A weighty issue

[Keroin]

I was given some magazines recently - always a treat here on the rock - and among them was a recent issue of Time. As I was skimming through, I came across a statistic stating 34.5% of Americans are obese. I kept reading. Then I went back and read that stat again.

34.5% obese. Holy cow. That's a third of the population. This prompted some searching.

According to the WHO, the US has the 9th highest rate of obesity/overweight of all the countries in the world, with 74.1 percent of the population weighing in as such. It's the biggest medical problem in the country. I couldn't find recent statistics for Canada, and we weren't in the top 20, but I'm sure we're up there, too.

The WHO considers people with a BMI index higher than 25 as overweight and over 30 as obese. And it's not just the US, this is a global problem. For the first time since stats have been taken, more people in the world - 1.6 billion - are overweight than underweight.

Is it just me, or is anyone else completely floored by this? Can we not control our food consumption?

And before you jump on me with the, "You're skinny, you don't know what it's like", let me tell you about me. I am hypothyroid and have been for 27 years. I am also on hormones to control endomitriosis that make me gain weight. I make a conscious effort to stay fit and healthy, no matter where I am, or how much money I have, or how busy I may be. I love cake, cookies and junk food as much as anyone else.

So what's happening? And what can be done about it?

 

[youknowyoulike]

A major cause has to be that we have become a society of couch potatoes. For example, how many guys sit on the couch from 8 am to 12 a.m. watching football during the fall season? Way more than before when you only had at best 2 games on television on Sunday.

What can be done? Make cars illegal and people will have to walk everywhere

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Another blast from the past ...

i personally DVR the games while doing yard work. i watch the games when the sun goes down. With any luck, i'll get a few tickets this fall.

 

[CutieMouse]

Another blast from the past ...

I had that exact same thought. LOL

 

[AngelicAssassin]

If all else fails, they could include this with the Happy Meals.

 

[graceanne]

I had that exact same thought. LOL

Me, too. If he hadn't linked it, I would have. lol

 

[Keroin]

Another blast from the past ...

i personally DVR the games while doing yard work. i watch the games when the sun goes down. With any luck, i'll get a few tickets this fall.

I had that exact same thought. LOL

Whoa, that was spooky! Yikes. CM, are you inside my brain?

Now I have to go read that thread. Sigh.

But notice, that was in 2006 and you wrote that 60% of Americans were overweight/obese and now, only three years later, that number has increased by 10%. Doesn't that seem scary-high for such a short span?

 

[AngelicAssassin]

But notice, that was in 2006 and you wrote that 60% of Americans were overweight/obese and now, only three years later, that number has increased by 10%. Doesn't that seem scary-high for such a short span?

Not really. Bad habits snowball, as do lemmings.

 

[graceanne]

Is it just me, or is anyone else completely floored by this? Can we not control our food consumption?

Here we go again.

Not all obesity is caused by over eating. Under eating can cause obesity, too, because it makes you metabolism VERY VERY slow. Prednisone, zoloft, and many other meds can cause obesity. (Both the mentioned drugs make you hungry all the time.) And sometimes the people eat just fine, but never get out and move. We can't let our kids leave the house because 'they might get hurt', more and more jobs are sit down jobs, and then you gotta go home and make dinner, and help with homework, and and and aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnndddddd you don't have the time and energy to take a walk.

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Now I have to go read that thread. Sigh.

This is a little more Forum related if you care.

 

[Keroin]

This is a little more Forum related if you care.

It's not a "care" issue, it's an internet speed/limited bandwidth issue. I'd read all the threads if I wasn't already paying $250 a month for internet.

Every click = $

Added: And there are plenty of non-forum related threads. I didn't realize I had guidelines to follow.

 

[AngelicAssassin]

It's not a "care" issue, it's an internet speed/limited bandwidth issue. I'd read all the threads if I wasn't already paying $250 a month for internet.

Every click = $

Added: And there are plenty of non-forum related threads. I didn't realize I had guidelines to follow.

You don't. The threads were provided for background material. Had i been more careful, i would have finished the last with "to read"

 

[Netzach]

Honestly, take a look at Americans' work habits and stack those up against the rest of the industrial world. *that* is why we're more obesity prone.

The worker is being fried longer and harder, every dime being squeezed. You find people with breakneck schedules reserved once for only emergency medical help and upper management doing the least critical of jobs. And vacation, ha. Recharging the batteries never happens.

I like to cook. I know how to cook. I have access to good food and no kids to pick up after school.

Ask me how motivated I am when M gets home at 1 am and Taco Bell is still open, to do the right thing. And I bet I do the right thing a higher percentage of the time than most people.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

First of all, let's define the freakin' standard for overweight, obese, et cetera.

According to the most liberal BMI calculator (<-- link) I can find, at 6'3", my so-called "Normal Range" would be 165-200 pounds. I call pure-dee bullshit! At 200 pounds, I would be skinny; at 165, each and every one of you would call me anorexic. I'd look like Karen Carpenter the day before she died.

Sorry, guys; I'm not buying it. There is no provision in these so-called standards for skeletal size, bone mass, bone density, etc. My shoulders, point to point, are 22", my hips, ptp, 17". That's NOT flesh measurements - it's the width of the freakin' BONES.

