Obesity "epidemic" a myth promoted by diet industry, diet doctors

[UTUSN]

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=33669

US obesity epidemic is a myth promoted by diet doctors and the weight loss industry


Despite its growing weight, America does not have an "obesity epidemic," according to new research by Eric Oliver, Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Chicago.

The idea that Americans' increasing girth is a catastrophic disease is largely a myth promoted by the weight loss industry and diet doctors, writes Oliver in a new book, Fat Politics; the Real Story behind America's Obesity Epidemic. "It is our panic over our weight gain rather than the weight itself that is probably causing the most harm," Oliver argues. ....

"There are only a few medical conditions that have been shown convincingly to be caused by excess body fat, such as osteoarthritis of weight bearing joints and uterine cancer that comes from higher estrogen levels in heavier women, although this can be treated medically without weight loss," he said. "For most medical conditions, it is diet, exercise, and genetics that are the real causes. Weight is merely an associated symptom." ....

"We could end the obesity epidemic right now if we desired--all we would need to do is to redefine obesity according to the real criterion of a disease. If we simply classified obesity as a level where body fat is incontrovertibly pathological, only a fraction of Americans would qualify and this 'epidemic' would vanish," Oliver said.

********UNQUOTE*******

[clu]

1. hmm

Who gets the impression that obesity is always pathologic? It's all about increased incidence. The author has merit when cautioning against fad diets, but this seems like semantics.

[MichiganVote]

2. I see more fat kids everyday eating a bunch of crap

[skooooo]

3. same here...i don't think the epidemic is a "myth"

[UTUSN]

4. & school board members with 100K contracts with pizza providers

and soda and candy machines - not to mention football uniforms. Heck, the beer companies would donate if they could get away with it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Same here

and you know what, even if this is a myth, it has brought attention to an issue that is so important - our health. My school started a health club. I am not going to go in tomorrow and say 'oh, this obesity thing is a myth, we don't need this health club'.

[Missy Vixen]

13. And there were no "fat kids eating crap" in your youth? n/t

[MichiganVote]

15. No, as a matter of fact they didn't. They may have eaten too much food

but they didn't have snack breaks in school that consisted of Doritoes and chocolate milk. Or McDonald's once to twice a week. Or evening chips and cheese. Or a myriad of fattening foods at ballgames. For some kids, for some adults, their biological or genetic history may predispose them to more or less weight gain. But don't kid yourself, kids ARE eating more crap and they ARE proportionally more fat.

[Nay]

16. Actually, there were very few fat kids when I was growing up (in the

50's and 60's). I can only remember one, to tell the truth. An easy way to check this is to look at the grade school photos then and now.

Yes, we did eat sweets like candy, but most of the junk food that exists now did not exist then -- pizza pockets, 6 types of flavored Doritos, pudding cups, etc. etc. And schools would have recoiled in horror at the idea of stocking the place with junk food vending machines.

My own belief is that a good deal of the obesity in children today would be avoided/corrected if the kids were sent out to play for several hours each day, as we were. We were not allowed to sit around all afternoon (or all day, on weekends) because it was not considered good for us. Our parents didn't sit around, either. They were cooking, cleaning, painting, fixing, etc. No one did the amount of sitting around that you see today. Even at work they were more active -- now, all I do is sit in front of a damn computer at work, and my ass looks like that's exactly what I do.

[Skittles]

25. our parents couln't keep us inside

and they had a hell of a time getting us to come back in each night

[we can do it]

64. My Thoughts Exactly - Yeah We Had Candy - But We Also Ran Around A Lot

People were never as fat as they are now - fast food, drive thru everything, HUGE buckets of sodas, no activities that involve movement, remotes for everything, lawn service, video games...and for gods sake don't let the kids out to play - its dangerous out there.

[Hippo_Tron]

67. Speaking as someone who grew up in the 90's, I agree...

I wanted to go out and play by myself, but my parents said that it was too dangerous and unfortunately they were right. I would have been much more inclined to go outside if I could go ride my bike to my friend's house and play outside all of the time if I could have done it without supervision.

