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

What I think is sad about the obesity problem is that instead of helping the problem, businesses are adjusting to the problem by making bigger everything. There are buffet places I used to love going to for sentimental reasons, and also because sometimes I can't decide what I want to eat so I stare at the selection until my mouth waters at the sight of something and then I help myself to a small portion of it. But, it's hard to keep going when most of the people there are obese and it shows physically how their bodies are hurting, yet they fill these plates to heaven and simply cram this stuff in. Is it my place to judge? No, but I think the problem with it is that we are a country that loves food and have zero self-control with anything. There's no moderation. When you diet, moderation plays a big part in your success. Most people just don't know that concept anymore.

I blame the Food Pyramid .

that's actually a huge part of it. misinformation is a killer. people have been force fed that they were supposed to eat 11 servings of pasta and white flour A DAY!

couple that with the computer age and people sitting on their *kitten* all day and you get a helluva lot of fat people.

Nope nope and nope.

? i didn't read the whole 20 pages... sorry i don't already know your position...

I blame the Food Pyramid .

that's actually a huge part of it. misinformation is a killer. people have been force fed that they were supposed to eat 11 servings of pasta and white flour A DAY!

couple that with the computer age and people sitting on their *kitten* all day and you get a helluva lot of fat people.

Nope nope and nope.

? i didn't read the whole 20 pages... sorry i don't already know your position...

I simply don't believe that government recommendations impact the public. There has been a "war on obesity" for quite some time and the problem has gotten worse. If everyone ate 2000 calories a day and followed the serving fromthe food pyramid we would be a much healthier country. (I think the pyramid is a load of crap when it comes to overall health but you can't blame it for obesity.)

I think that a large portion of Americans are lazy. They do enough to get by. They don't need to be fit to survive day to day or to increase their livelihood. Once it became PC to be fat the problem multiplied and most people in the "overweight" category are actually average thus lowering the fitness standard.

I blame the Food Pyramid .

that's actually a huge part of it. misinformation is a killer. people have been force fed that they were supposed to eat 11 servings of pasta and white flour A DAY!

couple that with the computer age and people sitting on their *kitten* all day and you get a helluva lot of fat people.

Nope nope and nope.

? i didn't read the whole 20 pages... sorry i don't already know your position...

I simply don't believe that government recommendations impact the public. There has been a "war on obesity" for quite some time and the problem has gotten worse. If everyone ate 2000 calories a day and followed the serving fromthe food pyramid we would be a much healthier country. (I think the pyramid is a load of crap when it comes to overall health but you can't blame it for obesity.)

I think that a large portion of Americans are lazy. They do enough to get by. They don't need to be fit to survive day to day or to increase their livelihood. Once it became PC to be fat the problem multiplied and most people in the "overweight" category are actually average thus lowering the fitness standard.

except i CLEARLY remember learning about the food pyramid when i was a kid - as young as 4, 5, 6 years old. does that mean everyone kept it in mind every time they ate? absolutely not - but the basic PRINCIPLES of "eat a lot of flour-based products because they're most important" were ingrained in people. I thought it. my parents thought it.

think about it this way. this concept of counting calories. when did it start? i'd argue it started within the last 20 years. up until about 1950/60 people ate when they were hungry, never counted calories, and were a helluva lot healthier. the biggest reason is they were more active, but the second biggest reason (most likely) is that they didn't eat refined processed white flour products in such massive amounts as people did in the 70s 80s and 90s who all thought it was good for them!

edit: agree with you on the lazy part

agree to disagree, I guess. I'd be willing to guess that if the average overweight person ate the food pyramid with 2000 calories that they would lose weight.

I agree with you as far as processed/refined food wrecking havoc on our health as a country but I simply can NOT academically or logically draw a definitive line between processed foods and obesity EXCEPT that processed food are an express way for large caloric surplus that causes weight gain. The average person if eating within their caloric threshold will maintain a relatively healthy weight regardless of where the calories come from.

ETA: NOT lol

I blame the Food Pyramid .

that's actually a huge part of it. misinformation is a killer. people have been force fed that they were supposed to eat 11 servings of pasta and white flour A DAY!

couple that with the computer age and people sitting on their *kitten* all day and you get a helluva lot of fat people.

Nope nope and nope.

