Aren't you a little tired of the "Obesity Epidemic"?
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Thank you for proving my point perfectly. Exhibit A of the kind of enabling, self-destructive, delusional attitude that is helping to maintain the obesity epidemic in the United States.
"Don't you dare tell me I have a problem! Leave me and my Krispy Kreme friends alone and worry about yourself! What are you, a communist?!".
The problem with just "worrying about yourself" is that we are suffering a national crisis. Our fat is grossly affecting our healthcare expenditures, which is ALL our problems. When a nation becomes this fat, this unhealthy, and this out of shape it takes a toll on ALL our pockets.
Our obesity is also radically shifting how the youngest amongst us sees the human body, and what they classify as "normal", thus potentially setting up tens of millions of human beings to drive headlong into a future of unhealthiness, self esteem issues, and a lifelong battle with weight that they didn't even have a chance to fight. As someone who grew up fat and has battled weight issues in my own adult life why the hell would I wish that special brand of hell on the hearts and minds of the coming generation? Perhaps being fat isn't a detriment to you, but it is to most, and it's a horrible legacy to leave to the next generation.
We are so fat that the United States military is scrambling to figure out exactly how we are going to have an adequately, optimally staffed fighting force because so many of our potential soldiers are too fat and too out of shape to pass the basic fitness tests.
But nope, you're right, it's not my problem. It's not your problem. I'm just being "alarmist". We should all just bury our head in the sand, have another doughnut, and pretend that big food isn't killing us, big MED isn't keeping us just sick enough to need more drugs, and our spoiled, entitled attitude isn't driving us to utter destruction.
Now, if you don't mind, can you pass me that super-duper sized chocolate milkshake? I'm thirsty.
WOW. You should think about a career in politics! Now I see you're not just being an alarmist, you're being delusional as well.
I'll point out that in your multi-paragraph rant (FYI - it ISN'T your problem....) not once did you give a solution. You rambled on about (of all things) the military, big MED, the legacy left to the next generation, and took a not-so-subtle jab at me suggesting that I might rather have a milkshake and be entitled than be in shape.
Let me point out that just because you have 100 lbs to lose and feel awful bad about it, doesn't mean the rest of the world should.
If you wouldn't mind providing your oh-so-perfect solution to this "epidemic", as well as how you being morbidly obese has affected me adversely, I would appreciate it. Because while I didn't care what you did before, now I'm absolutely shaking with anticipation to find out what you're going to put in your body next.0 -
Thank you for proving my point perfectly. Exhibit A of the kind of enabling, self-destructive, delusional attitude that is helping to maintain the obesity epidemic in the United States.
"Don't you dare tell me I have a problem! Leave me and my Krispy Kreme friends alone and worry about yourself! What are you, a communist?!".
The problem with just "worrying about yourself" is that we are suffering a national crisis. Our fat is grossly affecting our healthcare expenditures, which is ALL our problems. When a nation becomes this fat, this unhealthy, and this out of shape it takes a toll on ALL our pockets.
Our obesity is also radically shifting how the youngest amongst us sees the human body, and what they classify as "normal", thus potentially setting up tens of millions of human beings to drive headlong into a future of unhealthiness, self esteem issues, and a lifelong battle with weight that they didn't even have a chance to fight. As someone who grew up fat and has battled weight issues in my own adult life why the hell would I wish that special brand of hell on the hearts and minds of the coming generation? Perhaps being fat isn't a detriment to you, but it is to most, and it's a horrible legacy to leave to the next generation.
We are so fat that the United States military is scrambling to figure out exactly how we are going to have an adequately, optimally staffed fighting force because so many of our potential soldiers are too fat and too out of shape to pass the basic fitness tests.
But nope, you're right, it's not my problem. It's not your problem. I'm just being "alarmist". We should all just bury our head in the sand, have another doughnut, and pretend that big food isn't killing us, big MED isn't keeping us just sick enough to need more drugs, and our spoiled, entitled attitude isn't driving us to utter destruction.
Now, if you don't mind, can you pass me that super-duper sized chocolate milkshake? I'm thirsty.
WOW. You should think about a career in politics! Now I see you're not just being an alarmist, you're being delusional as well.
