Is Your State Making You Fat???

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  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
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    This is absolutely groundbreaking. It also tends to explain why countries like France and Germany are beginning to see a rise in obesity as well. They're finally catching up to our technology and are using more pollutants and are therefore getting more obese!

    Also the states that seem to be more liberal, and therefore more environmentally friendly, seem to have less pollution and therefore less obesity.

    I hate liberals.

    Also this comparison between pollution and obesity is comparing two symptoms, not cause and symptom.

    "The fallacy cum hoc ergo propter hoc, in which two things or events occur simultaneously or the chronological ordering is insignificant or unknown, also referred to as false cause, coincidental correlation, or correlation not causation."

    Ohhhh.... so you are saying fatter people care less about the environment and thus are less likely to reduce pollution in their states?

    So maybe the obesity is causing the pollution! Great contribution!!
  • rassha01
    rassha01 Posts: 534 Member
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    I am going to step right up and say it, the spoon made me fat!!!!!
  • chellec23
    chellec23 Posts: 147 Member
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    Really? Air pollution is to blame? Please... There are SO many factors, and air pollution is not one of them. Just because you noticed one thing in common with some states does not mean that's the cause.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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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.

    HOLD MY HAND AND SPOON FEED ME, DAMN IT.
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
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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.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
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    The first graphic is problematic because of the lack of population in the states that are not showing much weight gain. Of course Wyoming is going to show fewer tons gained over the year than New York. There are also economic reasons why some places have more obese people than others. Obesity is more prevalent amongst poor and working class individuals.

    Sure, you've got your odd Kevin Smith and Chris Christie types, but if you look at the $100k plus a year salary folks, the obesity rates fall in 26% range with the poorest Americans suffering an obesity rate of 32% or more.

    This makes me wonder, what do the rich have that the poor don't?
    1. Adequate health care. This could be a huge factor.
    2. Less stress
    3. Vacation (see #2)
    4. Access to better quality food
    5. Time to prepare food
    6. Time and ability to afford "healthy" activities

    I think that if this was indeed the case, then to solve the obesity epidemic we must first solve the growing wealth gap in the US. You want fewer fat people? Then give the poor an opportunity to earn decent wages on just a high school education.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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    You should move to Canada Naomi. In my bedroom. There's no obesity in my bedroom.

    She's mine. :angry:
    No, she's not.
    H5KEIhr.gif

    DAMN you, I was saving that one to use.
    FINE, I still have this one.

    hIT861r.gif
  • HammyStopHamming
    HammyStopHamming Posts: 20
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    Forgive my spelling. I probably am spelling all these wrong.

    The Highest pollution states are: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California and Alaska

    The Highest Obesity States are : Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and South Carolina

    Only five of those overlap. Michigan, Indiana, Texas, Alabama and Louisiana

    I would say this argument doesn't hold water. While everyone wants to believe this and it sounds quite nice, I would say your eyes are fooling you when you look at the maps.

    Also, the highest obesity state in the whole of the US doesn't make it onto both lists.
  • RushBabe214
    RushBabe214 Posts: 469 Member
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    It's not about location, it's about culture. And I'm pretty sure there aren't roaming bands of Paula Deans all over Georgia shoving butter down everyone's throats. You can make good or bad choices anywhere and if you really want to take charge of your life you can better your situation and maybe ask for help if you need it...

    Frightening! LOL
  • elleloch
    elleloch Posts: 739 Member
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    It's interesting, but if this is true, watch for North Dakota's obesity rates to really start rising in the coming years due to its oil industry. You can see the natural gas flares from space - it looks like an enormous metropolitan city area, but it's all open country chock full of oil wells, just flaring off.
  • dawningr
    dawningr Posts: 387 Member
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    It's not about location, it's about culture. And I'm pretty sure there aren't roaming bands of Paula Deans all over Georgia shoving butter down everyone's throats.

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
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    you might find this interesting, it's been on a lot of news feeds the last week or so -
    http://mobikefed.org/2013/04/missouri-most-obese-state-nation-according-new-research
  • KaleidoscopeEyes1056
    KaleidoscopeEyes1056 Posts: 2,996 Member
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    Yes. DAMN YOU, OHIO!!

    No, not really. I made myself fat and now I'm making myself not fat.
  • TheWiseCat
    TheWiseCat Posts: 297
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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.

    Well 700 calories doesn't sound happy at all.
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
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    the state has nothing to do with it its a cultural thing. the choice to be fat or not is up to the individual. for I eat according to who the people overseas eat in Russia I went in 1997 they eat much less then America does. I try to model that method.

    This actually proves my point.

    Yes, culture is what counts. States have cultures, just like nations do, and some states have a culture of obesity and pollution.
  • TitaniaEcks
    TitaniaEcks Posts: 351 Member
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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.
  • iulia_maddie
    iulia_maddie Posts: 2,780 Member
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    DAMN you, I was saving that one to use.
    FINE, I still have this one.
    iaPsWii.gif
  • fluffykitsune
    fluffykitsune Posts: 236 Member
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    I'mma blame Texas. I went to Texas for 2 weeks last summer and it was SOOO HOT that I sat in the hotel room with the AC on full blast all day.
    Washington is so nice and coooool. I can run without breaking a sweat or over heating, all I had to do was walk out the door in Texas.

    But, thats just me. I know a lot of people that hide in their homes when its cold out, I personally have no problems wearing shorts and a tank top when its 40 degrees. Makes me move more to stay warm.
  • mattschwartz01
    mattschwartz01 Posts: 566 Member
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    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.
  • HammyStopHamming
    HammyStopHamming Posts: 20
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    Forgive my spelling. I probably am spelling all these wrong.

    The Highest pollution states are: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California and Alaska

    The Highest Obesity States are : Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and South Carolina

    Only five of those overlap. Michigan, Indiana, Texas, Alabama and Louisiana

    I would say this argument doesn't hold water. While everyone wants to believe this and it sounds quite nice, I would say your eyes are fooling you when you look at the maps.

    Also, the highest obesity state in the whole of the US doesn't make it onto both lists.

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