What do you think of the obesity epidemic in the U.S.?
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The *kitten* we call food is too often processed chemical experiments designed to trigger the places in the brain to like them and demand more of them in the name of making more MONEY for a few giant corporations. These industrial farms and feed lots are killing us and destroying the environment at the same time. For profits!
Wake up people!
This has to stop!0 -
prolly gonna get reported for this and have people yell at me
but obese people piss me off.
stop being a fat lazy piece of *kitten*. i shouldn't have to look at that.
i think it's ridiculous, and causing more problems than it's worth (with insurance, equipment that hopsitals have to but bc people are larger, people on the clock getting injured trying to lift fattys at hospitals).
seriosuly, it really makes me angry.
You know there are people with thyroid problems that can't help being fat? Skinny people piss me off too though. ^^
good. im glad i piss you off.
yes, i'm sure most of the obese population has thyroid problems, so they're excused.
oh, wait....
ps. sorry i eat healthy and i don't have to use the *kitten* out of my insurance to go to the doctor constantly for health problems i gave myself for being unhealthy in the first place. i'm such an a*sshole0 -
It is sad but here are the reasons:
A. Fast food resturants are in every corner now. (More parents are working long hours and more women are working outside, which makes it easier to grab fast food on their way back
B. FDA Allows a 20% Margin of Error on Food Labels and restaurant food (so you think you ate 1000 calories and it's more like 1200 and maybe even more.
and other reasons that other people already stated0 -
I have always wondered why unhealthy foods are so cheap and healthy foods are god awfully expensive. Analysts are always saying the government needs to implement programs for health and all this stuff. I think just switching the prices around would save us all! 4 bags of chips for a dollar. A tiny bag of 10 asparagus sticks for $5.....Drives me nuts! Its to the point where my parents tell me not to buy "healthy food" because its too expensive.....
If you compare fresh fruit and vegies to processed food...pound for pound...fresh will ALWAYS be less expensive. For example...compare a potato to the same weight of potato chips. It's simple math.
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I have always wondered why unhealthy foods are so cheap and healthy foods are god awfully expensive. Analysts are always saying the government needs to implement programs for health and all this stuff. I think just switching the prices around would save us all! 4 bags of chips for a dollar. A tiny bag of 10 asparagus sticks for $5.....Drives me nuts! Its to the point where my parents tell me not to buy "healthy food" because its too expensive.....
If you compare fresh fruit and vegies to processed food...pound for pound...fresh will ALWAYS be less expensive. For example...compare a potato to the same weight of potato chips. It's simple math.
thank you, someone who isn't ignorant.
to reiterate. i had no problem on food stamps buying fresh produce and making well balanced vegetarian meals (after i graduated college and didn't find a ft job for a few months, then was able to get off assistance. which is another thing that pisses me off, people who use the system long term instead of actually trying. nothing wrong with temporary assistance, but no need to leech all the tax payers money. that's for another discussion board i suppose)0 -
I was born and raised in France which is why I am very critical about this whole thing.
I blame it on the lack of food education. When I was about 10 years old, we had several nutrition classes where we learned about protein, fiber and so on. Which foods to avoid and which to enjoy.
I have never been overweight in my life until I got depressed and stopped moving two years ago.
I don't blame children, of course, but parents. You have access to internet and you can educate yourself as to what good choices are.
In Paris once, a daughter of one of my father's friend from the US came to stay with us. She had never tasted asparagus, fennel and so on in her life!0 -
I have always wondered why unhealthy foods are so cheap and healthy foods are god awfully expensive. Analysts are always saying the government needs to implement programs for health and all this stuff. I think just switching the prices around would save us all! 4 bags of chips for a dollar. A tiny bag of 10 asparagus sticks for $5.....Drives me nuts! Its to the point where my parents tell me not to buy "healthy food" because its too expensive.....
Corn and soy are commodity crops heavily subsidized by the government. Corn and soy are used as livestock feed as well as being processed into a host of food additives – the demand for them is astronomical. If you were a farmer and had to choose between growing corn or soy, which would generate tremendous revenue at a subsidized cost to you (70% of soybean value comes from the government), enabling dozens of companies to purchase your crops and manufacture hundreds of processed food products or growing asparagus which can really only be eaten as asparagus and struggle to make ends meet, which would you choose? Not saying it's right – far from it – but it's fact.
