As a nation, we're getting steadily heavier - WHY?

The average American has gained about one pound each year since the mid-1990s. The average American man weighed 194.7 pounds in 2006, up from 181 pounds in 1994. The average American woman weighed up 165 pounds, up from 154. Two thirds of us are overweight or obese. ~ Face The Facts USA

Curious why people think this is. I can think of many, many reasons. I feel, as a nation, we have just gotten lazier and lazier and technology underlies a lot of it. Add that to poor diets (which is also stems in part from technological dependance = laziness and just lack of caring) and to a greater societal acceptance and bam!

What do you think?
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Replies

  • jillybeanruns
    jillybeanruns Posts: 1,420 Member
    - Laziness
    - Lack of willpower
  • gobifree59
    gobifree59 Posts: 56 Member
    Laziness
    Too much sitting in front of: TV, computer, video games, etc.
    Too many gadgets that do the work for you instead of you manually doing it!
    People giving in to "on the run food", although you CAN make smart choices at fast food places.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Laziness. Foods infused with so much salt and sugar are very addictive. Portion size. Microwaves.
  • Processed foods. Cars. Portion sizes. Compare a pyrex dish made today to that made in the 60's/70's. HUGE difference!
  • samblanken
    samblanken Posts: 369 Member
    Looking at your watching and saying ' it's noon must be time to eat - whether or not you are hungry. I see my parents do this and they both are 50 lbs over weight. No wonder.
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
    more calorie dense foods.

    its not that its processed.. its just that everything presented to us, even healthy choices, are often more calorie dense, and/or in larger portions then in the past.

    so we consume more calories... makes a MUCH larger diff then 'lazyness' or 'lack of movement' if you're only considering overall weight.
  • Martucha123
    Martucha123 Posts: 1,089 Member
    fast food, sweets and laziness
  • bassejm0
    bassejm0 Posts: 25 Member
    High fructose corn syrup! It's in EVERYTHINGGGG!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Ignorance plays a part too. I saw a person on here say they thought the deep-fried shrimp platter would be low in calories because it was shrimp. Every day there's another thread of people asking how to eat vegetables... one person thought "vegetables" meant those bags of frozen peas and carrots. I think a lot of people don't have a fundamental understanding of how to eat properly, so they just don't try.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Obviously it is carbs that has caused all this, as they are the only thing that makes you fat
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
    Because people believe processed "diet bars" loaded full of crap and even "diet" shakes such as GNC Get Lean contain hydrogenated oils and artificial flavors are better for them than fruit, because fruit has "carbs". People buy into the myths that keep "health food" companies in business!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Life is just too darn easy. Physically at least. And on the flip side, emotionally, it can be more stressful, so then you have stress without the physical release of being more active, which results in comfort eating.
  • poncho33
    poncho33 Posts: 1,511
    I don't think you can just say laziness... maybe when it comes to exercise but we didn't become the top nation in the world by being lazy. I think when we were in a economic boom most were focused on careers and a lot more people found themselves behind desks for 8 hours/day. I kind of feel like we're on the rebound though and people are starting to hit the gyms like never before. People are getting bored and looking for things to do. I bet we get healthier in the next 10 years!!
    my two cents.
  • Huskeryogi
    Huskeryogi Posts: 578 Member
    Technology
    Constantly available no prep needed food (seriously there are people snacks when in line at Petsmart now)
  • itsmarcel
    itsmarcel Posts: 52 Member
    Obviously it is carbs that has caused all this, as they are the only thing that makes you fat

    ^^^ This.

    Check out Fat Head on Hulu. This topic is discussed.
  • LokiOfAsgard
    LokiOfAsgard Posts: 378 Member
    Everything is bigger in America. The large size pop from Mcdonalds in France is the U.S's small.
    Most Americans don't know what proper portion sizes are. I didn't until I started MFP
  • jonward85
    jonward85 Posts: 534 Member
    I think part of the reason is that Americans live a more sedentary life style now then they did. I also believe that overbearing and overprotective parent effect this too. Kids these days are not allowed to play and be kids like when i was younger. Stuff my parents let me do as a kid would get me as a parent arrested now!

