42% of American adults will be obese by 2030, study says

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We've got drones.

Drones need drone operators.. Americas Army 2030? :P

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Fat tax

Come on US, Japan is on the ball. Are we afraid of hurting feelings or what? I know that there are some people out there that cannot lose weight, but for the majority there shouldn't be excuses. I have one overweight friend that is doing something about it now, and I praise him every chance I get.
 
He's missing out on some great food. Also, apparently he never heard that you can eat it in moderation.

Personally I stopped eating that kind of food because I thought it tasted absolutely awful. A lot of people who don't eat that type of thing aren't necessarily "forcing" themselves not to.
 
Personally I stopped eating that kind of food because I thought it tasted absolutely awful. A lot of people who don't eat that type of thing aren't necessarily "forcing" themselves not to.

What place do you live in that all fast food has a similar taste? There's a huge variety in America so I can never say "fast food tastes like shit!" because there is no fast food "taste". There are some shitty restaurants though. I hate McDonalds but I fucking love In-N-Out. They don't taste even remotely similar. This is a place where people damn near go into shock after drinking a soda though so I have to add that filter to posts when discussing fast food.
 
BMI is pointless don't trust it, it could still say you are over weight when you are super skinny

Actually BMI is very helpful. BMI is used as an empric metric to track patient's progress. It may not be accurate when an individual has a large amount of muscle however this isn't true for the vast majority of the population.

My BMI is near 25 which is the cutoff for overweight. I'm cut and have abs. I'm not butthurt that it's that high.

If you are in shape with a lot of muscle don't worry about your BMI. For the 70% of Americans that are overweight and the 42% that are obese, this number works well enough.
 
Going to America this Summer, can't wait to see the size of the McDonald's large portions.

not sure where you live but in canada the super sized drink size at mcdonalds is 24oz. in the US a large drink is 32oz. in the US sizes seem to be 1.5-2X what we get here and 30-50% cheaper. if you eat healthy now you're going to have trouble finishing some of the portion sizes in the states.
 
Actually BMI is very helpful. BMI is used as an empric metric to track patient's progress. It may not be accurate when an individual has a large amount of muscle however this isn't true for the vast majority of the population.

My BMI is near 25 which is the cutoff for overweight. I'm cut and have abs. I'm not butthurt that it's that high.

If you are in shape with a lot of muscle don't worry about your BMI. For the 70% of Americans that are overweight and the 42% that are obese, this number works well enough.

I'm the opposite, my BMI is around 20 (almost underweight) and I still feel that I'm on the chubby side >_> (one of) The downside of not doing any sport.
 
So, I'm guessing the shortened life span of the fatties does not compensate for the expenses while they are alive?

Otherwise this wouldn't be a problem.
 
Are airplane seatbelts strong enough for overweight passengers?

More than six decades ago, when the federal standards on the strength of airplane seats and seat belts were written, government regulations specified that seats be designed for a passenger weight of 170 pounds. But now the average American man weighs nearly 194 pounds and the average woman 165.

Now, some engineers and scientists have raised questions about whether airplane seats, tested with crash dummies that reflect the 170-pound rule, are strong enough to protect heavy travelers.

“If a heavier person completely fills a seat, the seat is not likely to behave as intended during a crash,”
said Robert Salzar, the principal scientist at the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia. “The energy absorption that is built into the aircraft seat is likely to be overwhelmed and the occupants will not be protected optimally.”

Nor would the injury necessarily be confined to that passenger, Dr. Salzar said. If seats collapse or belts fail, he said, those seated nearby could be endangered from “the unrestrained motion of the passenger.”
 
I'm starting to get annoyed by the prospect of so many medical research resources being used to deal with obesity related problems that could have been used elsewhere. I wonder if that's actually a thing that happens.
 

Well, if that is ever 'fixed', airplane ticket prices are definitely going up.


I'm starting to get annoyed by the prospect of so many medical research resources being used to deal with obesity related problems that could have been used elsewhere. I wonder if that's actually a thing that happens.

Be a whole lot more cost effective (and actually effective) to just stop subsidizing corn, tax any food with HFCS or added sugar in it. But i doubt that will ever happen since its not very politically viable, and will get less so since fat people will soon be in the majority
 
I believe it.

Went to Sesame Place in PA for the first time with my wife and daughter and I was...frightened.

