Europe vs US
Replies
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Ok so let's keep in mind it's been 4 years since I went back to France but I grew up there...AmeliaElena wrote: »The food is different. So many carbs on store shelves in the US. Never seen as much space for candy anywhere else but the US. I'll be in the US six months, will try to remind myself to go into the stores as little as possible.
Not really. The main differences with supermarkets in the US vs France is much bigger selections of cereal and chips/snacks here. Much bigger selection of puddings, yogurts, and cheese over there... but a LOT more packaged sweet bread things too (croissants, brioche etc) and cookies. Lots of candy too...I can't say a lot about obesity in Europe vs America; I've spent far more time in America (5+ years) vs. holidays in Europe. It's also been over 5 years since I've been to Europe. But from my recollection of the places I did visit (Greece, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Switzerland, some of them 6 years ago, some of them 20+ years ago), obesity was less of a thing there.
In my more recent visit, I've noticed a few differences: Europe has smaller portion sizes, an emphasis on less "junk food", more emphasis on walking and cycling (particularly in the Netherlands), and a huge emphasis on taking your time to eat. The last one really blows my mind; last Thanksgiving, people slaved for hours over the food, and it was eaten in 15 minutes. Americans seem to eat so fast, it's insane to me. I'm from Asia, and we eat so much slower (as well as have much smaller portion sizes; I still rarely finish a meal).
Much less 'eating on the go' there. My mom's still outraged that we don't all eat together for lunch during the week end - over there every meal is a big affair with at least 3 courses. The difference really is that there are a lot of mom and pop places where you can grab lunch (in normal portions) for the same cost as McDonald's. There are bakeries everywhere and they typically have sandwiches ready too, and as I said above, they don't come with fries. But more walking for sure because towns are smaller and more pedestrian friendly.Plates here are 13" for 1 person. A 13" plate in Europe would be for 2-3 people. Our biggest issue in the US is that EVERYTHING has to be big. Big houses, big yards, big cars, so of course big portions. And it definitely shows.
It only takes eating 100 calories over one's TDEE a day to gain 10lbs a year. And LOTS OF PEOPLE in the US surpass that easily.
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
This... and also, I've heard you guys teach your kids to "finish" their meal and eat everything that's on the plate.. You should never force kids to eat everything that's on their plate. It'll teach them to overeat.
I had to finish my plate when I was a kid too. I think that's really parents-specific.For a lot of Americans it's normal to eat out a couple of times a week. For Europeans (or at least Dutchies like me) it's more a rare treat. You go out and have a nice evening spending a few hours at the restaurant rather than going out to grab a quick bite. The portion sizes are also a lot smaller and fast food is less of a thing. I know when I lived in the US for a few years everyone in my class looked at me weird that my parents cooked dinner almost every night.
Also, for us Dutchies, bikes are everything. We don't have school busses, we bike to school growing up. Afterwards, if we work close-ish to home we bike to work too.
In France actually we ate lunch out every day during the week. Never ever met someone who packed their lunch. Companies typically have a cafeteria (but it's more balanced than here overall) or give you coupons to buy your own food at restaurants in the area. I ate out all the time there. But yeah we typically had dinner at home and never ordered take out (maybe a pizza once in a while).
But yeah, no school buses in the city either - you took public transportation or walked. It does help that there are sidewalks everywhere and no crazy dangerous intersections like here. But it's less spread out too per school district (max I had to walk was 20 minutes).
About portion size though - here you can pack your leftovers. Can't do that in France. So that's actually a pretty good incentive not to overeat in the US, and to overeat there.0 -
Plates here are 13" for 1 person. A 13" plate in Europe would be for 2-3 people. Our biggest issue in the US is that EVERYTHING has to be big. Big houses, big yards, big cars, so of course big portions. And it definitely shows.
It only takes eating 100 calories over one's TDEE a day to gain 10lbs a year. And LOTS OF PEOPLE in the US surpass that easily.
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
This... and also, I've heard you guys teach your kids to "finish" their meal and eat everything that's on the plate.. You should never force kids to eat everything that's on their plate. It'll teach them to overeat.
