What do you think of the obesity epidemic in the U.S.?
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ok so a weeks fruit only purchase. one piece of fruit a day/ one banana, one apple, and three strawberries for five days is 7 dollars+ a large bag of chips is 1.97 and it will last for five days of snacks. do the math.0
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It upsets me because of the children. The parents are leading them down the path of inactivity, bad eating habits, obesity, heart disease and other health issues that comes along with being overweight. Children have no control because the parents make decisions for them until they can cognitively start making decisions for themselves, by then it's too late. The child is in size 16 cloths by the time middle school rolls around, thinking that 3 cans of soda and cheetos are sufficient lunch and developing type 2 Diabetes. And they are no longer making Phy Ed a requirement, it is an "elective".
We as adults, parents, and teachers should be teaching and helping these young, beautiful souls of good eating habits and how important physical activity really is. I feel terrible for the children who suffers within their bodies because of people's laziness.0 -
I feel it's largely because of the way everything here (USA) is set up. Unless you are lucky and live in a place that promotes physical activity you have an uphill battle.
I would love to walk or ride my bicycle to work but that's just not an option (safety is the #1 problem). Sidewalks don't go anywhere (if you can find one).
Healthy food is expensive, unhealthy food is cheap. (yes, I know, you can eat healthy on the cheap, but it's harder)
Portion sizes are out of control. I don't think most people even know what a normal serving is.
It still comes down to personal responsibility, but when the road to obesity is so much easier than the road to a healthy lifestyle.... what do think will happen?0 -
ok so a weeks fruit only purchase. one piece of fruit a day/ one banana, one apple, and three strawberries for five days is 7 dollars+ a large bag of chips is 1.97 and it will last for five days of snacks. do the math.
And if you take the strawberries out and replace them with something cheaper?0 -
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Holy thread resurrection.
So we are comparing apples to apples, @urloved33, how much does it cost to buy eight potatoes? (This would equate to consuming one eight ounce bag of potato chips every day). It scares me to see low-income posters claim that they cannot "afford" to eat healthy. Cooking from source is nearly always cheaper than pre-packaged. Frozen vegetables are cheaper than fresh and just as nutrient rich. There's dried beans and lentils of all kinds. So where do they get this idea that healthy eating is the exclusive domain of the rich? Whole Foods?
There's lots of opinion. I am not so interested in opinion as in finding the root cause(s). Otherwise a whole bunch of people (policy makers included) will be wasting their time chasing rabbit trails. I think it is a mistake to lump the entire US in to this epidemic. Obesity is regional.
What is happening in these regions that is different than the rest of the country? One factor does stand out; stress (i.e. higher proportion of lower income families). This is a map of the GINI index (income inequality). In many ways the US is on top of the world. But for such a wealthy nation, the income disparity is alarming.
I am Canadian but we are by no way spared from this epidemic.0 -
Just skimming and dipping in (will go back out). So most people agree on the causes (excepting the weird blip about vaccines).
So: how do people feel about policy solutions? Things like making spaces more walkable, maybe limiting portion sizes at restaurants, ensuring kids have healthy options at school, cities limiting the number of fast food restaurants in a given area and encouraging the presence of at least one grocery store per x, supporting (even funding) community gardens/CSAs, requiring that manufacturers meet a certain macro/micro threshold...
food pricing, too0 -
4 decent-size sides of broccoli=59 cents at my grocery store right now (if you don't insist on organic). Add the same amount of cabbage and it's 88 cents for a huge side. I think it's weird to compare that with chips, as the broccoli has nutrients and the chips have essentially none, but a 14 oz bag of Ruffles is $3.50, even without the extra tax I'd get on it.0
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Comparing with potatoes is a good idea. Even without a sale (which I could almost certainly find), a 3 lb bag of red potatoes is cheaper than the 14 oz bag of chips from the same source (and again not paying attention to the extra tax on the chips).0
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So: how do people feel about policy solutions? Things like making spaces more walkable...
