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

dixiewhiskey

Toronto.. thankfully most are not as obese here as most are in the US. People still have ---t diets though

WDEvy

No, It's definitely not norma;l here in Canada. I've always been surprised of guys looking my way ( before I got married) when I was travelling in the US unitl I realized that I had a shape they were a lot more used to see than the guys that live around me normally.

dixiewhiskey

i live in Houston, Tx. one of the fattest cities..

obesity is normal for both adults and children... i think pets too.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Obesity is not funny but I had to lol at the pets

NYCNika

Abnormal.

I can't remember the last time I saw what I would consider to be an obese person in the area that I live.

I didn't know there was a such thing as a town without a Walmart...

There is such a "town" -- New York City. Obesity is very zip code specific here. A lot of people are very fit here, but in poor neighborhoods it is rampant. In manhattan a lot of very fit beautiful women.

OddChoices

Middle of the ground. I live in an affluent area surrounded by "country".

volleygirl1980

Abnormal - I live in Montreal - a city of beautiful people..

I also lived in Norway for a year - I was probably the biggest girl in the country at 175 pounds at 5'4!

AmyRhubarb

Fairly normal here in the Fresno/central valley area of California. Did a quick google search and found my city ranked 30th (out of 100) with a D+ on a list of fattest cities. I don't see it all the time, but went to the zoo last week with my family, it was pretty busy that day, and I was struck by the number of obese people I saw, both adults and kids.

I don't see it a lot, but do notice it more when I'm shopping on the weekends, like at Costco or someplace like that, or in crowded places like the county fair, etc. Seeing the really overweight kids really makes me sad.

vanguardfitness

A lot of over weight people. A decent amount of obese, mostly in older people. I see way too many heavy kids though (pre-teens and early teens)

tommygirl15

Abnormal here in Ottawa - there are a lot of really health-conscious people and fitness junkies with all our beautiful river paths and nearby provincial park that attracts bikers, skiers, hikers and marathoners.

VelociMama

I live in Miami, so it very much depends on where in the city you go. For our neighborhood, being overweight is normal, but down on the beaches, it's not the norm except for tourists.

mnb7v3

I'm in college, so it depends on where you are in my college town. On campus? Someone who is obese will REALLY stand out next to the mostly thin college students (especially the girls). But around town, I'd say it's probably about average for America.

baileysmom4

My city is famous for a sandwich called a horseshoe - 2 pieces of thick toast, 2 (insert your favorite meat here - ex: fried buffalo chicken, hamburger patties, etc.), covered in french fries and topped with about 3 cups of the most amazing cheese sauce!

So my answer is definitely a YES - its hard to find a thin person, but I'm working on that! : )

bethann223

Just wondering if obesity is 'normal' in the where you live or 'abnormal'?

Sometimes I forget that the US is about 70% overweight or obese, living in the area I live in. But of course when I go on vacation to other parts of the US or drive a few hundred miles away, I realize it. But where I live (a wealthy suburb of NYC) you really don't see a lot of overweight or obese people here in this area. The area where I live spends a lot of money on high quality food (tons of health shops around here) and fitness is a part of every day life around here.

What I've noticed is that places that are "wealthy" (monetarily) do not have the obesity issues that poorer areas do.

sofielein

I have seen 1 seriously obese person here in Switzerland in 4 years, and maybe 2 handfuls of what you can call fat.

Swiss are the 3d non-obese in world ranking after Korea and Japan, interestingly, they also have the largest chocolate consumption per capita in the entire WORLD

They also are big cheese and wine consumers - but still not obese due to very(!) modest portion control and a wide variety of sports they do. They could absolutely set the example for anyone.

Oh, and organic vegetable selection completely outweighs the very low-key fast food presence. There is only a single Mcdrive in Zurich, the biggest city of the country...

777Gemma888

I live in Ken and Barbieville - no joke. So there is NO PRESSURE to be as fit and healthy as I can be. 40 lbs from even being in that class of fit ready and 4% BF away from my target.

DMZ_1

In the part of the city I live in, more abnormal than normal. If you look at my metropolitan area as a whole, more normal than abnormal.

beets_yum

I live in NYC which is of course thinner than most of the rest of the country. But even here you can see the differences by neighborhood--usually connected to income levels. It's a mixture of education, marketing, time, and money. Yes, obesity is related to income. But there are plenty of other factors at work.

The worst part is the myth that you need to spend a lot of money to eat well. Also, while junkfood and fast food seem cheap, they are very expensive when you take into account eventual medical costs associated with eating these foods, not to mention environmental costs, etc.