We teach that because unless you're going to put the leftovers from your plate in the fridge, it's wasteful. Plus a lot of kids take a few bites and say they're done, so it's more wanting your kid to get enough calories so they're not coming up to you 10 minutes after dinner saying they're hungry.
All things considered, perhaps it would be better to be slightly "wasteful", than excessively "waistful".
Plus, parents should then soon learn to put out a smaller serving, and prevent the waste at the subsequent meals.
Doesn't work like that in our house.
Week 1 - Child wolfs down entire meal and proclaims it to be their "favourite meal ever"
Week 2 - After a battle of will child eats one quarter of same meal as week 1 meal.
Week 3 - Parent supplies smaller meal - Child eats hardly any and proclaims it to be their "most hated food" and "I've never liked it" (45 mins later is asking what else they can have to eat.)
Week 4 - Child complains that "we never have xxxx anymore - when you going to make it again"
Week 5 - Goto Week 1.
For us, the issues are that my youngest seems to dislike most protein rich foods and many green vegetables, getting her to eat a balanced diet is tricky. Our eldest, would, if left to her own devices, skip meals but stock up on snacks and it is much harder for us to mitigate this because, at school, she can choose to spend her lunch money on snacks (we get a report of what she buys at school but it's a report of the previous week, so difficult to do much about).
Having said all that, I doubt that US and UK parenting and child behaviors are very different in these respects.2 -
StealthHealth wrote: »Plates here are 13" for 1 person. A 13" plate in Europe would be for 2-3 people. Our biggest issue in the US is that EVERYTHING has to be big. Big houses, big yards, big cars, so of course big portions. And it definitely shows.
It only takes eating 100 calories over one's TDEE a day to gain 10lbs a year. And LOTS OF PEOPLE in the US surpass that easily.
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
This... and also, I've heard you guys teach your kids to "finish" their meal and eat everything that's on the plate.. You should never force kids to eat everything that's on their plate. It'll teach them to overeat.
We teach that because unless you're going to put the leftovers from your plate in the fridge, it's wasteful. Plus a lot of kids take a few bites and say they're done, so it's more wanting your kid to get enough calories so they're not coming up to you 10 minutes after dinner saying they're hungry.
All things considered, perhaps it would be better to be slightly "wasteful", than excessively "waistful".
Plus, parents should then soon learn to put out a smaller serving, and prevent the waste at the subsequent meals.
Doesn't work like that in our house.
Week 1 - Child wolfs down entire meal and proclaims it to be their "favourite meal ever"
Week 2 - After a battle of will child eats one quarter of same meal as week 1 meal.
Week 3 - Parent supplies smaller meal - Child eats hardly any and proclaims it to be their "most hated food" and "I've never liked it" (45 mins later is asking what else they can have to eat.)
Week 4 - Child complains that "we never have xxxx anymore - when you going to make it again"
Week 5 - Goto Week 1.
For us, the issues are that my youngest seems to dislike most protein rich foods and many green vegetables, getting her to eat a balanced diet is tricky. Our eldest, would, if left to her own devices, skip meals but stock up on snacks and it is much harder for us to mitigate this because, at school, she can choose to spend her lunch money on snacks (we get a report of what she buys at school but it's a report of the previous week, so difficult to do much about).
Having said all that, I doubt that US and UK parenting and child behaviors are very different in these respects.
Agreed. I give my kids very small portions, and yes they have to finish their plate (I don't give them things they consistently don't like though but might insist that they eat a bite). Seriously feeding kids is a major PITA and I'd eat boring, bland meals all the time if I had to make something that we all eat. Very aggravating. So sometimes I'll make stew and they can just have the noodles with cheese or I'll make us something nice and they can have a cheese taco or something because I'm just not fighting yet another battle (but all their friends are the same way so it's pretty much a common thing, lol).
My son would be the same way though - fill up on snacks (probably pretzels or goldfish) and skip dinner. I pack lunch though so they at least get some fruit.
The only thing that I can think of that would make a difference really is the overall quality of meals in some countries. Once again, I only know about France and that was decades ago, but we had balanced meals served at school (nobody packed lunch, but you could go home for lunch). Meat, veggies, a starch. Had to learn pretty early to eat what's served or be hungry (and no snack until 4.30pm after school). Then balanced meals at dinner too... no take out, no chicken nuggets, no fried stuff, I think the extent of the processed non snack food stuff I ate growing up was box mashed potatoes, pasta and tomato sauce, and canned veggies (never again). Still hated my mom's cooking though.
