What do you think of the obesity epidemic in the U.S.?

bethlaf

I've noticed that it's definitely related to family income. I drive around a lot for my job and I go to the high-end and low-end areas. In the more affluent areas, obese people are not the norm. I got stuck a school crosswalk the other day in a better neighborhood and had about 150 kids pass in front of my car, and I didn't see a single fat one. But if I'm in an area with cheaper housing, more than half would be chubby or bigger. It's cultural as much as anything. I have a theory that kids tend to be about the same size as their mom, and financially successful men don't generally marry obese women.

Interesting theory, i was right with you until the last line, I do notice that the areas do make a difference, as an instructor and HR for a major satellite television company i notice when i do field evals that the rule holds true, but is it food, or access to gyms, or the "survival " mentality, i must overeat today because my family is food insecure , and i do not know if there will be food for me and mine tomorrow...
Obesity and Food insecurity are tied in my mind ....

SadKitty27

Honestly, I think it's much more than the ever popular saying "eat less move more." You can lose weight without exercise, and you can lose weight whilst eating the same amount of food if you make better food choices (note that the same amount, doesn't always equate to the same caloric value.)

It is my opinion that the causation is a combination of a great many factors which include, but aren't limited to socioeconomic variables , corruption in our government and lobbyists to name a few.

Corn is added to just about everything thanks to the lobbyists. Seriously...go to the supermarket and look at all the name brand stuff, and see if it doesn't have corn in it (since this is a huge list I'll link to a source for you to view if you so wish to read further on the subject : http://go.livecornfree.com/list )

Now, before I upset anyone, I'm not saying that corn is evil. I am however saying that our bodies weren't meant to consume so much corn, and I am saying that when companies hide sugar substances in foods and you're eating more of it than you are aware of, it makes it VERY easy to consume too much of it....And when you consume too much sugar, it will make you fat and it can cause a host of health problems.

I will also take this a step further and say that a big difference between now, and before the obesity spike is the absence of HFCS, and many other corn additives in foods. In fact, back in the day sugar used to be fairly expensive (which is why they made the cheap alternative out of corn....) which means that they weren't likely throwing sugar in every product on the shelf.

Also, healthy foods aren't usually cheap, and those who're impoverished don't always have access to healthy foods, whether it be that they can't afford them, or they're just not even very concerned with eating healthy at all, because they're too busy trying to survive.

damienmyers69

I was actually pretty disgusted when I went into a Walmart last year in Northern Michigan.
There was a section at the door for scooters. There was probably 40 of them. Every person I saw in one was fat!
They were so fat they couldn't walk thru the store. Nearly all of them had their front basket full of garbage crap food. Most of them had some sort of extra large soft drink in the cup holder with a bag of chips opened and they were stuffing their faces.
I totally blame these giant corporations that cater to this type of lifestyle. If those scooters were taken away, Walmart would have no business.
Instead they should be promoting a healthy active lifestyle. Their stores are huge, certainly someone who is obese could burn quite a few calories with just one trip around the store.

Totally agree with ya on that,

I would die of shame if the day ever came where I had to use one of them, would never use one in hospital either, always used my walking stick, omg that image of ya description stuck in my head.

Funnily enough, the only super stores I have seen them in here is Asda, which is walmarts sister company here in the UK, very rarely see them anywhere else.

Librariangetsfit

The higher divorce rate- Single parents have to work full-time in order to provide for their kids, pay their bills, and keep a roof over their head. Somebody who works 40+ hours per week doesn't want to come home and cook a healthy meal, it's too time consuming and exhausting after a long work day- or at least that's the excuse I've heard from others. Ordering pizza or going through the McDonalds drive-thru is far more convenient. This also applies to families who are not divorced. Since the economy has gone down hill, there aren't many stay at home parents anymore. So both parents work full-time, go home and the house needs to be cleaned, the kids need to be cared for, yadayadayada and mom and dad are too tired to cook after all of that.

I was raised by a single mom.. however in the 70's she could work part time and still have enough money to raise us. She still cooked.
People can't do that anymore.