I'll point out that in your multi-paragraph rant (FYI - it ISN'T your problem....) not once did you give a solution. You rambled on about (of all things) the military, big MED, the legacy left to the next generation, and took a not-so-subtle jab at me suggesting that I might rather have a milkshake and be entitled than be in shape.
Let me point out that just because you have 100 lbs to lose and feel awful bad about it, doesn't mean the rest of the world should.
If you wouldn't mind providing your oh-so-perfect solution to this "epidemic", as well as how you being morbidly obese has affected me adversely, I would appreciate it. Because while I didn't care what you did before, now I'm absolutely shaking with anticipation to find out what you're going to put in your body next.
READ MY SOLUTION, a few threads up, in response to YOUR thread. I think I summed it up perfectly, to be honest. Here it is again, as a reminder.
I have SEVERAL suggestions.
PARENTS. Parents should be teaching their children from the very beginning how to eat properly. They should be providing them with healthy food choices, OR severely restricting the poor food choices. Parents should cook more at home instead of running out to pick up fast food 3-5 times a week. PARENTS should be setting better examples for their children and living those examples every day.
PEDIATRICIANS. Pediatricians should be more honest in their evaluations/assessments of those kids, and should be more vocal in the importance of telling Mrs. Smith that her "chubby little kid" WON'T outgrow his chubbiness and will just get worse unless drastic changes are made. Pediatricians should not be so concerned about offending mom and/or dad, and instead just be honest with them: "If you continue to feed your kid processed crap and not enforce regular activity, they will continue to get fat and come down with diabetes early on in life".
THE FOOD INDUSTRY. The food industry needs to change how it distributes food to the US population. Low income families in low income areas don't have equal access to stores with healthier food options. Also, proper labeling and better education would help. A "serving size" of 14 potato chips -- SERIOUSLY? What consumer is going to conscientiously count out that many chips every time they open a bag? (Unless you're on MFP being extremely disciplined smile )
SCHOOLS and THE STATE DEPT OF ED. Teachers need to work with parents to educate their children on healthy food choices. Education begins in the home and should continue throughout early education. Physical Fitness should be mandatory in all schools, every day, every where. There are only 14 states in this entire country that mandate regular, daily PE classes. This is SHAMEFUL. AND, the first type of teacher to be RIFT (aka: fired) in a school district due to budget issues is the PE teacher. Contra-indicated for a nation that is trying to fight childhood obesity, don't ya think?
That's the solution to fighting the obesity epidemic. Starting with the children.0 -
Sugar, yes. Saturated fat, not so much. The only thing I watch on fat is to make sure it doesn't come from soybeans/rapeseed/canola/etc.continue to watch your sugar/ saturated fat intake0 -
And by the way, are you so sure that "obesity" is affecting ALL of our pocketbooks?
You're so quick to forget your complaints about "big MED" when complaining about the high cost of health care. Have you forgotten the extreme levels of debt doctors go into in medical school? Could that have an affect on our cost as they try and recoup their costs more rapidly? Could the layers of bureaucracy in the medical industry (not to mention government involvement in it) have something to do with it? Could executive pay in the insurance industry have something to do with it?
I await your simpleminded answer.0 -
READ MY SOLUTION, a few threads up, in response to YOUR thread. I think I summed it up perfectly, to be honest. Here it is again, as a reminder.
I have SEVERAL suggestions.
PARENTS. Parents should be teaching their children from the very beginning how to eat properly. They should be providing them with healthy food choices, OR severely restricting the poor food choices. Parents should cook more at home instead of running out to pick up fast food 3-5 times a week. PARENTS should be setting better examples for their children and living those examples every day.
PEDIATRICIANS. Pediatricians should be more honest in their evaluations/assessments of those kids, and should be more vocal in the importance of telling Mrs. Smith that her "chubby little kid" WON'T outgrow his chubbiness and will just get worse unless drastic changes are made. Pediatricians should not be so concerned about offending mom and/or dad, and instead just be honest with them: "If you continue to feed your kid processed crap and not enforce regular activity, they will continue to get fat and come down with diabetes early on in life".
THE FOOD INDUSTRY. The food industry needs to change how it distributes food to the US population. Low income families in low income areas don't have equal access to stores with healthier food options. Also, proper labeling and better education would help. A "serving size" of 14 potato chips -- SERIOUSLY? What consumer is going to conscientiously count out that many chips every time they open a bag? (Unless you're on MFP being extremely disciplined smile )
SCHOOLS and THE STATE DEPT OF ED. Teachers need to work with parents to educate their children on healthy food choices. Education begins in the home and should continue throughout early education. Physical Fitness should be mandatory in all schools, every day, every where. There are only 14 states in this entire country that mandate regular, daily PE classes. This is SHAMEFUL.
