Why are we bigger than ever?

Machka9

snowflake954 wrote: »

Portion sizes are huge in the States. Free refills on soft drinks, and "all you can eat" buffets are changes that I notice when I go back to the USA to visit.

+1

It's astounding how much food you can get in a meal in the US. We did a 6 week tour of the US in 2012 and put on enough weight that we were motivated to join a gym when we got back to Canada, for the month we were in Canada.

Here in Australia, a large soft drink is about the size of a US medium.

If restaurants and fast food places were to drop the size of their meals and drinks by 1/3, that would probably make a difference.

Rocknut53

vingogly wrote: »

lfod308 wrote: »

Poison in the food supply. Fluoride, gmo, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, antibiotics, gluten, dyes, chemicals, drugs, and removal of iodine from salt. Doctors in bed with the drug companies. Plastics and bha destroying your thyroid. Monsanto roundup on your food. Government dietary guides that will make you fat sick and stupid. Vaccinations with murcury. Eat up, the government loves you!
Sorry for the rant. Research and consume real food and avoid all the junk above. Don't trust your doctor or the government and make your own conclusions. Good luck.

Is this a joke?

Sadly, I don't think it was...

queenliz99

I'm starting to think we are doomed. Hangs head in shame

Machka9

misskarne wrote: »

Honestly, portion sizes. I'm an Australian currently on holiday in the US and I was absolutely shocked. Take McDonalds for example: an American medium fries and drink is the same size as an Australian LARGE fries and drink, and the American large fries and drink is probably twice the size.

Also, holy guacamole, could you guys go two seconds without adding sugar to stuff that doesn't need it? Especially your bread? Trying to find bread anything to eat here so far has been an experiment in feeling nauseous. And I felt really nauseous when I stepped into a candy aisle at Target. The size of the bags! I'd never seen anything like it.

I hear you!! We've had the same experiences!



I've travelled quite a bit, but where we really noticed it was on an 8-month round the world trip we did in 2012.

Meal sizes in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, several countries throughout Europe, and Canada were all about the same size as what you might find in Australia. Approximately normal sized, or maybe just a touch on the large size. Germany stands out as having somewhat larger meal sizes.

And then we travelled through the US and were stunned by the meal sizes and buffets and sizes of the packages of food in stores ... it just seemed like it's all about size.

Machka9

But then, this appears in the news here the other day ... to my horror!

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/this-is-what-the-supermarket-of-the-future-will-look-like/news-story/3421f891a548d8ce76bdb1456517dd4e?utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF&utm_source=News.com.au&utm_medium=Facebook

SingingSingleTracker

ilovefastcarstoo wrote: »

hapoy Friday everyone !
I was curious... Since we are supposedly more overweight than ever in the United States. I was wondering the key reasons why and what we can do to spread the word to help others? Thoughts?

Shakespeare nailed it centuries ago in his great farce The Merry Wives of Windsor...

Gluttony.

Like Sir John Falstaff in that play who suffered from gluttony, too many Americans have habitual greed or excess in eating.

Christine_72

I can only speak for myself, but when I was a kid.. we weren't allowed to watch tv much during the day let a lone lap tops and video games. We spent all day outside exploring and playing, and came home when the street lights came on.
We played lots of sport.

Take away food was a very rare special treat, same as Fizzy drinks and sugary breakfast cereals. Convenience foods weren't popular.

And I agree with the mind blowingly large portion sizes AND inexpensive foods in the US. You guys would scoff at our high priced and smaller serves here in Aus.

kimny72

Inactive lifestyles and constantly available food in large portion sizes.

As a counterpoint to some of the posts about processed foods... I grew up in the 70's and frozen or canned convenience style food made up the majority of my diet until I was a teenager. Cereal or frozen waffles with margarine & pancake syrup for breakfast. Bologna & cheese or pb & j or grilled cheese on Wonder Bread or bagged sandwich rolls. Snacks of Hostess cupcakes or Chips Ahoy cookies. For dinner we would have hot dogs & canned beans, fishsticks & tater tots, pasta, boxed flavored rice, canned veggies, mac & cheese made with Kraft singles. Sometimes soda, chips, gummy bears, Kit Kats. You get the idea! No one in my family was overweight, or sickly. Why? We ate reasonable portions of these foods and spent lots of time in the backyard, at the park, walking to other people's backyards and parks, playing sports, etc.

My brother & I to this day have never been "technically" overweight, we just developed a little "middle-aged spread" in our 30's, which we have both now lost. I actually gained that weight eating far more whole, healthy foods. Why? I spent all day sitting at a desk or on the couch. And my parents weren't there to monitor my portion sizes, so I started over-eating for my activity level. I lost the weight by watching my portion sizes and increasing my activity level.

I honestly believe (and this is just my opinion) that if people were conscious of portion sizes, took responsibility for their food choices, and prioritized physical activity in their social and leisure time, this epidemic would not be this big a problem. I have never had a problem sticking to portion sizes of processed foods when I was paying attention and actively deciding to enjoy in moderation. It is always when I eat mindlessly or emotionally that I overeat, and that has applied to both processed and whole foods, at least that is my experience.

senecarr

The invention of the calorie and the proliferation of it as a concept that more and more people know. Just graph obesity since the first time the word calorie appeared. You can even see if you track calorie being mentioned more in literature, it rises, making obesity rise with it.

It is just like how the Native Americans couldn't see Christopher Columbus's boats because they didn't have the concept of sailing ships in their language.

None of you realize the more you post on this board, the more you're reinforcing that concept of calories to yourself. You're all doomed. Pity.

Orphia

Why are we bigger? Simple answer? An obesogenic environment.

