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America's Weight Problem?


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#1 Koh

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 08:58 AM

It's a very, VERY, VERY, VERY sensitive topic, but what are your views? Here are various others, some of which just made me lol: http://rants.arantiu...hate fat people

Just KEEP IT CIVIL IN HERE!

#2 Fabbrizio

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 09:15 AM

We're kind of lazy. I'm guilty of it, too. No seriously, our "advancements" work only towards convenience, never improvements. Thus we have found ways to get by with doing less and less, in every sense. Obesity is a natural side-effect of tailoring our products towards convenience. To tie this into the article you posted, this is completely in support of that last line; there are companies that make you overweight, by some means or another, and there are other companies that make it okay to stay overweight.

Also, after a presentation I saw yesterday, I can't help but blame cars as well. A relatively minimal part of the American population still bikes, and even less people walk places. Also, time spent in traffic leads to stress, which often leads to overeating. And if you're stuck in the car, not walking or biking, you're not working off the calories.

Just my $0.02.

Edited by PowerGauntlets, 08 July 2011 - 09:17 AM.


#3 Nathaniel

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 09:50 AM

People like to try to blame this problem on one thing, but I think it's really a combination of issues:

- Lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyles that enable such. Modern day suburbs often enable such lifestyles, because they were designed around the automobile. You need a car to get anywhere, so naturally people drive more and walk less. As for lack of exercise, the main problem I think is not lack of intense exercise, but rather lack of simple exercise, such as walking. People tend to have weight problems when they simply don't move much.

- Lack of affordable foods that are healthy. There is a reason why poor people tend to be fatter than people who are better off: Healthy foods are expensive. I've eaten plenty of healthy foods that taste good, so I know taste is not part of the problem, but their costs tend to be higher.

- Lack of a good diet. The above still doesn't excuse this either. Some people don't care about their diet, and some people (believe it or not) just don't know any better, as accessible as that information is. It isn't limited to the amount people eat, but also what nutrients they are having too much of or too little of. For those people take too much of, the first ones that come to mind are fat, carbohydrates, and sodium. When going grocery shopping, I have noticed a trend that a lot of foods tend to be high in these three areas, and low in others. I imagine a lot of fast food is probably the same way.

More reasons no doubt to list. I certainly have some flaws in those areas myself, so I know I need to improve my habits. So if I point fingers at others, I do the same to myself.
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#4 Adem

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 09:52 AM

QUOTE(PowerGauntlets @ Jul 8 2011, 10:15 AM) View Post

We're kind of lazy. I'm guilty of it, too. No seriously, our "advancements" work only towards convenience, never improvements. Thus we have found ways to get by with doing less and less, in every sense. Obesity is a natural side-effect of tailoring our products towards convenience.

I couldn't have said it better. I don't really have much else to add to the discussion. However, I'd like to also say that obesity can be caused my certain health problems and what not. I have family that is considered "obese," but they've got such serious health issues, they can't really do much to begin with, so it results in weight gain.

#5 Beefster

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 09:53 AM

Keep in mind that many overweight people can't really help it. Metabolism is slower, appetite is larger, and well, more stress. You can't blame it all on convenience.

#6 Nathaniel

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 09:57 AM

No doubt it is harder for some than it is for others. Genetics and metabolism can play a part, but I think that is a less common reason than what I mentioned. It may be true for some, but it can also be an excuse for some others and thus finding a reason not to deal with it, because one might be simply giving up. If it was mostly metabolism and genetics, I'm sure the trends would be about the same all over the world.

#7 Twilight Knight

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 10:00 AM

Hm I'm slightly too heavy just because of my own fault, I used to eat to much and do too little (means sit on my ass all day playing World of Warcraft). Thought recently I have suddenly have the need to lose some weight, so I'm eating less and doing more. I rarely judge any people, cause some fat people can't help their situation, but I am just the kind of guy who is simply too lazy. I need to change my lifestyle, before it's too late. I've lost about 8 kilos so far in the past 3 months. Not much I know. Keep in mind I'm lazy.

So yeah, people like me should change, for their own sake.

#8 Mitchfork

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 10:09 AM

I think Nathaniel's got the right idea. There are lots of factors that contribute to the weight problem.

Another one is that people have a really skewed perception of what's considered obese. We watch shows on TLC about "The Half Ton Man!" or whatever and think "Wow, thank goodness I'm not obese like that guy!" The reality is that you're considered obese at surprisingly low weights; if you're 5'11'' (like I am) and weigh 215 pounds (I'm only five lighter), you're considered obese. Now I've got some pudge but I'm not exactly struggling to fit into movie theater seats either; I can run a six minute mile and I very rarely eat fast food. If I ate some big meals this week and didn't walk as much as I do, I could probably push myself to obesity. icon_unsettled.gif

You can calculate for yourself here.

#9 Tree

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 10:31 AM

QUOTE(PowerGauntlets @ Jul 8 2011, 08:15 AM) View Post

, this is completely in support of that last line; there are companies that make you overweight, by some means or another, and there are other companies that make it okay to stay overweight.



It's not the companies fault. I mean, eating junk every once and a while won't do anything. It's the people that eat that crap every day. It's all blamed on the person. people blame the company because they just can't accept that they made themselves fat.
I mean, in no circumstance is that kind of "Food" good for you at all. But like I said, it's the people that eat it, not the people who make it.