It was a scary place for any number of reasons, but the observation that 3 out of 5 adults there were overweight was pretty crazy. In that moment, I actually questioned my own belief and support of universal healthcare/single payer.

Fat parents riding around in motorized scooters. Fat parents waddling around (I actually feared for my daughter's safety). Fat kids waddling after their fat parents. Fat parents eating hot dogs, pretzels, cotton candy. Fat kids drinking giant Slurpees and sodas.

::shudders::

Be a whole lot more cost effective (and actually effective) to just stop subsidizing corn, tax any food with HFCS or added sugar in it. But i doubt that will ever happen since its not very politically viable, and will get less so since fat people will soon be in the majority

Blaming corn subsidies is too easy an excuse. The fact of the matter is that even with subsidies to corn growers, there are still many people who are fit and healthy. It's more a function of education and teaching kids and parents to eat right and make good choices.
 
Actually BMI is very helpful. BMI is used as an empric metric to track patient's progress. It may not be accurate when an individual has a large amount of muscle however this isn't true for the vast majority of the population.

My BMI is near 25 which is the cutoff for overweight. I'm cut and have abs. I'm not butthurt that it's that high.

If you are in shape with a lot of muscle don't worry about your BMI. For the 70% of Americans that are overweight and the 42% that are obese, this number works well enough.

BMI is absolutely worthless. How are you supposed to know if you're someone whose BMI is a good indicator of their fitness or not? You do NOT need a lot of muscle mass for the BMI to not apply to you. There was a discussion about this a little over a couple years ago and I posted a picture of myself proving I was in shape but certainly anything but a musclehead- in fact I was doing mostly cardio with some light dumbbell lifting at the time. My BMI was slightly above the overweight line. It's a bullshit, unscientific measurement.

If you need something else telling you you're out of shape enough for the BMI to apply to you, then you already know you're out of shape and don't need some silly pseudo-science number to tell you so.
 
Be a whole lot more cost effective (and actually effective) to just stop subsidizing corn, tax any food with HFCS or added sugar in it. But i doubt that will ever happen since its not very politically viable, and will get less so since fat people will soon be in the majority

No argument there.
 
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Is the pic clear? On my phone.

That is a huge part of the problem.

For those that can't read between the lines, the BMI qualifications were changed overnight and suddenly, a huge proportion of our population was declared to be obese. BMI is a pretty inaccurate picture of fitness, but it's easier to get people worried about their weight. Body fat percentage is a much more accurate metric.

That said, it seems like there are increasing numbers of obese people. The government themselves could make a good first step by ending subsidies on corn. As it is, we overproduce and have to find ways to use the stuff.
 
BMI is absolutely worthless. How are you supposed to know if you're someone whose BMI is a good indicator of their fitness or not? You do NOT need a lot of muscle mass for the BMI to not apply to you. There was a discussion about this a little over a couple years ago and I posted a picture of myself proving I was in shape but certainly anything but a musclehead- in fact I was doing mostly cardio with some light dumbbell lifting at the time. My BMI was slightly above the overweight line. It's a bullshit, unscientific measurement.

If you need something else telling you you're out of shape enough for the BMI to apply to you, then you already know you're out of shape and don't need some silly pseudo-science number to tell you so.

BMI isn't perfect but I think it applies to the vast majority of the population and helps to indicate a trend.

If a man is 6'2" and 225 pounds, he is most likely obese. He might be a bodybuilder/athlete, or he might just be the fittest guy alive. But that's very statistically unlikely. I see very few bodybuilders but I do see a LOT of obese adults.
 
Blaming corn subsidies is too easy an excuse. The fact of the matter is that even with subsidies to corn growers, there are still many people who are fit and healthy. It's more a function of education and teaching kids and parents to eat right and make good choices.

Well, I do agree with you, but making food that has HFCS in it more expensive should discourage at least some small percentage of people from eating or using it. Plus, its just stupid policy. Why are we subsidizing something that makes us fat asses?

Plus, when we go to a single payer(please lord) that shitty food tax should help pay for the medical costs of those people who eat that crap and get fat
 
Blaming corn subsidies is too easy an excuse. The fact of the matter is that even with subsidies to corn growers, there are still many people who are fit and healthy. It's more a function of education and teaching kids and parents to eat right and make good choices.