I have to admit that ALL the kids I know here are picky, yet I didn't know any that was when I was growing up, but I'm quite sure it's more a generation thing than a country thing (my French sister's ex boyfriend's kids are very picky too apparently).0 -
Plates here are 13" for 1 person. A 13" plate in Europe would be for 2-3 people. Our biggest issue in the US is that EVERYTHING has to be big. Big houses, big yards, big cars, so of course big portions. And it definitely shows.
It only takes eating 100 calories over one's TDEE a day to gain 10lbs a year. And LOTS OF PEOPLE in the US surpass that easily.
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
This... and also, I've heard you guys teach your kids to "finish" their meal and eat everything that's on the plate.. You should never force kids to eat everything that's on their plate. It'll teach them to overeat.
We teach that because unless you're going to put the leftovers from your plate in the fridge, it's wasteful. Plus a lot of kids take a few bites and say they're done, so it's more wanting your kid to get enough calories so they're not coming up to you 10 minutes after dinner saying they're hungry.
I got brought up having to finish my plate too in The Netherlands, as did everyone else my age. I don't see the problem with that because the point was to get us to eat enough of everything: veggies, lean proteins and carbs. My parents never made us eat too much food, but in turn made sure we didn't whine for dessert or candy 1 hour after dinner because we didn't want to eat the healthy veggies.
I do however see a problem with this same tactic when you're eating out, because those portions (specially in the States) are way to big, even the kids meals.
Oh there's no way. Always have leftovers after going out.1 -
Another factor: It's much harder for overweight people to fit into small places in countries (and cities) whose showers, restaurants, toilets, public transportation, etc. aren't designed for large people. I think this has an impact. Not every place is designed to accommodate overweight people and monster trucks.3
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peppermintpudgy wrote: »Another factor: It's much harder for overweight people to fit into small places in countries (and cities) whose showers, restaurants, toilets, public transportation, etc. aren't designed for large people. I think this has an impact. Not every place is designed to accommodate overweight people and monster trucks.
And good luck finding plus size clothing in Asia too.. Heck I'm not even sure that most European countries have them. My mom's boyfriend (who's obese and French, by the way) had to buy a belt in the US.
Although to be fair, I don't remember public places being that much smaller over there... or public transportation for that matter.0 -
peppermintpudgy wrote: »Another factor: It's much harder for overweight people to fit into small places in countries (and cities) whose showers, restaurants, toilets, public transportation, etc. aren't designed for large people. I think this has an impact. Not every place is designed to accommodate overweight people and monster trucks.
And good luck finding plus size clothing in Asia too.. Heck I'm not even sure that most European countries have them. My mom's boyfriend (who's obese and French, by the way) had to buy a belt in the US.
Although to be fair, I don't remember public places being that much smaller over there... or public transportation for that matter.
Just some impressions from Rome, Florence, Venice, Istanbul, Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona. No
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The sizes of clothing are smaller....Very smaller.0
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paleolithique wrote: »The sizes of clothing are smaller....Very smaller.
Even at my smallest I was a large there. Here I'm small.
They don't have XSmall either.1 -
As many said portion size is a big point. When I was with my father in New York we ordered a normal pizza for the two of us and still left some over. My father is a tall guy but that pizza was enormous. That kind of pizza equates more to a family sized pizza here which you eat with two adults and 1-2 children.
Another thing I noticed is the amount of sugar in many things. Most of the sugary things I bought in the US or of imported stuff were almost unbearable sweet to me.0 -
Plates here are 13" for 1 person. A 13" plate in Europe would be for 2-3 people. Our biggest issue in the US is that EVERYTHING has to be big. Big houses, big yards, big cars, so of course big portions. And it definitely shows.
It only takes eating 100 calories over one's TDEE a day to gain 10lbs a year. And LOTS OF PEOPLE in the US surpass that easily.
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
This... and also, I've heard you guys teach your kids to "finish" their meal and eat everything that's on the plate.. You should never force kids to eat everything that's on their plate. It'll teach them to overeat.
