Have you seen FED UP - the documentary?
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I work in a Wellness Facility and many and of the doctors, nurses and other employees take advantage of the gym here because of the the location on site (with the hospital) and an incentives program. Every year we go out and talk to departments on balancing their workloads, home time and ME time. It's been doing great for the last 8 years. So much so that Stanford Medical is now partnered with us.Maybe it's time to think COMPLETELY out of the box?
IncentiveThe only thing that works to motivate the human being and corporations to change something is incentive. Away with the scare-tactics and educational down the drain leaflets. The most powerful tool I use when I need to change a behavior I know is bad, is to focus on what I will win by changing. I think most of us are this way, cause there's an inherent conservatism "why change what's working" attitude.
As long as people don't instantly and miraculously gain the box of cookies on their butt after swallowing, making millions of people change their mind is impossible. To my mind there is no doubt that orange is not the new "black", obesity is. (not trying to offend anyone). When I grew up I knew only one person who was morbidly obese. Where I live the general population used to skinny. Now, I can't go anywhere on a daily basis without seeing someone in the street who clearly is so heavy, they have a hard time walking. It's hard for them.
Win money loosing weight. So what do I propose? Make it profitable to be within normal weight. Yes, this is a madwoman's ranting thoughts. But it struck me after reading this long and very heated thread yesterday. None of you were discussing the gravity of the situation. Our governments, which are already in deficit, will possibly go bankrupt if the numbers of obesity related diseases keeps growing at the present rate. Already you are asked by the insurance companies if you're a smoker or other lifestyle factors. It's very touchy and I think many will be mad at me.
Giving people real money benefit to stay within normal weight range. Give them a really good reason to NOT overeat. They will educate themselves to get that extra money. They will demand true "diet" products that WORK in their supermarkets. They will demand accountability from the food industry, simply by refusing to buy foods that doesn't work.
How would this economical gift be given and what are the rules, I don't know. But I would think it should be an annual or bi-annual affair. A weigh-in at a doctor's office maybe? Maybe insurance companies will start to give lower price for their services if someone is not obese? I would think that a lot of people wouldn't mind paying less to the insurance company if that was an option . Maybe the government should start giving a substantial sum of money to people who are within healthy weight ranges? That money would be spent on health care anyway...
I know, there are a lot of issues with these ideas. And I'm not trying to demonize fat people. I only wanted to make it more appealing to loose weight. Make it a positive choice. We all know how hard it is to change to a slimmer lifestyle. There isn't a day in the forums where there's a thread about someone not loosing weight and the reply is: "do you weigh everything you eat?" You need to REALLY want it, we all know that.
Ok, now I aired some thoughts...shoot me down, lol.
Edit: If there is a medical condition that changes the game. I'm only talking about overeating as a lifestyle choice. Added formatting for easier read.
A lot of companies are doing incentive-based fitness programs for their employees. Walgreens and perhaps some other corporations give rewards to customers for things like reaching step goals. I think incentives is a very positive and realistic way to go towards combating obesity.
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Several pages ago, someone (can't remember who it was) posted a link suggesting that the US does not have the highest sugar consumption in the world. That is technically accurate but when you combine sugar + HFCS, we are the clear winners. Since sucrose and HFCS are, for all intents and purposes, equivalent, here in the US we DO have the highest intake in the world. Yay. We win.
ETA: OK, clearly I'm doing something wrong but this cuts off the far right portion of the figure, which includes the US among other countries. Here's the original link: http://tinyurl.com/n9vdn7g0 -
Since sucrose and HFCS are, for all intents and purposes, equivalent, here in the US we DO have the highest intake in the world. Yay. We win.
By 50 calories a day. Over Brasil, which has less than half the obesity rate of the US. If you want to make the case that 50 extra calories of sweeteners makes that big a difference in obesity, I'm all ears...
it seems pretty clear there is something more fundamental going on here, and it's probably overall caloric intake. Oh, look... Braizilians consume on average 300+ calories a day less than Americans....I'm shocked to discover that, just shocked...0 -
That was me. Now if the results are that little in difference , then all the other countries with high sugar consumption should be at least 3/4 obese. But they're not.Several pages ago, someone (can't remember who it was) posted a link suggesting that the US does not have the highest sugar consumption in the world. That is technically accurate but when you combine sugar + HFCS, we are the clear winners. Since sucrose and HFCS are, for all intents and purposes, equivalent, here in the US we DO have the highest intake in the world. Yay. We win.
