and lack of fitness is NOT just a U.S. problem. ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/54 "2015-04-19T07:37:23Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Be concerned with your own health. The health of others is none of your business. Not when health care cost, lost productivity, etc., are born by the entire society. If the community has a legitimate intrest in your carbon footprint, seatbelt use and smoking habits, it damn sure has an interest in your waist line. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/55 "2015-04-19T14:48:57Z")
Good news - for those concerned about getting their full recommended allotment of saturated fat, two of the new [Burger King extra-long double cheeseburgers with onion rings](http://www.bk.com/menu-item/extra-long-bbq-cheeseburger) provide 110% of the RDA. By contrast, a single Wendy’s triple cheeseburger gives you 145% of the saturated fat RDA, without all the inconvenience of that extra bun to get through. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/56 "2015-04-19T15:40:48Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > Not when health care cost, lost productivity, etc., are born by the entire society. If the community has a legitimate intrest in your carbon footprint, seatbelt use and smoking habits, it damn sure has an interest in your waist line. That’s an interesting counter argument, but I reject it. Carbon footprint is a natural resource, so acceptably regulated. Smoking regulation should be limited to it’s public usage as it actually affects others. Seat belts required to be in cars, OK. But my waistline and whether or not I have a seatbelt around it is still none of your business. Otherwise your reasoning could be used to control any aspect of my life. The community has a far greater legitimate interest in guaranteeing individual freedom and liberty. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/57 "2015-04-19T15:43:46Z")
Here is my perspective. Some background, I am overweight but I lost over 100 pounds in the last year through changing my behaviors. 1. Maybe they just don’t like hiking. That is fun for some people but sounds like a chore for many. 2. It’s a shitty attitude, expressed by some in this thread, to assume a fat person is a lesser person than you. Lazy, morally inferior. There are a lot of reasons people get fat and many of them are outside of a person’s control without a great deal of effort. You know how you can open up a bag of chips and eat them all without realizing it? That’s not an accident. There is an entire industry filled with scientists and engineers that design foot to be eaten rapidly and not make you feel full because that makes you buy more and that is what makes them money. They design flavors and textures that hit our brains in ways that were evolved to help us survive in the wild. It is literally out of many people’s control. 1. Every fat person knows very well what they look like and probably hates them self for it on some level. Or at least is aware how other people perceive them. There is no real “fat acceptance” movement. That’s an internet construction of a handful of people with web sites. That said, everyone has something about themselves they hate so people who turn there nose up at fat people should get off their High Horse. In summary, hiking sucks and be nice to each other. ---
**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 19, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/58 "2015-04-19T15:50:39Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > Not when health care cost, lost productivity, etc., are born by the entire society. If the community has a legitimate intrest in your carbon footprint, seatbelt use and smoking habits, it damn sure has an interest in your waist line. Education level, income, social status, etc. all affect health as well. Where is the line drawn? [Castration](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22302-can-castration-really-prolong-a-mans-life.html#.VTPNiSHOOko)probably increases life expectancy and health. In theory, if I got a graduate degree, earned more money, got castrated and got married my health and life expectancy would go up. However that doesn’t mean I am required to do any of those things if I don’t want to. The line between public health and individual choice is blurry, and not too consistent. The life expectancy gap between the wealthiest 10% and the poorest 10% in a wealthy nation is about 10 years. [![](http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/BN-CK783_women0_G_20140417175058.jpg) ](http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/BN-CK783_women0_G_20140417175058.jpg) As far as obesity, I think you need a BMI of 50+ before the life expectancy gap hits 8 years. Either way, until medicine comes up with a solution that consistently works in the real world using real people, there isn’t much we can do about it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/59 "2015-04-19T16:44:15Z")
The evidence that diet affects one’s weight, health, or life expectancy is weaker and more confused than one might think: > **[Planning to Go on a Diet? One Word of Advice: Don’t.](https://slate.com/technology/2015/03/diets-do-not-work-the-thin-evidence-that-losing-weight-makes-you-healthier.html)** > > If you’re one of the 45 million Americans who plan to go on a diet this year, I’ve got one word of advice for you: Don’t. And, incidentally, I didn’t say that obesity was just a problem in the U.S. I said that it was more of a problem in the U.S. than other developed countries. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935/60 "2015-04-19T17:22:10Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > … You know how you can open up a bag of chips and eat them all without realizing it? That’s not an accident. There is an entire industry filled with scientists and engineers that design foot to be eaten rapidly and not make you feel full because that makes you buy more and that is what makes them money. They design flavors and textures that hit our brains in ways that were evolved to help us survive in the wild. It is literally out of many people’s control. … I certainly agree that lots of effort goes into making easy-to-gobble food. And darn near anyone can be suckered once. But once you (any you) have fallen for Cheezey Poofs the first time, the decision to buy another package the next time you’re at the store is 100% on you. It takes an act of **co** mmission to buy it. Not an act of **o** mission. IOW, the path of least resistance is to leave the package on the shelf. You have to go out of your way to buy it and to pay for it. So don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-relaxed-about-obesity/717935.md?page=4)