That's happening, big time, in many cities....maybe limiting portion sizes at restaurants...
Can't happen. Consumers won't stand for it....ensuring kids have healthy options at school...
Can't get parents to agree on what constitutes "healthy options"....cities limiting the number of fast food restaurants in a given area and encouraging the presence of at least one grocery store per x...
Zoning can prevent people from building X, but it can't force business to build Y....supporting (even funding) community gardens/CSAs...
There are already more CSAs than customers to support them....requiring that manufacturers meet a certain macro/micro threshold...
Unconstitutional....food pricing, too
Good luck getting re-elected.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »4 decent-size sides of broccoli=59 cents at my grocery store right now (if you don't insist on organic). Add the same amount of cabbage and it's 88 cents for a huge side. I think it's weird to compare that with chips, as the broccoli has nutrients and the chips have essentially none, but a 14 oz bag of Ruffles is $3.50, even without the extra tax I'd get on it.
hmm, yeah. i think leisure time is a thing, too, people need time to cook.0 -
ok so a weeks fruit only purchase. one piece of fruit a day/ one banana, one apple, and three strawberries for five days is 7 dollars+ a large bag of chips is 1.97 and it will last for five days of snacks. do the math.
I buy 10 Lbs of apples for about $7.50...that usually lasts me two weeks at an apple per day...that's like $.54 per day...that's cheaper than a candy bar. I buy 25 Lbs of dried pinto beans for around $18.00...I go through about 1 Lb per week with my family of four as a dietary staple in my home...that's $3.64 per week. I like to rotis a couple of chickens on Sunday for quick lunches and what not...cost me about $8.00 and makes a solid 8 meals...that's $1 per serving...cheap.
I get so sick of this nonsense. People choose what they choose. It is incredibly easy to eat healthfully on a budget...people are just lazy and favor convenience.0 -
Ah! I found a coupon for my grocery store: Jay's Potato Chips 2 10-oz bags for $6 total, and baking potatoes for 89 cents/lb, or about 6.75 lbs for the same cost as the chips.
And again I pay much more in reality on the chips because of the extra sales tax.0 -
I think about it more now that I am aware of my own size loss and determination to reduce it. I also am becoming more concerned with both sides of my family who in general still eat without much reserve (farm and comfort foods with dessert always). There is heart, cancer, diabetes, obesity, edema and blood clotting disorders in my own gene pool. I found myself wondering what I would develop as I got older, thinking it was inevitable, until I decided to get the weight off. These things could still happen, BUT I feel now that at least I have a fighting chance to "control" the controlables like food and activity choices.
My husband is trying, and my girls have slimmed down a little naturally I like to think because my cooking has changed and they are seeing me getting successful at loss and they are asking questions about nutrition and making better choices than they did before.
It makes me sad to see the US spiraling into obesity, at least that's how it appears from the midwest.0 -
So: how do people feel about policy solutions? Things like making spaces more walkable...
That's happening, big time, in many cities....maybe limiting portion sizes at restaurants...
Can't happen. Consumers won't stand for it....ensuring kids have healthy options at school...
Can't get parents to agree on what constitutes "healthy options"....cities limiting the number of fast food restaurants in a given area and encouraging the presence of at least one grocery store per x...
Zoning can prevent people from building X, but it can't force business to build Y....supporting (even funding) community gardens/CSAs...
There are already more CSAs than customers to support them....requiring that manufacturers meet a certain macro/micro threshold...
Unconstitutional....food pricing, too
Good luck getting re-elected.
lol - ALL TWEAKABLE! actually i think a heavy hand is called for, sometimes. i think this might be one of those times. granted i don't live in the US, some of these would fly better here in canada.
re grocery stores - no, businesses can't be forced, but they might respond to incentives.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »4 decent-size sides of broccoli=59 cents at my grocery store right now (if you don't insist on organic). Add the same amount of cabbage and it's 88 cents for a huge side. I think it's weird to compare that with chips, as the broccoli has nutrients and the chips have essentially none, but a 14 oz bag of Ruffles is $3.50, even without the extra tax I'd get on it.
hmm, yeah. i think leisure time is a thing, too, people need time to cook.