II am a single mom of a toddler and my son eats very healthy. I work full time and work out 6 days a week. It is all about meal prep, I take time to prepare healthy meals on Sunday for the rest of the week. This is much cheaper than convenience foods. The kid chants for broccoli and blueberries. He is willing to try most foods because he sees me eat them. You just have to budget and plan. For you to blame divorce for being a part of the childhood obesity epidemic is ridiculous.

zillah73

The epidemic itself saddens and frustrates me because I don't know what can be done. There are so many complicated facets from the socioeconomic side, the food production industry, the medical industry to personal responsibility – it took a perfect storm to create it and I tend to think the remedy will come one person at a time changing their lives, changing the lives of those who depend on them (especially children) and inspiring those around them.

From a personal perspective, as a formerly morbidly obese person, I had to take personal responsibility for my situation – but to turn my life around it took mountains of help and support from therapists, nutritionists, family and friends. I am proud for all that I did and it truly takes character but, at least for me, my obesity was a reflection of a lifetime mired in abuse and neglect, and I will never have anything but empathy for people living with obesity.

iecreamheadaches

I'm overweight myself (obviously LOL), and I see it everywhere, especially in my own home. my mother is a terrible diabetic and is morbidly obese. Sadly, my daughter and I both live with her at the moment, and I really fear that her disgusting, unhealthy eating habits will wear off on my daughter. I'm trying to set an example to her while shes still young (shes only 2), that what my mom does is NOT okay. Thankfully we are moving out at the end of May, and it will hopefully become easier.


As for the rest of the population, I blame a lack of self control, the increase in technology and the rise in the fast food industry for the obesity epidemic that this country has been faced with. Too many people these days will just sit in front of their computer, or on the couch on their phone and won't go outside or exercise at all. Then we have the parents buying their kids all the new video games, then when they get grounded are sent to spend time on their butts in front of the tv. Sending your kids outside every day should be a punishment now-a-days in my opinion. Then you have these families that the moms and dads are always working late, or theyve got Kid A softball game, and Kid B's dance recital, that instead of taking the time out to make dinner just grab a meal from the McDonalds on the way.

The sad truth of it all is that you can't help people that don't want to be helped, and most of them, don't want to be helped at all.

jezama77

I moved to Florida from Colorado last fall. When we first got here, we stayed with my in laws while we looked for a house. The school that my daughter went to for the first month was in the free breakfast/lunch program, and like 75% of the kids at the school were on the plan. The options they had were HORRIBLE. Pop tarts, sugary cereals, bagels loaded with flavored cream cheese.... and it wasn't one thing they could pick, but 3!!! The kids would line up every morning and get all this food and nobody would be there to tell them that it was enough. Sadly, I think I is way cheaper to eat horribly than to eat well, so I think the obesity epidemic goes hand in hand with our economic problems. The drive through line at mcds wraps around the block on Tuesdays and Thursdays when happy meals are cheaper. If we want to change things, we need to make healthy food more readily available and educate people about what they are eating/ feeding their children!

This. So true and sad. I have seen improvements in the school lunch program, but there's still more to do (I'm a school librarian, so I see it often). I'm glad that you can't get soda at school anymore, all the foods are baked not fried, every day there is a fruit and veggie bar, and the gym teacher really works hard to promote nutrition and fitness. Many kids still choose pizza every day at my school, and it's controlled portions and I think made a little 'healthier', but it's still pizza...

I promote nutrition with my student in the library all the time. I don't take a lunch 'break', but usually eat my lunch behind the library front desk while I'm working. I am always eating fresh fruits and veggies which I share with my students. Some of them have never eaten things like sugar snap peas or blood oranges. They enjoy sharing with their teacher and trying new things. I hope that these little planted seeds will help them in the future.

rodneyderrick

I'm not too worried about it these days because what we're seeing is intentional. When the government closed down my family's farm back in the early 70s, I remember my father saying, "You hurt the farmer, and you'll destroy the health of the nation." Our nation thrives on your bad health. If you remember that, four hundred pounds is much easier to bear.

SanteMulberry

"...Thankfully most people vaccinate which allows your un-vaccinated grandkids herd immunity..."

