Does just immigrating to the USA lead to weight gain?
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I think an issue bigger than weather is that lots of American towns have poor walking infrastructure. Co-workers of mine live in a town that was debating whether or not to add sidewalks, and once upon a time (before I had a car) I went to a meeting in the 'burbs, didn't want to seem weird for not having a car, and so tried to walk the couple of miles to the train station to get back to the city. Which would normally be no big deal, but again no sidewalk. Ultimately a police car pulled up, asked me if I was in trouble (for walking!), and then offered me a ride. It was kind of surreal.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »I think an issue bigger than weather is that lots of American towns have poor walking infrastructure. Co-workers of mine live in a town that was debating whether or not to add sidewalks, and once upon a time (before I had a car) I went to a meeting in the 'burbs, didn't want to seem weird for not having a car, and so tried to walk the couple of miles to the train station to get back to the city. Which would normally be no big deal, but again no sidewalk. Ultimately a police car pulled up, asked me if I was in trouble (for walking!), and then offered me a ride. It was kind of surreal.
Agreed. I can walk to my gym but there are no sidewalks for 1/4 of the way. And there's a big intersection I'm afraid to cross here because NOBODY watches for pedestrians because there isn't any pretty much ever.
And same for the train station. It's not that far... I mean, 2.5 miles. Doable. Except there is no sidewalk, and a lot of turns and a big street to cross (I'm not even sure it has a pedestrian crossing), so it's just not safe.
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Ang, please share your thoughts. My 23 year old daughter is in love with a German. I suspect she will end up marrying him and living in Germany. I find these cultural differences fascinating. I'm happy to know that German people are not as fat as Americans. It's a cultural thing, I know.0
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What is D.R.? Could that be Democratic Republic of Congo? They are in the 17% range on that world map. Egypt is way up there in the 75%. Huge variations in Africa.OP just to add that in My personal experience is that also it's more acceptable to be fat/overweight/obese here in the U.S than many places, I'm from D.R and we only have in the whole damn country one store were you can get plus size clothes , I'm not kidding , just one ! So you can not afford to balloon like I did (much of my clothes my family used to get for me here in the USA and send it back to me) , other factor is def. social pressure , you hardly ever see overweight women with slim men, that's a hell no back there, you see that a lot more here in the U.S , shizz I remember my first time in the U.S I felt like hell I'm a whale but I belong to a group, I'm finally not the biggest person in the room, I was not the exception, I can shop in many many places, to be quite honest I didn't felt ashamed or to bad just because I am/was fat or any kind of stress to lose weight
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Dominican Republic, I believe.0
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kshama2001 wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »I think it's because eating habits and customs have changed so dramatically more than increased food availability or a lack of exercise. I think those things play a part, of course, but its become not only normal to eat all hours of the day and night we're encouraged to and told it's healthy.
Here are some of the differences I see from when I grew up (and obese children with adult diseases were rare):- Snacking between meals was rare and frowned upon lest you "spoil your appetite"
- Sending a child to bed without dinner was a perfectly acceptable punishment
- Telling a child to eat now or you'll be hungry later and actually letting a child be hungry if they didn't eat their meal
- Bringing "emergency food" -- snacks and drinks -- with you outside of the house wasn't a thing. You waited until you got home to eat or drink.
- Taking a walk after dinner "to help your food digest" was a thing
- You didn't eat after dinner or dessert
- Eating out was a special occasion
- Eating some fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, starches etc. was good enough. No one had it in their head in order to be healthy you had to consume so much of everything or a particular number servings .
It was just a completely different attitude towards eating that has been completely eroded by government food recommendations and food industry marketing.
I remember all this from my childhood. There was only one overweight child in my class. Also, we watched very little TV and didn't have video games in my house or the internet.
Exactly. .. and we had no clue what a cell phone was. We played hide and seek until after dark. Very different times we live in now.0 -
sunandmoons wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »I think it's because eating habits and customs have changed so dramatically more than increased food availability or a lack of exercise. I think those things play a part, of course, but its become not only normal to eat all hours of the day and night we're encouraged to and told it's healthy.
Here are some of the differences I see from when I grew up (and obese children with adult diseases were rare):- Snacking between meals was rare and frowned upon lest you "spoil your appetite"
- Sending a child to bed without dinner was a perfectly acceptable punishment
- Telling a child to eat now or you'll be hungry later and actually letting a child be hungry if they didn't eat their meal
- Bringing "emergency food" -- snacks and drinks -- with you outside of the house wasn't a thing. You waited until you got home to eat or drink.
- Taking a walk after dinner "to help your food digest" was a thing
- You didn't eat after dinner or dessert
- Eating out was a special occasion
- Eating some fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, starches etc. was good enough. No one had it in their head in order to be healthy you had to consume so much of everything or a particular number servings .
It was just a completely different attitude towards eating that has been completely eroded by government food recommendations and food industry marketing.
I remember all this from my childhood. There was only one overweight child in my class. Also, we watched very little TV and didn't have video games in my house or the internet.
Exactly. .. and we had no clue what a cell phone was. We played hide and seek until after dark. Very different times we live in now.