Not that my parents didn't take me to the park every day to toss around the football and I played little league soccer and baseball for as young as I can remember, but I certainly also enjoyed my video games. I think that I would have enjoyed my video games a lot less if I could have played outside without supervision, but unfortunately that's not really a possibility. And frankly I lived in a pretty nice neighborhood, but it was in the middle of the city so my parents were cautious. For families that live in terrible neighborhoods, you really can't let your kids out at all.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. One fat kid in my first grade class

Aside from less access to junk food--although our meals consisted mostly of meat, potatoes, and canned vegetables, and there were no diet foods--we walked most places, in my case, five blocks to school in the morning, five blocks home for lunch, five blocks back to school, five blocks home (or five blocks in the other direction for Brownies or Girl Scouts, after which I'd walk ten blocks home) after school.

So five days a week, I walked 20 to 25 blocks.

[Warpy]

5. If you follow the percentages of obesity

state by state over the past 5 decades, you see the classic pattern of an epidemic, leading some researchers to speculate that a slow virus may be to blame. The epidemic started in the Gulf Coast states and has spread out from there. The pattern really is classic.

There is no treatment for obesity. Over 90% of people who take weight off, even though drastic means like gastric surgery, put that weight back on and more within 5 years.

Dieting to reduce simple overweight may be one of the causes of obesity, leading to the yoyo syndrome, where a few pounds are lost, then regained with a few more, then lost again, then regained again with more added each time. If you see an obese person walking down the street, you may be looking at one of the more successful dieters out there.

I agree that maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and adequate exercise is better than struggling to fit a body type determined by actuarial tables. Study after study has shown this to be true, that active fat people are much healthier than inactive thin people. If we could all manage to conform to the ideal body type through simple will power, it would be a wonderful world, indeed. However, that's about as likely as having George W Bush display intelligence and empathy.

[ecoalex]

6. This sounds like a John Stossel report total Bullshit

[Warpy]

8. Google it

Then talk about it.

Thin people think every fat person is a lazy slob who eats too much.

That's the real bullshit.

[Skittles]

26. oh absoloutely

I am of normal weight yet I know I eat more crap than most of the overweight people I know

[we can do it]

66. I Totally Agree - Blame It On Every One Else, Funny Its Only Where People

eat total crap like the fast food shit here. The rest of the world who actually get up off their lazy whiny asses aren't anywhere near the size of people here.

Its a pathetic cycle, eat a pile of junk, sit in front of the tv, see commercials about amazing weight loss products, stay a diet for a few weeks, slowing their metabolism down even more, exercise for about 15 minutes in a week, continue driving everywhere and taking the elevator, have sloimfast for lunch.....then wham its not working I give up pass the chips - repeat infinitely

Sensible eating - REAL FOOD - sensible exercise and activity and this will not be the huge problem it has become. Of course its easier to blame everyone else than to commit to changing your life. It takes daily effort - not a miracle - It Is a choice.

[Missy Vixen]

12. Thanks for this, Warpy

>There is no treatment for obesity. Over 90% of people who take weight off, even though drastic means like gastric surgery, put that weight back on and more within 5 years.<

Those who continue to insist that obesity is nothing more than diet and exercise are participating in making a permanent underclass. In other words, the fat are seen by society as lazy, lacking in willpower, unattractive and certainly not socially desirable. The faux concern about disease is nothing more than that -- faux. It's appearance and nothing more.

Most will do anything to avoid the dreaded fat, including substances and habits that are ultimately more harmful to their own bodies than being fat. The thin scapegoat those who evidently lost the genetic lottery. There was information within the past two weeks on a study finding a link between obesity and a possible causative virus. I saw this same information at least five years ago; I'm not saying it's the ultimate cause, but it's intriguing. Believe me, those currently fat would most likely accept taking an antibiotic daily for the rest of their lives (and the resulting physical issues,) than continue to be fat.

The weight tables have also been significantly adjusted downwards in the past several years, as well as the standard of diagnoses of diseases like Type II diabetes.

