America is doomed

_HeartsOnFire_

Really? This is why America is doomed? Really? Yeah, no.

jofjltncb6

LOL

In...

...to catch up on one of the great fallacies of obesity.

(I only wish it was the McDonald's argument instead since I had a burger from there today...and at least two other days last week.)

jofjltncb6

FYI: America isn't the #1 fattest anymore

Thought you should know.

Actually they are #2 after Mexico. Have you checked the numbers ? The difference is less than a tenth of one percent.......big deal I say.
Also if you break the statistics down, you will find that Mexico has lots and lots of overweight people, but by far not as many obese and morbidly obese ones as the US. Place #2 is not really something to be proud of, because people have worked on eating healthier.....it's just a small statistical coincidence.

I also find those numbers laughably skewed...

<<<<<< I am an addition to the "obese" category/statistic.

Can't forget those pesky RNs telling built buff people to go on a 1000 calorie diet because they're "fat"...

Indeed.

Based on BMI, I'm just a couple of pounds from being "overweight". My goal is eventually to be "obese" (but while maintaining my <15% BF).

PennyVonDread

Ouch, I apologize for unthinkingly saying the wrong thing to tick off so many people. All I meant to say is that the restaurant business keeps coming up with new ways to increase fat and calories in readily available food. I think the American food landscape makes it hard to eat right, it takes effort to research better choices. Of course it's not my business what the guy down the street eats. I just feel concerned about our calorie-rich eating culture.

"Better choices" he says. Better than... what exactly? Because even though recent research determines people with overweight BMI have lower mortality rates compared to BMI below 25 or well over 30- http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/03/cdc-researchers-find-lower-mortality-rates-among-overweight-people.html#url=/articles/2013/01/03/cdc-researchers-find-lower-mortality-rates-among-overweight-people.html

And considering that of the "2 out of 3 adults" are overweight OR obese, aka "1 in 3 adults" is ACTUALLY OBESE and of the adult population, only 5% are considered to be "Extremely Obese" by American medcal professionals... wait, what? Yes. That means citizens with a BMI under 30, including overweight, are being shown to actually be healthier than our outdated reseach predicted. Only ~33% of the population is "obese" and only 5% are "extremely obese." ( http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/ )

Then considering the actual health note and not just BMI... that someone who exercises and is overweight has better cardio vascular health and lower mortality rate than someone who is sedentary and naturally thin, that the fat and active population has better heart health on average a lower mortality rate than the thin and inactive population... ( http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/05/can-you-be-fat-and-fit-or-thin-and-unhealthy/ )

Please, go one. Continue telling me how "bad" things really are, and how we're "doomed." Ignoring the fact that there are multibillion dollar industries who profit on you feeling bad about how you look, and that this type of research is often overlooked in favor of privately funded "studies" paid for by diet companies who are willing to pay more in advertising than legitimate researchers. SOOOOO DOOOOOOOOMMMMMMEEEEEDDDD!!!

Well, now you are going into the other direction of extreme with this. The problem with that type of study is we don't know why exactly the slightly reduced rate of mortality happened. The whole media hoopla and misinterpretation of studies and statistics applies here too. It could very well be that the "normal to thin range" has a higher percentage of other diseases which predispose people to being thinner and maybe a greater proportion in this category were seriously ill, smokers, or younger rash behavior leading to accidental deaths, there was obviously a greater proportion of eating disorder people in this group (this also shortens lifespan and causes improper nutrition), there may be more 'stressed' people in this group, etc, etc.

Plus then you have to look at the biases in this "overweight" range. It also captures the more fit people who are more likely to not die early: athletes, weekend warriors, whos muscle mass may easily push them into the "overweight" category. It also captures more who had a HISTORY of being very physically active and now are still active but put on some weight because of reduced activity. Maybe this group is also more economically well off on average and typically eat richer foods, happier, and less stressed and worry and improper nutrition is more common in the "normal" group. Maybe this group has a higher percentage of people who are exercising and trying to eat healthy on a long term basis to get rid of that stubborn weight, and the "normal" group has more sedentary people who don't. Its also well known if you start into old age with higher muscle mass, this is strongly correlated with increased (and mobile/active) lifespan. So it really does not follow that being "overweight" gives you any advantage in and of itself, unless maybe you have one of the situations above.

