Is obesity something we need to take action on?

[SexyAlison]

In the United States, over two thirds of the population of classified as overweight (BMI above 25) and 35% of America is considered obese (BMI above 30). I find this very sad and appalling. It also exposes a lot of hypocrisy in this country. For example, people who smoke cigarettes are shamed for their habit because it is considered unhealthy. When a person buys a pack of cigarettes, the package is full of labeling telling them how unhealthy it is and how they are at increased risk for lung cancer, etc. they are also taxed like crazy.

Should the same thing be done for unhealthy food? Should there be taxes on high fat food, or whenever someone buys something at a fast food restaurant? Should we shame the overweight into losing weight and stop their bad eating/exercising habits? I just find it strange how we are okay with ostracizing smokers but not the overweight.

 

[Aella_]

From "Slut shaming" to "Fat shaming".
You younger posters …

EDIT.
And I just saw that slayergirl started a similar thread too "Are men the expendable gender?"

 

[SexyAlison]

http://i.imgur.com/IByJqXj.jpg

 

[imalickin]

Cut off their food stamps, that'll thin them down. Just don't use anymore of my tax dollars to force someone not to eat or eat healthier.

It's their choice.

I mean isn't this still a free country? Why do some people want to try to control other people's lives?

It's really none of your business or the governments.

 

[Rachel_X]

When I was in the states once, I saw an entire family that needed a chair per arse cheek.
There was 4 of them and they struggled to fit on an 8 person table.
When the waitress said they could help themselves to the buffet they all jumped up and moved with speed that you wouldn't think people that big could, almost trampled the waitress and literally shook the floor.

 

[Wife of Bath]

Yes, the obesity epidemic is a major problem. We need to continue to address it, but the best way to do so is not by shaming anyone. Our culture has totally lost touch with food. We need more backyard gardens, more farmers markets, more beekeepers and independent producers. The commercializations of our food system has one logical outcome: profit. All the industrial food companies care about is the bottom line.

The answer is never to shame someone or make them feel guilty about their choices. Sugar is a drug, and an addictive one. The best thing to do is educate our communities about real food and continue to make real food available in food deserts across the country.

 

[butters]

Yes, the obesity epidemic is a major problem. We need to continue to address it, but the best way to do so is not by shaming anyone. Our culture has totally lost touch with food. We need more backyard gardens, more farmers markets, more beekeepers and independent producers. The commercializations of our food system has one logical outcome: profit. All the industrial food companies care about is the bottom line.

The answer is never to shame someone or make them feel guilty about their choices. Sugar is a drug, and an addictive one. The best thing to do is educate our communities about real food and continue to make real food available in food deserts across the country.

what she said ^^

 

[butters]

the fattest people are often the poorest in a first world country - the cheaper (processed/pre-packed) foodstuffs are laden with fats, sugars, salts and other additives that mean reliance on them day to day contributes enormously to obesity issues.

education and a whole reworking of how people think about food needs addressing. people working long hours in shitty jobs to make ends meet are tired; many live on their own; lots feel it's easier to micro a meal direct from the fridge/freezer than go to the effort of producing a more nutritional one from scratch. too many people don't even know the basics of cooking.

 

[lovecraft68]

Wonder when someone is going to actually point at one of the biggest contributors to the increase in obesity.

The internet and computers. There are people glued to the PC all day for work then come home and are glued to the PC and social media all night long. Its not just about food intake and what you eat, but something called exercise and mobility and doing things to get rid of the weight.

Kids do what they see and if mom and dad are weebles sitting in front of the computer then that's what they will be and they have video games to obsess with.

The NFL has a play 60 program they tout all the time. Think about that, what kind of society is this that kids have to be told to get outside and play? When a lot of us were kids we would leave the house Saturday morning on our bikes-mommy and daddy not driving us everywhere-and with our bat and glove or football or whatever in tow, we'd go play ball, we'd run into other kids playing ball and that's how we made friends-as opposed to it all being texts and FB these days.

On the other hand what is also being misrepresented is obesity as always being a product of said sloth and laziness. There are people with food addictions, that does exist. Some people drink their stress some smoke too much dope for it, some eat and that's as destructive as any hardcore drug addiction.

My wife worked in a weight loss clinic for years and her end was counselling because a lot of this is a disorder, binge eating is the 360 of anorexia. There are physical issues as well that can cause it

So even though as I made in my first point the net and all its addictive qualities that make us the instant gratification generation is contributing, but there are other factors.

Not every person who struggles with weight is just a lazy slob who doesn't care what they look like, that's the same as an addict whoring herself because she has reached rock bottom, she cares, but can't help it.

The example above of the family all being heavy is sad because the kids don't have a chance and I am beginning to think encouraging your child to be that heavy could be looked upon as neglect and perhaps that's a change that should be looked at. If you can't help yourself, you can help your kid...

