Why is Belgium so Skinny?
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I am not trying to compare grams to calories, but country to country. Apples to apples.
As long as I stay within the data set and criteria for the calorie [edited to correct, dietary] clusters, countries can be compared with each other.0 -
So Belgium wins? We'll have to celebrate tonight! With lots of food and drinks!
seriously, just from what I see when stepping out the door, 1. the younger population is usually not overweight, I can only name three overweight children in my kids' primary school 2. most families eat reasonable amounts at home (e.g. I buy three pieces of meat to feed my 5-person household) but when we go out, then we eat and drink more, and it is usually not done to eat hot twice a day (I do anyway, that 's why I need to come here) 3. I do not believe we are skinnier than our neighbouring countries: France, the Netherlands, Germany or Luxembourg, or even the southern European countries. I've been to New Zealand and New York, and did not notice a difference, but when we went to Scotland, we saw a lot of heavy families in the lowlands, not so in the Highlands. But not to worry, we are catching up: Lots of kids prefer gaming and television over playing outside, and hamburgers are appearing more and more on restaurant Menues... We go to mcDonalds perhaps three times a year, but some families 'treat' their kids weekly (who knows why? Everything tastes like cardboard)
My thought: the figures OP mentioned are outdated, or rapidly becoming so, the war- and postwar generations are getting older, and so their more restrictive values are disappearing rapidly. On the other hand, there might be hope still. We are a nation of foodies, and still prefer quality over quantity. Let's re-address the topic 10 years from now. In the meantime, i'll just have a Belgian chocolate.0 -
Grrr, that chocolate cost me 80 kcals and I don't even like them that much0
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My thought: the figures OP mentioned are outdated, or rapidly becoming so, the war- and postwar generations are getting older, and so their more restrictive values are disappearing rapidly. On the other hand, there might be hope still. We are a nation of foodies, and still prefer quality over quantity. Let's re-address the topic 10 years from now. In the meantime, i'll just have a Belgian chocolate.
On our national health website I read yesterday that for The Netherlands they don't expect a growth for the coming 15 years or so. With all the attention obesity and overweightness has gotten, people seem to eat less and move more again.0 -
Even if Belgium was the fattest country in the world, they still have some of the best beer and chocolate.
And that's pretty big in my book...
Beer and Chocolate.
His and Hers paradise.
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I saw some people interviewed by researchers trying to determine what made a country score higher on the happiness scale. The winning country that year was the Netherlands. The people interviewed seemed rather stumped on why they scored so high, explaining that in general they don't live extravagant lives, often rent instead of own, often don't own motor vehicles and are heavily taxed.
Finally one guy said, "I think maybe our expectations are rather low, so we are easily pleased, which makes us happy."
For some reason that stuck with me.0 -
I've removed water and "out of classifying". Now Belgium is pretty on par with the US. They still have less of an overweight problem than the US, as does most of Europe.
Grams of WHAT?!?? That is literally like comparing "30 minutes of exercise" without knowing what the exercise was. The data is meaningless. Urg0 -
I am not trying to compare grams to calories, but country to country. Apples to apples.
As long as I stay within the data set and criteria for the calorie [edited to correct, dietary] clusters, countries can be compared with each other.
You're not even doing that though. You're comparing cluster to cluster, which =/= country to country and then it's a pointless exercise as food availability is not is not calculated the same in every country, no is it a great proxy for actual consumption and it can esp be misleading for large countries in terms of geography.
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@Mr_Knight , these grams do indeed also include consumption of liquids.
Where are you getting that they eat 12,000 calories worth of carbs per day? Show us a link.
I provided a link to my source.
Nowhere in your links did it say anyone was eating 12,000 calories a day (and that's the minimum for 3000g).
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@Mr_Knight , these grams do indeed also include consumption of liquids.
Where are you getting that they eat 12,000 calories worth of carbs per day? Show us a link.
I provided a link to my source.
Nowhere in your links did it say anyone was eating 12,000 calories a day (and that's the minimum for 3000g).
@Mr_Knight we figured out that they were saying the people were eating 3000 grams per day. In that was almost 1000 grams of water, so the US and Belgium have a food intake of 2000 grams of stuff daily. 2000 grams does not mean X amount of calories, just actual weight of food.0 -
@Mr_Knight , these grams do indeed also include consumption of liquids.
Where are you getting that they eat 12,000 calories worth of carbs per day? Show us a link.
I provided a link to my source.
Nowhere in your links did it say anyone was eating 12,000 calories a day (and that's the minimum for 3000g).
@Mr_Knight we figured out that they were saying the people were eating 3000 grams per day. In that was almost 1000 grams of water, so the US and Belgium have a food intake of 2000 grams of stuff daily. 2000 grams does not mean X amount of calories, just actual weight of food.
OMG.
Seriously?
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@Mr_Knight , these grams do indeed also include consumption of liquids.
Where are you getting that they eat 12,000 calories worth of carbs per day? Show us a link.
I provided a link to my source.
Nowhere in your links did it say anyone was eating 12,000 calories a day (and that's the minimum for 3000g).
@Mr_Knight we figured out that they were saying the people were eating 3000 grams per day. In that was almost 1000 grams of water, so the US and Belgium have a food intake of 2000 grams of stuff daily. 2000 grams does not mean X amount of calories, just actual weight of food.
OMG.
Seriously?
That's it. The data she was using was weight of food and drinks.0 -
@Mr_Knight , these grams do indeed also include consumption of liquids.
