is obesity in the USA really that predominant?
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Aeriscloud
Banned
I fear loose skin far more than being fat. How does this turn out with such rapid weight loss?
Marmaladefire
Member
Yep. I lived in NoVA for a little bit. It wasn't too different (regarding obesity) than New York (where I'm from/spend most of the year.) The first time I took a trip downwards in the state? Utter confusion.
Silas Lang
Member
Why exactly do we have such large portions in America? I've never really though about it, but it doesn't seem like such large sizes (like soft drink sizes ) once existed.
Because we eat types of foods that only adequately reach satiety with larger portions. No one is going to get a bucket of corn (vs popcorn), or overeat plain rice/broccoli/steak (vs orange chicken). But if you get a small portion of junk food, you'll finish and want more.
It's like a chicken/egg problem, but if you look at this history it's clear the junk food came first and then portions increased as it became a larger part of the diet.
Evolution_1ne
Banned
Jersey holding out, go Jersey, its the beaches man.
FWIW california is one of the lesser obese states
lot of fatties here
Carbs are sugar. And eating fat won't make you fat. The only bad fat is the one found in vegetable oils (except olive oil) and trans fat. Most probably you ate at a caloric deficit which is why you lost weight. What was the source of your carbs? But believe it or not, if you had done the same thing but done it with it a low carb, high fat diet, you would have lost weight even faster. http://www.dietdoctor.com/science
Congrats on the weight loss btw. Good stuff.
Gintoki313
Banned
Around my area I mostly see about the same amount of fit people as there are obese people. So for me there kinda equal. Though if I had to say America on a whole, then yes we are in the obese range.
Horseticuffs
Full werewolf off the buckle
Not so well, as it turns out! But, I guess we view things in different ways. Loose skin may tighten up in time, or may get tightened by gaining muscle. To me the health benefits of having lost the weight have made it more than worth the loose skin.
In a lot of ways I think that obesity in America and, eventually the rest of the world, is already a lost battle. There is too much money to be made by too many powerful industries for real change to ever happen without something major happening to irrevocably change life as we know it.
I don't personally believe people have as much free will as they are led to believe they do. Millions of dollars have been spent to hoodwink and manipulate them. Millions of dollars spent on developing the perfect, most addictive mouth-feel and taste. Millions spent to poke at very primitive parts of our brains that drive much of our behavior.
I know that individuals have within them the ability to choose a different, healthy way of life. But I just don't think people as a whole really care. The higher percentage of a population that are obese, the more "normal" it becomes. When everyone you know is obese, what's the harm?
The only real hope we have is a world-wide concerted effort on the part of governments to vigorously encourage healthy lifestyles to try to counteract the global food industry and, frankly, I don't have that kind of faith in humanity.
Thanks!
I'm just a layman, for sure, but to my understanding the amount of fiber in your diet effects how quickly carbs are converted into glucose. During the week of April 29th I had on average 50.7 grams of fiber a day, the vast majority of which comes from Oats and beans and I keep to less than 37 grams of sugar a day and it's all only sugars naturally found in the foods I eat . Now, I've been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for about 10 years now and I DO eat at only 1,750 calories a day but I am actively trying to lose another 35 lbs to bring my weight to the proper level for my height.
I'm fairly certain that if I'd gone low-carb it probably would have been faster, but I felt like it was a pretty painless pace I was losing at and I didn't want to have to compromise on not eating meat.
I really think education starting in the first year of school is important, as is parental education. I just don't know how much good educating the public can do in the face of such overwhelming odds as big business.
Fragamemnon
Member
Lifelong southerner and weight in my anecdotal experience has always tracked very closely with population density and wealth, with poorer and exurban/long suburban people generally being fatter as a whole than their wealthier or more urban counterparts. Aging populations in the poorer and more rural areas are even harder hit.
Regarding carbs, portion sizes, activity levels, etc-the two biggest problems here are information overload and practically zero support for healthier foods by our food industry. PCPs that families get their information from and and even registered dietitians can't sort out the right science, mostly due to lack of pure research because it's hugely expensive to do correctly. The government's agriculture and food policy is a complete public health disaster.