#10 Fabbrizio

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 10:37 AM

QUOTE(Keiichi123 @ Jul 8 2011, 10:31 AM) View Post

It's not the companies fault. I mean, eating junk every once and a while won't do anything. It's the people that eat that crap every day. It's all blamed on the person. people blame the company because they just can't accept that they made themselves fat.
I mean, in no circumstance is that kind of "Food" good for you at all. But like I said, it's the people that eat it, not the people who make it.


I never said anything about food. I'm talking about convenience. Remote controls, cordless phones, even roombas. People say these conveniences "help" but they actually provide people less reason to get up from their chairs and do stuff around the house. Left to their own devices, NO ONE would get up and do anything if they didn't feel some sense of obligation to do so. At this point you can no longer blame the people. Companies have glamorized laziness.

#11 Beefster

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 12:51 PM

BMI is a rather uninformative way to measure obesity. It's only a simple height:weight ratio. It doesn't take into account things such as muscle and bone mass, skeletal width, and fat percentage. It's why you can have body builders that are technically overweight despite being 90% muscle. It's also why wide-set, thick-boned people can also be overweight even though they have less than 15% body fat.

BMI would not be my number of choice to indicate (with a single number) obesity. Body fat percentage is far more useful and would be my choice if you could only use one number.

There are tons of variables involved- not just to measure obesity, but also what causes it. You can't blame it all on technology, nor on food, nor on people; because, y'know what? It's a little bit of everything.

Despite the numerous causes, the best solution is more exercise and guideline-diets. Diets alone are useless. You can't deprive yourself of anything you crave- because maybe there's a reason your body craves it. We, as Americans in the 21st century are deathly afraid of fat which, in truth, is not bad for you. And then we zero in on grains too much which aren't quite as good as we think they are. We fear sodium, which is a necessary electrolyte.

A good diet should try to capture all of what you need, and a bit of what you crave. Don't cut starch. Don't cut fat. Don't cut protein. But eat less sugar. Get enough fiber, but not too much. That's about it. Exercise does the rest.

#12 Mitchfork

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 12:53 PM

QUOTE(Beefster @ Jul 8 2011, 12:51 PM) View Post
BMI is a rather uninformative way to measure obesity. It's only a simple height:weight ratio. It doesn't take into account things such as muscle and bone mass, skeletal width, and fat percentage. It's why you can have body builders that are technically overweight despite being 90% muscle. It's also why wide-set, thick-boned people can also be overweight even though they have less than 15% body fat.
I understand it's not the metric for everyone, but I've got piddly amounts of muscle so I think it's probably sadly accurate for me (bone mass notwithstanding).


#13 Anthus

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 05:59 PM

This is how I see it. With the way things are in a lot of places in the US, most people are hard up for cash, or don't know a thing about cooking, and generally choose to fast food it. Lots of children are given frozen foods, or crap from a can cause some times parents have to work, and don't always have time to cook, etc. There are infinite scenarios, but the bigger issue is that no one really cares enough to seriously change it. If you care about something, like, I dunno, YOUR HEALTH, then maybe you should be taking the steps to fix it.

I also think that a lot of people who claim to be predisposed to obesity are full of crap too. Some, but not all are just using an excuse. There are some exceptions, so don't write me off as a complete bastard, but it's like this: Your body burns calories. If your metabolism is slow, or if you have some other dietary deficiency, then it is your responsibility to make sure you don't over eat. Plain and simple. Sorry for being so harsh, but as someone who works in the food industry, it really bothers me when people try and blame an issue like obesity on everything else except themselves, and their own poor choices. Wanna talk to me about being brought up that way? Well, there comes in a time in your life when you become responsible for yourself, and can take control. icon_smile.gif

I think in the age of letting technology raise our kids, we should develop some interactive way to keep track of your dietary habits, and promote healthy life styles. If you get fat as a teenager, you are much less likely to loose the weight. Hey, maybe go for a walk once in a while. I do it everyday. I walk to work, and to pretty much anywhere in town I need to go to. Columbus has an infamously terrible bus system, so it's bike or walking for me.


And, I think we are only a few years away from fixing* this problem by raising the weight for the obesity status. Hey, we've done it a few times to fix* the national debt.


* Not fixing at all; ignoring it. Pawning it off to another generation.

Edited by Anthus, 08 July 2011 - 06:05 PM.


#14 Lemon

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Posted 09 July 2011 - 02:38 AM

I'm starting to think that diet has more to do with it than movement. After WWII we figured out how to mass produce lotsssss o' food. Then we made it cheap, then we made it delicious. Recently we realized that what makes food really delicious also makes it really bad for us, but the damage has been done and is very hard to get away from. There's a British chef who's currently trying his darndest to do just that. Can't help but wish the guy lots of luck.

#15 Chris Miller

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Posted 11 July 2011 - 02:20 PM

I blew my right knee a few years ago and haven't been able to run like I used to. I also rather like beer(though I've cut back massively on that). That, taken together with a like for pizza, and I've gotten somewhat portly. Recently, I've cut down my daily calories probably by half, and I feel much better. I'm also trying to build up as much strength as possible in that bad knee so maybe one day I can start running again.


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