My Mother and older sister were like that, granted their portions weren't jumbo and as a child/young teen I was very small. Mom grew up during a time when food wasn't readily available and you had to grow vegetables you wanted still in the backyard and it was just too precious to leave "anything wasted" on your plate. I guess that was a hard habit to break. Mom is over 72 now and she will peck at her plate and then throw a ton of food away >.<0 -
The United States has the best Mexican food.
oh..
wait.1 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »There's also a sense of anti-Americanism in Europe, which propagates the thought that Americans are fat, which trickles down back to us.
But the amount of athletes, jocks, crossfitters and fitness nuts is the highest in the US.
Also Big Food is an economic phenomenon which was able to prosper in the US. Other economies are a little less advanced and the infrastructure was never there to foster the fast food culture, which put many American food corps on the map, not just here but the rest of the world. So it's always a case of economics because the American economy was the forerunner of all economies on how to make money and use the medium sized population we have (compared to China or India) to churn billions with clever marketing.
Like with any thriving economy comes decadence and over-indulgence. That should put the whole perspective in place. Just saying Americans are fatter because of culture and food habits is an ignorant statement. Ours is (or at least was) a very advanced economy which made this happen. It's a question of "luxury" - even the low income hourly wage individual can attain the lifestyle of a basic car and a drive through meal. That level of luxury does not percolate down that far in other economies.
And luckily this advanced economy can also afford to pay for all the health problems coming from over-indulgence.1 -
peppermintpudgy wrote: »Another factor: It's much harder for overweight people to fit into small places in countries (and cities) whose showers, restaurants, toilets, public transportation, etc. aren't designed for large people. I think this has an impact. Not every place is designed to accommodate overweight people and monster trucks.
This, although things are changing a bit. I've seen a few Hummers parked on the streets in Rome, and now and again a stretch limo--only on the main streets, the small, cobbled side streets would be interesting to manuover. We do see very few obese people on the streets for the reasons mentioned. Once you make it easier for them to exist--voila'.1 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »Big pharma is thriving like nowhere else in the world. Even in Donald Trump times. That is the sign of an advanced economy. The issue is we are in an ongoing global credit crunch that is going to last another 20-30 years because of too much free market policies which caused a cooling effect.
Every country has healthcare issues. It's another misconception that foreign and European economies have better healthcare. The US healthcare system is a little effed up but I'd rather my taxes are at human level than being nursed back to good health by a nanny state. Canada - my brother got his bonus and lost about 48% in tax this month. And his salary, he claims he pays about 45% in tax. If I pay that much in tax - I'll lose my mind.
The big difference is that, in France at least, nobody makes profit from drugs. You don't have people dying/going bankrupt because they can't afford medication.
Also, people who make more money might pay 45% in taxes (definitely wasn't that high in France though), but you can actually live on the minimal wage...
So yeah... don't even get me started on health care (which IMO really doesn't have much of an impact on obesity rates either anyway, because it's actually way more expensive long term to be obese in the US than in most European countries).1 -
It's also true that while we don't have the obesity health care costs, we do have alot of smokers. Unfortunately, alot of young people smoke. So this will continue for a long time.0
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StealthHealth wrote: »Plates here are 13" for 1 person. A 13" plate in Europe would be for 2-3 people. Our biggest issue in the US is that EVERYTHING has to be big. Big houses, big yards, big cars, so of course big portions. And it definitely shows.
It only takes eating 100 calories over one's TDEE a day to gain 10lbs a year. And LOTS OF PEOPLE in the US surpass that easily.
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
This... and also, I've heard you guys teach your kids to "finish" their meal and eat everything that's on the plate.. You should never force kids to eat everything that's on their plate. It'll teach them to overeat.
We teach that because unless you're going to put the leftovers from your plate in the fridge, it's wasteful. Plus a lot of kids take a few bites and say they're done, so it's more wanting your kid to get enough calories so they're not coming up to you 10 minutes after dinner saying they're hungry.
All things considered, perhaps it would be better to be slightly "wasteful", than excessively "waistful".
Plus, parents should then soon learn to put out a smaller serving, and prevent the waste at the subsequent meals.
Doesn't work like that in our house.