Our food industry doesn't care about health at all-they want you to eat and drink more calories and enjoy their products. They take a good ideas like gluten-free and then package and sell it with mammoth high glycemic index produced starched food fucking up people's hormones even worse. They demonized healthy and effective low-carb approaches for countering obesity in the early 2000s as people who lived solely off steak, eggs ( hearty FUCK YOU to the medical orgs for continuing to conflate dietary and serum cholesterol ) and bacon and were cruising to a CHD brusing. They take a perfectly decent place to purchase food - the supermarket -and fill it with 70% or more things you should never eat.
I'm kind of convinced that the entrenched interests and complications will make correcting the problem via policy and education impossible. It would take an awareness effort on the level of what happened to the cigarette / tobacco refiners and end product producers to get the industry side of things even start to change.
Regarding carbs, portion sizes, activity levels, etc-the two biggest problems here are information overload and practically zero support for healthier foods by our food industry. PCPs that families get their information from and and even registered dietitians can't sort out the right science, mostly due to lack of pure research because it's hugely expensive to do correctly. The government's agriculture and food policy is a complete public health disaster.
Our food industry doesn't care about health at all-they want you to eat and drink more calories and enjoy their products. They take a good ideas like gluten-free and then package and sell it with mammoth high glycemic index produced starched food fucking up people's hormones even worse. They demonized healthy and effective low-carb approaches for countering obesity in the early 2000s as people who lived solely off steak, eggs ( hearty FUCK YOU to the medical orgs for continuing to conflate dietary and serum cholesterol ) and bacon and were cruising to a CHD brusing. They take a perfectly decent place to purchase food - the supermarket -and fill it with 70% or more things you should never eat.
I'm kind of convinced that the entrenched interests and complications will make correcting the problem via policy and education impossible. It would take an awareness effort on the level of what happened to the cigarette / tobacco refiners and end product producers to get the industry side of things even start to change.
I don't think 50% being obese is any sort of equilibrium.
It's pretty bad even if taken to mean that there are about as many obese people as they are fit people, and then everyone else is something in between.
The anglo-sphere in general is pretty bad.
Large open spaces (Well, for US, Canada and Aus anyway) leads to more driving?
Sedentary lifestyles (but everywhere else has videogames and the internet)?
Greater poverty and inequality (obesity seems to correlate with poverty pretty closely iirc)?
Deregulation/lobbying/corporate ballwashing (corn in America, sugar in Aus)?
Long working hours?
Weirdly my (Aus) state has the highest rate of obesity and the highest rate of gym membership in the country (it is also the poorest)
Large open spaces (Well, for US, Canada and Aus anyway) leads to more driving?
Sedentary lifestyles (but everywhere else has videogames and the internet)?
Greater poverty and inequality (obesity seems to correlate with poverty pretty closely iirc)?
Deregulation/lobbying/corporate ballwashing (corn in America, sugar in Aus)?
Long working hours?
Weirdly my (Aus) state has the highest rate of obesity and the highest rate of gym membership in the country (it is also the poorest)
Phat Michael
Banned
I went to LA, i was probably the fattest person there and im not THAT big.
I went to Vegas - i looked positively anorexic in comparison. At the buffet i could usually have around 2 x half full plates and id be done. This was just a starter for some of these people. Like..some were so fat they couldnt fit on regular issue chairs im not kidding.
Saw some BIG, BIG people in Vegas, in NYC and LA not so much.
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
Parts of LA that's true, anyway. Going out in downtown, hollywood, santa monica, etc., everyone is generally pretty fit and attractive (nature of the kind of work they're looking for), but riding mass transit to get to these places... my goodness.
I feel ya on Vegas, though. I go there for work sometimes and it's kind of depressing.
el retorno
Member
Come to the south or disney world.
When I lived in Spain I was shocked how few "fat" people there were.
When I lived in Spain I was shocked how few "fat" people there were.
No need to put it in quotes. Fat is fat.
One of the biggest changes I made to my diet a couple of years ago was to cut out sugar from my tea drinking. I cannot state just how much of a difference it made. I used to drink 3-4 cups of tea with 2 teaspoons of sugar. One day I just had a cup with no sugar and it was ok in taste so I stuck with it. I then replaced drinking soft drinks with my meals with just water or juice not from concentrate.