HCFS doesn't help. Portion size doesn't help. The fact that most Americans don't have time to go to the gym daily also doesn't help. The truth, though, is above. Ninety-five percent of those who lose over 30% of their body weight put it back on, and more, within five years of the initial loss. It's a medically proven fact. The diet industry in 1999 was a $6 billion per year industry. Of course, there'd be no earthly reason to keep Americans in a state of believing fat = social ostracism. None at all.

Julie

[stevietheman]

22. I have found that calorie counting actually *does* work to drop the..

pounds, in combo with regular exercise. And it's not a yo-yo if you make calorie regulation exercise a part of your permanent lifestyle.

[AllieB]

57. It depends on your metabolism

My husband lost 40 lbs on a low-carb diet where he was actually eating WAY more calories than when he was heavy. But those calories came from fat, protein and vegetables, and not pizza, baked goods, and candy.

[Yollam]

23. I beg to differ.

There is no treatment for obesity. Over 90% of people who take weight off, even though drastic means like gastric surgery, put that weight back on and more within 5 years.


There is a treatment for obesity. It is called a sensible diet and exercise. In the vast majority of cases, one needn't starve or kill themselves with strenuous exercise to see significant results. And your stat about 90% of people who lose weight put it back on sounds a little dodgy. I hear that being thrown around all the time, but with no documentation. While l agree that one needn't try to make their body fit some actuarial table, it is best for people to get their body fat (not BMI) below 25%. There have been all kinds of studies linking long-term, low-calorie diets with better longevity.

The yoyo syndrome is indeed a problem, but your 90% stat leaves out the fact that the majority of people who lose weight and CONTINUE on the diet that got them there will keep the weight off. And I also disagree that active fat people are healthier than inactive thin people, at least from my experience. When I weighed 275 lbs, I ate all I wanted, a balanced diet with portions that were way too big, PLUS junky snacks. I was very active, I rode my bike and walked all the time, and was puzzled why I didn't lose weight, but then I realized it was because I was eating 3000 calories a day without even thinking about it. I had gastric reflux, foot pain and other discomforts from the weight, ALL OF WHICH improved with the first 20 lbs I lost. I've lost another 25 since then and have another 55 to go. Once I got used to the fact the idea of smaller portions and junk food being relegated to a very rare treat, I actually learned to enjoy being on a reduced-calorie diet. I love that my feet don't hurt, I don't have gas or reflux anymore. I love that my clothes feel better. I'm 37 and I'm no George Clooney - I'm never going to be on a magazine cover, and I don't care about fitting some arbitrary standard. I feel much healthier now, and intend to make this a lifelong lifestyle change.

If you want to go after destructive diets, don't rag on balanced reduced-portion, calorie-counting diets. As long as they are followed, they do work. It's the unbalanced Atkins and lo-fat diets that are horrible. They're horrible because they imply to people that "as long as you don't eat XXX, you can eat all the XXX you want and lose weight! Isn't that great?" Of course it's not true, and neither of those gimmicky diets works in the long run at all. But portion control does work. Go visit Japan for a few weeks, where the large drink is the size of our "kiddie cup" and a generous steak is half the size of what they serve here. Our obsession with getting more for our money is killing us, IMO, in addition to the insane idea that we must clean our plates.

[Skittles]

27. the problem is people diet, then go right back to their old habits

that is what causes the "yo-yo" effect, not the diets themselves. The key is a permanent change in habits.

[Yollam]

36. I agree, but returning to bad habits is not a fait accompli

It's like saying that 90% of people who quit smoking will start smoking again within 2 years. That's no reason not to quit smoking, and some people quit numerous times before finally kicking it permanently (I'm one of them - smoke-free since 1992)

There is this whole anti-diet fervor that really bugs me - the otherwise wonderful NAAFA promotes this as well. It's great to be opposed to starvation or yo-yo diets, but the way they word their rhetoric would make an obese person feel that all he/she needs to do to be healthy is to eat a balanced diet and get a little exercise in. But sorry, a 5000 cal. per day diet, no matter how balanced, will make people obese and unhealthy. Learning to eat reduced portions is very important. And I totally understand the feelings obese people go through when dieting - it's almost a feeling like a panic attack when you have to eat this meal that's so much less than what you're used to, and lacking in the fats and sugars that you're accustomed from getting a post-meal high from. It took me a few weeks to get past that, and I had to eat tons of carrot sticks to do it, but it can and does work.

