As a nation, we're getting steadily heavier - WHY?

stylistchik

Personally I think it goes back to the government giving subsidies to farm crops like corn and soy that can be easily and cheaply processed into our "food" that is high in calories and low in nutrients. The advertising and availability of these products (not to mention they are often sweet, salty or fatty - our biological cravings) makes them accessible and desirable. More food places have drive thru and delivery options which means more food with less effort. There are a lot of reasons why we are larger and of course we can just ignore all of it but the people who do that are the minority. The only way it can change is to make home cooking and exercise "normal" and accessible. It all comes back to advertising and making money. Lots of people make lots of money off of keeping us fat and sick so why would they want to change that? We have to do it ourselves but most people resist change.

sabrinafaith

I actually believe that the reason we are fat is because we don't have enough physical activity. most people live in the suburbs and drive their kids to school and then drive to work and then drive their kids home and then drive to the store and then drive to the gym. we wouldn't need the gym if we walked to work or walked to school or walked to the store!

and on top of all that we don't teach our kids to fit in physical activity daily! turn off the computer and the tv and lets get our kids outside!

Laurie1267

Refined carbs, processed foods, and lack of exercise.

Josie_lifting_cats

I hate when people blame it on laziness.

I am self-employed. I'm a crazy busy self-employed person turning clients down left and right. I work with my kids some days and am on the road until 6 or 7 PM from early in the morning. The days without the kids I pick them up around 4, but usually have to go home to open the computer and continue working.

It just so happens that if I have time to make dinner, it's certainly not very much time. *IF* I have time.

My husband frequently cooks, but now he's in training the last few weeks. So he's been gone and home late a lot, too.

It is not that we are lazy, because I know for a fact I work harder than the average bear. And I never stop moving/running/driving/working. I only get 4-6 hours of sleep a night if I'm lucky most of the time. So it's not laziness.... it's the fact that I'm so NOT lazy that I have a hard time making dinner.

I need to rely on the crockpot more. But my point is that some nights, when you suddenly realize your kids haven't eaten dinner and it's 6 PM and you need to make something that "quick and easy" recipes or meals are easier. Granted, quick and easy for me often means something like tacos, but there are lots of "naughty" easy and quick recipes, too - and it adds up quickly!

I apparently need to work harder so I can hire someone to cook for me.

bashiera

Not to mention as a nation we're getting older. The youngest baby boomers are aging, and aging brings weight gain.

TheVimFuego

Fear of dietary fat consumption based on bad science, a food pyramid based on bad science, subsidising agriculture, politics and commercial interests overriding good health.

You are eating too much nutrient poor rubbish supported by recommendations that have no basis in fact.

Follow the money, there is no profit to be made in a healthy population.

Rampant diabetes and statins are a logical result of this madness.

Gluttony and sloth? Less so.

UnleashingLovely

I was at waffle house the other day, enjoying some chicken salad.
And this couple came in with their son, I'm assuming he was about 8.
They were all fairly large.
So the order for the son. 2 waffles. He uses FOUR of those little cups of butter. Drowns it in syrup. And gets a side of hashbrowns with double cheese and ham.
Not including the butter or syrup.
It came out to like 1100 calories.
That's why we're getting fat.
People just don't care anymore. They don't think twice before they do it.
If it's yummy, get at it.
And hey, it made the kid happy, right?
:grumble:

akoivisto

To much quick food; not 'fast' food, though that does play a part.

Quick food; the food you don't have to prepare to eat, and, especially for families with kids, we don't have the amount of stay at home moms (or dads for that matter). Growing up I was in pretty dang good shape, I was athletic, but I was also a gamer; I think the kicker, where other kids in the same sport were heavier than me, my mom was a stay at home that really cooked stuff from scratch. I have nothing against two working parents, but I tend to think a part of the reason I didn't ballon as a kid was we had a garden, that my mom worked in during the day (with us helping) and honestly, going to a friends house and having Life cereal, or that white store bought bread? It sounds silly, but that was a treat to me! Cracked Wheat, Homemade Rye bread; I grew up, and each meal was prepared, not canned, not nuked in the wave of micro.

It is too easy, in our society as a 'whole' for instant gratification, pop used to be a treat... now it is a daily consumed 'beverage', same with many candies, and sugary things; once they used to be one a month, if that; now it is as easy as throwing a dollar to get a 900 calorie fix.

Being overweight used to be a sign of wealth; it still is in 'some' regards. The US, while people like to cut it down, is doing fair all considering; there are bad areas, etc... but, when people are only gripping about gas prices and not the cost of a loaf of bread? Once people start protesting food costs I'll start to worry.

Farm Market it up people!! *throws his two cents* ^_^

TeachTheGirl

I blame the gov'ment.

It's a conspiracy, man!

ElizabethRoad

I was at waffle house the other day, enjoying some chicken salad.
And this couple came in with their son, I'm assuming he was about 8.
They were all fairly large.
So the order for the son. 2 waffles. He uses FOUR of those little cups of butter. Drowns it in syrup. And gets a side of hashbrowns with double cheese and ham.
Not including the butter or syrup.
It came out to like 1100 calories.
That's why we're getting fat.
People just don't care anymore. They don't think twice before they do it.
If it's yummy, get at it.
And hey, it made the kid happy, right?
:grumble:

I don't think that really gets at the point though. Of course people are heavier because they eat too much, but why do they eat too much and think it's fine?

k8blujay2

Laziness, willful ignorance, convienance and just plain apathy.

runzalot81

It seems like many people have changed their standards to suit themselves. I've told a few people that I've joined MFP and what my goals are and they're shocked. They think I'm already skinny and they know I'm already an active runner and I have lots of energy compared to others. However, I see a steady pound increase here and there and I could definitely use more muscle.