? i didn't read the whole 20 pages... sorry i don't already know your position...

I simply don't believe that government recommendations impact the public. There has been a "war on obesity" for quite some time and the problem has gotten worse. If everyone ate 2000 calories a day and followed the serving fromthe food pyramid we would be a much healthier country. (I think the pyramid is a load of crap when it comes to overall health but you can't blame it for obesity.)

I think that a large portion of Americans are lazy. They do enough to get by. They don't need to be fit to survive day to day or to increase their livelihood. Once it became PC to be fat the problem multiplied and most people in the "overweight" category are actually average thus lowering the fitness standard.

except i CLEARLY remember learning about the food pyramid when i was a kid - as young as 4, 5, 6 years old. does that mean everyone kept it in mind every time they ate? absolutely not - but the basic PRINCIPLES of "eat a lot of flour-based products because they're most important" were ingrained in people. I thought it. my parents thought it.

think about it this way. this concept of counting calories. when did it start? i'd argue it started within the last 20 years. up until about 1950/60 people ate when they were hungry, never counted calories, and were a helluva lot healthier. the biggest reason is they were more active, but the second biggest reason (most likely) is that they didn't eat refined processed white flour products in such massive amounts as people did in the 70s 80s and 90s who all thought it was good for them!

edit: agree with you on the lazy part

agree to disagree, I guess. I'd be willing to guess that if the average overweight person ate the food pyramid with 2000 calories that they would lose weight.

I agree with you as far as processed/refined food wrecking havoc on our health as a country but I simply can academically or logically draw a definitive line between processed foods and obesity EXCEPT that processed food are an express way for large caloric surplus that causes weight gain. The average person if eating within their caloric threshold will maintain a relatively healthy weight regardless of where the calories come from.

Right. I'm not disputing that. The point is that the average person doesnt count calories and has no concept of how much food 2000 calories is. Fair? So all they DO know is that they're supposed to eat a lot of bread and pasta and, yes, they overeat. The point is, had they been engrained with correct nutritional knowledge growing up instead of the food pyramid, it's entirely possible they wouldn't be as overweight because it's much EASIER to overeat in processed carbs than it is whole grains, fruits and veggies, which take up more volume in the stomach while having fewer calories.

You're absolutely right about people losing weight on a 2000 cal food pyramid diet, but I just don't think that takes reality into account when the majority of people have never even considered counting calories until they're already in trouble.

I think corporate greed is killing children who don't know any better. I think that parents who don't know any better are making it easy for the corporations to do this.

Added to this is that the people who ARE educated, might not be able to afford the foods that are necessary to make it a healthy diet. I know in some areas of detroit they started accepting EBT at fast food because there were no grocery stores in the area.

We moved from Boston to Charlotte 3 yrs ago. The number of fast food places in this place is crazy!! Outside the apartments where we first stayed, these are the places I can list right away: Dominos, Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, Bugerking, One Chinese buffet, Two Chinese takeaway places, Hungry Howes, Wings, Red robin, a Mexican place. Across the road there was Macdonalds, Applebee's, Ihop, Paneras, Arby's, Chiptoles, Chick Fil A, O'Charley's,. On the other side was Bojangles. Driving down the other way less than a mile was Jack in a box, Cookout, Sonics, which brings you right into another plaza full of restaurants like Fridays etc. There is a pandas another Chick Fil A, Macdonalds, Starbucks . Across this plaza there is a Quiznos, Chinese food, that place that sells pizza for five bucks and other places. The smell of fried food was nauseating and stagnant in the air.

We moved into our house to a suburb area where you'd expect some quiet and not a lot of fast food. Wrong! On my way to the grocery store less than two miles I pass a Sonics, Then outside the grocery store is a Bojangles, Wendy's, Pizza Hut. Across the street is Subway, Dominos, Chic Fil A, Macdonald. Oh, and a Chinese buffet and Mexican restaurants are next to the grocery store.

Now lets drive down to the Mall area by Target which is like 3 miles from the grocery store. You are right in the middle of a bunch of restaurants like Olive Garden, Red Robin, on the border etc. I can't name them all. Throw in Paneras, Wendy's , McDonald's, Chick Fil A and the food court in the mall.