 

[Wife of Bath]

the fattest people are often the poorest in a first world country - the cheaper (processed/pre-packed) foodstuffs are laden with fats, sugars, salts and other additives that mean reliance on them day to day contributes enormously to obesity issues.

education and a whole reworking of how people think about food needs addressing. people working long hours in shitty jobs to make ends meet are tired; many live on their own; lots feel it's easier to micro a meal direct from the fridge/freezer than go to the effort of producing a more nutritional one from scratch. too many people don't even know the basics of cooking.

Exactly. It's an unreasonable and unfair expectation to tell them to change their habits overnight, plus many of them simply don't have access to whole, unprocessed foods. And there are plenty of working professionals who simply don't have the time to cook every night. It's incredibly important to focus on providing better options, or creating a better way at home.

The continuous education process is key. Better labeling is important. If you know your morning latte is 1500 calories, will you still drink one every day?

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

In the United States, over two thirds of the population of classified as overweight (BMI above 25) and 35% of America is considered obese (BMI above 30). I find this very sad and appalling. It also exposes a lot of hypocrisy in this country. For example, people who smoke cigarettes are shamed for their habit because it is considered unhealthy. When a person buys a pack of cigarettes, the package is full of labeling telling them how unhealthy it is and how they are at increased risk for lung cancer, etc. they are also taxed like crazy.

Should the same thing be done for unhealthy food? Should there be taxes on high fat food, or whenever someone buys something at a fast food restaurant? Should we shame the overweight into losing weight and stop their bad eating/exercising habits? I just find it strange how we are okay with ostracizing smokers but not the overweight.

No.

This is an old, oft explored meme where some of the less informed liberals will lean toward controlling other people's live for their own benefit and the better educated will blame the obesity of the poor, not on their consumption of bad food per se, but the lack of nutrition found in foods they can afford.

If you want to perfect the world, then start with yourself and try to lead by example instead of turning us into a nation of bullies and the bullied.

 

[Aella_]

1.the fattest people are often the poorest in a first world country - the cheaper (processed/pre-packed) foodstuffs are laden with fats, sugars, salts and other additives that mean reliance on them day to day contributes enormously to obesity issues.

people working long hours in shitty jobs to make ends meet are tired; many live on their own; lots feel it's easier to micro a meal direct from the fridge/freezer than go to the effort of producing a more nutritional one from scratch. too many people don't even know the basics of cooking.

2.education and a whole reworking of how people think about food needs addressing.

Indeed. With the small comment: that the poor are more likely to be chronically stressed - but same goes for some middle-class or rich folks.

1.There are a few people out there who are overweight because "they enjoy their food and don't bother exercizing",
But despite the public stigma which equates obesity with a weak character,
- stress or feelings of demoralization (be they because you're poor, stressed at work, separated or have low self-esteem and so on) are often the main culprit. Food starts as being just a quick fix for a bad mood, and ends up in being an "addiction", so to speak.

2.I think that most people are well-informed about these issues nowadays, with the internet and so on.
The real problem is that not many are motivated to stick to those rules. It's hard to give up a lifetime of habit Or, by the same token, it's hard to stick to a healthy diet when you're in a constant state of stress or survival mode.

 

[Aella_]

No.

This is an old, oft explored meme where some of the less informed liberals will lean toward controlling other people's live for their own benefit and the better educated will blame the obesity of the poor, not on their consumption of bad food per se, but the lack of nutrition found in foods they can afford.

If you want to perfect the world, then start with yourself and try to lead by example instead of turning us into a nation of bullies and the bullied.

I only read yours after I posted. What you wrote made so much sense.
But not only libs. Conservatives too --- regardless of political orientation: people who like being in control by patronizing other people.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I am against all sin taxes, they only hurt economically that economic stratum that is demanding a $15 an hour minimum wage...

It serves to turn stupid people into stupid criminals.

Taxes should be blind and low.



Unfortunately, doing right usually requires a lot of money to put into motion.

 

[someoneyouknow]

Rather than quote several of the above, let me say education won't work because people don't listen. We've spent 5-6 decades of concerted effort trying to educate people on the dangers of drug use yet heroin deaths are now soaring, various stars (movie, singing, etc) keep dropping dead from use and the drive to legalize marijuana now has people jumping out windows to their death, blowing their brains out or trying to kill their wives (all from Colorado).

We've also spent a good 4 decades informing people of the dangers of smoking, including graphic pictures of what smoking does to ones lungs or people who used to smoke showing how great it is to breathe/speak out of tube.

During all that we have spent trillions of dollars, almost all of it taxpayer money, trying to educate people on these various dangers yet people still smoke, still do drugs and now, still become obese.