Being in the "overweight" category and exercising regularly gives large health advantages over just being normal weight and not. This is the reason why exercise is so important, and its not just a calorie focus that people should take in losing weight, but adding moderate exercise as well. If all you do is get out of the obese range and have regular exercise...that is absolutely huge in benefit. The difference from going into reg. exercising "overweight" to reg. exercising "normal" is not completely clear, and the advantage is much less than getting out of "obese" range down into "overweight". There are still definite advantages, including lowered joint pressure, probability of arthritis later in life and cardiovascular load.

A lot of what you said still supports the fact the WEIGHT is not an accurate marker of health so much as HABIT is. People in the overweight category tend to still be healthy when compared to people of lower BMIs. Women especially tend to do well with a BMI of about 27, which is cool, because in America, the average BMI is about 27.5. Women have been historically depicted as being of higher body fat percentage, from Venus to Desdemona to Sif to Echo. Yet we have been reprogrammed to believe this is wrong, these women are fat and unhealthy and unpleasant to look at now. Women with higher BMI are more likely to recover from long term illnesses. People with a higher BMI, specifically higher body fat percentage, are more likely to survive physical trama like a car accident. Of the Americans who are obese, only 5% are considered super obese.

Chronic illness has a lot more to do with hereditary conditions than weight, and if diet comes into play, it seems refined sugar is the biggest culprit for correlation to illness, not fatty and greasy foods like pizza (as was mentioned before). Uncontrolled sugar intake is correlated with (triggering predispositions for) higher rates of diabetes, cancer, and inflammatory diseases.

It has nothing to do with getting small. Even someone fat as can be who starts eating healthier, even if at maintance, will see improved health. HOWEVER, that still doesn't make it anyone's concern but an individual's to decide how they want to live their lives. You can't tell by looking at someone how healthy they are.

Case and point, my 140 lb 21 y/o self walked into a clinic with head rushes and was diagnosed with stress, told to sleep more, because I'm a healthy weight and had low BP and that's good or something. Then I DIED, was REVIVED, and finally actually diagnosed for my problems. Fat people get the reverse treatment. "You're sick because FAT." Yet no one really does in-depth research of weight and health beyond vague correlations and assumptions, and no one brings up statistics of how unhealthy many normal BMI people are. And yet we're not just judging books by their covers, supposedly. It's all about "health," apparently, but no one is actually trying to measure health...? Sounds sketch.

_HeartsOnFire_

PikaKnight

_HeartsOnFire_

GertrudeHorse

If I want to eat something really indulgent, I can workout a little harder and do it. Health is relative to function. Even if I eat the whole pizza, one pizza isn't going to un-do my function in one day. Also consider:

No one is obligated to be healthy.

No one is obligated to be skinny.

No one cares if you don't approve.

It's not just "America," we're not even the worst per capita, we just have more "obese" people because we're a huge country.

Obesity rates have been pretty leveled out with the American population for a while now, and in the years where the rates seem to have drastically risen were due to changes in how obesity is diagnosed, particularly in children obesity rates.

Being fat isn't the worst thing you can be. There are plenty of hard-working fat people who enjoy life being able to eat whatever they want and who don't enjoy exercising. That's okay.

Correlation is not causation, and not everyone who is fat will experience diseases that show correlation with higher weights. And even if they are diabetic and unhealthy, they are still human beings worthy of treatment for managing illnesses and aren't obligated to ever get healthy or lose weight if they don't want to put in the work to do that.

No one else's habits or diet or anything are really any of your business if they didn't ask you for commentary on their life choices. If you wouldn't approve of people judging you for your sexuality, your race, your nationality, your hair color, or any other trivializing comments to pick apart your identity, then you shouldn't be doing this to other people and their diets/weights.

Bless this post.

SLLRunner

There shouldn't be confusion over why so many Americans are overweight when a popular pizza chain advertises on the radio a new "double pepperoni and bacon" pizza. I'm sure most people who eat something like that don't know or care how much fat and calories they are getting. The restaurant would say they are just giving people what they want.

Wait a minute. See bold above-you are making a harsh judgment on people who eat pizza, or at least who eat that type of pizza. Does that make you feel better about yourself?

Moderation is the answer. Lots of people who lose weight eat the type of food you are describing, they just have a piece or two and work it into their calorie goal.

_KitKat_

---

} MODERATION {

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The key to everything in life :drinker:

Strokingdiction

Ouch, I apologize for unthinkingly saying the wrong thing to tick off so many people. All I meant to say is that the restaurant business keeps coming up with new ways to increase fat and calories in readily available food. I think the American food landscape makes it hard to eat right, it takes effort to research better choices. Of course it's not my business what the guy down the street eats. I just feel concerned about our calorie-rich eating culture.

google
nutritional value of product x
nutritional value of product y
done

Not much effort really.

