Is Your State Making You Fat???
Replies
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I'm in San Francisco, we're about to ban happy meals. Bye bye, obesity! We're about to be the skinniest state, EVAR.
Edit: Cause typo. :grumble:
I hope you are being sarcastic. Banning Happy Meals will not help people become thinner. You need to educate people on making better choices instead of treating them like they are too dumb to make their own decisions and the government has to do it for them.
According the the McDonald's website, Happy Meals are 700 calories total, on average.
It seems obvious that all the people not eating those 700 calories will lose weight.
But then they will starve!!!0 -
I've never been to America and I was morbidly obese, who can I blame? :sad:0
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I'm in San Francisco, we're about to ban happy meals. Bye bye, obesity! We're about to be the skinniest state, EVAR.
Edit: Cause typo. :grumble:
I hope you are being sarcastic. Banning Happy Meals will not help people become thinner. You need to educate people on making better choices instead of treating them like they are too dumb to make their own decisions and the government has to do it for them.
According the the McDonald's website, Happy Meals are 700 calories total, on average.
It seems obvious that all the people not eating those 700 calories will lose weight.
You need to educate people to make better choices. Taking one bad food choice away won't stop people from finding other bad choices. For example buying other meals at McDonalds with more cals for thier children.0 -
No. I made myself overweight. No portion control, general apathy, and a lack of information regarding nutrition and food are to blame - not pollution. Besides, according to those charts, I live in a "pollution" state, but not an "obese state", so there's no connection there...0
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If we had warm weather all year around in Michigan that might make a difference but it might not. I've often wondered that myself. My husband and I walk or bike almost every nice evening after work all summer. In the winter we sit home and watch TV. I'm hoping that I can keep my exercise habits up through the summer and come winter next year I will be able to keep it going indoors.0
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One other interesting note is how the obesity map seems to somewhat follow the political leanings of the United States. Compare for example this map showing political leanings state-by-state with the map of obesity in the United States.
It would be interesting to see which states were being heavily lobbied by the fast food industry and which congressmen that these lobbyist had connections to. It makes sense that the fast food industry would want to target the states with the highest populations since their return on investment would be the highest in these states. It's just a matter of statistics as to what part of the population would be more inclined towards eating out in a busy lifestyle and applying your leverage to plant the most outlets in those areas.
I've also seriously been studying the release of Harlequin romance novels kept in stores vs. the number of Baskin Robbins and Cold Stone Creamery type ice cream stores within a 100 mile location. I think that I have enough evidence to suggest that some of these major stores are tracking the sales of women's feminine hygiene products and placing signs near the front of the store promoting the sale of ice cream and chocolate at non-sale prices because they believe they stand a better chance of hitting your pocket book if you're moody and hormonal.0 -
I've never been to America and I was morbidly obese, who can I blame? :sad:
You can blame Ohio too.0 -
I think your correlation is incorrect.
Those are cultural norms.
(Says the girl from New Orleans.)0 -
I guess I should be obese and place all the blame on Alaska?
It can be tough living here if you're not active during the winter months but that's still no excuse. No one places food in your mouth unless you're dependent on someone to feed you, right? You can't blame the State, the person sitting next to you, your friend, your spouse...etc. Take responsibility and face whatever demons you have head on.0 -
I have no one to blame for my weight gain other than myself. I let myself get this way and I am the one who has to fix it. I was very active and thin up until a few years ago. Then I stopped working out, but continued to eat as if I was working out. This of course caused me to gain weight, but its my fault. I'm not going to blame Missouri, or anything else for that matter. I did this to myself.0
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LOL who else can we blame?0
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I'm in RI. I would never move from here. I love the fact that everything is so close, but the variaty in so great for a small state. Beach, city, country... we got it all!
Plus some really great seafood!0 -
DAMN you, I was saving that one to use.
FINE, I still have this one.
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I've never been to America and I was morbidly obese, who can I blame? :sad:
You can blame Ohio too.
NO!
This obviously doesn't apply to people from other countries. I don't know how their pollution statistics and obesity statistics overlap. However, it is pretty clear that these two maps I showed overlap at a number of points.0 -
I've never been to America and I was morbidly obese, who can I blame? :sad:
I think you should blame America anyway.0 -
We are fat as a nation because we eat too much processed food, expect our portions to be supersized, and don't move our body. Colorado use to be the healthiest state but even it has moved up to the <25% category. Go to the cdc.gov website and check out the maps for the trends from way back. And we are passing our bad habits on to the rest of the world.0
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I think its a little bit of culture, but mostly personal responsibility. BUT in the south, food isn't just something to keep you from starving to death, its a social activity. That is just the culture.0
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There is no evidence to support the idea that pollution CAUSES obesity. As someone already stated (but you guys clearly ignored), correlation does not mean causation. Pollution may be more common in places that also have high obesity rates, but that doesn't mean one is the cause of the other. They may both be results of another underlying cause, such as a less-educated populace. (Less-educated people tend to have higher obesity rates, and also to not vote for environmentalist measures, such as pollution-reducing ones.)
I find it much more likely that the obesity and pollution are both consequences of low education, than to believe pollution is somehow magically making people fat. Come on, guys. Enough with the witch-doctor hoopla.