And the fact is, for people who live in the real world, IE can't afford or don't have time for gyms, are not really athletic and work sedentary jobs, a reduced-calorie diet paired with light walks, etc. can be the easiest way to weight loss. I went all these years overeating and exercising thinking that it would pay off, and all I did was gain weight. I had to get a grip on my calories, and just going by when my gut said I was full did not work.

My goal is 170~175 lbs. which I hope to maintain. I'll be living in Japan, which will make that somewhat easier, but there may be a time when the pounds creep a bit higher than I want them, but instead of being complacent, (which I was before), I intend to keep tabs on it and adjust my eating accordingly. I never felt like I looked bad when I was fat, I thought I was great (until I finally saw a video of myself waddling around from behind - that was a shocker), but I gained about 10 lbs a year from 2000 to 2005 because I just didn't pay attention. Suddenly last year I found myself with foot pain and reflux. At age 36 - WTF?! My cholesterol was sky-high and I needed to do something. Now I'm doing it. I think it's a shame that anyone would discourage others from doing so.

[Skittles]

41. it certainly isn't easy!

I too have struggled with nicotine - have been smoke free for a while now. It irritates me when my coworkers say SUSAN you are so lucky, you can eat anything you want and not gain weight....what nonsense! I most certainly do NOT eat everything I want although I do manage to eat a fair amount of treats. I wonder how many of my coworkers go home after a 12 hour shift and exercise for an hour (I do). You have to find what works and stick to it and it's never easy! DAMN I am craving a greasy meal right now. :o

[JackRiddler]

56. one idea you have here is ridiculous...

The "virus" is the injection of corn syrup into everything, the prevalence of junk food, the irresponsibility of schools and for that matter parents who allow their children to eat shit and drink sugarpiss ("juice") all day...

[davsand]

9. I think there's more to this than just selling diets.

Maybe I'm just a gullible Average Jane, but it seems to me that there IS a problem here in the US of SOME sort when you see stats where reported cases of Type 2 Diabetes and other weight influenced conditions are on the upswing.

It is possible (and likely) that part of the upswing in diagnosed cases is due to better screening and increased testing by Docs. I don't think that can be overlooked in this discussion. More and more they are realizing what the impact of blood pressure and blood sugar really can be over time.

Nor do I underestimate the role the drug companies have played by encouraging research into drugs designed to treat "lifestyle" driven conditions. These are really big profit makers for big pharma--and you have got to know they have encouraged a whole lot of research to justify why everyone needs to be on some kind of long term prescription.

With ALL that in mind, I honestly do think we have become fatter, as a whole, in the USA.

I recall a report that came out of (oddly enough!) the garment industry that reported the average SIZE of clothing purchased here in the US had increased to a size 16 for women, and had increased by a couple of inches on the waistband for men. (I have no cite for that report--and I do apologize for that lack.)

Even allowing for fluctuations in sizing from company to company, and even allowing for size differences internationally (European sizes are WAY different than US sizes, and I'm not EVEN gonna start on the Asian size charts!) that single statistic leads me to think we are getting fatter, on average, here in the US.

Peace.


Laura

[NMDemDist2]

10. I read a study back in the 70's that showed that poverty has links to

obesity. The conclusion of the researchers is that starch and sugar are cheap so poor people tend to fill their calorie needs with the starchy side of the food chain.

add that to the high incidence of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in any packages/convenience foods and you have real problems.

google HFCS and read some of the articles, look in your cupboards and you'll find it in everything! now they are using genetically modified corn to make it :(

there's more to this story than meets the eye, seems to me......

[Left Below]

11. Bullshit! This sounds like a paid flak of the HFCS lobby

a science shill who needs Americans addicted to corn sugar. They are afraid their subsidy may be in danger.

Like the tobacco shills who "question" the health findings of doctors.


And what about diabetes? The most serious epidemic in the country is a direct result of obesity.