I think that's a MUCH bigger factor than the cost, yes.
Roasted or baked potatoes are about the easiest and least time consuming (but for waiting for them to get out of the oven) thing to cook, however, and so are roasted veggies. Also, the vast majority of chips are probably being consumed as a snack, not with dinner.0 -
hmm, yeah. i think leisure time is a thing, too, people need time to cook.
See, I was a single parent, busy, and poor. I also fed my family well, much of the food from scratch. This disturbs me when low income people don't think they have the time to eat well.
Here's a world leisure map. Europe is laughing at North America. Cry for Mexico.
https://public.tableau.com/s/blog/2011/09/who-works-too-hard
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So: how do people feel about policy solutions? Things like making spaces more walkable...
That's happening, big time, in many cities....maybe limiting portion sizes at restaurants...
Can't happen. Consumers won't stand for it....ensuring kids have healthy options at school...
Can't get parents to agree on what constitutes "healthy options"....cities limiting the number of fast food restaurants in a given area and encouraging the presence of at least one grocery store per x...
Zoning can prevent people from building X, but it can't force business to build Y....supporting (even funding) community gardens/CSAs...
There are already more CSAs than customers to support them....requiring that manufacturers meet a certain macro/micro threshold...
Unconstitutional....food pricing, too
Good luck getting re-elected.
lol - ALL TWEAKABLE! actually i think a heavy hand is called for, sometimes. i think this might be one of those times. granted i don't live in the US, some of these would fly better here in canada.
re grocery stores - no, businesses can't be forced, but they might respond to incentives.
Sure, in a non-democracy, a "heavy hand" may be feasible.
Fortunately I don't live in such a place.
I have close, dear friends who provide CSAs. Very high quality CSAs. It's a terrible business model, and is yet another "wonderful" thing that consumers want to fawn over but not actually pay for. **** 'em. Everybody has choices. In the end, if obesity has meaningful negative long term implications, the evolutionary process will take care of it.
Meantime, I teach my about-to-be-dating daughter that if the boy she's interested in has a porker of a dad who can't move any further than the beer-holder on the arm his Laz-y-Boy, that's most likely where that currently-cute kid will end up, too.
:drinker:0 -
hmm, yeah. i think leisure time is a thing, too, people need time to cook.
See, I was a single parent, busy, and poor. I also fed my family well, much of the food from scratch. This disturbs me when low income people don't think they have the time to eat well.
Here's a world leisure map. Europe is laughing at North America beat by a long margin. Cry for Mexico.
https://public.tableau.com/s/blog/2011/09/who-works-too-hard
jgnatca, ok. but i'm thinking about the young woman who died in her car last year because she was so overworked and fatigued from her three minimum-wage jobs that she couldn't tell her car was being gassed. (she'd been napping between shifts)0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »4 decent-size sides of broccoli=59 cents at my grocery store right now (if you don't insist on organic). Add the same amount of cabbage and it's 88 cents for a huge side. I think it's weird to compare that with chips, as the broccoli has nutrients and the chips have essentially none, but a 14 oz bag of Ruffles is $3.50, even without the extra tax I'd get on it.
hmm, yeah. i think leisure time is a thing, too, people need time to cook.
People have plenty of time to cook...I'm the primary cook in my home...I'm also a busy professional, I make time for exercise, I make time to play with and do things with my kids...I make time to spend with my wife, etc...and somehow I manage to cook most meals and get everyone fed.
Excuses are abundant....people would rather reach for a "junky" snack and sit their *kitten* on the couch and do nothing...people make choices and many of them are *kitten*. Most people i know are just really lazy, and that's what it boils down to.0 -
So: how do people feel about policy solutions?
Open to them, if they sound reasonable.Things like making spaces more walkable
In favor of this, but my city is (for the most part) already quite walkable (the issue would be safety in crime-ridden areas).maybe limiting portion sizes at restaurants
I'd be against this, and it will never, never happen. I mean, look at the uproar about the limited effort to regulate soda size in NYC.