At the time I had been always a bit overweight not by much just a stone or two. Not only did my weight drop but I believe it sort of regulated itself into a state where I cannot gain nor lose weight. I literally cannot gain or lose without actually trying.
At the time I had been always a bit overweight not by much just a stone or two. Not only did my weight drop but I believe it sort of regulated itself into a state where I cannot gain nor lose weight. I literally cannot gain or lose without actually trying.
el retorno
Member
I was meaning people of walmart obese (honey boo boo's mom). There were fat people but not FAT.
Horse Detective
Why the long case?
I was amazed at how much weight I lost by cutting soda from my diet.
Makes me wonder what the people in this country could achieve if they tried.
Makes me wonder what the people in this country could achieve if they tried.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Man, anything larger than the smallest fast food soft drink size wouldn't even fit in my old car's cup holder.
RustyNails
Member
McD's cheap, fast, and it's everywhere. Sometimes close to within blocks.
Jerry's fresh produce is in a different city.
RuinerPrime
Member
I think one of the main reasons I managed to keep the weight off is making water my primary beverage, started at like 14. I have rootbeer/creme soda/orange soda no more than 2x a week. I'm slightly more lenient with lemonade and milk but I do not have that very often either.
Indiana can have some very large people. I usually see people of all sizes at the state fair, where their goal is to deep fry everything that has ever been eaten. And if it isn't fried, it has tons of sugar. I don't even eat particularly healthy but what I see people eat on a regular basis and what it does over time can just be heartbreaking.
I've been trying to cook a lot of my own meals and make sure there is fresh ingredients/not a lot of grease involved lately. It's hard sometimes depending on my schedule but I think I'm doing alright. 2 years ago cooking was an alien concept to me (I just turned 29) and most of what I make is still simple but I keep trying. A lot of people that I know don't cook much, if at all.
Indiana can have some very large people. I usually see people of all sizes at the state fair, where their goal is to deep fry everything that has ever been eaten. And if it isn't fried, it has tons of sugar. I don't even eat particularly healthy but what I see people eat on a regular basis and what it does over time can just be heartbreaking.
I've been trying to cook a lot of my own meals and make sure there is fresh ingredients/not a lot of grease involved lately. It's hard sometimes depending on my schedule but I think I'm doing alright. 2 years ago cooking was an alien concept to me (I just turned 29) and most of what I make is still simple but I keep trying. A lot of people that I know don't cook much, if at all.
ShinobiFist
Banned
When I went to San Francisco last month, I notice how healthy people's lifestyles are over there compared to NYC. The Bay Area in general is pretty great. The parks I notice have a shit ton of fitness type centers, it was pretty rad to see.
Devolution
Member
There's a lot of shit to do in general without really "going" anywhere. Biking, hiking, sailing, rock climbing, etc.
Devolution
Member
We're not talking about the Central Valley for a reason jerk.
I lived in SoCal ( Santa Barbara) for a year. I was shocked by the gap between the people on campus and in the student town, who were all not only perfectly fit but attractive too, and the people you'd see in Costco or Wall Mart. I'd never seen obese people on scooters before.
But then again when you look at American urbanism, more often than not cities are designed so you need a car to get anywhere, as there's not much in the way of public transport and distances between points of interest are too big for biking.
But then again when you look at American urbanism, more often than not cities are designed so you need a car to get anywhere, as there's not much in the way of public transport and distances between points of interest are too big for biking.
The saddest thing about this gif is that they had to keep adding different colors just to illustrate how fat we are as a country.
FWIW california is one of the lesser obese states
FWIW california is one of the lesser obese states
Land of the free.
FWIW california is one of the lesser obese states
That really put things in perspective.
acheron_xl
Member
I think people forget about beer consumption when they're tallying the causes of obesity. A lot of people drink a lot of beer, and that accounts for a lot of consumed calories.
No. And yes. There are a lot of absurdly obese people. There are a also a lot of very healthy people. And a lot of people who would be considered fat by BMI but are healthy and fit.