[BlueIris]

14. Kick. I hate the "kill the obese" message in the media today.

I don't feel qualified to speculate about its origins, but I see so little emphasis on what the true goal should be in any campaign to get Americans to "eat 'better'"--HEALTH. Not appearance and not size. HEALTH. When I meet a fitness person who cares about a client's health instead of his or her waist/bust/hairline, I'm more likely to...not think of that person as an opportunistic, shallow, slimy, judgmental asshole.

HEALTH, everyone, not just thinness. That's what should be important. Jesus.

[NickB79]

17. And the sugar and junk food industry promotes the "opesity is a myth" myth

Who do we believe?

[shanti]

32. high fructose corn syrup, NOT sugar

is the culprit.

[KittyWampus]

18. Sure, and so is diabetes and asthma. And the Pol. Science professor

is spreading a myth promoted by Fast Food industries.

Lawsuits are coming down the pike. There will be more and more of these articles.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

20. I'm a physician, from the time I was in med school 20 years ago, the

number of patients who are huge has gone WAY WAY up, even from 10 years ago. If you are trying to convince me that it's not unhealthy, I'm not buying.

[Skittles]

29. fat doctors too, Mayberry!

yes indeed

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

30. Unfortunately, I'm one of 'em!

[Skittles]

33. keep working at it Mayberry

I got a handle on my increasing girth when I started a food diary - I recommend the freebie www.fitday.com
It really lets you know how many calories you're eating! Also, I exerise an hour an average of six days a week (I like being able to sneak in some fries and chocolate).....I find the time by not watching crap like Desperate Housewives and so-called "reality TV". :)

[AspenRose]

58. True, dat

My best friend's father is an MD too...he had a leg amputated due to diabetes. He could be considered "obese."

[pitohui]

34. how much caused by food and how much caused by medicine tho?

when we were young 20 or 30 yrs ago a fat young man was an unusual thing because of the balance of testosterone in a young man's body, there would be one fat boy or one fat girl in a classroom of 30 or so, yet if you look at the diets we ate nothing but sugar, protein, and fat unless we were some kind of hippie communist weirdo (and even then we really ate nothing but sugar, protein, and fat w. some pot brownies thrown in) -- jesus read anna thomas's classic vegetarian epicure, she'd be run out of town today by the wild-eyed vegans of today, every damn dish has cheese and fat in it, with recommends that you smoke pot or drink wine before dinner to get up an appetite!

i wonder -- and this is pure speculation -- but it do wonder -- how much of the very fat people we see, esp. the young men, are people who are sensitive to the estrogens and other medical metabolites they are getting in our drinking water, such as prozac, also linked to weight gain in many people? my understanding is that such metabolites are not removed from water or soda products except for true distilled water

i'm confident that uncontrolled obesity is unhealthy, i am not so confident it has anything much to do w. what people are eating, in the 70s people drank coca cola all day long, hell, i baby sat for people who had me put kool aid or coca cola in baby's bottles, yet people weren't fat then

something else is going on in my humble opinion but i can only speculate as to what might be the real cause

we've had every diet there is since 1979 and yet people just get fatter and more self-hating, hell, these days you even see fat crackheads, who would have thought such a thing possible?

the other theory is the "can't win" theory, that many people only maintained a slim figure after age 30 by smoking, which is now condemned by society and doctors alike and perhaps rightfully so

[Warren DeMontague]

21. This is semantics. There sure as shit are a lot of fat people in the USA.

All the better to cram themselves into their massively outsized trucks and SUVs. When you look at the hydrogenated, high fructose CRAP that is passed off to most people as 'food', it's hardly surprising. But there are way more fat people than there used to be. Call it what you will.

[Skittles]

24. bullshit

one only needs to look around and see it for themselves

[Deja Q]

28. It's far more than just that:

* Kid sits around watching spongebob squarepants, playing nintendo, and eating McRubbish for 12 hours per day. Or eating potato chips or other JUNK 'food'... I've seen SIX YEAR OLDS with pot bellies far larger than mine. I'm 34. Just wait until Little Miss Dorito gets to age 15. She'll look like a stereotypical bowler (aged 55).