Well it's things like corn subsidies that allow Monsanto to have their hands in almost everything in a typical supermarket. It also allows them to have very strong lobbying power in government.
 
Is it bad that as a former fat kid I like to hear news like this because it tells me, "hey, you're GUARANTEED to be more fit than at least 42% of the rest of the country?" Exploding health care costs aside, I mean
 
Well, I do agree with you, but making food that has HFCS in it more expensive should discourage at least some small percentage of people from eating or using it. Plus, its just stupid policy. Why are we subsidizing something that makes us fat asses?

Plus, when we go to a single payer(please lord) that shitty food tax should help pay for the medical costs of those people who eat that crap and get fat

Exactly, if we tax it higher like we do cigarettes and other harmful substances, it would discourage use. And, that additional tax money could be set aside (wishful thinking here) to help pay for all the fatasses when single payer eventually is a thing and we have to pay for their increased medical costs.
 
Is there any resource for tracking obesity by state? I would guess that 60% or more of the people I see daily are obese, around the Cleveland area. It is sad and frustrating. A huge majority of people admitted to hospitals around here are diabetic.

Welp, just saw the map posted above.
 
disheartening prediction. I'll be nearly 50 by then... I hope I am still as concerned with my health and weight then as I am now. Maybe even moreso.

Liquify them all and use them to power the country.

agreed. obese people are The Worst.
 
BMI is a measurement meant to be used for an POPULATION and unless your country is named Sparta, I would say it will work fairly well.

On a personal level there is body fat measurements but that is fairly tricky to measure to, so it's easier to fall back to BMI.
 
Be a whole lot more cost effective (and actually effective) to just stop subsidizing corn, tax any food with HFCS or added sugar in it. But i doubt that will ever happen since its not very politically viable, and will get less so since fat people will soon be in the majority

Well, we could even out the obesity with the rest of the world by making our subsidies focused on foreign exports only. Those subsidies keep us very competitive abroad, and I don't think we want, or need, to lose that advantage.

And then tax added sugar.

...

And pizza.
 
Well, we could even it out the obesity with the rest of the world by making our subsidies focused on foreign exports only. Those subsidies keep us very competitive abroad, and I don't think we want, or need, to lose that advantage.

And then tax added sugar.

...

And pizza.

Hey now! I work out every day and I enjoy a pizza every now and then. :/
 
The fault lies in American ignorance, and this is largely allowed and sanctioned by the government.

Breads! Whole wheat! Fruits! Cereal! Oatmeal! Pasta! Fast Food!

...proper dietary guidelines that actually improve someone's health are treated as theories. High fat/protein and low carb is viewed as some kind of alternative method instead of just THE WAY WE SHOULD ALL EAT TO BE HEALTHY.

It's maddening. The fact that I had to do so much research to properly understand how to nourish my body and improve my health is crazy...and now I'm labeled as some kind of outlier instead of just knowing the truth. Even crazier.
 
BMI isn't perfect but I think it applies to the vast majority of the population and helps to indicate a trend.

If a man is 6'2" and 225 pounds, he is most likely obese. He might be a bodybuilder/athlete, or he might just be the fittest guy alive. But that's very statistically unlikely. I see very few bodybuilders but I do see a LOT of obese adults.

If you can only be sure that the BMI applies to you if you're one extreme or another, then it's useless.

According to the BMI I would have to be 167lbs to not be overweight. I nearly laughed out loud when I saw that. It's bullshit. It's not science. And from what I remember it was invented almost 200 years ago by someone who wasn't even a scientist. If you want to use a numerical measurement then use bodyfat percentage.
 
I think a lot of the problem is that many people want their breakfast, lunch, and dinner to taste sweet. I'm afraid that even if corn subsidies were halted, people would still buy the beverages, salad dressings, snacks, etc. that contain lots of sugar in some form or another.
 
not surprising
half of your towns consist of (mostly terrible) fast food "restaurants" and they all seem to make some serious profit each year
 
I like how people are turning this into a debate about BMI instead of discussing the frightening fact of america's obesity.

Ain't that always the case?


obesity is real in America. Plain and simple. BMI, waist to hip ratio, waist circumference, etc. Any measurement you want to make, it's bad here in the states.


You don't get >9% type 2 diabetes without some serious obesity going on folks. It's sad. Let's not get carried away discussing some bs about how BMI is or is not a good meter of measuring obesity.
 
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