[OT] Why are so many Americans "overweight"

[WayneLigon]

Obese

Some other observations on this:

My Mom recently became diabetic, due to medication. So we've had to look again at everything she eats in terms of carbs, not just sugars. We eat out on the weekends, so we've had to really take a look at what is in food. And I've been making some observations on this whole obese thing.

1. Advertisers lie their ass off to us. It seems that you can't go into a store without seeing 'low fat' food. That triggers some primal response in people I think, to equate 'low fat' with 'low calorie'. No, it's not. Take a look at the calorie count for a low far product and it's fatty neighbor. The low fat product will almost always have more carbs than the other, because it'll have added sugar to make it taste good, and carbs are what puts the weight on you.

2. Sugar is everywhere. When did we as a nation decided we needed to put honey on everything? Honey BBQ, honey mustard, honey this and that? Honey is sugar. It doesn't matter if it's 'good sugar' or 'bad processed sugar' sugar is carbs.

3. portion sizes. Morris mentioned this I think; how surprised he was at how large portions were.. After years of complaints over smaller portion sizes, cheaper corporate agriculture and meat forming has made it possible for a restaurant to give you about twice as much as what it did twenty or thirty years ago.

4. Americans eat out a lot more. This would not be all that bad except for one thing: for decades, 'going out to eat' was a special treat, that the family did maybe once a week (usually Sunday brunch) or on special occassions. Now it's an everyday thing BUT restaurants still serve 'treats'. It's almost impossible to find veggies on the menu, except for some watery green beans or some carrot/cauliflower/zuiccini/squash mix. The 'health craze' of the early 80's has bottomed out and most chains no longer offer the healthier (and more expensive) choices they used to.

5. Price: almost the only good thought I ever came across in a jack Chalker book was the realization that for the first time in history, the poor eat more fatty food than the rich. Even as recent as 100 years ago, the 'fat banker' was a stereotype. They had the cash to eat meat evry night if they wanted to, or gorge on high-calorie foods. Now, it's reversed. The common person has fast food, which is loaded with calories while the richer people can afford fresh veggies and lean meats.

 

[Storm Raven]

Even taking that into account, American are a murderous lot. Our peaceful times are historically quite violent compared to most other industrialized nations. Sadly, a lot of EU countries are catching up rapidly...

My guess (purely a guess based on anecdotal evidence mind you), is that one of the major differences between the US and many other westernized countries is that the US is an extremely heterogeneous nation. The many times I have visited Eurpoe I have always been struck by how homogenous the typical Eurpoean nation's inhabitant appeared to be compared to the US. When you have so many subcultures mixed together, it is easy for cross-cultural miscues to lead to nasty situations with potentially fatal consequences.

I think Europe may be catching up as the EU lifting of travel limitations (by allowing for freer movement of labor through the continent) creates a more culturally heterogenous population in many of the EU countries.

 

[Zappo]

I think that many factors contribute to the difference in crime rates. I doubt that it can be reduced to a single statistic. Probably, there is no "magic bullet" law that could suddenly drop USA's murder rates to European standards. It's a very difficult task just to find out the reasons of violence.

 

[kkoie]

ok, I can see the point about a lot of people being overweight in the US. Seeing as how this is a 'I want it yesterday' culture.

I can understand your points of view, despite your backyard generalizations, stereotyping, and not-so-factual statistics.

But I think a majority of those people who've hijacked this thread into talking about crime, have yet to use any legitamate and objective sources to prove their point.

Yeah America has more crime than Euro Countries, but so far none of you have been able to factually say WHY we have more crime, beyond the elementary fact that it's because the USA has more people!

Anyway, back to the topic of this thread, Europe seems to be more layed back than America in comparison. I think this can be seen as the underlying reason why a portion of the USA population can be seen as overweight. We are the guys who invented Fast Food for crying out loud. Have you considered that?

K Koie

PS: if you are going to continue the silly debate on crime, then whats to stop from opening up the whole can of worms? Health Care, Government Programs, Taxes, Entertainment, Public Transportation, etc etc. If you are going to imply that one section of the world is better than another, you need to compare everything, not just one or two points.

 

[Umbran]

Re: Obese

1. Advertisers lie their ass off to us. It seems that you can't go into a store without seeing 'low fat' food. That triggers some primal response in people I think, to equate 'low fat' with 'low calorie'

An ignorant, "primal response" on the part of the consumer does not count as a lie by the advertiser.

 

[Bihor]

I like to point out that Canada and Mexico are in America and are not like the US.

Here in canada, I eat only small beaver tail and rarely a whole moose head .:

 

[Hakkenshi]

Yeah, that just goes to show how those freaky Montrealers eat. In Ottawa, nobody can take our polar bear fat and baby seal steaks from us!

(/sarcasm)


But seriously, from my experience, I believe that Canada is rapidly catching up to the US in terms of weight problems in both extremes.

But the portions definitely aren't to blame. I have to order what appears to be on paper a meal for three, and ends up barely satisfying my hunger. And I'm definitely not overweight; quite the opposite.

 

[Bihor]

baby seal steaks Mmmmmmm (w/drool)

 

[otto]

If you're 321 lbs at 5'11", you're carrying some extra muscle to handle that weight -- and it's extra muscle through your legs in particular, an area where you can easily add 10 or 20 lbs of muscle.

Still 200 lbs of lean mass is a lot of lean mass on a 5'11" guy. That's linebacker mass.

Pro bodybuilders and pro wrestlers are often "obese" by BMI. Certainly strength athletes can carry enough muscle to seem obese by height/weight.

My point, though, is that it's not just pro wrestlers and body builders. There are some overweight regular guys (i.e., don't really spend a lot of time lifting weights) who, if they lost their fat, would still be in that category.

In my mind, that completely destorys the credibility of BMI.

 

[mmadsen]

There are some overweight regular guys (i.e., don't really spend a lot of time lifting weights) who, if they lost their fat, would still be in that category.

I think the only overweight "regular guys" who would still have enough lean mass to be overweight after getting lean would be ex-athletes who were already "overweight" or "obese" by BMI when they were lean or very, very heavy guys who need significant muscle mass to carry the extra bulk.

A "chunky" 200-lb guy doesn't need much extra muscle to get around; he's a 160-lb guy with 40 lbs of extra fat. Even a technically "obese" 220-lb guy is probably just a 160-lb guy with 60 lbs of extra fat. A 300-lb guy, on the other hand, certainly needs some extra muscle just to carry the weight.