* Kid grows up and sits in a cube all day. Nothing changes.

* Diet pills are promoted for weight loss. These do NO good.

* Even "lite" foods (aka Lean Pockets brand) have plenty of fat, transfat, cholesterol, and other shit in them. :puke:

Being sedentary is a big problem.
Eating bad food is a problem.
Having no self esteem is a problem.
Eating "fast" food is a big problem.
Stress is a problem

Lotsa problems.

Our media prefers to spout statistics and say "sponsored by KortaThin"

Our media and doctors say "get this surgery where we remove 99% of your big-ass stomach and you'll slim right down." That is short-term too; liposuction and exercise being a better alternative if you want some stranger with a knife to cut you open... :think:

Oh, I didn't get that 8 pound triple fudge cake either that I said earlier I would get. :P Seems, reality aside, I'm too cowardly to fuck myself up.

[pitohui]

37. we had the color teevee in 1968

don't you remember "the whole world is watching?"

the timing doesn't work for me to blame lack of activity, the opposite was true, when i was a kid, girls were not expected to participate in sport at all, now the soccer mom fascism is everywhere & everybody has to be a jock, the pressure is much greater to be an anti-intellectual who spends all free time on sport, jogging, extra-curricular activities, used to be...a smart kid was excused from this nonsense and, yet, we smart kids were not fat, we were skinny -- much skinnier than average, we were mocked for it!

so the timing don't work for me, we nag kids more and more into these bullshit activities that get them away from using their brain and into the anti-intellect of being completely self-involved w. the body and completely involved in sport..and yet kids are fatter with every passing year! often the kids involved in sport are the biggest and bulkiest of them all, they look as if they've pumped up on steroids or something, i first noticed that a young friend of mine, 9 yrs old, was larger than i was, 34 years old -- she was actually passing on shoes and t-shirts to me, and she was hella active, she was big on every damn sports team there was

there is truly something deeply weird going on

[rucky]

31. everybody's a whore. nobody can be trusted.

I'll go with my common sense and call bullshit on this one.

[OzarkDem]

35. Lecturing people is cheaper than providing health care

Repubs love these messages because it allows them to gut public health programs and replace them with "obesity awareness" crap.

[left of center]

42. Health care is important, but so is personal responsibility.

Doctors should tell their patients about how their lifestyle effects their health. No amount of medication can save a person from his or her continual bad choices. Now I know that some people have conditions they can't help, but I'm not speaking about them. I'm talking about people who, for instance, smoke and eat junk food and then want doctors to fix them with drugs and surgury.

I do support universal health care, but it should encourage people to make good choices and reward them more when they do. That would free up resources for others who truely need it.

[Deja Q]

49. I agree with you.

It's not always about their personal bad choices, though depending on the incident, personal choices are a prime contributor - obviously! :)

It depends on the situation and you see that too. (e.g. 'conditions they cannot help'.)

[OzarkDem]

53. Sorry I wasn't clear about my point

Many billions in funding for Medicaid and Medicare have been cut by conservatives who use the excuse that "prevention" works better.

They've even tried to use these "blame the victim" tactics on cancer patients, rationalizing if the patients had eaten right, etc. they never would have gotten cancer. It makes it easier for them to justify kicking cancer patients off Medicaid rolls.

The prevalence of this message and some of the quack science that goes with it IS deliberate and is used to justify cutting spending for health care - even for people with serious illnesses that have nothing to do with lifestyle factors.

Happens all the time and its wrong, sorry.

[left of center]

65. It comes down to whether health care is a basic right or

a privilege. We know where Republicans generally stand, especially if they have libertarian leanings. I do think it should be a basic right.

My thinking about this issue comes from my observations of people in my life. My mother, for instance, is in poor health due to her smoking. It is killing her, yet she runs to the doctor all the time for bronchitus and other smoking related conditions expecting a prescription or something to fix it.

These doctors by now probably wish she would just go away because she completely ignores what they tell her, lest taking whatever drug she is given. She has COPD and it is getting worse because she smokes like a chimney and has done so for the better part of her life. She has been told countless time that it is due to her smoking. My feeling is that she should be refused treatment until she enrolls in a program to quit smoking or checks herself into somewhere to quit smoking. It would be the societal equivilent of hard love.

