Is obesity 'normal' where you live, or 'abnormal'?

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  • abheshek
    abheshek Posts: 525 Member
    no obesity is not normal here.....people tease you,make fun of you even if you are slightly overweight.
  • Miiimii
    Miiimii Posts: 279 Member
    In my area of the city, at my work and around my friends there are no obese people at all - but in my home village there are a lot. Probably because it's the countryside and they are eating much more meat, drink a lot more alcohol and don't go tot the gym. My parents and sister aren't obese, but many people in the rest of my famliy are - it's all about there eating habits (meat, meat, meat) and not doing sports - but then saying stupids things to me and my boyfriend because we are vegetarians (so is my sister). Some times I wish I could answer: "Yes, I don't eat meat and I if you wouldn't eat it ether you wouldn't be that fat."
  • adiannen83
    adiannen83 Posts: 32 Member
    :happy:
    Obesity is NOT normal in Colorado. It was ranked as the first (or at least one of the first) in healthy-weight people. There is so many activities to do both summer and winter. Of course, we are known for skiing in the winter, but also hiking the "fourteeners" * in the summer.

    NOTE: The "fourteeners" refers to the 53 mountain peaks in CO that are 14,000 feet or more.

    Just makes me stand out more and feel bad about myself.

    I'm originally from Colorado Springs, CO and spent my entire life up until age 18 there. I went to college in AL. I do notice that although I was overweight while in CO I was still VERY active and fit. AL is VERY different from CO and the introduction of sweet tea was probably not a good thing lol. In the South it is very accepted an almost preferred as skinny people are called "po" (poor). And while anyone will tell you I love my hips, curves, and bodonkadonk, I'm really trying stay active, eat healthy, and be the mom my daughter deserves
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    I don't rally notice, but I'll open my eyes a bit more this weekend. Here's the official stats:
    Enfield has the 3rd highest prevalence of obese people in London (27% Enfield, 18% London – Health Survey For England 2007 London Boost). Obesity levels among Enfield’s young people are a particular concern with 37.6% of Enfield’s young people in year 6 and 24.8% in reception year being overweight or obese.
  • imchicbad
    imchicbad Posts: 1,650 Member
    Rich people tend to be fatter here in California. Since they tend to sit around drinking and socializing. They just keep spray tanning in hopes to appear thinner. But there is a lot more healthy in shape people on the coast. The more inland you go the fatter the people get. California is a roll of the dice. But I can tell you the senior community is known for being obese. And the lazy parenting is causing obesity in children . I think it's everywhere. Having high end " food or shops" doesn't mean a damn thing, since fast food is on every corner. It's everywhere.
  • JamesChargerWolf
    JamesChargerWolf Posts: 83 Member
    I grew up in NYC, where people walk a lot and often have the means to eat healthier. Abnormal there.

    But now I live just outside of Manhattan, in Jersey City, NJ. Here, it's very common to see obesity. So, Normal here, even though it's just across the river.
  • eevincheezburger
    eevincheezburger Posts: 163 Member
    Normal here in Texas. And in Oklahoma, another place I lived for a long time. Friends from California would come visit and remark about how odd it was to see so many obese people using the electric carts in Wal-Mart. To me that had become normal.
  • Cherp18
    Cherp18 Posts: 224 Member
    Less common here. Very active lifestyle community in Kelowna, Canada! Great place to live :)
  • JanieJack
    JanieJack Posts: 3,831 Member
    When I was in Alabama, it was normal.

    In Shreveport, I've noticed many women are very thin and then there's some that are really big. It's like there's no middle ground.

    Also in Tampa the ladies around me are TINY!
  • raisingemilyjune
    raisingemilyjune Posts: 181
    I don't even know to be quite honest. I want to say abnormal, but really it's more like an even split. My city is a fairly poor city, and I live in the poorer neighbourhood surrounding the downtown core HOWEVER we are a hugely outdoorsy city, with lots to do outside in the summer and winter and massive parks that cater to skiiers, walkers, runners, etc. We have a few marathons and half-marathons a year and also have a whopping 7 gyms for a fluctuating total of 70,000 residents (we have a university and a college, both have state of the art, incredibly run wellness centres, the one with a rowing tank and rock climbing wall!).