    I also think portion size has a lot to do with it. I was raised to clean my plate, but we had "normal" portions so it wasn't a big deal. Today you get a plate of food and it might be 1700 calories. Portion Control.

    The third reason is that being overweight has become something that is looked at like a disease or a disability (not that it isn't in some cased), but it's never thought of as a willpower issue anymore.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    I'll break the trend here because I don't think it's laziness. I think there are a lot of factors at work that people fail to appreciate. We're constantly inundated with contradictory messages about what is healthy and what isn't. Billions upon billions of dollars are spend each year to get us to eat fattening food and buy expensive products and services to undo the damage. The truth is deliberately obscured and muddied. Even people who have the time and inclination to research and sort it out for themselves get it wrong a huge portion of the time (check out these very forums to find a great many examples). And those who actually want to help the consumers, the people at the bottom, simply don't have the power to overcome these problems and aren't listened to.

    People love to make this about personal responsibility and say that fat people are just too damn lazy. But that's not fair. It's ridiculous to think we can separate the individual from the environment around them, particularly when the environment is being intentionally altered to change that individual's behavior. Of course there is a degree of personal responsibility and choice, but we can't ignore the fact that we are affected by the world around us. If someone is deliberately set up to fail, it is not fair to place all the blame for failing squarely on their shoulders.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    Several reasons....laziness, people don't want to cook or are too tired to cook, but mainly, all the crap that we allow to be put in foods. Growth hormones in livestock (where do you think those go after the cow/pig/chicken is slaughtered???), not to mention all the sodium that is also put in foods, and preservatives and things that are not easily pronounced. If you go to other countries like Japan, Ireland, Europe, they don't put crap in their foods. They don't put things in their foods that will make it last 10 years on a shelf. They offer fresh and healthy things. Why we allow our country to let these companies do this is beyond me.
  • Martucha123
    Martucha123 Posts: 1,089 Member
    Everything is bigger in America. The large size pop from Mcdonalds in France is the U.S's small.
    Most Americans don't know what proper portion sizes are. I didn't until I started MFP

    also this
    Big Mac in Spain is 10% smaller then in US. Portions in restaurants are usually half the US size...
  • stylistchik
    stylistchik Posts: 1,436 Member
    Personally I think it goes back to the government giving subsidies to farm crops like corn and soy that can be easily and cheaply processed into our "food" that is high in calories and low in nutrients. The advertising and availability of these products (not to mention they are often sweet, salty or fatty - our biological cravings) makes them accessible and desirable. More food places have drive thru and delivery options which means more food with less effort. There are a lot of reasons why we are larger and of course we can just ignore all of it but the people who do that are the minority. The only way it can change is to make home cooking and exercise "normal" and accessible. It all comes back to advertising and making money. Lots of people make lots of money off of keeping us fat and sick so why would they want to change that? We have to do it ourselves but most people resist change.
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
    I actually believe that the reason we are fat is because we don't have enough physical activity. most people live in the suburbs and drive their kids to school and then drive to work and then drive their kids home and then drive to the store and then drive to the gym. we wouldn't need the gym if we walked to work or walked to school or walked to the store!

    and on top of all that we don't teach our kids to fit in physical activity daily! turn off the computer and the tv and lets get our kids outside!
  • Laurie1267
    Laurie1267 Posts: 169 Member
    Refined carbs, processed foods, and lack of exercise.
  • Josie_lifting_cats
    Josie_lifting_cats Posts: 949 Member
    I hate when people blame it on laziness.

    I am self-employed. I'm a crazy busy self-employed person turning clients down left and right. I work with my kids some days and am on the road until 6 or 7 PM from early in the morning. The days without the kids I pick them up around 4, but usually have to go home to open the computer and continue working.

    It just so happens that if I have time to make dinner, it's certainly not very much time. *IF* I have time.