So true! I've been noticing that nearly everything has some form of corn in it for quite a while now.0 -
I have always wondered why unhealthy foods are so cheap and healthy foods are god awfully expensive. Analysts are always saying the government needs to implement programs for health and all this stuff. I think just switching the prices around would save us all! 4 bags of chips for a dollar. A tiny bag of 10 asparagus sticks for $5.....Drives me nuts! Its to the point where my parents tell me not to buy "healthy food" because its too expensive.....
Corn and soy are commodity crops heavily subsidized by the government. Corn and soy are used as livestock feed as well as being processed into a host of food additives – the demand for them is astronomical. If you were a farmer and had to choose between growing corn or soy, which would generate tremendous revenue at a subsidized cost to you (70% of soybean value comes from the government), enabling dozens of companies to purchase your crops and manufacture hundreds of processed food products or growing asparagus which can really only be eaten as asparagus and struggle to make ends meet, which would you choose? Not saying it's right – far from it – but it's fact.
So true! I've been noticing that nearly everything has some form of corn in it for quite a while now.
The only corn that is semi-safe to eat is organic. Organic blue corn is even better.0 -
I used to be Obese (now overweight) and the shocking thing is that you never really see yourself as obese. I was a young 20 something who was surprising quite fit despite carrying all the weight around. I told myself that I can run up the station stairs and I don't get breathless at work so I must be okay. When I looked in the mirror, I saw someone who was a little chubby but looked pretty once I got the makeup on. It's all about denial.
I agree it is sad because when I was an overweight child in the 80's/early 90's I was in the minority. People would be shocked and call me names and all sorts just because it was so unusual to see this in the area I lived where other kids were naturally thin. These days however it seems to be common and it is a little upsetting as it seems to be seen as normal.0 -
prolly gonna get reported for this and have people yell at me
but obese people piss me off.
stop being a fat lazy piece of *kitten*. i shouldn't have to look at that.
i think it's ridiculous, and causing more problems than it's worth (with insurance, equipment that hopsitals have to but bc people are larger, people on the clock getting injured trying to lift fattys at hospitals).
seriosuly, it really makes me angry.
If you're so perfect, how come you're here to lose weight at all? Fat is fat, doesn't matter if it's 20 pounds or 200. And I could judge you for being on food stamps, but I'm not hateful like you are.0 -
I have always wondered why unhealthy foods are so cheap and healthy foods are god awfully expensive. Analysts are always saying the government needs to implement programs for health and all this stuff. I think just switching the prices around would save us all! 4 bags of chips for a dollar. A tiny bag of 10 asparagus sticks for $5.....Drives me nuts! Its to the point where my parents tell me not to buy "healthy food" because its too expensive.....
There will be a lot of backyard gardens going in this year, I think. It is actually quite easy to grow veggies---even in containers on a balcony.0 -
I have always wondered why unhealthy foods are so cheap and healthy foods are god awfully expensive. Analysts are always saying the government needs to implement programs for health and all this stuff. I think just switching the prices around would save us all! 4 bags of chips for a dollar. A tiny bag of 10 asparagus sticks for $5.....Drives me nuts! Its to the point where my parents tell me not to buy "healthy food" because its too expensive.....
There will be a lot of backyard gardens going in this year, I think. It is actually quite easy to grow veggies---even in containers on a balcony.
:flowerforyou:
Just a couple of hours worth of food-growing lessons in schools could help too. It wouldn't cost much and would reap dividends in the years to come.0 -
prolly gonna get reported for this and have people yell at me
but obese people piss me off.
stop being a fat lazy piece of *kitten*. i shouldn't have to look at that.
i think it's ridiculous, and causing more problems than it's worth (with insurance, equipment that hopsitals have to but bc people are larger, people on the clock getting injured trying to lift fattys at hospitals).
seriosuly, it really makes me angry.