At any rate, I worry about her health and want her to make a change. I see the interplay as no help to her and a unecessary drain on the system's resourses. If she can't take personal responsibility, the least the system could do is prod her in the right direction.

[left of center]

38. our weight is indeed a problem

How about "weight gain"? If obesity isn't acceptable, how about we just say Americans are bigger than they have ever been before.

Also, don't forget the higher incidence of type II diabetes. That has been linked to weight.

We evolved in an enviroment of unpredictable food supply. We eat like hogs when it was plentiful with the anticipation that food might later be scarce. We were especially glutonous whenever we encountered high energy foods that contain sugars, fats and proteins.

It is not just food in general that is now readily available in countries like the US, it is high energy food.

We also evolved as physically active creatures. We no longer travel many miles a week gathering and hunting food. For that matter, we no longer tend fields and livestock like we did just a half century ago. Instead, we walk to and from vehicles that take us where we want to go. We sit in chairs at work, read a book or watch TV on the couch at home.

We don't do a whole lot and yet we eat high energy foods day in and day out.

The affect is most obvious in rural areas and inner cities where people are poor and/or have more traditional eating habits. Just go to a Walmart in hometown USA and you will see these mythical obese and overweight people.

[Deja Q]

50. Bingo.

Welcome to DU, by the way! :party:

I also love your profile comment: The tax and spend Democrats of yesterday have been replaced by cut and borrow Republicans. The T&S Dems is arguable to a point as it's also true the President has to sign all spending into law (ergo the Dems under Reagan can't be held too responsible for the initial debt problem; that's still Reagan's baby... which is as braindead as he was.)

And it's not just "low carb" diets either; carbohydrates are NECESSARY for survival! Moving and muscle tone are the most important aspects of them all. And our society is sedentary BY DESIGN. Most people with their families and multiple at-desk jobs don't have the time to put in a proper workout.

But I hear ya on what you're saying and agree with you, by and large (pun not intended).

[left of center]

62. Thanks

My grandfather talked politics around me a lot when I was a kid. He was one of the few Democrats in my family and he complained most about Reagan running up the deficit. It was as an adult that I placed blame on both parties. At least the Democrats attempted to raise taxes to support spending. Not that doing so is the right course of action, but it sure is better than what Republicans do. I get mad as hell when I think about this. Every election year without fail, Republicans throw tax cuts on the table- every damn time!!! All the while they increase defense and porkbarrel spending.

Their playbook for getting elected involves:
(1) pandering to the greed of the masses by offering them tax cuts
(2) cultivating fear and primitive "we kick as" patriotic feelings by creating conflict abroad
(3) wearing religion on their sleeves like the pharisees described in the Bible (unkowingly of course)

But back to the deficit spending, there is no end in site as long as they remain in power. They will never stop trying to cut taxes because it is the bread and butter of their platform. Now I hear there are efforts afoot to sell off public lands to support spending. As if borrowing from Peter to pay Paul were not enough, they now want to sell their furniture to pay the light bill.

As for diet and exercise, yep, the exercise part is perhaps the most important. It's all about burning off what you eat.

Oh, what's up with the Mardi Gras pictures?

[Odin2005]

39. One reason I heard that kids do stuff outside less nowdays...

...is because parents are bombarded by stuff on TV making them paranoid about kidnappers and child molesters, hence the kids are encouraged to stay inside because it's "safer".

[pitohui]

44. it's more than a good idea, it's the law

parents who let their children roam outside today w.out supervision which is what all kids in middle class neighborhoods did when i was growing up are nowadays charged w. child neglect

they can even lose custody of their kids!

since you can't really explore the neighborhood woods, wade thru creeks catching salamanders, or build treehouses w. your mom standing right there spoiling everything, of course kids don't play outside as much

all the fun has been taken out of it

but i don't know what else parents can do, you can't ask them to go to jail so their kids can play outside, seems there is always a busy-body to spy and call the cops and get your name in the paper if you leave the kids alone for a damn hour

what amazes me is that kids today are so bright and gifted, i would be freakin crazy raised under those hothouse conditions, i would walk alone or w. only other children as companions for hours on the weekends and summers as a kid

[left of center]

46. My sister got reported by a neighbor when

she was not outside watching my four year old nephew. He was playing in the culdesac and the yard with another dozen kids.