Longer answer?

http://www.bodyforwife.com/what-is-the-solution-to-obesity/

"Long work hours spent in a chair, high stress levels, overuse of screen-based entertainment, lack of cooking skills, lack of desire to cook after a long day, the ability to hit a drive-through or dial for delivery at any time of day, emotional trauma, misinformation promoted by the weight loss industry, gigantic portions, government subsidies to fattening foods, food marketing run amok (much of which specifically targets children), ever tastier concoctions created by brain scientists working for food corporations that makes their treat foods ever more compelling, a society that places emphasis on eating for pleasure instead of fuelling your body … all these things just scratch the surface."

What do we do about it?

• Subsidizing the right foods, and taxing the wrong ones
• Placing tighter restrictions on food labeling
• Restricting food advertising to children
• Stop corporate-government partnerships and rein in lobbying
• Revamp home economics in school, and make it mandatory
• Place tighter controls on the weight loss industry
• Stop promoting physical activity as the solution for weight loss
• Create better access to evidence-based weight management programs
• Create national advertising campaigns that promote healthier eating
• Make prejudice against people with obesity against the law
• Create greater access to bariatric surgery
• Continue research into weight loss pharmaceuticals

What do we do right now?

"A good first step is to realize that food corporations and most weight loss programs are lying to you. Any time something sounds too good to be true, it is. When it comes to weight loss, calories are all that matter"

lemurcat12

Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »

I also think it's part of our culture and acceptable now. You see everyone else overweight, you think it's okay and normal. I know so many of my overweight friends don't think they are overweight because they are smaller than most people they see. Not to mention all the magazine and everything are now promoting plus size as healthy.

Not where I live.

lemurcat12

endlessfall16 wrote: »

I disagree that portions are getting bigger. I've been eating fast foods for decades and the portions served in many places have actually shrunk.

Portions, including fast food portions, have objectively gotten larger.

lemurcat12

lkpducky wrote: »

misskarne wrote: »

Also, holy guacamole, could you guys go two seconds without adding sugar to stuff that doesn't need it? Especially your bread? Trying to find bread anything to eat here so far has been an experiment in feeling nauseous.

My husband is from Wales and he commented that just about everything in the USA tastes sweeter than the equivalents in the UK. He's not thrilled with most restaurant food here, and that's one of the reasons. He thinks that some restaurants add sugar to sauces to hide the fact that the meats are not the very top quality so they wouldn't taste good on their own.

I wonder what restaurants he's gone to, as I don't find that to be the case with many restaurants. I get annoyed with people visiting NYC and deciding the closest Applebees (or similar) is the limit of US restaurants and food.

californiagirl2012

Because there is too much food available compared to over 100 years ago, and we move less compared to over 100 years ago. If people don't learn the value of food energy, or how to say no sometimes, they will keep gaining.

ldowdesw

Here in the UK, my 6 year old son has just been learning about WW2. I have had to explain ration books to him and how little food was available. There wernt any 'larger people' around then. Eat to live, don't live to eat!!!

brower47

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/07/obesity-is-contagious/

Interesting premise that relates to the OP's question.

An excerpt:

"Now, researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego have found that obesity is hardly a private matter. Reporting in the July 26 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers found that obesity spreads through social ties. When an individual gains weight, it dramatically increases the chances that their friends, siblings, and spouses will likewise gain weight. The closer two people are in a social network, the stronger the effect. Interestingly, geographical distance between persons in a social network appears to have no effect."

stevencloser

endlessfall16 wrote: »

I disagree that portions are getting bigger. I've been eating fast foods for decades and the portions served in many places have actually shrunk.

But,

There are lots more options and life basically is becoming easier as years go by, contrary to the fact that older generations tend to believe that the next generation won't make it, eg they are all going to hell.

So portions are shrinking but are being outpaced by growth of choices. The comfort and sedentary lifestyle earned from advancement outpace the rate of required physicality. That's the reason.

I disagree with your disagreement. A small Coke in the US is as big as a large in Germany and I doubt it has been that way since the beginning. Also I think I've seen a direct comparison of Hamburger size back in the day and today and it was quite a difference.

FitPhillygirl

Consuming more calories than the body needs plain and simple.

honeyhiker

Skip one meal a day, eliminate sugar and anything highly processed, count your calories and stay in motion
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C6D0LCK?keywords=the obesity code&qid=1458381479&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

abatonfan

I feel like it's a combination of education standards reducing the amount of time spent on nutrition education and cooking skills, an increase in time spent sedentary, an increasing emphasis on more gourmet and high-calorie foods being an everyday occurrence instead of a "sometimes food" (eg. 500+ calorie Starbucks drinks), and a high abundance and convenience of food.

One of the things that shocked me is that not many schools are placing an emphasis on nutrition education. I went to a fairly competitive school district, and the only nutrition education and cooking skills class we received was in middle school (and even then it was a part of a 9-12 week long home-ec class, so not much time was spent on the material. The most advanced thing we did in three years of that class was making an omelet). I had to take a college nutrition class for nursing, and one of the things I really benefited from was doing a 3-day diet analysis project and finding ways I can modify my diet so that I am more able to meet my macronutrient and micronutrient needs. Part of me wants to see graduation standards change so that all students need to take a basic nutrition/cooking/home-ec class and pass a project where they analyze their dietary needs, create a three-day/weekly menu that meets their dietary needs relative to their budget, and then cook 4 of those meals (maybe a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner, and a snack).

I might be weird, but I think the USDA's "2000/2500 calorie general guideline" for calculating food label percentages might also skew people into believing their CO is much more than what it is. I'm a 5'6 young female who is at a healthy BMI, and I need to walk over 13,000 steps in order to have a CO of 2000 calories. If I was less active (my BMR is around 1350) or older, my CO would be significantly less, and I would be in a calorie surplus if I followed the USDA's 2000 calorie general guideline.