Where are you getting that they eat 12,000 calories worth of carbs per day? Show us a link.
I provided a link to my source.
Nowhere in your links did it say anyone was eating 12,000 calories a day (and that's the minimum for 3000g).
@Mr_Knight we figured out that they were saying the people were eating 3000 grams per day. In that was almost 1000 grams of water, so the US and Belgium have a food intake of 2000 grams of stuff daily. 2000 grams does not mean X amount of calories, just actual weight of food.
OMG.
Seriously?
That's it. The data she was using was weight of food and drinks.
Weird that a so called data fiend missed that, it took less than a minute for me to dl the spreadsheet and see the difference was mainly water intake0 -
@Mr_Knight , these grams do indeed also include consumption of liquids.
Where are you getting that they eat 12,000 calories worth of carbs per day? Show us a link.
I provided a link to my source.
Nowhere in your links did it say anyone was eating 12,000 calories a day (and that's the minimum for 3000g).
@Mr_Knight we figured out that they were saying the people were eating 3000 grams per day. In that was almost 1000 grams of water, so the US and Belgium have a food intake of 2000 grams of stuff daily. 2000 grams does not mean X amount of calories, just actual weight of food.
OMG.
Seriously?
That's it. The data she was using was weight of food and drinks.
Weird that a so called data fiend missed that, it took less than a minute for me to dl the spreadsheet and see the difference was mainly water intake
Even after finding out we ingest the same amount weight wise for calorie containing items I wanted to see if I could find a calorie and macro comparison. Seeing how they were almost identical for calorie intake and macro percentages, but Belgium is #66 on the world fatness scale and the US is #5, I am going to go with my first assumption that Belgium is more active.0 -
The misunderstanding was rectified. All good now
No need to make anyone feel like an eejit....
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christinev297 wrote: »The misunderstanding was rectified. All good now
No need to make anyone feel like an eejit....
Let's not mince words, it was not an understanding but a fundamental lack of basic research and intelligence.
"I've been analysing cluster diet data published by the WHO, comparing against a world obesity map, and I'm finding unusual results. Belgium and the Netherlands do not have an obesity problem (less than 10% of the population), even though they consume almost 3,000 grams a day; higher than North America's diet of just over 2,000."
Besides the fact that that the consumption included non caloric sources, OP considered the following countries as "North America"
Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Lativa, Malta, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United States of America
"With a mere 10% obesity rate, I'd say a good part of the country is doing things "right"."
Half the population is overweight
"however, if I compare apples to apples, comparisons can still be made."
Can't comprehend that they weren't comparing apples to apples
"I've removed water and "out of classifying". Now Belgium is pretty on par with the US. They still have less of an overweight problem than the US, as does most of Europe."
US now = Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Lativa, Malta, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United States of America
"I am not trying to compare grams to calories, but country to country. Apples to apples.
As long as I stay within the data set and criteria for the calorie [edited to correct, dietary] clusters, countries can be compared with each other."
Again, data integrity does not matter to the poster
So is it really a misunderstanding? If someone says they are analyzing something, how to they overlook the most basic things?
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Comparing this data to the obesity map yielded surprises. A country with the highest consumption also has a very low obesity rate. Why?
Why is obesity in Saudi Arabia so high when their food consumption is relatively low?
What other characteristics make these countries stand out? Daily physical activity is one, though that is anecdotal. Living in a fairly stable, healthy, educated community is another.
The U.S. obesity epidemic is uneven. Looking at a U.S. county obesity map makes this clear. Places like New England and California do not have the same obesity problem. What distinguishes the fat states/counties from the skinny ones? Poverty is one.
I just don't think we can blame obesity on the poor though, as if they are too ignorant or incapable of putting a reasonable diet together.
You may laugh but I have seen comments where the relatively prosperous lament that the poor can't access the wealth of food at a Whole Foods for instance.
I know you will probably overlook this but Saudis are fat because they eat a lot of fast foods and go out to a lot of restaurants. There are a lot of American chains in Saudi Arabia. I have no idea why you think they consume so little calories....The population is generally sendentry because it's hot as he'll 80% of the year, people drive everywhere in their air conditioned cars. I have spent time in Saudi and generally people are fat and content.
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And lots of other really good food. Belgians say that the best French cooking is in Belgium, and that the best Belgian cooking is in Leuven. Well, I've only heard the last part in Leuven, but, believe me, Belgians eat very well. Pastries, foie gras, frites, waffles, Belgian spaghetti (with vegetables and Emmental cheese), Bernaise and other sauces on their steak. When one is invited over for dinner in someone's home, be prepared for many courses of food and wine and conversation until 4:00 am.andrikosDE wrote: »Even if Belgium was the fattest country in the world, they still have some of the best beer and chocolate.
And that's pretty big in my book...
Beer and Chocolate.
His and Hers paradise.0 -
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Why is obesity in Saudi Arabia so high when their food consumption is relatively low?I know you will probably overlook this but Saudis are fat because they eat a lot of fast foods and go out to a lot of restaurants. There are a lot of American chains in Saudi Arabia. I have no idea why you think they consume so little calories....The population is generally sendentry because it's hot as he'll 80% of the year, people drive everywhere in their air conditioned cars. I have spent time in Saudi and generally people are fat and content.
I don't want to overlook evidence but the dietary cluster that Saudi Arabia says they do indeed eat less than the U.S./Belgian diet. Your observations are anecdotal.
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