You are kidding yourself with the whole "herd immunity" notion. In the most recent outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) in California, health officials reported that the vast majority of children who contracted the disease HAD BEEN FULLY VACCINATED. Pertussis is most serious in infants and the vaccine cannot even be given to them. And the argument that "...if we vaccinate the older children, then they won't bring it home to their infant siblings..." is obviously false as older children can often carry the bordetella bacterium that causes pertussis while being totally unaware of it. AND (this is the most important part) HAVING BEEN VACCINATED against it.

devilwhiterose

I think it's ridiculous. The lack of education is the biggest one that strikes me. Obviously I count calories, and I've had several friends, even my husband, that had no clue how much they were really eating. People get so wrapped up in "quick and easy boxed/canned/prepackaged dinners" that they forget how simple and easy it is to make a REAL meal with REAL food. For example, a bag of frozen veggies in a microwave tossed with some good seasonings/spices is so easy and so much healthier. I have a friend that gets milkshakes at Cold Stone Creamery. Those things are upwards of 1000+ calories.

Fruits and veggies appear to be a thing of the past. People opt for the bag of Muddie Buddies Chex Mix opposed to a sliced apple with some vanilla yogurt for dipping. Society and marketing have pushed junk food rather than promoting healthy food.

Everything is ok in moderation. I let my kids have a happy meal once in a while...but their idea of snacks are literately chopped fruit dipped in yogurt with some sprinkles. Or homemade granola. We don't drink soda (what's the point?) and juice is 100% (0% juice is scary...) It doesn't cost any more either.

I think the problem stems from the lack of education. We wouldn't have to continue to change our clothing sizes to "get with the times" if people UNDERSTOOD why they're getting so fat. How many of us on here logged our food for that first week and went "Holy batman, I didn't realize I ate this much." (I'm talking about myself too)? The best that can be done is share the knowledge. Government doesn't need to tax our junk food, or ban certain things...we just need to quit buying the crap 24/7.

Other problems? Send your kids outside to play. Seriously. We sit on our computers, sit in our offices, sit on the couch in front of the tv with a snack... When was the last time you took a walk, played outside with your kids, kicked a ball, rode a bike, did some natural exercise (yardwork, woodwork, etc.)?

quirkytizzy

I had no real idea of calorie counts before I got here. Argued that I wasn't eating all that much, tallied it up on MFP, and my eyes almost shot out of their sockets. I'd been eating two meals a day and a few sodas, but I had no idea how big those meals really were. It was very, very shocking.

gina145

I think a lot is based on the economy and family time. Most families have both parents working and probably long hours. Junk food is cheap and easy to prepare or just pick up fast food. Do kids go out to play anymore and haven't we cut PE from some school programs. Easier to dumb down a society that is starving for nutrition, fat, and overworked. "Let the government take care of it" attitude. I think people use food as a stress relieve too...easy to do. I have done that in the past myself. It all starts at home. Saying to yourself "well my kids does not like veggies" is not going to create a healthy kid. Get creative and sneak those veggies in and play with the kids to get some exercise. We are practicing what I am sharing...is it not always easy..but it can be done.

nc90

I think diet and lifestyle play a much more important role but vaccines and antibiotics are also part of the picture. At one time, the medical establishment argued that it was genetics because it seemed to be a "family" phenomena. But then genetic changes could not account for the virtual "explosion" of obesity in the last thirty years. Epidemiologists would look for the factors that parallel the rise and the "explosion" of "high-calorie fast food" and restaurant eating, in general, along with our ever-increasing consumption of sugar tracks well with the rise in obesity. Since a lot of medical studies are "sponsored" by Big Pharma, it is unlikely that vaccines and antibiotics will be linked to the rise in obesity any time soon. However, there are a few studies that suggest that this might be the case. Here is an article that cites a number of studies: http://www.healthy.net/Health/Article/Do_Vaccines_Disable_the_Immune_System/539

From the article: "...One answer came in a careful study of illness patterns observed in babies before and after vaccination, published in Clinical Pediatrics in 1988. If vaccines cause a weakened immune system, then we would expect to see a higher incidence of illness following vaccination. In that study conducted in Israel, the incidence of acute illnesses in the 30 day period following DTP vaccine was compared to the incidence in the same children for the 30 day period prior to vaccine. The three-day period immediately following vaccine was excluded because children frequently develop fever as a direct response to vaccine toxins. A total of 82 healthy infants received DTP, and their symptoms were reported by parents and observed by a pediatrician at weekly intervals. Those babies experienced a dramatic increase in fever, diarrhea, and cough in the month following DTP vaccine compared to their health before the shot...."

