This gallery explains why millions of Americans are obese…

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  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Meh blurry pictures make people fat?

    I'd say lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle definitely add to it. We eat more and move less. Not that complicated

    No, 75-80% of your weight maintenance is diet, not exercise. If you don't exercise a moment in your life, yet eat at a caloric break even or deficit, you will never get fat.

    And I apologize to everyone who was confused by the low quality pics of food - but if you can't understand the point without HD pics of pizza and coffee cups, there really isn't much hope...
    You're missing the point. Modern technological advancements have seriously reduced human activity. We used to burn far more calories per day than we do today on average, yet we aren't eating less to accommodate that. If you eat and burn 2500 calories a day every day, you will maintain weight. If you suddenly start burning only 2000 calories per day, but continue eating the 2500 calories per day you always have, you will gain weight. As little as 100 years ago, over 90% of Americans were farmers. Today, it's 2% of Americans. 50 years ago, manufacturing jobs were hugely labor intensive. Today, machines handle most of the work, and workers sit at a desk looking at a computer screen. 25 years ago, I walked 2 miles to school every day. Today, my daughter's school insists on her being bussed the 0.75 mile to school do to "safety concerns." We as a society have become more and more sedentary compared to the past, and that IS a huge reason why we are gaining weight, because the human body is built for activity, and built to store energy for use.

    And again, the "point" of the picture is misleading at best, downright fallacious at worst. As has been pointed out many times already, both "portion sizes" on display were for sale 20 years ago, and are both still for sale today.
  • cychogal
    cychogal Posts: 39 Member
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    I agree that the perception of what is a 'normal' serving size has changed. If you do eat out a lot, at a sit down restaurant, you get used to seeing and consuming that much food, then you start to want that much at every meal. Same with fast food. If you order the 'super' ir 'biggie' all the time, then that is what your normal serving size becomes.
    I would think that ordering something that is 'large, super, or biggie' , might give a you a clue that this is more than what the average person needs to eat. Maybe instead of having 'small' options, they should call them something else. Maybe 'normal, or average'. I don't know. Just throwing that out there.

    I don't feel like the OP was making any kind of statement about 'clean eating'. But since there have been a lot of replies about this, I'm going to add my 2 cents.
    I am relieved that there seem to be so many people who are tired of hearing about 'clean eating 'as I am. I have a friend who is into it, and has great results, but I feel so guilty when I see her facebook status's and pictures about what she's eating. She is trying to be encouraging to everyone, but I can't help but roll my eyes a bit. She does it, and loves it, and it works for her -- so good for her. But it's not for everyone. And I love and eat all the foods that are 'dirty' I guess. I also eat plenty of fruits and veggies. But I would be miserable if I never ate these foods that get so vilified. I know they are not health food, but they are delicious and wonderful and meant to be enjoyed -- in moderation of course. I don't like the idea of a 'cheat day', because to me, calling it a cheat day would take the fun out of it. There would still be guilt and shame for eating pizza or whatever.

    I know that for me, I need to be able to eat a healthy balanced diet. A diet that still inclues pizza, or burgers and fries, on occasion. Not as cheating, but just because I really don't want to think of any food as evil, bad, or 'dirty'. So that is all I strive for. With varying success. But every one of us needs to find our own way and do what works for us. Certain facts can't be avoided. You have to burn more than you consume. And you have to find some way to do it, that doesn't leave you feeling deprived, guilty, or ashamed.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    25 years ago, I walked 2 miles to school every day. Today, my daughter's school insists on her being bussed the 0.75 mile to school do to "safety concerns."

    That is just ridiculous.
  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
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    You're missing the point. Modern technological advancements have seriously reduced human activity. We used to burn far more calories per day than we do today on average, yet we aren't eating less to accommodate that. If you eat and burn 2500 calories a day every day, you will maintain weight. If you suddenly start burning only 2000 calories per day, but continue eating the 2500 calories per day you always have, you will gain weight. As little as 100 years ago, over 90% of Americans were farmers. Today, it's 2% of Americans. 50 years ago, manufacturing jobs were hugely labor intensive. Today, machines handle most of the work, and workers sit at a desk looking at a computer screen. 25 years ago, I walked 2 miles to school every day. Today, my daughter's school insists on her being bussed the 0.75 mile to school do to "safety concerns." We as a society have become more and more sedentary compared to the past, and that IS a huge reason why we are gaining weight, because the human body is built for activity, and built to store energy for use.