That's the solution to fighting the obesity epidemic. Starting with the children.
Thanks, I read your post. Which is why I didn't reply to YOU, and instead replied to the OTHER poster.
Apparently obesity isn't the only epidemic in the US.....0 -
I think you have to be really careful with dieting for children. Feed them healthy foods, not too many sweets and cokes, sure. But actually restricting? Making them go on actual diets at 8 or so? Some children are chubby and grow out of it. Many children start eating like crazy right before they hit a growth spurt. I think it could potentially do some major damage to them to try to restrict their diets too much.
I watched my cousin, who was a chubby child but not huge, emergency doctor visit overweight, spend her entire childhood being on diets, forced to get on the treadmill, called out at thanksgiving/christmas to only have one plate. I am convinced it did lifelong damage to her psyche.
I am sure there are children who need immediate intervention, but with kids on the margins I think we should be very careful about this.0 -
READ MY SOLUTION, a few threads up, in response to YOUR thread. I think I summed it up perfectly, to be honest. Here it is again, as a reminder.
I have SEVERAL suggestions.
PARENTS. Parents should be teaching their children from the very beginning how to eat properly. They should be providing them with healthy food choices, OR severely restricting the poor food choices. Parents should cook more at home instead of running out to pick up fast food 3-5 times a week. PARENTS should be setting better examples for their children and living those examples every day.
PEDIATRICIANS. Pediatricians should be more honest in their evaluations/assessments of those kids, and should be more vocal in the importance of telling Mrs. Smith that her "chubby little kid" WON'T outgrow his chubbiness and will just get worse unless drastic changes are made. Pediatricians should not be so concerned about offending mom and/or dad, and instead just be honest with them: "If you continue to feed your kid processed crap and not enforce regular activity, they will continue to get fat and come down with diabetes early on in life".
THE FOOD INDUSTRY. The food industry needs to change how it distributes food to the US population. Low income families in low income areas don't have equal access to stores with healthier food options. Also, proper labeling and better education would help. A "serving size" of 14 potato chips -- SERIOUSLY? What consumer is going to conscientiously count out that many chips every time they open a bag? (Unless you're on MFP being extremely disciplined smile )
SCHOOLS and THE STATE DEPT OF ED. Teachers need to work with parents to educate their children on healthy food choices. Education begins in the home and should continue throughout early education. Physical Fitness should be mandatory in all schools, every day, every where. There are only 14 states in this entire country that mandate regular, daily PE classes. This is SHAMEFUL.
That's the solution to fighting the obesity epidemic. Starting with the children.
Thanks, I read your post. Which is why I didn't reply to YOU, and instead replied to the OTHER poster.
Apparently obesity isn't the only epidemic in the US.....
Yes, I agree with you there. Arrogance and haughtiness is running rampant right here in this very thread.
0 -
READ MY SOLUTION, a few threads up, in response to YOUR thread. I think I summed it up perfectly, to be honest. Here it is again, as a reminder.
I have SEVERAL suggestions.
PARENTS. Parents should be teaching their children from the very beginning how to eat properly. They should be providing them with healthy food choices, OR severely restricting the poor food choices. Parents should cook more at home instead of running out to pick up fast food 3-5 times a week. PARENTS should be setting better examples for their children and living those examples every day.
PEDIATRICIANS. Pediatricians should be more honest in their evaluations/assessments of those kids, and should be more vocal in the importance of telling Mrs. Smith that her "chubby little kid" WON'T outgrow his chubbiness and will just get worse unless drastic changes are made. Pediatricians should not be so concerned about offending mom and/or dad, and instead just be honest with them: "If you continue to feed your kid processed crap and not enforce regular activity, they will continue to get fat and come down with diabetes early on in life".