The market indicates that in the US people like food to be cheap beyond anything else and size is one thing that people perceive as making it a deal.ensuring kids have healthy options at school
I'm in favor of this, but again it's already the case lots of places, including where I live.cities limiting the number of fast food restaurants in a given area and encouraging the presence of at least one grocery store per x
This already happens to a certain extent. In my city there's a big push to deal with food deserts. Simply making the stores available isn't sufficient, and also is to a certain extent resisted by the current residents, weird as that seems, because of a fear of gentrification.supporting (even funding) community gardens/CSAs
In favor, already happening to some extent, but I'm the kind of person who would favor doing more here.requiring that manufacturers meet a certain macro/micro threshold...
Seems pointless and would be easily abused, just like Snackwells were created when the market wanted certain macros back in the day.
Re food pricing: I'd need more specifics.0 -
hmm, yeah. i think leisure time is a thing, too, people need time to cook.
See, I was a single parent, busy, and poor. I also fed my family well, much of the food from scratch. This disturbs me when low income people don't think they have the time to eat well.
Here's a world leisure map. Europe is laughing at North America beat by a long margin. Cry for Mexico.
https://public.tableau.com/s/blog/2011/09/who-works-too-hard
jgnatca, ok. but i'm thinking about the young woman who died in her car last year because she was so overworked and fatigued from her three minimum-wage jobs that she couldn't tell her car was being gassed. (she'd been napping between shifts)
I would say that is not representative of the norm in my experience.
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<---feels like a hairy prophet, honey dripping down my shiny locks, crying in the wilderness.
I say, reduce the income inequality and obesity rates may very well drop. I suspect stress as a key factor in the obesity epidemic.0 -
Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.
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Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.
so let them eat cake, is what you're saying.0 -
It makes me sad to see the US spiraling into obesity, at least that's how it appears from the midwest.
We seem to have reached the summit and are maintaining or going down a bit, last I heard. Other countries are still on the increase.
Probably there's some natural cap on obesity based on human differences in who naturally regulates well and who does not in the rather historically bizarre situation of cheap, plentiful, easy to prepare/ready-to-eat food that we are in.0 -
Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.
so let them eat cake, is what you're saying.
Can't force 'em to do otherwise, if that's what they want to do.
Either we believe in personal responsibility and the right to make choices, or we don't.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »So: how do people feel about policy solutions?
Open to them, if they sound reasonable.Things like making spaces more walkable
In favor of this, but my city is (for the most part) already quite walkable (the issue would be safety in crime-ridden areas).maybe limiting portion sizes at restaurants
I'd be against this, and it will never, never happen. I mean, look at the uproar about the limited effort to regulate soda size in NYC.
The market indicates that in the US people like food to be cheap beyond anything else and size is one thing that people perceive as making it a deal.ensuring kids have healthy options at school[/quote}
I'm in favor of this, but again it's already the case lots of places, including where I live.cities limiting the number of fast food restaurants in a given area and encouraging the presence of at least one grocery store per x
This already happens to a certain extent. In my city there's a big push to deal with food deserts. Simply making the stores available isn't sufficient, and also is to a certain extent resisted by the current residents, weird as that seems, because of a fear of gentrification.supporting (even funding) community gardens/CSAs
In favor, already happening to some extent, but I'm the kind of person who would favor doing more here.requiring that manufacturers meet a certain macro/micro threshold...
Seems pointless and would be easily abused, just like Snackwells were created when the market wanted certain macros back in the day.
Re food pricing: I'd need more specifics.
i'd be very into reading more about the kinds of efforts you've mentioned, and how various factors have played out. you're right, the devil really is in the details.
gah quotes - response bolded.
i've got to run guys, good talk, though0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »
Yes, evidence suggests that. Like with everything else, the evolutionary process is brutally efficient at weeding out the biological BS.
:drinker:
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