    And again, the "point" of the picture is misleading at best, downright fallacious at worst. As has been pointed out many times already, both "portion sizes" on display were for sale 20 years ago, and are both still for sale today.

    I get that being sedentary is a big part of the equation, but overeating is a bigger problem.
    Of course smaller portions are available. Junior items, apples, carrot sticks, salads, garden burgers, etc., are readily available at nearly all fast food restaurants. But people aren’t buying the small menu items, they are buying the larger ones like the ones that are pictured to the right. That is the point of displaying them side by side. I’m not sure I can state that anymore concisely.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    You're missing the point. Modern technological advancements have seriously reduced human activity. We used to burn far more calories per day than we do today on average, yet we aren't eating less to accommodate that. If you eat and burn 2500 calories a day every day, you will maintain weight. If you suddenly start burning only 2000 calories per day, but continue eating the 2500 calories per day you always have, you will gain weight. As little as 100 years ago, over 90% of Americans were farmers. Today, it's 2% of Americans. 50 years ago, manufacturing jobs were hugely labor intensive. Today, machines handle most of the work, and workers sit at a desk looking at a computer screen. 25 years ago, I walked 2 miles to school every day. Today, my daughter's school insists on her being bussed the 0.75 mile to school do to "safety concerns." We as a society have become more and more sedentary compared to the past, and that IS a huge reason why we are gaining weight, because the human body is built for activity, and built to store energy for use.

    And again, the "point" of the picture is misleading at best, downright fallacious at worst. As has been pointed out many times already, both "portion sizes" on display were for sale 20 years ago, and are both still for sale today.

    I get that being sedentary is a big part of the equation, but overeating is a bigger problem.
    Of course smaller portions are available. Junior items, apples, carrot sticks, salads, garden burgers, etc., are readily available at nearly all fast food restaurants. But people aren’t buying the small menu items, they are buying the larger ones like the ones that are pictured to the right. That is the point of displaying them side by side. I’m not sure I can state that anymore concisely.

    Yes, but again, those larger sizes became available for the simple fact that people were just buying 2 or 3 of the smaller sizes before hand. Products are developed as a response to customer demand, not the other way around. People were buying 2 16 oz sodas at a time. Businesses responded by offering a 32 oz soda at a pricepoint lower than buying 2 16 oz sodas as a way of drawing in business. Other companies follow suit. That's how business works in a capitalist society.

    Are we eating more calories than we were 40 years ago? According to empirical data from the USDA, yes. However, it's a very gradual increase, or about 400-500 calories per day (as of 2012, compared to 1970.) Or, about an extra 10-12 calories a day per year. That's about the equivalent of putting an extra teaspoon of sugar in your coffee every morning.

    EDIT - I feel my explanation may not be clear. I'll put it this way. A (hypothetical) person drank a cup of coffee in 1970 with 1 teaspoon of sugar in it, every day. Today, they drink their daily cup of coffee with 2 teaspoons of sugar in it. That's the entire difference in calorie consumption over the last 40 years, and calorie consumption is actually on the decline over the last few years.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    25 years ago, I walked 2 miles to school every day. Today, my daughter's school insists on her being bussed the 0.75 mile to school do to "safety concerns."

    That is just ridiculous.
    As a teacher I agree. And I find it quite hard to believe, and entirely I enforceable.
    Where does this kid live?
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    But people aren’t buying the small menu items, they are buying the larger ones like the ones that are pictured to the right.

    If people weren't buying the small menu items, they wouldn't stilll be on the menu.