THE FOOD INDUSTRY. The food industry needs to change how it distributes food to the US population. Low income families in low income areas don't have equal access to stores with healthier food options. Also, proper labeling and better education would help. A "serving size" of 14 potato chips -- SERIOUSLY? What consumer is going to conscientiously count out that many chips every time they open a bag? (Unless you're on MFP being extremely disciplined smile )
SCHOOLS and THE STATE DEPT OF ED. Teachers need to work with parents to educate their children on healthy food choices. Education begins in the home and should continue throughout early education. Physical Fitness should be mandatory in all schools, every day, every where. There are only 14 states in this entire country that mandate regular, daily PE classes. This is SHAMEFUL.
That's the solution to fighting the obesity epidemic. Starting with the children.
Thanks, I read your post. Which is why I didn't reply to YOU, and instead replied to the OTHER poster.
Apparently obesity isn't the only epidemic in the US.....
Yes, I agree with you there. Arrogance and haughtiness is running rampant right here in this very thread.
So is alarmism and stupidity. Don't forget those two.0 -
READ MY SOLUTION, a few threads up, in response to YOUR thread. I think I summed it up perfectly, to be honest.
You gave excellent solutions, yes!
I'd also add that we really, really must find a way to remove the emotion from food and weight loss. I remember reading an interview from a European fashion icon who lost a great deal of weight well into his golden years and has maintained it. When asked how he did it, he scoffed and basically said he eats much less, and moves more. He said he simply grew tired of being fat and then did something about it, end of story. Fitting into his new jeans was more important to him than having another slice of cake. But what struck me most was that he said we Americans have a big problem making everything so emotional, all about feeling. We're taught to consult our "feelings" on everything, so we turn a simple (though potentially tough) journey of "eat less/move more" into an emotionally drive odyssey. A voyage.
I remember learning recently that my grandmother lost a lot of weight back in her 50's. She was never obese, but she was a thick woman. So was her oldest sister. Now I grew up seeing two thin women, and my grandmother, now in her late 80's, is still a healthy weight, and her sister, who died last year a the age of 96, stayed very lean until the day she passed. What was their "secret" I asked. They just did it. They got tired of being thicker as middle aged spread out, and they just did what they always knew to do; eat less, eat healthier, move more. Period. End of story. No consulting their feelings, no buying into the popular idea that it takes a huge, emotional "journey" to shed some unwanted weight.
There is a lot of emotion tied up in being fat, much of it negative. So naturally you will be affected as you lose, and reach goal weight. But we have GOT to find a way to recognize that this is a rather simply remedied issue, from a physiological standpoint, for the vast majority of people. It's a voluntary epidemic.
But solutions cut at the very heart of our society, don't they? We indeed have become very entitled and quite spoiled. We want what we want and we want it now, consequences be damned. And if we lose control of ourselves and drive headlong into a major obesity crises? We want you to shut the hell up about it because this is "my business".
Change comes hard. That's the reason why all the great solutions only affect a small portion of the population. Unfortunately we might have to become FAR worse, and hit critical mass, before we collectively as a nation say "alright, we've had enough".
It's a sad truth but often we need to crash and burn before we make any real, lasting changes.0 -
I think it is possible to look at a slim person's life and see what they do to keep themselves thin. Oh they might be anorexic, (which can teach you not to do that); or maybe they eat small portions, and they eat only for nutrition, not as a reward, and sometimes they get busy and dont even care to eat.
I have 2 grown kids, and I dont know what they did to keep slim, i know I didn't force them to finish all thier food on their plate, but they have lived with other relatives for a time, and they still kept slim. I dont really know how they escaped the food trap that many families have - passing on bad habits to their kids who eat like the parents do. but Im glad they have escaped the being fat thing.. My daughter the other day, she came by and she had on these jean shorts, and her stomach and belly area were totally flat, the jean material laid totally flat from hip to hip on her. Wow! I'm so happy for her!0 -
I think you have to be really careful with dieting for children. Feed them healthy foods, not too many sweets and cokes, sure. But actually restricting? Making them go on actual diets at 8 or so? Some children are chubby and grow out of it. Many children start eating like crazy right before they hit a growth spurt. I think it could potentially do some major damage to them to try to restrict their diets too much.
I watched my cousin, who was a chubby child but not huge, emergency doctor visit overweight, spend her entire childhood being on diets, forced to get on the treadmill, called out at thanksgiving/christmas to only have one plate. I am convinced it did lifelong damage to her psyche.
I am sure there are children who need immediate intervention, but with kids on the margins I think we should be very careful about this.