    Ps, I live in Peterborough, ON, Canada
  • MayMaydoesntrun
    MayMaydoesntrun Posts: 805 Member
    Normal, unfortunately. Not everybody is obese, but most are overweight. I'm fighting to go against the grain.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Obesity is pretty much the norm here. Even if you're slightly overweight you still get comments from people that you're already too skinny and shouldn't lose anymore weight. Then I look at the fat tire (much smaller now) around my belly and think really...this tire around my mid section is skinny to you people? I have a co-worker that constantly tells me this...I tell her I'm 23% BF which is considered OW for my height and that I'm trying to get down to at least 19% (just on the cusp of healthy/overweight but ideally 15%-16% which is where I was when I was the happiest with myself. All I get is, "well...you're not 25 anymore you know." Lame
  • virtualjunkyard
    virtualjunkyard Posts: 17 Member
    I recently moved from a small town in Kentucky to a small town just outside Grand Rapids, Michigan and it's like night and day! One of the first comments I made was "It would take a year to see as many people exercising (walking, biking, running..,you name it) in Kentucky as you see in one day here! Every other car has a bike carrier. I can't remember ever seeing one in Kentucky. Obesity is very normal there.
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
    I live in the Midwest, so yeah pretty normal, but my family reunion will be in the fattest state in the US this year, so I'll look pretty skinny down there. Looking forward to it.
  • Mysticblade13
    Mysticblade13 Posts: 1
    I agree, I'm also also NYC and it's rare compared to other cities that you see obesity because of all the walking involved just getting to and from subways. Health is a big thing around here. Lots of food choices, healthy and not. What I found so suprising, (being that I've rarely traveled to parts outside of the northeast), is that on my visit to kentucky there were nothing but fast food chains and very bad quality fod. A lot of the people there knew little of nutrition becuase they were surrounded by bad food and its what they knew and grew up with. I'm thankful for the food selections out in NY.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    It's pretty "normal" around here... though I think it's really about half and half because I percieve that I see a relatively equal number of normal weight folks than obese folks... and I know this is true where I work (where I percieve the obesity rate for our work place going down because of our health initiative).
  • imtrinat
    imtrinat Posts: 153 Member
    I spent the first 25 years of my life living in a place where the FUPA was a fashion statement and exercise was weird. I never even realized I was overweight because everyone around me so friggin huge. My husband changed my perspective. We moved several hours away and things are much different. There are bike lanes here and people actually use them. Amazing! It kinda sucked to stand out as a chubby chick when we first moved but that's slowly changing. Being surrounded by health conscious people has had a huge impact on my quality of life.
  • VanessaHeartsMasr
    VanessaHeartsMasr Posts: 727
    Very, very normal here. I see very morbidly obese people on a daily basis.
  • cleotherio
    cleotherio Posts: 712 Member
    I live in a pretty affluent town (upstate New York), so there aren't too many people who are extremely heavy in my immediate area, and very few overweight kids in my kids' elementary school. But if you go a half hour out into the more rural areas, there are lot more obese people. But then if you keep going farther north, it becomes a very active, outdoorsy lifestyle again.
  • courtneyshell
    courtneyshell Posts: 5 Member
    Normal here in Wisconsin, but a little less so in the cities (Madison and Milwaukee), I'd say. It's the land of cheese and custard and beer! :drinker:

    I went to Denver two years ago and felt morbidly obese compared to them. Good job, Colorado!
  • awidener86
    awidener86 Posts: 247 Member
    I think it's some what "normal" around here... There are more fast food restaurants than anything else it seems like and the smaller local restaurants have HUGE portion sizes it seems like.
  • TerranFla1
    TerranFla1 Posts: 8
    I lived in Colorado for 30 years and weighed the same (165 - 170) for all those years. Since retiring and moving to Florida I have gained 25 pounds so now I have to lose weight for the first time in my life. It is not as easy as I had always imagined it would be. As you get older, it is harder to lose weight, but it is also more important since health problems are naturally more easily developed as you age. Adding weight makes this more probable and severe.
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
    Also in Tampa the ladies around me are TINY!

    I thought it was just me but, yeah, I rarely see obese people here.
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
    I live near Philadelphia...nugh said. :cry:
  • Zulemak
    Zulemak Posts: 7
    Four years ago I lived in San Antonio, Texas and fast-food restaurants were readily accesible to me. Therefore, many of my friends were overweight or obese. In my observation, the younger residents of this area are not really overweight much less obese. For that reason, I would say obesity would be considered extremely unhealthy to most people around here. In fact, I think most Americans would agree that being obese is unhealthy but for me it was hard to define myself as an obese person. My husband keeps reminding me that my goal is not prececisely shedding pounds but more so getting healthy. Obviously, getting smaller will be a positive consequence of getting healthy : }. So there you have it: health should be the norm.
  • Haiir0
    Haiir0 Posts: 21 Member
    Normal, sadly. I grew up in Houston (still the fattest city...). Yet, despite how normal it is, still got a lot of flack as a kid. Oh well! I live in DFW now, and it's...still normal. Ugh. Texas.
  • danilynn2
    danilynn2 Posts: 47 Member
    In my hometown (Oregon City, OR) and where I currently live it is absolutely normal for all ages to be overweight or obese. But there are definitely active parts of Oregon where it isn't quite as "normal". Portland has a lot of biking, so that helps.
  • Missellaneous02
    Missellaneous02 Posts: 70 Member
    I live outside of Boston, MA and to me it really depends on the area. In the city people have a better variety of healthy restaurants, and food shops. Plus, A LOT of people bike and walk instead of drive. However, the towns and cities on the outskirts of Boston are filled with overweight lazy people. I don't think it helps that there is a Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds on every corner.

    To give you all a better idea of exactly how lazy people around me are: I live literally across the street from a convenience store. Walk out my front door, cross the street and I'm there. The woman in the apartment next to me DRIVES her car across the street to buy cigarettes and scratch tickets. No joke!
  • karllundy
    karllundy Posts: 1,490 Member
    Pretty normal in Iowa. As others have said, wealth is a great predictor. People here love their comfort food and getting a good deal on a lot of unhealthy food. It is improving though.
  • Brianna716
    Brianna716 Posts: 303 Member
    My county's obesity rate is 24%, and so is the state's rate. That's just obese though, not including overweight.

    I live in an area with very high poverty rates.

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