While it is true the poor in inner cities may not have ready access to vegetables and other nutritional foods, the same cannot be said for large (no pun intended) areas of the country, including my own, where there is a grocery store within 5 -10 miles of almost any point yet, the obese come in their SUVs or mini-vans and rather than get a bag of lettuce or eat a cucumber, debate which bag of chips or case of soda to get.

My rant in the Lit Personals about fat asses was based on my trip to two stores yesterday, and that is a regular occurrence. If people have to be shamed to change their ways then maybe that's the route we should go. What all of the above do is leech off others by not taking responsibility for their actions or themselves, particularly when it comes to medical expenses.

If, as someone above said, it's none of the government's business what people do with their lives then we should shut down all drug treatment centers which the public funds, the same for weight management/obesity clinics, and those who are obese, or do drugs or smoke should have to pay for ALL their own medical expenses. They can pool with others of their ilk but not with the millions of others who at least walk up a flight of stairs at work rather than wait the minute for an elevator to arrive.

I know this is not a popular sentiment, particularly on here, but the government should not have to spend other people's money stating the obvious. Drugs do kill, smoking, if it doesn't kill you, will make you sick and suffer and obesity falls into both categories. If people are unwilling or too stupid to grasp such simple concepts then shaming might be the only way to make people change.

If you have no respect for yourself, why should others respect you?

 

[Aella_]

From reading the above posts, I'm starting to suspect
that either the root problems or extent of obesity are different in the US than in Australia or New Zealand,
or the approach to these issues differs between the countries.

 

[Aglaopheme]

Definitely cut off his welfare.

https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/1/8/1357676359093/Chris-Christie-new-jersey-008.jpg

WoB and butters have already addressed the issues surrounding poor folks and their access to healthy foods. You see the usual suspects outraged the the First Lady wants healthier lunches served to children in schools.

I'll just give you one example of a person I know that doesn't drive and they are disabled therefore unable to walk great distances. They get a lot of food from the local food shelf that is close to thier home. This person was so happy that they actually had apples at the food shelf.

 

[Saint Peter]

Air Force 1 is going to need a few more engines.

 

[Aglaopheme]

And more mini tacos.

 

[butters]

where has shaming ever worked? the drug addict, the morbidly obese person, the alcoholic... shaming doesn't work on those living with the shame of their condition everyday. shaming can even worsen it.

education works for those who listen, and studies show people do even if it takes generations to filter through. those who refuse to listen and learn will be the same people who will continue to smoke regardless of what it does to their own bodies or those around them (including the foetus in a smoking mother's womb), who refuse to change their eating habits because they like what they're eating, or ingest drink/drugs that impair their quality of life because it's their body and they'll do what the hell they want with it. EVERYONE knows the damage smoking causes - and yet tobacco products are openly on sale.

i know we can't turn back time. but - as an observation - if 2-parent families were able to afford to have one parent going out to work whilst the other stayed home working just as hard to parent small children when not in school, cleaning house and preparing meals, there might be a whole lot less stressed workers reaching for crappy food at the end of the day to feed themselves and their kids. I am NOT suggesting all women return to the kitchen, not at all. Wouldn't it be great, though, if 2 parents raising a young family could have the luxury of choosing between them which of them is better suited to work out of the home and which in? Roles which could be reversed as and when different job opportunities arose. Problem is, of course, economically it's just not viable for the majority.

 

[BabblingBrooke]

Yes, the obesity epidemic is a major problem. We need to continue to address it, but the best way to do so is not by shaming anyone. Our culture has totally lost touch with food. We need more backyard gardens, more farmers markets, more beekeepers and independent producers. The commercializations of our food system has one logical outcome: profit. All the industrial food companies care about is the bottom line.

The answer is never to shame someone or make them feel guilty about their choices. Sugar is a drug, and an addictive one. The best thing to do is educate our communities about real food and continue to make real food available in food deserts across the country.

100% this.

Americans also should learn from other cultures; the French come to mind. From the youngest age, children are introduced to a wide variety of foods, spices, textures, and tastes. The standard kid fare here is highly processed nuggets and fries. We are as a culture failing our kids by only expecting then to like these foods with low-nutritional value, often no nutritional value.

 

[Aglaopheme]

Oh Lordy.....

 

[Hypoxia]

Eat the rich.

No, don't eat the rich.

Eat the poor.

They're juicier.

 

[Lancecastor]

I like this thread.

The op, a hooker, would like slimmer johns.

And butters, a zaftig fiancee, would prefer Harry made enough money so she wouldn't have to work.

Which would, in time, drive Harry to buying the services of the op.

Circle of life.

 

[Lord Pmann]

the fattest people are often the poorest in a first world country

I feel like we (Americans) should use this fact as a way to get those countries who hate us to love us. Like, imagine telling the people in Africa or North Korea "our POOREST people are the FATTEST". I'm pretty sure they would jump on the democracy train in a hot minute.