I'd say this is a bit obvious. Children shouldn't be put on "diets", they should be given guidelines for healthy eating and regular exercise. Who should be responsible for this? Parents and the child's pediatrician. Weight charts are there for a reason, and I know when my kids were little I would hear my kids' doc tell me about their weight and height ranges. But, I have skinny kids (now teenagers and an adult), and I didn't need to worry.
BUT, when I see an obese kid going into the doc's office, I HOPE the doctor is counseling that child's parent about the situation. They NEED to hear the truth. And instead of just saying "Your kid needs to drop weight", they need to offer constructive, helpful advice. AND THE PARENT needs to take that advice. The parent buys the food for the kid, they are 100% responsible for that child's success or failure once the doctor has given his/her advice. They just don't want to take the advice and implement the changes, because that's much more effort than taking that child to McD's three times a week.0 -
Time to wake up and smell the coffee.. without the donuts.
The donut is fine, IIFYM :P0 -
READ MY SOLUTION, a few threads up, in response to YOUR thread. I think I summed it up perfectly, to be honest. Here it is again, as a reminder.
I have SEVERAL suggestions.
PARENTS. Parents should be teaching their children from the very beginning how to eat properly. They should be providing them with healthy food choices, OR severely restricting the poor food choices. Parents should cook more at home instead of running out to pick up fast food 3-5 times a week. PARENTS should be setting better examples for their children and living those examples every day.
PEDIATRICIANS. Pediatricians should be more honest in their evaluations/assessments of those kids, and should be more vocal in the importance of telling Mrs. Smith that her "chubby little kid" WON'T outgrow his chubbiness and will just get worse unless drastic changes are made. Pediatricians should not be so concerned about offending mom and/or dad, and instead just be honest with them: "If you continue to feed your kid processed crap and not enforce regular activity, they will continue to get fat and come down with diabetes early on in life".
THE FOOD INDUSTRY. The food industry needs to change how it distributes food to the US population. Low income families in low income areas don't have equal access to stores with healthier food options. Also, proper labeling and better education would help. A "serving size" of 14 potato chips -- SERIOUSLY? What consumer is going to conscientiously count out that many chips every time they open a bag? (Unless you're on MFP being extremely disciplined smile )
SCHOOLS and THE STATE DEPT OF ED. Teachers need to work with parents to educate their children on healthy food choices. Education begins in the home and should continue throughout early education. Physical Fitness should be mandatory in all schools, every day, every where. There are only 14 states in this entire country that mandate regular, daily PE classes. This is SHAMEFUL.
That's the solution to fighting the obesity epidemic. Starting with the children.
Thanks, I read your post. Which is why I didn't reply to YOU, and instead replied to the OTHER poster.
Apparently obesity isn't the only epidemic in the US.....
Yes, I agree with you there. Arrogance and haughtiness is running rampant right here in this very thread.
So is alarmism and stupidity. Don't forget those two.
I simultaneously switch between enjoying and raging at your threads.0 -
READ MY SOLUTION, a few threads up, in response to YOUR thread. I think I summed it up perfectly, to be honest. Here it is again, as a reminder.
I have SEVERAL suggestions.
PARENTS. Parents should be teaching their children from the very beginning how to eat properly. They should be providing them with healthy food choices, OR severely restricting the poor food choices. Parents should cook more at home instead of running out to pick up fast food 3-5 times a week. PARENTS should be setting better examples for their children and living those examples every day.
PEDIATRICIANS. Pediatricians should be more honest in their evaluations/assessments of those kids, and should be more vocal in the importance of telling Mrs. Smith that her "chubby little kid" WON'T outgrow his chubbiness and will just get worse unless drastic changes are made. Pediatricians should not be so concerned about offending mom and/or dad, and instead just be honest with them: "If you continue to feed your kid processed crap and not enforce regular activity, they will continue to get fat and come down with diabetes early on in life".