Week 1 - Child wolfs down entire meal and proclaims it to be their "favourite meal ever"
Week 2 - After a battle of will child eats one quarter of same meal as week 1 meal.
Week 3 - Parent supplies smaller meal - Child eats hardly any and proclaims it to be their "most hated food" and "I've never liked it" (45 mins later is asking what else they can have to eat.)
Week 4 - Child complains that "we never have xxxx anymore - when you going to make it again"
Week 5 - Goto Week 1.
For us, the issues are that my youngest seems to dislike most protein rich foods and many green vegetables, getting her to eat a balanced diet is tricky. Our eldest, would, if left to her own devices, skip meals but stock up on snacks and it is much harder for us to mitigate this because, at school, she can choose to spend her lunch money on snacks (we get a report of what she buys at school but it's a report of the previous week, so difficult to do much about).
Having said all that, I doubt that US and UK parenting and child behaviors are very different in these respects.
I've lived - and parented - in both countries. My children went through the same cycle you described. But we never overloaded their plates, and we never forced them to clear their plates.
They were only expected to eat all their vegetables, but if they didn't, and if they were "starving" 30 mins later, they had to finish their leftover vegs first, before dessert was a consideration.0 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »There's also a sense of anti-Americanism in Europe, which propagates the thought that Americans are fat, which trickles down back to us.
But the amount of athletes, jocks, crossfitters and fitness nuts is the highest in the US.
Also Big Food is an economic phenomenon which was able to prosper in the US. Other economies are a little less advanced and the infrastructure was never there to foster the fast food culture, which put many American food corps on the map, not just here but the rest of the world. So it's always a case of economics because the American economy was the forerunner of all economies on how to make money and use the medium sized population we have (compared to China or India) to churn billions with clever marketing.
Like with any thriving economy comes decadence and over-indulgence. That should put the whole perspective in place. Just saying Americans are fatter because of culture and food habits is an ignorant statement. Ours is (or at least was) a very advanced economy which made this happen. It's a question of "luxury" - even the low income hourly wage individual can attain the lifestyle of a basic car and a drive through meal. That level of luxury does not percolate down that far in other economies.
Not true. WHO figures (2010 is latest data set for exercise activity) shows that, for example, whilst the Portuguese and British exercise less than Americans, and the Spanish and Italians about the same, the French and Germans exercise more.
http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_InsufficientActivity_Adults_Males_2010.png
http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_InsufficientActivity_Adults_Females_2010.png
http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/physical_activity_text/en/
I've also got some doubts about the idea that Americans are fat being part of an anti-Americanism or indeed coming from Europe and spreading back to the US.
As a Brit my view may be very skewed - Europe is much less homogeneous than most like to think and the UK is something of an outlier with respect to our relationship with the US (not least because of a common language) - but, the views of Americans among the British are heavily shaped by the massive imports of American culture - films, television, music, Internet blogs and sites. Even as an American-o-phile, my 2 weeks per year holiday is nothing compared to that media. A side effect of this is that I would say that the average British person, probably has a better understanding of the political, regional, and cultural variations across the US than they do those of France or Germany.
So, if the British do have a view that Americans are fat, I would hazard a guess that it is because that is the picture that has been presented via US media rather than something that we have concocted and presented back to you.4 -
I think my point has already been made, but Europe is a bloody big continent made up of 51 countries/independent states. An experience in one country is not going to be the same in another one, especially if you take the North/South/East/West cultural differences into account. There's plenty of obesity here, especially once you go into the more developed/economically well off cities or countries.
The romantic view of 'Europe' as this quiet, lush, culturally homogeneous area peppered with local cuisine and customs and grand ruins and ancient buildings is just as incorrect as the idea of America being solely populated with fat, lazy people with a giant milkshake or full-fat coke in one hand and a burger or a donut covered in bacon in the other
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There is plenty of data out there. According to
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/29-most-obese-countries-in-the-world.html
the US obesity level is 35%, with the UK catching up at nearly 30%.0 -
paleolithique wrote: »The sizes of clothing are smaller....Very smaller.
Even at my smallest I was a large there. Here I'm small.
They don't have XSmall either.