Annie_01

You might want to check out this website, http://authoritynutrition.com/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets/
Low carb diets seem to work better than low fat diets. I would suggest eat the pepperoni and bacon pizza, but not the crust. Eating the proper amount of fat allows you to feel fuller and hold you for a longer time, than going without the fat.

Limiting the carbs is the better choice to make, have the thin crust pizza rather than the thick crust pizza and enjoy the pepperoni, bacon and all the other stuff you like on your pizza.

That is what I did. I went to thin crust so that I could continue to fit pizza in to my calorie goal...I had three slices of one last night.

uconnwinsnc

No one is obligated to be healthy.


No one else's habits or diet or anything are really any of your business if they didn't ask you for commentary on their life choices. If you wouldn't approve of people judging you for your sexuality, your race, your nationality, your hair color, or any other trivializing comments to pick apart your identity, then you shouldn't be doing this to other people and their diets/weights.

I beg to differ. Mothers and fathers are obligated to do the best they can to be able to care for their children. Obese parents with limited mobility and potential health risks who simply eat too much are not putting their children's well-being as a priority. Comparing people who are obese because they eat too much to homosexuals and people of other ethnicity is not really right because the later two are not problems to fix.

On another note. I live near New Haven, CT. We have some of the best pizza in the world.

SymphonynSonata

No one is obligated to be healthy.


No one else's habits or diet or anything are really any of your business if they didn't ask you for commentary on their life choices. If you wouldn't approve of people judging you for your sexuality, your race, your nationality, your hair color, or any other trivializing comments to pick apart your identity, then you shouldn't be doing this to other people and their diets/weights.

I beg to differ. Mothers and fathers are obligated to do the best they can to be able to care for their children. Obese parents with limited mobility and potential health risks who simply eat too much are not putting their children's well-being as a priority. Comparing people who are obese because they eat too much to homosexuals and people of other ethnicity is not really right because the later two are not problems to fix.

On another note. I live near New Haven, CT. We have some of the best pizza in the world.

Are homosexual men bad parents then? They are at a higher risk for HIV. Sorry, I'm just impressed that a parental judgement call can be made off as something as trivial as weight. Astonished, even.

NOMORECARS

If I was going to have something with that much fat, it would have to involve chocolate.

I find it ironic in this day and age that there are still people who think eating too much fat causes obesity. It has been proven countless times that sugar, most especially high fructose corn syrup is the major culprit in obesity.
Companies label sugary garbage "low fat" and people scoop it up.

lavendah

What's wrong with having a pizza once a while?
It really won't kill your fitness plans at all.I mean,if you look at the big picture.
I don't like the idea of completely depriving oneself of high calorie delicious foods.You need to treat yourself once a while,you deserve it.

perseverance14

If I was going to have something with that much fat, it would have to involve chocolate.

That could work.

NOMORECARS

If I was going to have something with that much fat, it would have to involve chocolate.

Ironically, it is the far content in chocolate that makes it healthy. The fat slows down the rate at which sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream and this slightly reduces sugar's harmful effects.

Showcase_Brodown

...overloading greasy meats & cheeses onto a pizza is a poor choice.

You have so much to learn.

uconnwinsnc

No one is obligated to be healthy.


No one else's habits or diet or anything are really any of your business if they didn't ask you for commentary on their life choices. If you wouldn't approve of people judging you for your sexuality, your race, your nationality, your hair color, or any other trivializing comments to pick apart your identity, then you shouldn't be doing this to other people and their diets/weights.

I beg to differ. Mothers and fathers are obligated to do the best they can to be able to care for their children. Obese parents with limited mobility and potential health risks who simply eat too much are not putting their children's well-being as a priority. Comparing people who are obese because they eat too much to homosexuals and people of other ethnicity is not really right because the later two are not problems to fix.

On another note. I live near New Haven, CT. We have some of the best pizza in the world.

Are homosexual men bad parents then? They are at a higher risk for HIV. Sorry, I'm just impressed that a parental judgement call can be made off as something as trivial as weight. Astonished, even.

Why would homosexual men be bad parents? Is HIV something that you believe homosexual couples encounter on a daily basis? If you think obesity caused by bad eating habits is trivial we have a serious disagreement here.