THE FOOD INDUSTRY. The food industry needs to change how it distributes food to the US population. Low income families in low income areas don't have equal access to stores with healthier food options. Also, proper labeling and better education would help. A "serving size" of 14 potato chips -- SERIOUSLY? What consumer is going to conscientiously count out that many chips every time they open a bag? (Unless you're on MFP being extremely disciplined smile )
SCHOOLS and THE STATE DEPT OF ED. Teachers need to work with parents to educate their children on healthy food choices. Education begins in the home and should continue throughout early education. Physical Fitness should be mandatory in all schools, every day, every where. There are only 14 states in this entire country that mandate regular, daily PE classes. This is SHAMEFUL. AND, the first type of teacher to be RIFT (aka: fired) in a school district due to budget issues is the PE teacher. Contra-indicated for a nation that is trying to fight childhood obesity, don't ya think?
That's the solution to fighting the obesity epidemic. Starting with the children.
You missed the one main player, who has anything to do with why the individual is obese (In adulthood): The individual.
There are plenty of people who were not taught to eat well as children, who didn't have the pediatric doctor doing anything, went to crappy schools, ate crappy school lunches, and lived in an area where the food industry filled the supermarkets with junk food; who are still a healthy weight.
I did read a whole lot there about why others are the ones who need to do something, and nothing about the individual getting off their derrierre and actually doing something about their own weight.
Crikey, we're all here on MFP doing just that. Why is it too much to ask that EVERYONE take responsibility for THEIR OWN choices?0 -
Considering it's still an epidemic, no, I'm not tired of it and believe that we as Americans should be fighting against it as hard as we did Polio and Malaria and AIDS and Cancer.
Fat shaming isn't right, you don't shame people who have cancer or autism (well, some people do. Same people who shame people with AIDS), you try and help them overcome their health issues in a constructive way.
I think we can do that better than we already are. Mainly by revising the S.A.D. put in place that got us into the whole mess. The AMA says Obesity is a disease (http://blog.fittothefinish.com/2013/06/the-ama-says-obesity-is-a-disease-but-is-it-really-beyond-our-control/) but that institution is largely responsible for it.0 -
[/quote]
"I'd say a (really) high percentage of those 150 million people do indeed have a lot of excuses."
[/quote]
^Agree. Sure, you can say some people can't afford fresh fruits and veggies, understandable. But even when people who are given EBT/food stamps, or other forms of government compensation in order to lessen their financial burden, in the smallest way possible, and they make unhealthy choices, it's hard to say that they don't have an excuse. I know that emotional eating is a problem, but if it's a problem, get help. The U.S. is one of the few nations where you can find programs that will help you at little or no cost to you. Make use of the great opportunities this nation can afford you.0 -
READ MY SOLUTION, a few threads up, in response to YOUR thread. I think I summed it up perfectly, to be honest. Here it is again, as a reminder.
I have SEVERAL suggestions.
PARENTS. Parents should be teaching their children from the very beginning how to eat properly. They should be providing them with healthy food choices, OR severely restricting the poor food choices. Parents should cook more at home instead of running out to pick up fast food 3-5 times a week. PARENTS should be setting better examples for their children and living those examples every day.
PEDIATRICIANS. Pediatricians should be more honest in their evaluations/assessments of those kids, and should be more vocal in the importance of telling Mrs. Smith that her "chubby little kid" WON'T outgrow his chubbiness and will just get worse unless drastic changes are made. Pediatricians should not be so concerned about offending mom and/or dad, and instead just be honest with them: "If you continue to feed your kid processed crap and not enforce regular activity, they will continue to get fat and come down with diabetes early on in life".
THE FOOD INDUSTRY. The food industry needs to change how it distributes food to the US population. Low income families in low income areas don't have equal access to stores with healthier food options. Also, proper labeling and better education would help. A "serving size" of 14 potato chips -- SERIOUSLY? What consumer is going to conscientiously count out that many chips every time they open a bag? (Unless you're on MFP being extremely disciplined smile )
SCHOOLS and THE STATE DEPT OF ED. Teachers need to work with parents to educate their children on healthy food choices. Education begins in the home and should continue throughout early education. Physical Fitness should be mandatory in all schools, every day, every where. There are only 14 states in this entire country that mandate regular, daily PE classes. This is SHAMEFUL. AND, the first type of teacher to be RIFT (aka: fired) in a school district due to budget issues is the PE teacher. Contra-indicated for a nation that is trying to fight childhood obesity, don't ya think?
That's the solution to fighting the obesity epidemic. Starting with the children.
You missed the one main player, who has anything to do with why the individual is obese (In adulthood): The individual.