    Tons of people buy the small portions - and tons more should.
  • candidcamster
    candidcamster Posts: 44 Member
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    Darn MFP needs a like button for posts, I love some of these responses. I have to say that chart is out of date, it was more like 30 years ago than 20, I remember the food 20 years ago (yep I'm old) and it was as big if not bigger than it is now. Remember supersizing @ Mickey D's? Anyhow Portion control is a HUGE part of the problem, but it is also the junk in the food we ate compared what was in it 30 years ago, not so much high fructose corn syrup and more sugar.
  • Deaconis
    Deaconis Posts: 8
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    I haven't read all of these posts but I've skimmed through them and really LOL'd at some of them :tongue:

    When I was a kid, my mom would bring home one 8 pack of RC Cola bottles (I think they were 16 oz?) a week on her grocery shopping trip. We didn't dream of popping open an entire bottle for ourselves, we were made to grab glasses and ice and we had to share it hehe We played outside and ran and sweat so much that in the summer we pretty much smelled like dogs :laugh: I was fortunate that I was pretty fit when I was a kid. I started my weight gain in the 80s... I think it was a combination of the growing sizes of soft drinks and spandex pants...at least when I put on a few pounds in jeans I knew immediately... :sad: Spandex is evil.
  • uconnwinsnc
    uconnwinsnc Posts: 1,054 Member
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    Anything that you eat, unless you are kidnapped or institutionalized, is your own responsibility.

    I think that the increased portion phenomenon of the past 20 - 30 years is driven primarily by the increased industrialization of our food supply that resulted in the delegation of a lot of our food portioning to outside of the household, and by 2 big elements in America's culture: 1) our relentless pursuit of getting more for our money and 2) our aversion to wasting food. We want to get more for our money so we buy bigger portions – we hate to waste food, so we eat all of it.


    We don't hate wasting food. 40% of all food produced is never eaten in the US and just gets thrown away. Surprising, considering 1 in 3 children do not get enough food every day. We have a problem that goes too deep to explain in a paragraph on a message board.

    40% ???

    i am skeptical of that assertion. as we all well know, 68.4% of all statistics on the internet are made up on the spot.

    Unfortunately not. 40% of all food is thrown away before it can even reach the consumers hands. Don't even get me started about how much clean, drinking water we waste every year. We use 2.5 BILLION gallons of clean water on golf courses alone PER DAY in the world. That is enough water to support 4 billion people who do not have enough water to survive.

    We are wasting our limited resources on this planet. It really is pathetic.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Anything that you eat, unless you are kidnapped or institutionalized, is your own responsibility.

    I think that the increased portion phenomenon of the past 20 - 30 years is driven primarily by the increased industrialization of our food supply that resulted in the delegation of a lot of our food portioning to outside of the household, and by 2 big elements in America's culture: 1) our relentless pursuit of getting more for our money and 2) our aversion to wasting food. We want to get more for our money so we buy bigger portions – we hate to waste food, so we eat all of it.


    We don't hate wasting food. 40% of all food produced is never eaten in the US and just gets thrown away. Surprising, considering 1 in 3 children do not get enough food every day. We have a problem that goes too deep to explain in a paragraph on a message board.

    40% ???

    i am skeptical of that assertion. as we all well know, 68.4% of all statistics on the internet are made up on the spot.

    Unfortunately not. 40% of all food is thrown away before it can even reach the consumers hands. Don't even get me started about how much clean, drinking water we waste every year. We use 2.5 BILLION gallons of clean water on golf courses alone PER DAY in the world. That is enough water to support 4 billion people who do not have enough water to survive.

    We are wasting our limited resources on this planet. It really is pathetic.

    It's impossible to actually "waste" water. Well, I guess you could ship loads of it to outer space. But other than that, water doesn't just disappear once you've applied it to grass. Now a case could be made for "wasting" potable water in various instances, but the cool part is that even the nastiest water can be made potable.


    Also, I Googled "4 million people not enough water" and found all sorts of contradictory links. Smells like propaganda.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Also, the trouble is not with a lack of clean water, but a lack of clean water in the right places.
    I suspect it would be complete lunacy to try and the water used in US golf courses to the majority of the places that need it.

    The reason for a lack of clean water is a lack of wealth, independant of how well a golf course is kept fresh, or not.

    There may be MORE of an argument for that around tourist courses in the south of Spain, where their use of water may be driving up prices for locals.

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