Granted, I AM overweight. Hell, I'm fat. I weigh 270 pounds, give or take a few, and that's too much. But I've asked 3 separate doctors I trusted (2 cardiologists and a GP) over the past 11 years since my first heart attack, what I should weigh. The *lowest* range they gave me was 200-215; the highest 210-230. Each of them told me that BMI was simply a *guide,* and that responsible doctors looked at the patient, his/her frame and THEN gave the patient an appropriate weight range. Two of the three admitted that most of the weight ranges they gave their patients would qualify for "Overweight" on BMI.

BMI is bullshit, pure and simple. It attempts to put everyone into an average framework, and it just DOES NOT WORK.

 

[MisterSir]

The last times I've been measured on the BMI (two and three years ago), I landed solidly in the "Obese" bit of the graph and I am far from obese. Even now, I come in a hair under "Overweight", and that's just as wrong because my body hasn't been that of a thin person for years. For reasons I can't remember, I have sachets of salt on my desk right now, so if anybody needs a pinch of salt to take this with, right here.

 

[nh23]

Is it just me, or is anyone else completely floored by this? Can we not control our food consumption?

And before you jump on me with the, "You're skinny, you don't know what it's like", let me tell you about me. I am hypothyroid and have been for 27 years. I am also on hormones to control endomitriosis that make me gain weight. I make a conscious effort to stay fit and healthy, no matter where I am, or how much money I have, or how busy I may be. I love cake, cookies and junk food as much as anyone else.

So what's happening? And what can be done about it?

We've done this over and over. People always end up pissed off. Like grace said overeating is not the only reason people are overweight. It always ends up looking like your last paragraph too. I have this many reasons why I should be fat, but I'm not. If I can stay thin, anyone can. So I, this thin person am better than you.

Let's talk about something new. How about the millions of adolescent girls who stare themselves into an early grave trying to be thin. To fit what society says they should be.

 

[WriterDom]

I like to look at what fat people buy at the grocery store. I see sodas, ding dongs, twinkies, marshmallows, ice cream, chicken nuggets, pork chops, slim Jims, Jelly filled donuts, fudge, bacon, Captain Crunch, butterfingers, fatback, pizza, hot dogs, and mac and cheese. And this is pretty much the rule not the exception.

 

[Primalex]

Granted, I AM overweight. Hell, I'm fat. I weigh 270 pounds, give or take a few, and that's too much. But I've asked 3 separate doctors I trusted (2 cardiologists and a GP) over the past 11 years since my first heart attack, what I should weigh. The *lowest* range they gave me was 200-215; the highest 210-230.[/COLOR]

165 = 45 pounds under suggested value
270 = 45 pounds over suggested value

Yet you think that 165 is much worse for your health than 270. Why?

 

[intothewoods]

Another blast from the past ...

i personally DVR the games while doing yard work. i watch the games when the sun goes down. With any luck, i'll get a few tickets this fall.

I had that exact same thought. LOL

Me too!

The last times I've been measured on the BMI (two and three years ago), I landed solidly in the "Obese" bit of the graph and I am far from obese. Even now, I come in a hair under "Overweight", and that's just as wrong because my body hasn't been that of a thin person for years. For reasons I can't remember, I have sachets of salt on my desk right now, so if anybody needs a pinch of salt to take this with, right here.

I don't understand what you're saying - how would you characterize yourself then?

 

[Primalex]

Let's talk about something new. How about the millions of adolescent girls who stare themselves into an early grave trying to be thin. To fit what society says they should be.

And what about the million traumatized children whose parents are into kinky sex and who, after catching the parents off-guard in the bedroom, commit suicide?!! Who saves them?!!!

 

[myinnerslut]

they used to do BMI testing in my high school gym class. it caused me to obsess over it for a while, and then finally decide it wasnt worth it.

 

[Primalex]

they used to do BMI testing in my high school gym class. it caused me to obsess over it for a while, and then finally decide it wasnt worth it.

And the result in the end?

 

[kiss_of_sin]

in the navy we have a semi annual PRT (physical readiness test) and we weigh in, if we weigh over the "preferred" weight, we get measured for bmi.

I was a rescue swimmer for two years, got paid to work out all day. All muscles and bones (not very sexy on a female btw) and my bmi was 21% but i weighed 165 at 5'5". so according to the weighing standards i was overweight. wtf??!?!

now i weigh 175, still work out, not that religiously anymore, and look healthy and normal, but even more "overweight" and my bmi is at a 27%.

tell me how America sees me as fat? marylin monroe was a size 12! a 12! im a 9-10 becuase my hip bones cant go any tinier. imagine that.

i fail to see how America can come up with a generalized weight standard when body sizes, bone structure, and muscles can clearly determine someones weight.

 

[kiss_of_sin]

if a person is happy with the weight that they are, who is anyone to tell them differently?

a person who pushes their beliefs on another is stupid and self conscience. if that individual is fine where they are at, then let them be. eating disorders, smoking, unprotected sex, abortions, being "overweight/obese", plastic/cosmetic surgery, all of those are dangerous. but everyone one of us has our own opinion on the issues. who are we to enforce our opinion on them? its their mistake to make, their happiness they achieve. let it be.

 

[Primalex]

a person who pushes their beliefs on another is stupid and self conscience. if that individual is fine where they are at, then let them be. eating disorders, smoking, unprotected sex, abortions, being "overweight/obese", plastic/cosmetic surgery, all of those are dangerous.

Right. All of those are dangerous and nobody would walk around proclaiming "It's completely normal for a 12 year old to smoke all day..."

Why the fuck should it be normal to be obese then?

And "being happy" has nothing to do with "being normal".