Don't forget:
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Linking another thread that might relate to this:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10254582/a-possible-reason-why-people-love-carbs-so-much#latest
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Bump0
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I cant say from experience since #1 I didnt read your post. #2 I was born in Murica. But i have a theory that as soon as your plane lands one the great soil of Murica, you will start gaining weight. I think it has to do with the magnetic field of the equator. Am i rite?0
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I realize this discussion is a few weeks old, but comparing these two maps, if I were Hans Rosling, I would want to ask: If there is a causal link between poverty and obesity, what is going on in places like southern New Mexico and the part of Texas along the Rio Grande that are poor but not that obese?
(And of course, we should keep in mind the earlier point that if the obesity data are self-reported, they may be less accurate outside of the deep South.)AlexanderAmelia wrote: »
Interesting how much that map aligns with this map:I prefer world maps for looking at obesity world trends. It's visual. According to this map, we might ask what Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, and the US have in common.
http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=26403
The US however, shows a significant north/south statistical shift. The US is like two countries in one, and only some states have an obesity problem.
I am such a fan of you, Senecarr.
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Not necessarily weight gain. But, it is well known that 2nd generation immigrants from Asian countries (India, China etc) are generally larger (taller, bigger bones) than their parents.
I was just talking with an coworker from India on this issue of nature vs nurture the other day.0 -
They're bigger here in the US and not necessarily if they were children raised in their country of origin. My FIL side of the family have nieces and nephews divided equally in the US and Philippines. The ones in the Philippines are distinguished as smaller than their cousins in the US. By height as well as girth.Not necessarily weight gain. But, it is well known that 2nd generation immigrants from Asian countries (India, China etc) are generally larger (taller, bigger bones) than their parents.
I was just talking with an coworker from India on this issue of nature vs nurture the other day.
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enterdanger wrote: »Bex_hostie wrote: »On Wednesday I'm going on holiday to Los Angeles (I live in England) so I'll let you know
Be careful. The air here is really donut particulate. You'll gain the moment you breathe it. lol.
I didn't read anything but this page. If someone else already came up with donut particulate theory of US weight gain, I apolgozie.
Lol.
I'm English and went to California (San Fran and LA), then to Nevada a few years ago. I didn't gain weight because I kept active, and stuck to healthy foods. LA didn't seem too bad food-wise, I don't remember the portions being stupidly massive there. Bigger than in England though. Las Vegas though...wow. I decided to treat myself to some nachos on my last day. I ate until I was full, and it still looked like I hadn't eaten anything, there were so many on the plate!
Then again, I don't go crazy with food on holiday. When I went on my all inclusive honeymoon to Cuba, I gained 1lb in 2 weeks.
I lived in France for a year when I was 20/21 and lost loads of weight.0 -
Yes, but you don't get huge extremes of weather, same as here in England. I've been to the south of France loads of times, and I lived in Provence for a year, and whilst it's hot, it's not so hot you can't go out. It's not like in Summer everyone stays in because it's too hot to walk, then in Winter you can't go out because the snow is so deep.
Weather in Northern France is similar to English weather, which is pretty boring lol.
Of course there are the ski resorts. I've only ever been to one in the Summer (near Les Gets), but I expect people can still get out and about in the Winter.0 -
DawnieB1977 wrote: »
Yes, but you don't get huge extremes of weather, same as here in England. I've been to the south of France loads of times, and I lived in Provence for a year, and whilst it's hot, it's not so hot you can't go out. It's not like in Summer everyone stays in because it's too hot to walk, then in Winter you can't go out because the snow is so deep.
Weather in Northern France is similar to English weather, which is pretty boring lol.
Of course there are the ski resorts. I've only ever been to one in the Summer (near Les Gets), but I expect people can still get out and about in the Winter.
This. Quite sure I mentioned the extremes in my post, as it was my point. It also doesn't get ridiculously cold anywhere in France in the Winter (and they don't get much snow). Heck I lived in Paris until I was 23 and never had to even use gloves. And we went to the south of France every July and went out all the time too... nowhere as bad as here in July.
Bottom line - no such extremes in Europe. Sure, North countries will be colder and South countries will be warmer, so they will have a few harder months, but they won't get the other extreme either... So it's maybe 4 months of inconvenience, if that... not 8-10.0 -
My opinion on that is YES.
Anectodally, I've have several friends and relatives from the Philippines immigrate to the US and are excited for the opportunities with work. When they arrive (based on pictures I've have with them) they are fairly normal in weight. 5-10 years later many of them have easily gained 30-80lbs in excess weight. When I compare them with other family members (their brothers, sisters, cousins, etc.) at home in the Philippines who are still normal in weight, I'm of the opinion that immigrating to the USA from just about any country, will more than likely result in significant weight gain.
As to why, I believe it's access to abundance of food and affordability where they didn't have it before.
Also the institution of American lifestyle in the workforce (long hours, long commutes, high stress, super competitiveness, etc.) are probable contributors to it too.
Initially I thought it was just more processed foods, but the same foods are available in the Philippines too.
Feel free to chime in on this especially if you have friends or relatives that immigrated here in the last 10 years.
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I agree with you on every point. I live in the U.S. and just returned from a week in Zurich. Cannot even believe how thin everyone is over there. I didn't only visit Zurich, but a few other towns and same thing.
There is really no fast food/drive thrus. If you want food, you have to really think about where you want to go, drive there, go in and eat. Did I mention pay through the nose? Restaurant food is easily 2-3x as expensive as the U.S. Now granted people are getting more exercise there but I don't think that's a major factor as you can always out-eat exercise.0 -
each person make their own choices no matter where they live.0
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