I would maybe believe that there is a correlation, not causation. I could see that maybe the areas with higher pollutant levels are more industrialized and therefore would have a higher incidence of eating fast food.0 -
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It's very good of you to look into reason that are making people fat. However, you'd need to do some further research to prove that the two are linked, and that in fact the air pollution is causing the obesity (and not the obese people taking a car causing pollution for example). There are also a number of reasons which could cause both, or it might be coincidence. You might want to look at specific area's. For example, are people who live next to the freeway fatter than those who live further away?
I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying that your research so far does not warrant saying that air pollution (let alone your state) is making you fat. It'd be very premature to move before doing further research.
This.
This is not research, you found a potential match, now you must prove it right before assessing conclusions. More, you need to prove directionality: what´s causing what.0 -
We are fat as a nation because we eat too much processed food, expect our portions to be supersized, and don't move our body.
This ^^ I blame the pizza delivery dude (or dudette) and Netflix.0 -
I have no one to blame for my weight gain other than myself. I let myself get this way and I am the one who has to fix it. I was very active and thin up until a few years ago. Then I stopped working out, but continued to eat as if I was working out. This of course caused me to gain weight, but its my fault. I'm not going to blame Missouri, or anything else for that matter. I did this to myself.
The first part is admitting that to yourself, so good for you! When I start slipping and want to eat my heart out, I look through all the success stories and it continues to inspire me because regular folks have made their goal.0 -
in a fat state... Texas has the best food though.
but seriously the state and cities in it are so freakin big you can't really walk anywhere. in houston, you need a freeway to get anywhere around her. it sucks! i really wish it was walkable.0 -
No. I made myself overweight. No portion control, general apathy, and a lack of information regarding nutrition and food are to blame - not pollution. Besides, according to those charts, I live in a "pollution" state, but not an "obese state", so there's no connection there...
...Because one person's experience is enough to contradict the overall evidence?
I think not.0 -
Many of the "red" states are only "red" in a few metro areas with the majority of the state being very clean.
I don't think there is any corelation at all. Most people become obese through making poor choices in food and lifestyle. This is just another attempt to offload responsibility.0 -
DAMN you, I was saving that one to use.
FINE, I still have this one.
Thank you for your allegiance. PM further compliments to me, as I am kind of busy in here fighting the good fight for education.0 -
my first thought is this...
NO.
If I am fat, it is because I am making me fat.
yes, there is cause and effect... but when it comes down to it... only I am to blame for my current state. I take full responsibility.
but I am Canadian... so maybe it doesn't apply.
40% (+/-) of US citizens have no access to affordable health care. I think this definitely makes a difference. I personally haven't seen a doctor in over a decade because a visit would cost me 1/2 a months salary, and that is just to talk to someone before treatment. I have insurance, too. Not that it helps, my annual deductible is $8,000. For Canadians, this means that I have to spend $8,000 out of pocket on medical care before my insurance kicks in. Then anything over $8,000 I still have to pay 30% of the bill, with insurance only covering 70% of my medical expenses.
But, my premiums are low at only $410 a month.:mad:0 -
One other interesting note is how the obesity map seems to somewhat follow the political leanings of the United States. Compare for example this map showing political leanings state-by-state with the map of obesity in the United States.
It would be interesting to see which states were being heavily lobbied by the fast food industry and which congressmen that these lobbyist had connections to. It makes sense that the fast food industry would want to target the states with the highest populations since their return on investment would be the highest in these states. It's just a matter of statistics as to what part of the population would be more inclined towards eating out in a busy lifestyle and applying your leverage to plant the most outlets in those areas.
I've also seriously been studying the release of Harlequin romance novels kept in stores vs. the number of Baskin Robbins and Cold Stone Creamery type ice cream stores within a 100 mile location. I think that I have enough evidence to suggest that some of these major stores are tracking the sales of women's feminine hygiene products and placing signs near the front of the store promoting the sale of ice cream and chocolate at non-sale prices because they believe they stand a better chance of hitting your pocket book if you're moody and hormonal.
This is a great observation. I was actually thinking the same thing.0 -
There is no evidence to support the idea that pollution CAUSES obesity. As someone already stated (but you guys clearly ignored), correlation does not mean causation. Pollution may be more common in places that also have high obesity rates, but that doesn't mean one is the cause of the other. They may both be results of another underlying cause, such as a less-educated populace. (Less-educated people tend to have higher obesity rates, and also to not vote for environmentalist measures, such as pollution-reducing ones.)
I find it much more likely that the obesity and pollution are both consequences of low education, than to believe pollution is somehow magically making people fat. Come on, guys. Enough with the witch-doctor hoopla.
Better education is VERY important, I completely agree.
That's what I'm trying to do here.
Education.0 -
I appreciate your research efforts and it is an interesting theory. I don't discount that pollutants in the air we breath or water we drink effect our overall health, however there is something of a flaw in the design as correlation does not imply causation. Your study fails to consider diet, lifestyle, and psychological and behavioral history as well as other variables. There have been studies that show a correlation between socio-economic status and obesity. I live in a "red" state and I'm losing weight successfully as well as others in my weight management program so it cannot be chalked up to pollution alone.
But could your weight loss perhaps be accelerated by moving to a different State?
I used to live right by the beach in San Diego. Even though it's a red state I would say San Diego as a whole is pretty environmentally friendly and also very thin and attractive. When I moved to London however I became overweight due to the smog and pollution. I have lost weight in London but I'm certain my weight loss would've been accelerated back in San Diego or a less polluted part of the world like the Caribbean.0
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