When I take my daughter to the park, there's a Dominos, Subway right next to it. Then a few miles down the road there is a Taco bells, Chic Fil A, Macdonalds, KFC. Next town over which is 15 minutes drive, there is a blvd of every fast food joint you can think of. It's crazy.

The junk mail we get is coupons to fast food places. I had never seen this in Boston and some of these places are not up there. This city is supposed to be small but it surprises me. The other day I drove out to a town you'd expect to be rural but Lo and behold it was so busy with tons of restaurants and fast food. There is no shortage of places to eat no matter where you are. It's like they have a code to throw in these joints even in the suburbs. They even have restaurant week downtown. And every church usually has a barbecue or fish fry for the public.

So one has to wonder how obesity got so out of control that we reached this crisis.

I read a few pages and i actually feel lucky that i was born in "eastern europe"
And i agree with many who say that main problem in America is laziness and comfortable lifestyle. Of course its easier to eat frozen meals and junk food instead of cooking and preparing cheap healthy meals. And children who grow up in families like that have no chance to have normal life in future...

I blame the Food Pyramid .

that's actually a huge part of it. misinformation is a killer. people have been force fed that they were supposed to eat 11 servings of pasta and white flour A DAY!

couple that with the computer age and people sitting on their *kitten* all day and you get a helluva lot of fat people.

We moved from Boston to Charlotte 3 yrs ago. The number of fast food places in this place is crazy!! Outside the apartments where we first stayed, these are the places I can list right away: Dominos, Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, Bugerking, One Chinese buffet, Two Chinese takeaway places, Hungry Howes, Wings, Red robin, a Mexican place. Across the road there was Macdonalds, Applebee's, Ihop, Paneras, Arby's, Chiptoles, Chick Fil A, O'Charley's,. On the other side was Bojangles. Driving down the other way less than a mile was Jack in a box, Cookout, Sonics, which brings you right into another plaza full of restaurants like Fridays etc. There is a pandas another Chick Fil A, Macdonalds, Starbucks . Across this plaza there is a Quiznos, Chinese food, that place that sells pizza for five bucks and other places. The smell of fried food was nauseating and stagnant in the air.

We moved into our house to a suburb area where you'd expect some quiet and not a lot of fast food. Wrong! On my way to the grocery store less than two miles I pass a Sonics, Then outside the grocery store is a Bojangles, Wendy's, Pizza Hut. Across the street is Subway, Dominos, Chic Fil A, Macdonald. Oh, and a Chinese buffet and Mexican restaurants are next to the grocery store.

Now lets drive down to the Mall area by Target which is like 3 miles from the grocery store. You are right in the middle of a bunch of restaurants like Olive Garden, Red Robin, on the border etc. I can't name them all. Throw in Paneras, Wendy's , McDonald's, Chick Fil A and the food court in the mall.

When I take my daughter to the park, there's a Dominos, Subway right next to it. Then a few miles down the road there is a Taco bells, Chic Fil A, Macdonalds, KFC. Next town over which is 15 minutes drive, there is a blvd of every fast food joint you can think of. It's crazy.

The junk mail we get is coupons to fast food places. I had never seen this in Boston and some of these places are not up there. This city is supposed to be small but it surprises me. The other day I drove out to a town you'd expect to be rural but Lo and behold it was so busy with tons of restaurants and fast food. There is no shortage of places to eat no matter where you are. It's like they have a code to throw in these joints even in the suburbs. They even have restaurant week downtown. And every church usually has a barbecue or fish fry for the public.

Oh the amount of junk food places is crazy. I pass 2 edos, 2 subways, 2 mcdonalds, burger king, dq, mucho burrito, extreme pita, a&w, canadian pizza, boston pizza, 2 chinese food places, fat burger, pizza hut, all on the way to the grocery store. Those are all off just the top of my head lol. it's crazy!

Bump

I am from New Zealand and have been to the states many times and notice the same thing! Very overweight people everywhere! The sad thing is that its 'got hold of' many children and they grow up not knowing any difference. I think the GIANT everything and processed rubbish food has everything to with it. Our bodies simply do not need it and the fizzy drinks are half a days calories! Nothing wrong with eating/drinking junk every now and then but its the size of everything. It will never change unless the education in schools and homes improves. Parents and teachers need to lead by example! I hope a change is made soon for the children's sake.