There are plenty of people who were not taught to eat well as children, who didn't have the pediatric doctor doing anything, went to crappy schools, ate crappy school lunches, and lived in an area where the food industry filled the supermarkets with junk food; who are still a healthy weight.
I did read a whole lot there about why others are the ones who need to do something, and nothing about the individual getting off their derrierre and actually doing something about their own weight.
Crikey, we're all here on MFP doing just that. Why is it too much to ask that EVERYONE take responsibility for THEIR OWN choices?
A-HA! The crux of the issue right there! Had many of the adults on here (and in the general population) been given early education and proper modeling by parents, doctors, teachers, etc., then they wouldn't have become obese in the first place! This is an issue that dates back several generations. It's not a "now" problem, it's a "look at what we've become from years of bad eating and lack of exercise".
We are a fatter country because of the poor habits we've carried on for YEARS. It is a combination of poor eating, lack of physical exercise, the demise of the evening meal, the PC of "don't hurt Jimmy's esteem by telling him he is fat" and a bunch of other factors that have all contributed to adult obesity. People don't just grow obese overnight. It is a long process based on numerous and repetitive poor choices.0 -
BUT, when I see an obese kid going into the doc's office, I HOPE the doctor is counseling that child's parent about the situation. They NEED to hear the truth. And instead of just saying "Your kid needs to drop weight", they need to offer constructive, helpful advice. AND THE PARENT needs to take that advice. The parent buys the food for the kid, they are 100% responsible for that child's success or failure once the doctor has given his/her advice. They just don't want to take the advice and implement the changes, because that's much more effort than taking that child to McD's three times a week.
In my family we have a few people in the medical field, including a doctor. We also have a few obese, very out of shape members, including some children and teens. What amazes me is the amount of silence that comes from doctors and medical personnel on the whole.
For example, my sister is obese. She actually at this point is likely in the "morbidly" so category. She suffers from some anxiety issues so she's been into the ER a handful of times and has regular check ups with her doctor. They'll discuss throwing her on some anti-anxiety meds, finding ways to destress, answer all her medical questions. But do you know that not one single doctor has ever, even once, addressed her obesity? They know we have a family history of type II diabetes and high blood pressure, and yet not one has said "You really need to get your weight down. Would you like some help with that?". And her story is not unique, among the adults AND the parents.
Even when I was a fat kid in the 80's and 90's my mother had to be the one to seek out a nutritionist and try and change the way we ate. She had to ask all the questions. The doctors didn't seem to think our weight issues were a big deal, either that or they're terrified of pissing off parents.
I hope the next generation of doctors come up with a vastly improved understanding of nutrition, and a "devil may care" attitude toward calling out obesity and treating it just like you would have you patient came in with any other chronic ailment.Considering it's still an epidemic, no, I'm not tired of it and believe that we as Americans should be fighting against it as hard as we did Polio and Malaria and AIDS and Cancer.
Fat shaming isn't right, you don't shame people who have cancer or autism (well, some people do. Same people who shame people with AIDS), you try and help them overcome their health issues in a constructive way.
I think we can do that better than we already are. Mainly by revising the S.A.D. put in place that got us into the whole mess. The AMA says Obesity is a disease (http://blog.fittothefinish.com/2013/06/the-ama-says-obesity-is-a-disease-but-is-it-really-beyond-our-control/) but that institution is largely responsible for it.
I could marry this post.0 -
I believe there are many, many people who are not educated properly about nutrition. My parent's fed me on french fries every single evening as I was little. Every. Single. Evening. It was our potato and homemade fries, but still...mom is now a little ashamed as she remembers.
I also strongly agree with LIFTING YOUR OWN DERIERRE! We need so litlle food, but a nutritious and healthy one, to keep us strong and moving. Whining about expensive healthy food is groundless. Eat less and better.0 -
Our society is just so fast paced and "on the go" that people do not take care of themselves and cook as healthy as they used to. Both parents usually have to work to make a decent income which makes it hard to cook given that back in the "old days" the wife had a home cooked meal prepared. We need to educate ourselves and find quick and easy recipes that are healthy without using the "work and kids" as an excuse. Additionally, cooking healthy does not have to be expensive if one is smart about it.
I cook twice a week (sunday and wednesdays) in bulk. I have no excuses. This way, meals don't have to be cooked every night and I have time for my family. Family doesn't like left overs? OH WELL. They can get over it.0
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