The whole point of a vaccine is to give a person a weakened version of the specific virus, so the immune system is able to recognize the antigen and create antibodies against it. Then if a person were exposed to that same antigen again, the body would be at the ready to attack and eliminate it. So of course, if you're injecting even a weakened version, there is going to be a chance to have a fever, etc. because that's how the body fights off infection. And chances are, it's going to be a lot more mild of an illness than if they had the full blown virus. If you look at the leading causes of death from the early 1900s, it was mostly infectious diseases, whereas now it's chronic illness such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. A lot of this has to do with vaccinations. In the US, we don't even give kids the polio vaccine, because it's essentially been eliminated from our area.

Not really a conspiracy--just corporatism seeking $$$. Vaccines and antibiotics contribute a LOT of dollars to Big Pharma's bottom line. And Big Pharma has near total influence over the medical establishment. NO ONE in the medical establishment is going to suggest, any time soon, that the huge numbers of vaccine injections that we give to young children is a bad idea. (A few brave docs have raised their voices to protest the number and timing of the injections. Sadly, they get labeled as "quacks".) Some vaccinations don't even make any sense. A child's immune system does not even respond well to vaccines until around the one-year mark. So why are we giving them to 3 month-old infants?

As another example of the nonsensical nature of vaccine administration: Giving a polio vaccine to an infant in poor countries is a really dumb idea, but it is done anyway. When we decided that we were going to wipe out polio from areas in Africa where it is endemic, no one thought to look at the patterns of infection and the damage that they do at various ages. When an infant or young child gets polio, it is a mild to serious infection but with low mortality and virtually no residual problems. But the important thing to remember here is that IT CONFERS A LIFETIME OF IMMUNITY. The polio vaccine, on the other hand, is only effective, at best, for ten years. AND when teenagers contract polio, there is not only a much higher mortality rate, BUT it is very much more likely to produce disability. In poor countries, disability for a young man or woman is a near death sentence--or at the very least, a future of begging.

Actually, pharmeceutical companies don't really make ALL their money off of antibiotics and vaccines anymore. Those are a one time deal, and most of their money makers are the medications for chronic conditions, that people will have to be on for a lifetime. That's why you don't really see any new "groundbreaking" antibiotics coming out anymore, but you constantly see new medications for heart disease, diabetes, depression, etc.

Perhaps they need to re-evaluate the schedule of administering the vaccines, but if children in those areas don't get it when they're young, the vaccine is going to be what they need for immunity later in life. It's sort of similar with chicken pox here. I never had it when I was young, so by the time I got to 6th-7th grade I had to get a vaccination for it because it's that much worse to get as an adult.

rockymtnlove

i think it depends on where you live. I live in colorado, in one of the most bike friendly towns in the US and here I would say 1 out of every 10 is morbidly obese, not 10 to 1

kinggrace78

I moved to Florida from Colorado last fall. When we first got here, we stayed with my in laws while we looked for a house. The school that my daughter went to for the first month was in the free breakfast/lunch program, and like 75% of the kids at the school were on the plan. The options they had were HORRIBLE. Pop tarts, sugary cereals, bagels loaded with flavored cream cheese.... and it wasn't one thing they could pick, but 3!!! The kids would line up every morning and get all this food and nobody would be there to tell them that it was enough. Sadly, I think I is way cheaper to eat horribly than to eat well, so I think the obesity epidemic goes hand in hand with our economic problems. The drive through line at mcds wraps around the block on Tuesdays and Thursdays when happy meals are cheaper. If we want to change things, we need to make healthy food more readily available and educate people about what they are eating/ feeding their children!

I agree with this. Sadly it is cheaper to eat unhealthy (especially for kids) and then when you do go to restaurants, the majority of the kids menus only have fries as an option and even the places where you can get fruit for example, they give such a little portion that they are still hungry or want the fries next time. I honestly believe that it starts at home (with teaching your kids the right way to eat) but we are parents who were raised in a time where obesity wasn't a problem, so our parents didn't mind giving us pop tarts for breakfast and little debbie snacks after school. I''m 34 with two small boys and I never feed them the things I ate growing up, but sadly the schools still do. I was shocked to learn my 3 yr old's daycare was giving out poptarts for breakfast - we don't even allow that in our home, yet tax money is paying for "healthy" food for these daycares?

robynj88

Half the problem is people want everything right now - and that didn't always used to be possible. You had SEASONAL vegetables - and you could only get them when they're in season. Except now you just get them imported from some other country where they are in season - but then they're covered in preservatives so they can survive the journey to wherever they end up.