If you're so perfect, how come you're here to lose weight at all? Fat is fat, doesn't matter if it's 20 pounds or 200. And I could judge you for being on food stamps, but I'm not hateful like you are.
go ahead and judge me.
ive never been fat. i started at 127 my heighest (21.8 bmi, gasp!), 5'4" and wanted to tone up
and i already had another post about the food stamps, i was on temporary assistance for 3 months after college while working a couple per diem jobs, then found full time and got off them right away. bc thats what theyre for, not to be leeched off of like many people use them for.0 -
prolly gonna get reported for this and have people yell at me
but obese people piss me off.
stop being a fat lazy piece of *kitten*. i shouldn't have to look at that.
i think it's ridiculous, and causing more problems than it's worth (with insurance, equipment that hopsitals have to but bc people are larger, people on the clock getting injured trying to lift fattys at hospitals).
seriosuly, it really makes me angry.
No, princess, you shouldn't have to look at that. Thinking about your delicate little iris being subjected to unattractive sights makes me angry, too. I think it makes a lot of us angry when we think about keem88 having to look at something unattractive. It just tears us up inside.0 -
How sad that it is now "punishment" for kids to be walking outside, and GOOD FOR YOU for making them put their video games away! I am eternally grateful for the fact that I am able to scrape up the tuition and send my son to a parochial school that actually makes an effort to feed the kids healthy food and allows them plenty of time to PLAY outside (think football, swings, slides, etc). Goodness knows I'm not the smallest person around, but I am working on that and hopefully my son will pick up a pointer or two along the way and not ever have the 100 pounds to shed that I have acquired over the last 10 years.0
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I think it needs to start being considered child abuse. Especially in their younger years, kids eat what their parents let them eat. Parents are giving their kids sickness and rewarding with laziness. I was slim as a child because we weren't allowed to eat junk. We rarely ate out. It wasn't until I got a job at McDonalds that I started packing on the pounds and it got out of hand when I got a desk job. Ultimately, it is my fault I'm fat, but those kids don't even have a say in it.
I also feel bad because a lot of overweight people are that way because of unresolved mental issues. It doesn't excuse them, but they need to fix their brain before they can fix their body.
On the other end, the morbidly obese are babied way too much. Sure as a society we tend to look down on them, but giving them handicapped parking spots and access to wheel chairs is the last thing we do. When my 88 year old grandmother who is on oxygen and can barely breath can't park close to the store, she risks collapsing before she finds a place to rest. She can't to her shopping without a chair, but a few times I've taken her and there were no spits available and no chairs (they only provide 2) and when I got her wheel chair and brought it in, the few inside were taken by obese 40-50 year olds. Maybe if they had to park further back and walk through a store it'd help them more than anything.0 -
prolly gonna get reported for this and have people yell at me
but obese people piss me off.
stop being a fat lazy piece of *kitten*. i shouldn't have to look at that.
i think it's ridiculous, and causing more problems than it's worth (with insurance, equipment that hopsitals have to but bc people are larger, people on the clock getting injured trying to lift fattys at hospitals).
seriosuly, it really makes me angry.
If you're so perfect, how come you're here to lose weight at all? Fat is fat, doesn't matter if it's 20 pounds or 200. And I could judge you for being on food stamps, but I'm not hateful like you are.
and i never said i was perfect. i just said fat people piss me off and are gross to look at. so sue me
Well, I'm just asking that you think twice before you judge. Not all obese or overweight people sit around eating and being lazy. Some 'let themself go' because of tragedy like losing their child. Some are sick physically or mentally. Some like me have been overweight since 4 years old and never had a chance. My mom is obese and she has worked full-time jobs non-stop since she was 16. I wouldn't call that lazy.
I just think it's very RUDE and speaks volumes about the type of person you are, to come into a weight loss forum where many are struggling with their weight and working hard to change, and to make offensive statements like that.0 -
I think it needs to start being considered child abuse. Especially in their younger years, kids eat what their parents let them eat. Parents are giving their kids sickness and rewarding with laziness. I was slim as a child because we weren't allowed to eat junk. We rarely ate out. It wasn't until I got a job at McDonalds that I started packing on the pounds and it got out of hand when I got a desk job. Ultimately, it is my fault I'm fat, but those kids don't even have a say in it.