Even here, I see lots of people like a 5'3" woman with a goal of 150 lbs. That's chubby. It might be a drastic improvement but it's still chubby.

I've also noticed how little people know about food. Lots of people have already mentioned all the "diet foods" available. They're awful!!! I personally didn't know how to eat fresh fruit until I was out on my own. Growing up, I thought canned fruit was healthy. I also had my own personal struggles with diet food and it took me forever to figure out how bad they are.

Josie_lifting_cats

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.

This, too. People are not properly educated and have no idea what they are eating. My favorite example was my sister - she told me once "I just don't get it! I have been eating Chex Mix for two weeks and virtually nothing else, and I've gained 5 pounds!"

I just stood there open mouthed. She continued "It's the whole grain stuff that's supposed to be good for you!"

People see that stuff on labels and just assume that means it's good.

Of course, she also made tacos while babysitting my 2 and 4 year old a while back and used 2 pounds of ground beef for the three of them - and there were no leftovers. So I'm sure portion size is her biggest battle. I know it was mine.

cPT_Helice

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.

Keep in mind, when you say this, that 10-15 years ago all McDonalds food was cooked in lard! People knew nothing and cared nothing about how things were processed. We aren't talking about comparing now to the 1950's. This is just 10 years ago and foods were actually more calorie dense and worse off then.

neverstray

Food is more abundant and available than it has ever been in history, at least the the USA.

I know people right now, that own homes, that have never used their kitchen.

Many people going out on their own right now, do not have any basic fundementals on how to cook food.

Lots and lots of city kids growing up not understand that chicken isn't a product that comes in a package. It's a funny realization when they see a chicken get slaughtered and then later cooked and eaten. I think all people should have to do this to an animal that that eat so they understand how that all works.

Veggies and fruit lack from most people diets, that I see.

Working out is mostly an inconvience for many people. To me, it's like brushing my teeth.

The food industry doesn't help the situation by using HFCS, larger portions, and their ads for more for less all the time.

These are a few things that I think add to the problem. I think it's much deeper and more pervasive on the advertising and marketing front, but that's a extremely complex topic that usually turns into people saying "advertsing doesn't affect me". LOL. Yeah right, that's why it's only 2nd in a corporations budget, just behind r&d, because it has no effect on anyone, especially you since you're a special little snow flake. LOL.

UnleashingLovely

I was at waffle house the other day, enjoying some chicken salad.
And this couple came in with their son, I'm assuming he was about 8.
They were all fairly large.
So the order for the son. 2 waffles. He uses FOUR of those little cups of butter. Drowns it in syrup. And gets a side of hashbrowns with double cheese and ham.
Not including the butter or syrup.
It came out to like 1100 calories.
That's why we're getting fat.
People just don't care anymore. They don't think twice before they do it.
If it's yummy, get at it.
And hey, it made the kid happy, right?
:grumble:

I don't think that really gets at the point though. Of course people are heavier because they eat too much, but why do they eat too much and think it's fine?

I said people don't care anymore. That was mostly my answer.
But being overweight has become totally normal, and pretty much accepted now. So they don't think about the health problems or anything like that.

Josie_lifting_cats

It seems like many people have changed their standards to suit themselves. I've told a few people that I've joined MFP and what my goals are and they're shocked. They think I'm already skinny and they know I'm already an active runner and I have lots of energy compared to others. However, I see a steady pound increase here and there and I could definitely use more muscle.

Even here, I see lots of people like a 5'3" woman with a goal of 150 lbs. That's chubby. It might be a drastic improvement but it's still chubby.

I've also noticed how little people know about food. Lots of people have already mentioned all the "diet foods" available. They're awful!!! I personally didn't know how to eat fresh fruit until I was out on my own. Growing up, I thought canned fruit was healthy. I also had my own personal struggles with diet food and it took me forever to figure out how bad they are.

I feel this is an unfair statement. 150 pounds on a 5'3'' is just fine if she's muscular - the number on the scale doesn't mean as much as people make it out to mean.

cPT_Helice

Obviously it is carbs that has caused all this, as they are the only thing that makes you fat

Obviously!

UnleashingLovely

It seems like many people have changed their standards to suit themselves. I've told a few people that I've joined MFP and what my goals are and they're shocked. They think I'm already skinny and they know I'm already an active runner and I have lots of energy compared to others. However, I see a steady pound increase here and there and I could definitely use more muscle.

Even here, I see lots of people like a 5'3" woman with a goal of 150 lbs. That's chubby. It might be a drastic improvement but it's still chubby.

I've also noticed how little people know about food. Lots of people have already mentioned all the "diet foods" available. They're awful!!! I personally didn't know how to eat fresh fruit until I was out on my own. Growing up, I thought canned fruit was healthy. I also had my own personal struggles with diet food and it took me forever to figure out how bad they are.

My favorite answer.

TeachTheGirl

Even here, I see lots of people like a 5'3" woman with a goal of 150 lbs. That's chubby. It might be a drastic improvement but it's still chubby.

You have to take into account their start weight. ANYTHING seems like a stretch when you're overweight, so giving yourself a realistic goal to meet and THEN change the goal posts isn't a bad thing. Chubby or not, they've made the decision to better their HEALTH, not just their 'chubbiness'.