As a race, humans in developed countries have got greedy and expect to have everything how they want it and exactly when they want it. But it's not helping us in the long run.

Being British the obesity problem is everyone's problem as we pay mandatory insurance for healthcare if we're working and everyone in the UK is entitled to free healthcare. Problem is all our healtcare resources are getting taken up by obese people and it means there's less available for those who have problems that aren't self-inflicted.

And yet everyone seems to still have this massive sense of entitlement - that they deserve to be medically treated for what they've done to themselves because of their rights and whatnot (and I'm sure you Americans probably notice the same).

We as people should be less accepting of people letting themselves get overweight and not giving a cr*p about it - stop making cars for bigger people, dont make massive ambulances for hugely overweight people - there need to be consequences for what these people are doing to themselves. They can't have a quick fix all the time. For those of us who are struggling to remain healthy and not be a drain on resources it's just not fair

damienmyers69

This is certainly no cure, can't honestly say there is one, but in my honest opinion this would help.

Government legislation to enforce a very high price on any foods that contain large amounts of sugar or corn or other based syrups, be it food or drinks.

That money saved then be put in to subsidising healthy more nutritional foods.

Sugar free drinks be allowed to supersize, and sugar drinks and foods be made to be kept to a much smaller size and more expensive.

This would do 3 things.

1st: no money making business is going to keep making the sugary products if ti can make way more money off the no sugar products, thus once the business's embrace the new regime, and get the subsidies for the healthy options, they will then promote it.

2nd: Once promoted and becomes much cheaper, the masses will do as they always do and like sheep follow what they are told, will always be exceptions to change but overall, if the better foods are cheaper and ya money is limited, which are ya going to go buy?

3rd: Once people get used to the more healthy options, they may not get much slimmer, but they will be much healthier, and maybe feel like they can do more.

But, we all know this will never happen, 1st because government is making way too much in taxes off of the junk foods, so is the business's that give them money to allow them to sell it unchallenged....

And the pharmaceutical companies that will pay them millions because they get to peddle their drugs to help maintain the problems the others have caused.

Would take a government with balls of steel to go up against both the pharmaceutical companies and the food industry giants.

Something i think none of them have yet.

yankeedownsouth

There's a big deal about healthy eating here in the UK at the moment; Jamie Oliver has been getting involved in school lunch menus, 'cookery' TV is big with the accent on a healthy balance of fruit & veg thrown in BUT it's noticable that you see more obses people of all ages, it may be a whole Western world problem?

I love Jamie Oliver. I was very sad when his show didn't succeed here in the US. I could tell he felt so strongly about his mission to improve the health of US children.

charovnitza

I'm reading a book called Fat Chance, by Robert Lustig, which speaks about your topic. Unfortunately, you're right.

I'm going to quote him here: " in 2001 6 million children in America were seriously overweight. That number has tripled in a decade, the numbers are now surpassing 20 million"

"Numerous diseases connected to obesity have become more prevalent over the past 30 years. What's more, all of them are now found in children as young as 5 years old. We even have an epidemic of obese 6 month olds!"

And "The World Health Organization (WHO) has shown that the percentage of obese humans globally has doubled in the last 28 years...Even people in developing countrieds are obese."

My words now, it's not just the US, it's everywhere.

The author has been a doctor and medical researcher specializing in obesity for 16 years. I haven't finished the book, but it's made a real impression on me.

With all due respect, he has a bad reputation.

I hadn't heard that about him. But I do believe that his focus on the dangers of sugar has a lot of merit.

SanteMulberry

"...Yep, those that didn't die from small pox, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whopping cough and polio (or permanently disabled) did just fine. Obviously most of these that did die of these never became anyone's grandparents. How soon we forget..."

None of my grandparents siblings nor those of my friends died of any of those diseases. Small pox epidemics waned long before routine small pox vaccinations came about--same for polio. That's the way of epidemics--they come and go. Great numbers of our population died of cholera and tuberculosis in the past yet no one has proposed routine vaccination against them. It was modern sanitation that won the victory in both of those cases. The mother of my father-in-law died of tuberculosis when he was an infant (they thought he would die too, as that was normally the case). Yet he survived and lived a very long life. It must have been the amazing breast milk of the wet nurse that they hired for him, or the fact that he must have had an incredible immune system (I never knew him to be ill once in the 30 years that I knew him). He died at 90 of heart failure.