ETA: OK, clearly I'm doing something wrong but this cuts off the far right portion of the figure, which includes the US among other countries. Here's the original link: http://tinyurl.com/n9vdn7g
People who are fixated on sugar being the cause of obesity need to look just beyond it. People here in the US eat a lot of fried foods, foods cooked in heavy oils, consume huge amounts of dressing, etc. and fat calories are higher per gram than carbs are. But I digress. I'll probably never convince those that believe sugar is the main culprit for our weight issues. Hopefully someone else who's actually trying to learn will find out it's more about OVER CONSUMPTION being the reason for obesity.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
For those that say they don't need the government, good for you! But the government has absolutely had an impact on what is available to eat and what our perceptions of "healthy" is. Typical American idealism that you can live on your own island and there is no influence around you and everyone has 'equal opportunity'. Blah blah blah. But you probably work out like crazy, feel starved on your low calorie diet when you need to lose weight because you simply believe that a calorie is just energy and it doesn't come from a food source that has biochemical impact on your body -- can give satiety or not, impact a hormone, improve performance. Calorie in calorie out end of story?
Keep drinking that Kool-Aid but there are 8 year old kids with allowance money trying to decide between the blue or red Slushie and it's "fine" because the FDA approved the red dye, the government subsidized the corn that made the HFCS that's perfectly safe because it's low fat.
You can't trust the government or big corp because they are often one and the same when it comes to food politics.
YES! All of this!0 -
- From 1977 to 2000 it's estimated Americans have doubled their intake of sugar.
In the 19th century, US sugar consumption doubled....three times. Meaning it increased 8-fold, or four times as much as a mere "doubling".
During this explosion in sugar consumption, US life expectancy increased by about 20 years.
The only reasonable conclusion, then, is that sugar is insanely healthy for you.
I like you.0 -
Let's see.
Highest rates of obesity: USA. This means it's the highest in sugar consumption right? Wrong.
Switzerland has the highest sugar consumption in the world, about 1.5 that of US
Switzerland also has one of the lowest obesity rates.
Now diabetes. USA or Switzerland must take the cake right?
Wrong. USA ranks 29, and Switzerland ranks 63.
Sources:
Sugar consumption: http://www.helgilibrary.com/indicators/index/sugar-consumption-per-capita
Obesity: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Health/Obesity
Diabetes: http://www.allcountries.org/ranks/diabetes_prevalence_country_ranks.html
Obesity is a multi layered issues. You can't blame it on a single thing, be it sugar, fat, carbs, HFCS, MSG, or whatever you feel like pinning it on. It has to do with culture and how that culture formed portions, types of food, and activity level.0 -
For those that say they don't need the government, good for you! But the government has absolutely had an impact on what is available to eat and what our perceptions of "healthy" is. Typical American idealism that you can live on your own island and there is no influence around you and everyone has 'equal opportunity'. Blah blah blah. But you probably work out like crazy, feel starved on your low calorie diet when you need to lose weight because you simply believe that a calorie is just energy and it doesn't come from a food source that has biochemical impact on your body -- can give satiety or not, impact a hormone, improve performance. Calorie in calorie out end of story?
Keep drinking that Kool-Aid but there are 8 year old kids with allowance money trying to decide between the blue or red Slushie and it's "fine" because the FDA approved the red dye, the government subsidized the corn that made the HFCS that's perfectly safe because it's low fat.
You can't trust the government or big corp because they are often one and the same when it comes to food politics.
YES! All of this!
Agreed. Well said0 -
Funny how the faceless, no ticker ones agree with the most nonsense.For those that say they don't need the government, good for you! But the government has absolutely had an impact on what is available to eat and what our perceptions of "healthy" is. Typical American idealism that you can live on your own island and there is no influence around you and everyone has 'equal opportunity'. Blah blah blah. But you probably work out like crazy, feel starved on your low calorie diet when you need to lose weight because you simply believe that a calorie is just energy and it doesn't come from a food source that has biochemical impact on your body -- can give satiety or not, impact a hormone, improve performance. Calorie in calorie out end of story?
Keep drinking that Kool-Aid but there are 8 year old kids with allowance money trying to decide between the blue or red Slushie and it's "fine" because the FDA approved the red dye, the government subsidized the corn that made the HFCS that's perfectly safe because it's low fat.
You can't trust the government or big corp because they are often one and the same when it comes to food politics.
YES! All of this!
Agreed. Well said0 -
That was me. Now if the results are that little in difference , then all the other countries with high sugar consumption should be at least 3/4 obese. But they're not.Several pages ago, someone (can't remember who it was) posted a link suggesting that the US does not have the highest sugar consumption in the world. That is technically accurate but when you combine sugar + HFCS, we are the clear winners. Since sucrose and HFCS are, for all intents and purposes, equivalent, here in the US we DO have the highest intake in the world. Yay. We win.