    My husband frequently cooks, but now he's in training the last few weeks. So he's been gone and home late a lot, too.

    It is not that we are lazy, because I know for a fact I work harder than the average bear. And I never stop moving/running/driving/working. I only get 4-6 hours of sleep a night if I'm lucky most of the time. So it's not laziness.... it's the fact that I'm so NOT lazy that I have a hard time making dinner.

    I need to rely on the crockpot more. But my point is that some nights, when you suddenly realize your kids haven't eaten dinner and it's 6 PM and you need to make something that "quick and easy" recipes or meals are easier. Granted, quick and easy for me often means something like tacos, but there are lots of "naughty" easy and quick recipes, too - and it adds up quickly!

    I apparently need to work harder so I can hire someone to cook for me.
  • bashiera
    bashiera Posts: 140 Member
    Not to mention as a nation we're getting older. The youngest baby boomers are aging, and aging brings weight gain.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Fear of dietary fat consumption based on bad science, a food pyramid based on bad science, subsidising agriculture, politics and commercial interests overriding good health.

    You are eating too much nutrient poor rubbish supported by recommendations that have no basis in fact.

    Follow the money, there is no profit to be made in a healthy population.

    Rampant diabetes and statins are a logical result of this madness.

    Gluttony and sloth? Less so.
  • I was at waffle house the other day, enjoying some chicken salad.
    And this couple came in with their son, I'm assuming he was about 8.
    They were all fairly large.
    So the order for the son. 2 waffles. He uses FOUR of those little cups of butter. Drowns it in syrup. And gets a side of hashbrowns with double cheese and ham.
    Not including the butter or syrup.
    It came out to like 1100 calories.
    That's why we're getting fat.
    People just don't care anymore. They don't think twice before they do it.
    If it's yummy, get at it.
    And hey, it made the kid happy, right?
    :grumble:
  • akoivisto
    akoivisto Posts: 141 Member
    To much quick food; not 'fast' food, though that does play a part.

    Quick food; the food you don't have to prepare to eat, and, especially for families with kids, we don't have the amount of stay at home moms (or dads for that matter). Growing up I was in pretty dang good shape, I was athletic, but I was also a gamer; I think the kicker, where other kids in the same sport were heavier than me, my mom was a stay at home that really cooked stuff from scratch. I have nothing against two working parents, but I tend to think a part of the reason I didn't ballon as a kid was we had a garden, that my mom worked in during the day (with us helping) and honestly, going to a friends house and having Life cereal, or that white store bought bread? It sounds silly, but that was a treat to me! Cracked Wheat, Homemade Rye bread; I grew up, and each meal was prepared, not canned, not nuked in the wave of micro.

    It is too easy, in our society as a 'whole' for instant gratification, pop used to be a treat... now it is a daily consumed 'beverage', same with many candies, and sugary things; once they used to be one a month, if that; now it is as easy as throwing a dollar to get a 900 calorie fix. :)

    Being overweight used to be a sign of wealth; it still is in 'some' regards. The US, while people like to cut it down, is doing fair all considering; there are bad areas, etc... but, when people are only gripping about gas prices and not the cost of a loaf of bread? Once people start protesting food costs I'll start to worry.

    Farm Market it up people!! *throws his two cents* ^_^
  • TeachTheGirl
    TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
    I blame the gov'ment.

    It's a conspiracy, man!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I was at waffle house the other day, enjoying some chicken salad.
    And this couple came in with their son, I'm assuming he was about 8.
    They were all fairly large.
    So the order for the son. 2 waffles. He uses FOUR of those little cups of butter. Drowns it in syrup. And gets a side of hashbrowns with double cheese and ham.
    Not including the butter or syrup.
    It came out to like 1100 calories.
    That's why we're getting fat.
    People just don't care anymore. They don't think twice before they do it.
    If it's yummy, get at it.
    And hey, it made the kid happy, right?
    :grumble:
    I don't think that really gets at the point though. Of course people are heavier because they eat too much, but why do they eat too much and think it's fine?