American Obesity Rates Are Up, Let's Change That!

littleleisha

I was just looking at all the stories on MSN homepage today and found this one on American Obesity Rates. It is astounding! America has put on so much weight! It's nice to see everyone here at MFP trying to make a change!! I know that when I have kids, I am going to teach them all about being active & eating good meals!

http://health.msn.com/healthy-living/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100275061&GT1=31036

KyleGA

I read the article yesterday...crazy to think that just back in 1995 there were no states over the 20% obesity rate...now all but 1 state is.

Cheers to your healthy lifestyle and thank you for helping make people aware of this epidemic and fighting that battle of the bulge!

sexforjaffacakes

I'm always shocked by how cheap and big food is in America - like, in mcdonalds and stuff an american small is the same size as a UK large

SeasideOasis

Smaller portions, multiple times a day, is really how everyone should be eating. The obesity rate is definitely out of hand.

lumberjacks94

According to a story we put out on our wire tonight, no states had an obesity rate of 20-percent just 15 years ago. Today ALL states but Colorado are over 20-percent. Very bad trend..

littleleisha

Very bad! and it seems to be getting worse and worse with each passing year. I find it really interesting in the article that is says the poorer people are more obese and those who graduated college are less obese. This is because america makes all of the bad foods affordable... shouldn't it be the other way around?? and it is disgusting the portion sizes that are given to us at restaurants and fast food places. The way things are run in America is what makes America obese. Huge portions, lots of cheap fast food and every technology under the sun that keeps us sitting on our *kitten* all day.

Barneystinson

America has a few problems:

Our transportation infrastructure discourages the use of pedestrian and cycling traffic in most areas (i.e. we don't have safe walk or bike lanes - some cities are changing this, but not enough. This becomes very apparent when you've spent any time abroad or cripes, even in Canada).

It's fairly cheap to own and operate an automobile. Much cheaper than in Europe.

We glamorize big savings on grocery items and meals out. The cheaper the better, right?

We encourage "big box" stores instead of going to smaller, local markets.

We sell very large and calorie-dense portions in [affordable] restaurants and fast food joints.

We encourage big agricultural subsidies which lead to a lot of "cheap" filler foods flooding the market like potato chips, junk, junk, and more junk.

We run coupons and promotions mostly on junk. Don't see many coupons for corsage boxes of lettuce at the store, do we?

We are now catering to the severely overweight. Larger meals -> Larger seats -> Larger ambulances -> Larger coffins. Probably insensitive, but very true.

freerange

America has a few problems:

Our transportation infrastructure discourages the use of pedestrian and cycling traffic in most areas (i.e. we don't have safe walk or bike lanes - some cities are changing this, but not enough. This becomes very apparent when you've spent any time abroad or cripes, even in Canada).

It's fairly cheap to own and operate an automobile. Much cheaper than in Europe.

We glamorize big savings on grocery items and meals out. The cheaper the better, right?

We encourage "big box" stores instead of going to smaller, local markets.

We sell very large and calorie-dense portions in [affordable] restaurants and fast food joints.

We encourage big agricultural subsidies which lead to a lot of "cheap" filler foods flooding the market like potato chips, junk, junk, and more junk.

We run coupons and promotions mostly on junk. Don't see many coupons for corsage boxes of lettuce at the store, do we?

We are now catering to the severely overweight. Larger meals -> Larger seats -> Larger ambulances -> Larger coffins. Probably insensitive, but very true.

Yes true, and to add to this what we do teach our kids in school about nutrition is ALL WRONG, the USDA should be burned at the steak

littleleisha

You are definitely right about the our transportation! I would love to ride my bike but every time I ride on the road, I fear being run over!

Also, I have noticed that the majority of coupons are for junk food as well. I love using coupons but when I go through the sunday paper, most of them I can't even use because we don't buy that stuff.

I also have a problem with the way farming is now. Those huge commercial farms, injecting animals with steroids and who knows what else! and they way they treat them is just awful! I watched the documentary Food Inc. (which I definitely recommend) and I was just appalled by what I saw. I understand that these are the worst case scenarios, but still, stuff like that should NOT be happening anywhere!

Barneystinson

You are definitely right about the our transportation! I would love to ride my bike but every time I ride on the road, I fear being run over!

Also, I have noticed that the majority of coupons are for junk food as well. I love using coupons but when I go through the sunday paper, most of them I can't even use because we don't buy that stuff.

I also have a problem with the way farming is now. Those huge commercial farms, injecting animals with steroids and who knows what else! and they way they treat them is just awful! I watched the documentary Food Inc. (which I definitely recommend) and I was just appalled by what I saw. I understand that these are the worst case scenarios, but still, stuff like that should NOT be happening anywhere!

It'll continue to happen as our population expands. Local agriculture is great - and I do support it, but large scale farms are necessary to feed the masses.