AmyMgetsfit

I lived for over 30 years in Colorado. I loved it there. It is one of the healthiest states. Then we moved to an unhealthy state 3 years ago. Not our choice on places to live, but whatever. About 2/3 of adults here are overweight. There may be some areas that are healthier, but not where I live. There is a state campaign to get us healthier. I wonder how that's working out. It's not unusual to see a 3 year old with his own bag of chips and soda at the playground. This is paving the way for obesity and bad teeth. It's pretty sad. I live in a big college town, so this area should not be uneducated. They are not big on recycling either, which bugs me. But that's another story. Don't get me started on their driving habits. Rant over.

sbbhbm

So very normal here in the midwest. Unless your into cold weather sports, apparently the only other choice is to eat like a bear all year and hibernate in the winter. Except they eat while they hibernate too...

beets_yum

[I didn't know there was a such thing as a town without a Walmart...

There is such a "town" -- New York City. Obesity is very zip code specific here. A lot of people are very fit here, but in poor neighborhoods it is rampant. In manhattan a lot of very fit beautiful women.

Haha. Yes. We have no Walmart. But people can eat fine shopping at Walmart if they are buying real food.

Also we walk everywhere. I use my car maybe 2X a week. I live in Brooklyn in a neighborhood that used to be very middle class and therefore a mix of sizes in the normal human range . Thanks to gentrification in other hoods it's getting more fancy and the 6' size 0 8-months pregnant women are creeping in.

kelly_e_montana

Half and half. Limited job opportunities where I live leaves lots of lower income folks who spend their limited budgets on convenience items. We also have one of the highest rates in the nation of per capita folks with two jobs, so that doesn't leave a lot of time. However, there is also a focus on outdoor recreation, but then again, it's cold a lot of the year and not everyone can afford to ski. People do exercise outside for fun. It's not really completely pedestrian-friendly from a shopping/living/working perspective, but a lot of people walk for fun and exercise. We don't have a regional culture of delicious yet unhealthy food items, but many don't feel (or truly can't) fit a gym membership into their budget, and they don't understand how to make their budgets go far enough to feed their families enough fruits, veggies, and lean proteins. And in the more rural areas, food selections are much more limited and you have to stick to the basics like apples, bananas, and salad mixes instead of things like quinoa, fresh fish, and edamame.

hdlb

Its not normal here (Northern British Columbia) There are some obese people, and lots of overweight people, but also lots of healthy weight, very active people. There is quite a bit of in our town (Oil patch town), so joining a gym or putting kids into sports is not a big deal, and most of us can afford to eat well.

During the winter everyone is pretty much stuck inside and there isn't a ton to do, except for the gym, but during the summer there are always people walking, jogging, biking, hiking etc.

onmywaytobeperfect

Very abnormal in my country

carriempls

Minnesota is often named in the healthier states but being overweight is still fairly common.

In the folks I know and socialize with and where I work it isn't as common. Everyone I know does their best to eat right, exercises, is involved in some kind of sport, etc.

In my family and many of the suburbs and rural areas it seems it's everywhere. I used to think I was one of the only fat people, now I realize it's rampant.

sarahthin

Where I live weight is a problem. It has always been an agriculture based area with hard winters. That leads to people eating a lot of things to bulk up for winter and cheap cards. People are not a active as their grandparents were, but continue to eat the same way. After living in the SW for awhile I can see the difference here in my home state. Especially the kids that only do screen time of some sort.

monicalosesweight

Hmm. I'd say probably a mix. I see sorta half and half in my area. You're either looking a normal weight or leaning toward really heavy. I'm not really sure why. But, I do look around on my campus at work and see way more people as overweight and fewer normal and some of us who are getting into exercise.

gracielynn1011

I live in a part of Kentucky where the majority of people are overweight or obese and they look at someone who is trying to improve their health as negative. They think we are trying to be something we are not. I am at the high end of my "normal"view weight range, and get comments all the time about how I am too thin, I must be starving myself. I beg to differ, the rolls of flab on my stomach and hips tell me that I am not too thin.

CristinaL1983

I live in Austin, Texas which is consistently ranked in the 10 fittest cities in the US. I am pretty active (as is most of the city) and the closer to downtown, the fitter the people. The farther away from the downtown area, the less fit people tend to be (as I think is the case in most places, less public transportation further from downtown leads to more driving and a slightly less active lifestyle). I spend a lot of time on campus (going to school) and being obese will definitely stand out.

http://americanfitnessindex.org/docs/reports/2012_afi_report_final.pdf
http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/fit-getaways/top-10-fittest-cities

Of course, even in the fittest cities here only 40 something % of people are actually a healthy weight:
http://www.mensfitness.com/training/lose-weight/the-fittest-and-fattest-cities-in-america?page=2

Edit to add: Of course the wealthier suburbs tend to be more fit than the poorer suburbs regardless of public transportation in the area.

shutterbug282

I live in a pretty rural area and I have for the past few years, and it's mostly skinny people around here, and there are only a few obese people.
The nearest city, obesity is pretty normal. There was one lady who couldn't get through one of the doors in McDonalds, so they had to open both of them for her. No-one made a comment or said anything negative.

Jane_1705

I hardly see any obesity where I work in London or where I live. I have never been obese personally just overweight.