As a nation, we're getting steadily heavier - WHY?
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cPT_Helice
Posts: 403
The average American has gained about one pound each year since the mid-1990s. The average American man weighed 194.7 pounds in 2006, up from 181 pounds in 1994. The average American woman weighed up 165 pounds, up from 154. Two thirds of us are overweight or obese. ~ Face The Facts USA
Curious why people think this is. I can think of many, many reasons. I feel, as a nation, we have just gotten lazier and lazier and technology underlies a lot of it. Add that to poor diets (which is also stems in part from technological dependance = laziness and just lack of caring) and to a greater societal acceptance and bam!
What do you think?
Curious why people think this is. I can think of many, many reasons. I feel, as a nation, we have just gotten lazier and lazier and technology underlies a lot of it. Add that to poor diets (which is also stems in part from technological dependance = laziness and just lack of caring) and to a greater societal acceptance and bam!
What do you think?
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Replies
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- Laziness
- Lack of willpower0 -
Laziness
Too much sitting in front of: TV, computer, video games, etc.
Too many gadgets that do the work for you instead of you manually doing it!
People giving in to "on the run food", although you CAN make smart choices at fast food places.0 -
Laziness. Foods infused with so much salt and sugar are very addictive. Portion size. Microwaves.0
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Processed foods. Cars. Portion sizes. Compare a pyrex dish made today to that made in the 60's/70's. HUGE difference!0
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Looking at your watching and saying ' it's noon must be time to eat - whether or not you are hungry. I see my parents do this and they both are 50 lbs over weight. No wonder.0
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more calorie dense foods.
its not that its processed.. its just that everything presented to us, even healthy choices, are often more calorie dense, and/or in larger portions then in the past.
so we consume more calories... makes a MUCH larger diff then 'lazyness' or 'lack of movement' if you're only considering overall weight.0 -
fast food, sweets and laziness0
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High fructose corn syrup! It's in EVERYTHINGGGG!0
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Ignorance plays a part too. I saw a person on here say they thought the deep-fried shrimp platter would be low in calories because it was shrimp. Every day there's another thread of people asking how to eat vegetables... one person thought "vegetables" meant those bags of frozen peas and carrots. I think a lot of people don't have a fundamental understanding of how to eat properly, so they just don't try.0
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Obviously it is carbs that has caused all this, as they are the only thing that makes you fat0
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Because people believe processed "diet bars" loaded full of crap and even "diet" shakes such as GNC Get Lean contain hydrogenated oils and artificial flavors are better for them than fruit, because fruit has "carbs". People buy into the myths that keep "health food" companies in business!0
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Life is just too darn easy. Physically at least. And on the flip side, emotionally, it can be more stressful, so then you have stress without the physical release of being more active, which results in comfort eating.0
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I don't think you can just say laziness... maybe when it comes to exercise but we didn't become the top nation in the world by being lazy. I think when we were in a economic boom most were focused on careers and a lot more people found themselves behind desks for 8 hours/day. I kind of feel like we're on the rebound though and people are starting to hit the gyms like never before. People are getting bored and looking for things to do. I bet we get healthier in the next 10 years!!
my two cents.0 -
Technology
Constantly available no prep needed food (seriously there are people snacks when in line at Petsmart now)0 -
Obviously it is carbs that has caused all this, as they are the only thing that makes you fat
^^^ This.
Check out Fat Head on Hulu. This topic is discussed.0 -
Everything is bigger in America. The large size pop from Mcdonalds in France is the U.S's small.
Most Americans don't know what proper portion sizes are. I didn't until I started MFP0 -
I think part of the reason is that Americans live a more sedentary life style now then they did. I also believe that overbearing and overprotective parent effect this too. Kids these days are not allowed to play and be kids like when i was younger. Stuff my parents let me do as a kid would get me as a parent arrested now!
I also think portion size has a lot to do with it. I was raised to clean my plate, but we had "normal" portions so it wasn't a big deal. Today you get a plate of food and it might be 1700 calories. Portion Control.
The third reason is that being overweight has become something that is looked at like a disease or a disability (not that it isn't in some cased), but it's never thought of as a willpower issue anymore.0 -
I'll break the trend here because I don't think it's laziness. I think there are a lot of factors at work that people fail to appreciate. We're constantly inundated with contradictory messages about what is healthy and what isn't. Billions upon billions of dollars are spend each year to get us to eat fattening food and buy expensive products and services to undo the damage. The truth is deliberately obscured and muddied. Even people who have the time and inclination to research and sort it out for themselves get it wrong a huge portion of the time (check out these very forums to find a great many examples). And those who actually want to help the consumers, the people at the bottom, simply don't have the power to overcome these problems and aren't listened to.
People love to make this about personal responsibility and say that fat people are just too damn lazy. But that's not fair. It's ridiculous to think we can separate the individual from the environment around them, particularly when the environment is being intentionally altered to change that individual's behavior. Of course there is a degree of personal responsibility and choice, but we can't ignore the fact that we are affected by the world around us. If someone is deliberately set up to fail, it is not fair to place all the blame for failing squarely on their shoulders.0 -
Several reasons....laziness, people don't want to cook or are too tired to cook, but mainly, all the crap that we allow to be put in foods. Growth hormones in livestock (where do you think those go after the cow/pig/chicken is slaughtered???), not to mention all the sodium that is also put in foods, and preservatives and things that are not easily pronounced. If you go to other countries like Japan, Ireland, Europe, they don't put crap in their foods. They don't put things in their foods that will make it last 10 years on a shelf. They offer fresh and healthy things. Why we allow our country to let these companies do this is beyond me.0
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Everything is bigger in America. The large size pop from Mcdonalds in France is the U.S's small.
Most Americans don't know what proper portion sizes are. I didn't until I started MFP
also this
Big Mac in Spain is 10% smaller then in US. Portions in restaurants are usually half the US size...0
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