ETA: OK, clearly I'm doing something wrong but this cuts off the far right portion of the figure, which includes the US among other countries. Here's the original link: http://tinyurl.com/n9vdn7g
People who are fixated on sugar being the cause of obesity need to look just beyond it. People here in the US eat a lot of fried foods, foods cooked in heavy oils, consume huge amounts of dressing, etc. and fat calories are higher per gram than carbs are. But I digress. I'll probably never convince those that believe sugar is the main culprit for our weight issues. Hopefully someone else who's actually trying to learn will find out it's more about OVER CONSUMPTION being the reason for obesity.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Well, to be fair, many of those countries are also in serious trouble. Childhood rates of obesity in Brazil are staggering. This report (http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/may/19/brazil-obesity-nutrition-malnutrition) claims half the county is overweight and a third of young children are overweight in a place where hunger was the main thrust of public nutrition campaigns just a few years ago. And Malaysia has had an explosion of diabetes in recent years.0 -
When countries become more industrialized and food is much more affordable and available, weight goes up. It really doesn't matter what country this happens in. When availability happens for just about anything, usage increases. And when it comes to food, people don't really analyze whether or not "less" is better for them. Instinctively we are a society of wanting "more" whether it comes to money, food, land, cars, clothing, etc. It's just our nature.
That was me. Now if the results are that little in difference , then all the other countries with high sugar consumption should be at least 3/4 obese. But they're not.Several pages ago, someone (can't remember who it was) posted a link suggesting that the US does not have the highest sugar consumption in the world. That is technically accurate but when you combine sugar + HFCS, we are the clear winners. Since sucrose and HFCS are, for all intents and purposes, equivalent, here in the US we DO have the highest intake in the world. Yay. We win.
ETA: OK, clearly I'm doing something wrong but this cuts off the far right portion of the figure, which includes the US among other countries. Here's the original link: http://tinyurl.com/n9vdn7g
People who are fixated on sugar being the cause of obesity need to look just beyond it. People here in the US eat a lot of fried foods, foods cooked in heavy oils, consume huge amounts of dressing, etc. and fat calories are higher per gram than carbs are. But I digress. I'll probably never convince those that believe sugar is the main culprit for our weight issues. Hopefully someone else who's actually trying to learn will find out it's more about OVER CONSUMPTION being the reason for obesity.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Well, to be fair, many of those countries are also in serious trouble. Childhood rates of obesity in Brazil are staggering. This report (http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/may/19/brazil-obesity-nutrition-malnutrition) claims half the county is overweight and a third of young children are overweight in a place where hunger was the main thrust of public nutrition campaigns just a few years ago. And Malaysia has had an explosion of diabetes in recent years.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
I watched it again yesterday.0
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Americans are addicted to salt and sugar!!! It's getting worse everyday!!0
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I don't buy that the corporation has no culpability when they are willingly presenting and advertising food to consumers they know is addictive and not healthy. This idea that we are all so educated, intelligent and able to make good decisions on our food is just not realistic. Yes, we need to make good choices, but the food industry does everything in its power, including manipulating and funding studies that are pro-sugar and suppressing science that goes against it. The consumer is confused because the mega-corporations have done a marketing job so slick that the average person has no idea they are choosing bad when they pick most of these items off the shelf.
I hope more people stand up for the consumer!!
I'm going to tell hubby that I'm not responsible for being addicted to my designer clothing, shoes and handbags. It's not my fault that the dresses make me like a million bucks, shoes are so comfortable yet chic-and the handbags hold not only my tablet, glasses and necessaries comfortably and stylishly... It's the magazines, tv shows, runways, and dept store's fault. They are so slick, that me-as an average person-cannot tell the difference when I pick these items over Walmart's goods.
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I just watched this over the weekend and I found the amount of fast food that is served for school lunches shocking. It is making me think more about what I eat and drink since watching it.0
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This doesn't explain a whole host of observations, like:
- within a given population, poor people are the fattest
- the co-existence of malnutrition and obesity in poor places
- traditional societies who had no scarcity of food and still had lean bodies (eg, Pima prior to the advent of processed carbohydrates)
Anyway, I see your mind is made up. That's cool. Mine is too.0 -
So if we're speaking of the US and the Southern and Midwestern states, I see the correlation. But objectively looking at it, the food they serve in those areas are high calorie, with HUGE portions and those states are very poor when it comes to overall physical activity (per person) versus other states. If we're talking populations in general (worldwide), poor areas aren't likely to have obese people. It's the richer ones. Look at some of the middle east countries obesity rates vs the US.This doesn't explain a whole host of observations, like:
- within a given population, poor people are the fattest
In the US yes. But there is lots of malnutrition going on with normal weight people in our society. Go to a college and you'll see.- the co-existence of malnutrition and obesity in poor places
I will have to admit that the introduction of American fast food has a direct link to the rise of obesity around the world. In a world now where people are more able to actually work, time gets taken away and the less one has to prep a meal, time is saved for relaxation and family. Unfortunately, these countries didn't have to count calories before and now with high calorie foods that are easy access to them and taste good, they are just literally eating up to obesity levels.- traditional societies who had no scarcity of food and still had lean bodies (eg, Pima prior to the advent of processed carbohydrates)
But again, corporations aren't concerned about that. Profit for a corporation will always supercede what's right for the people. That's why it's important for one to take their own responsibility for what they eat.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Nope.0
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