We moved from Boston to Charlotte 3 yrs ago. The number of fast food places in this place is crazy!! Outside the apartments where we first stayed, these are the places I can list right away: Dominos, Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, Bugerking, One Chinese buffet, Two Chinese takeaway places, Hungry Howes, Wings, Red robin, a Mexican place. Across the road there was Macdonalds, Applebee's, Ihop, Paneras, Arby's, Chiptoles, Chick Fil A, O'Charley's,. On the other side was Bojangles. Driving down the other way less than a mile was Jack in a box, Cookout, Sonics, which brings you right into another plaza full of restaurants like Fridays etc. There is a pandas another Chick Fil A, Macdonalds, Starbucks . Across this plaza there is a Quiznos, Chinese food, that place that sells pizza for five bucks and other places. The smell of fried food was nauseating and stagnant in the air.

We moved into our house to a suburb area where you'd expect some quiet and not a lot of fast food. Wrong! On my way to the grocery store less than two miles I pass a Sonics, Then outside the grocery store is a Bojangles, Wendy's, Pizza Hut. Across the street is Subway, Dominos, Chic Fil A, Macdonald. Oh, and a Chinese buffet and Mexican restaurants are next to the grocery store.

Now lets drive down to the Mall area by Target which is like 3 miles from the grocery store. You are right in the middle of a bunch of restaurants like Olive Garden, Red Robin, on the border etc. I can't name them all. Throw in Paneras, Wendy's , McDonald's, Chick Fil A and the food court in the mall.

When I take my daughter to the park, there's a Dominos, Subway right next to it. Then a few miles down the road there is a Taco bells, Chic Fil A, Macdonalds, KFC. Next town over which is 15 minutes drive, there is a blvd of every fast food joint you can think of. It's crazy.

The junk mail we get is coupons to fast food places. I had never seen this in Boston and some of these places are not up there. This city is supposed to be small but it surprises me. The other day I drove out to a town you'd expect to be rural but Lo and behold it was so busy with tons of restaurants and fast food. There is no shortage of places to eat no matter where you are. It's like they have a code to throw in these joints even in the suburbs. They even have restaurant week downtown. And every church usually has a barbecue or fish fry for the public.

Oh the amount of junk food places is crazy. I pass 2 edos, 2 subways, 2 mcdonalds, burger king, dq, mucho burrito, extreme pita, a&w, canadian pizza, boston pizza, 2 chinese food places, fat burger, pizza hut, all on the way to the grocery store. Those are all off just the top of my head lol. it's crazy!

Yep--it does seem that we have never before had such easy access to calories. Those of our ancestors who had to work very hard to get enough calories to avoid starvation would be agog at the plentiful bounty that is set before all of us today.

Wow...this is too deep what you've all said, and especially about our ancestors who had to work VERY hard to get enough cals--something I never considered and for me to think about for sure!

Yes, you don't have to go very far back into history to note the gnawing hunger that was a regular part of the life of the average person in urban areas (and in rural areas during times of crop failures), and that it was especially the lot of children. The writings of Charles ****ens presents a fairly bleak picture of 19th century England and the struggles of the average citizen to live a life of dignity. More than a talented writer, he was a social critic of his times and had thinly veiled disgust for the stinginess of many in the privileged classes. This comes through strongly in his classic work, "A Christmas Carol". His own life had been marked by dire poverty when his father was cast into debtor's prison and Charles was forced to go to work in a factory at the tender age of eleven to help support the family. The cruel and exhausting conditions there (he worked six ten-hour days per week) left an indelible mark on him and his writings.

It was a bit better in the U.S., largely because we did not yet have a private central bank run by the privileged elite (such as those who ruled and robbed Europe in those days). We also had the advantage of a tremendous food bounty and Americans saw this as God "shedding His grace" on this continent. What is interesting about that period is that the U.S. was on the ascendancy much the same as China is today. Cheap food exports from the U.S. to Europe drove European farmers from their land and sent many of them to settle here, in the great waves of immigration that characterized the tumultuous decades of the 19th century. Immigrants believed that the streets here were literally "paved with gold" as they escaped cruel oppression and poverty. Because we did not have a class system here, they knew that they could eat reasonably well IF they worked hard---which they were determined to do. They would be amazed to see our lives.