I also feel bad because a lot of overweight people are that way because of unresolved mental issues. It doesn't excuse them, but they need to fix their brain before they can fix their body.
On the other end, the morbidly obese are babied way too much. Sure as a society we tend to look down on them, but giving them handicapped parking spots and access to wheel chairs is the last thing we do. When my 88 year old grandmother who is on oxygen and can barely breath can't park close to the store, she risks collapsing before she finds a place to rest. She can't to her shopping without a chair, but a few times I've taken her and there were no spits available and no chairs (they only provide 2) and when I got her wheel chair and brought it in, the few inside were taken by obese 40-50 year olds. Maybe if they had to park further back and walk through a store it'd help them more than anything.
Complete 100% agree.
I'm so sad for your grandmother. That makes me so mad I could spit.0 -
Something very interesting I've found in my research is a book called "Fat is a Feminist Issue" by Susan Orbach (I think). She states that "owning your body image" even at an obese weight and shunning society's perception of what "feminine" is. Now, I have feminist tendencies though I've never been an extremist. I think this idea is good in theory. No, we shouldn't carry self hate around but "owning" an overweight body image doesn't change the health risks of carrying around that weight. What we should be "owning" is our health not just our image.
That is not the message I took home from Fat Is A Feminist Issue. The author ran groups helping women to lose weight and looked at why women might choose to stay fat. She writes about how extra weight protects us from unwanted sexual attention and can therefore be comforting and serve a purpose. Some of her points now seem out of date, but the book helped me to make the necessary mental shift to lose weight and keep it off. I had not wanted to read the book because I thought it must be an apology or excuse for being overweight, but it isn't.
I find childhood attitudes to food very interesting and I am fascinated as to the effect they have on national obesity statistics. My 5 year old doesn't have to clear his plate, but he does have to finish most of any protein source or vegetables. Food is never, ever a reward. He would rather play, read, colour-in than eat. If he is full, he stops eating and even turns down dessert sometimes. By contrast, the two children he spends the most time with both love food passionately and fantasise about receiving it. Why? I'm not sure. Genetics? Upbringing? He was demand breast fed and then we did baby-led weaning, so food was never ever about finishing what he was given, rather it was under his control. We have been to a coffee shop and gotten cake for ourselves while he has chosen fruit, so it's not a lack of opportunity, just a preference, and long may it stay that way!
From an education point of view, I think Japan has it about right. In Elementary and JHS school dinners are compulsory and each week fact sheets are printed to show what foods provide which nutrients. 6 year olds would tell me to eat up my dried fish for the calcium. Once a month or so there would be cake, which was a big deal and the pupils would do rock, paper, scissors to see who got to have seconds. It seems to me an excellent balance of nutrition, education and pleasure. Portions there are reasonable too, especially of snacks and chocolate. My dh is Japanese and looks at a meal as a chance to get in the right nutrition, although this has changed a bit since living too long in the UK :laugh:
I have yet to visit the States, but the shock of returning from Japan to the UK was big enough.0 -
I was born and raised in France which is why I am very critical about this whole thing.
I blame it on the lack of food education. When I was about 10 years old, we had several nutrition classes where we learned about protein, fiber and so on. Which foods to avoid and which to enjoy.
I have never been overweight in my life until I got depressed and stopped moving two years ago.
I don't blame children, of course, but parents. You have access to internet and you can educate yourself as to what good choices are.
In Paris once, a daughter of one of my father's friend from the US came to stay with us. She had never tasted asparagus, fennel and so on in her life!
I read something not too long ago about public school nutrition and France was the country used as the example of how to do it right. The program explained that schools send home menus of what is being served in school along with suggestions for dinner at home. Additionally, lunch in school was presented as being more of an actual meal, where the kids actually get to sit down and enjoy what they are eating rather than the marathon sprint the lunch minutes have become in many U.S. schools. I totally get why kids choose the fast food options because they only get a few minutes to wolf down their food before they are off to class again.0
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