It's definitely a problem, in my opinion caused largely by the fact that the cheapest most affordable food is also far and away the unhealthiest. I eat roughly the same amount of food now as when I lived in the US, the difference being that I don't eat any junk food or fast food anymore, and as a result have lost 40 pounds (with exercise of course). Largely because I can get healthy fresh cooked food for fast food prices here. But in the US I found myself eating garbage food because it was convenient and cheap.
It's definitely a problem, in my opinion caused largely by the fact that the cheapest most affordable food is also far and away the unhealthiest. I eat roughly the same amount of food now as when I lived in the US, the difference being that I don't eat any junk food or fast food anymore, and as a result have lost 40 pounds (with exercise of course). Largely because I can get healthy fresh cooked food for fast food prices here. But in the US I found myself eating garbage food because it was convenient and cheap.
Not America (Australia), but when I was in high school in the '80s, I'm pretty sure I could count the obese kids on one hand. Seeing photos from the '70s pretty much everyone was skinny, but there was a strong beer and meat eating culture.
I was driving to work the other day and passed so many fat kids it wasn't funny. The place is getting fat.
I was driving to work the other day and passed so many fat kids it wasn't funny. The place is getting fat.
Brofist
Member
Reminds me of going out to dinner with my family. Sister orders iced tea not realizing it was unsweetened. 5 minutes later there were like 10 empty sugar packets on the table and she's reaching for more like a crack addict searching for a hit, and I'm like wtf are you doing.
iamaustrian
Member
I've never ever seen more extremly obese people in my life than in florida.
sometimes at walmarts there were armys of scooter fatties. it was frightening.
and what did they buy? tons of canned food, pops and chips.
sometimes at walmarts there were armys of scooter fatties. it was frightening.
and what did they buy? tons of canned food, pops and chips.
teruterubozu
Member
Just FYI: "State prevalence prior to 2011 is provided for historical information only. Historical rates should not be compared to 2011 state obesity prevalence due to changes in survey methods." - CDC
Also, these are "self-reporting" obesity rates so I would take it with a grain of salt. Weight issues have become a major public debate in the last 10-15 yrs, thus people are more sensitive to their weight these days.
Really obese people do (like 150+ lbs overweight) in shopping centres and amusement parks. Sadly, these people are becoming more and more prevalent.
Although, when someone is that large it's hard to tell if they are sitting because they are lazy or because they have some other serious health issue (very likely).
ReadingRambo
Member
Not typically. You do see it at times in super markets, it's not like wall-e or anything over here....yet.
Bomber Bob
Banned
maybe they just dont care?
I made a topic about a very similar subject a few months ago after watching an insulting video on Fox News about the food problems in our schools:
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=493258
http://youtu.be/BI1VR_c5VcM
http://www.hulu.com/watch/406525
This is why this continues to be a problem. People don't want to be told what to do, even if its for their benefit. Michelle Obama has pushed hard for healthier foods and more activities in our public schools, but people keep accusing her of taking away their freedoms. It's insane some of the things I hear come out of people's mouths first hand on this very subject.
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=493258
http://youtu.be/BI1VR_c5VcM
http://www.hulu.com/watch/406525
This is why this continues to be a problem. People don't want to be told what to do, even if its for their benefit. Michelle Obama has pushed hard for healthier foods and more activities in our public schools, but people keep accusing her of taking away their freedoms. It's insane some of the things I hear come out of people's mouths first hand on this very subject.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Go to Europe to see how lower the obesity rate is over there.
ReadingRambo
Member
A huge factor is the pitiful state of diet education in our country for the past 20 years or more. Michelle Obama is trying to turn the ship around, but the people that need it most (rural red state Americans) are also the least likely to listen to her. Our "food pyramid" honestly urged us to get most of our calories from breads/pasta. That is a recipe for disaster that allowed school systems to serve starch as vegetables, and carb/sugar packed foods. The sad part is that it isn't changing. I work in schools now and they are still serving the same foods that they did when then the childhood obesity epidemic started in earnest.
Students at my school were served pizza, french fries, and canned pineapple yesterday. Washed down with chocolate milk.
Students at my school were served pizza, french fries, and canned pineapple yesterday. Washed down with chocolate milk.
Acidote
Member
I think I need a bit of perspective because I'm a Spaniard and have always thought there are way too many fat people around.
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