The ironic thing was that when the social worker arrived days later to follow up on the call, the culdesac was full of kids of all ages, all without supervision.

People should be more understanding and pick their battles wisely.

I too would go crazy because I spent my childhood roaming the fields and woods near my house. The stimulation from the landscape and everything alive in it is likely what cultivated my love of nature and science.

[left of center]

45. Your right

The media's obsession with reporting every bad thing under the sun contributes to that. It's also the stuff of urban legends. I remember as a kid not tick-or-treating as much for a few years out of fear that we might swallow candy encapsulated razors and needles.

[SmokingJacket]

40. Type-2 Diabetes rates are increasing rapidly.

Nine out of ten people with it are obese.

I would say that's a problem...

[flvegan]

43. "...can be treated medically without weight loss..."

Right, why put any work into anything when you can just take a pill (that may well kill you, anyway) to cover up your body's problems. It's easier to write a perscription than it is to study nutrition. Not a swipe at all doctors and folks that perform studies like this, but I'd call their knowledge of nutrition into the spotlight.

[moondust]

47. Fat chance.

Something I couldn't help noticing the last time I walked the streets of London was that there is very little obesity there. I'm used to seeing fat people everywhere! Europeans are much healthier. Without the pervasive car culture people get a lot more exercise.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

48. London is a lot closer to here than other European countries. I was

in Paris a couple of years ago... it really struck me that I basically didn't see ANY morbidly obese people until I was in the airport getting ready to fly back to the U.S.

[Deja Q]

51. Don't worry. Once they get more KFCs next to the Savoy...

:rofl:

[pitohui]

55. there's plenty of obesity in london, it's a nat'l hysteria there also

after an absence of many years i was shocked to see how huge the 21 century londoners are, the 21 century japanese are pretty chubby also, i have a photograph of myself surrounded by japanese middle-schoolers all of them bigger than i am

it is true that the parisians are still thin tho, how long it will last, i dunno

the obesity and size increase is a worldwide epidemic, even in china!

[rodeodance]

52. more accurate to lable it as a nutrition epidemic--and the focus would

be on adequate nutition-education, providing for good nutrition for all ages.

[benburch]

54. We Interrupt This Thread For An Important Announcement!!!

[upi402]

59. travel outside USA and they all talk about the fat American ass

true
jokes abound about the asshole fat americans

we are not loved, my countrymen and women

[tlsmith1963]

60. I See More Overweight People Than I Used To

So sorry, but it isn't a myth.

Tammy

[Nikia]

61. It does seem odd that so many people are larger now

I suppose that with children, the problem is that they are not as active. I suppose that adults don't walk as much either.
Part of the problem might be some of the junk we eat. My husband and I have gone through periods of eating a lot of fast food and other periods of cooking at home. Strangely, the fast food seems to have more calories than it claims. Eating 800 calories of fast food seems to put weight on us while eating 800 calories of spaghetti, meat sauce, and cheese bread seemed not too.
At the present, I am trying to recover from an eating disorder and now eat around 1500 calories. I am not gaining weight on that anymore and am supposed to eat more. I watch overweight people eat less than I do and still cannot lose weight and I wonder.
I really think that some people don't burn fat very well for whatever reason. It is simply not true that if you take in less calories than you would normally burn that you will burn that many calories in fat. Your body has other options including depleting your blood sugar, lowering function of various organs including the brain, and burning other tissue including vital organs. Some people's bodies seem to take these other options before burning fat.
The option for everyone is to eat well and exercise well from the beginning in order to avoid accumulating excessive fat. Once someone is obese though, I think that for some people it is nearly impossible not to be that way. This tendency could be genetic or because of properties of the food that we eat or both.

[we can do it]

63. HMMM - Then Where Are All the Extra Large People Coming From?