That's not true.. I'm XS in European clothing or 34... You have to know where to look for clothes and it's mainly just the high fashion stores who have them and0 -
For a lot of Americans it's normal to eat out a couple of times a week. For Europeans (or at least Dutchies like me) it's more a rare treat. You go out and have a nice evening spending a few hours at the restaurant rather than going out to grab a quick bite. The portion sizes are also a lot smaller and fast food is less of a thing. I know when I lived in the US for a few years everyone in my class looked at me weird that my parents cooked dinner almost every night.
Also, for us Dutchies, bikes are everything. We don't have school busses, we bike to school growing up. Afterwards, if we work close-ish to home we bike to work too.
In France actually we ate lunch out every day during the week. Never ever met someone who packed their lunch. Companies typically have a cafeteria (but it's more balanced than here overall) or give you coupons to buy your own food at restaurants in the area. I ate out all the time there. But yeah we typically had dinner at home and never ordered take out (maybe a pizza once in a while).
But yeah, no school buses in the city either - you took public transportation or walked. It does help that there are sidewalks everywhere and no crazy dangerous intersections like here. But it's less spread out too per school district (max I had to walk was 20 minutes).
About portion size though - here you can pack your leftovers. Can't do that in France. So that's actually a pretty good incentive not to overeat in the US, and to overeat there.
I guess that really does depend on the country, because here in The Netherlands most people pack their lunch. Sure, some bigger companies have a cafeteria but eating out is not as much a thing. I go for a walk during lunch and I see tons of people walking around having a pre-packed sandwich or something.
And the whole biking thing is only possible because of our road ifrastructure. We have special bike lanes so it's very safe. I know when I lived in the US there was no way I could bike safely anywhere.
And sure you can pack your leftovers here. I know it's not as much a custom here as it is in the US, they won't ask you for it if you haven't finished your plate, but if you ask they'll always do it for you.0 -
In France it all starts from early childhood. School kids do not bring a lunch from home so most kids eat a 3 or 4 course balance meal in the school canteen.
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Cutaway_Collar wrote: »
Dude, what are you talking about?? Many in Europe don't even know what crossfit is. There are more gyms in the mainland USA in a ten mile block radius than the same in any European country.StealthHealth wrote: »Cutaway_Collar wrote: »There's also a sense of anti-Americanism in Europe, which propagates the thought that Americans are fat, which trickles down back to us.
But the amount of athletes, jocks, crossfitters and fitness nuts is the highest in the US.
Also Big Food is an economic phenomenon which was able to prosper in the US. Other economies are a little less advanced and the infrastructure was never there to foster the fast food culture, which put many American food corps on the map, not just here but the rest of the world. So it's always a case of economics because the American economy was the forerunner of all economies on how to make money and use the medium sized population we have (compared to China or India) to churn billions with clever marketing.
Like with any thriving economy comes decadence and over-indulgence. That should put the whole perspective in place. Just saying Americans are fatter because of culture and food habits is an ignorant statement. Ours is (or at least was) a very advanced economy which made this happen. It's a question of "luxury" - even the low income hourly wage individual can attain the lifestyle of a basic car and a drive through meal. That level of luxury does not percolate down that far in other economies.
Not true. WHO figures (2010 is latest data set for exercise activity) shows that, for example, whilst the Portuguese and British exercise less than Americans, and the Spanish and Italians about the same, the French and Germans exercise more.
http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_InsufficientActivity_Adults_Males_2010.png
http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_InsufficientActivity_Adults_Females_2010.png
http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/physical_activity_text/en/
I've also got some doubts about the idea that Americans are fat being part of an anti-Americanism or indeed coming from Europe and spreading back to the US.
As a Brit my view may be very skewed - Europe is much less homogeneous than most like to think and the UK is something of an outlier with respect to our relationship with the US (not least because of a common language) - but, the views of Americans among the British are heavily shaped by the massive imports of American culture - films, television, music, Internet blogs and sites. Even as an American-o-phile, my 2 weeks per year holiday is nothing compared to that media. A side effect of this is that I would say that the average British person, probably has a better understanding of the political, regional, and cultural variations across the US than they do those of France or Germany.
So, if the British do have a view that Americans are fat, I would hazard a guess that it is because that is the picture that has been presented via US media rather than something that we have concocted and presented back to you.
I am talking about jocks and athletes and you are giving me data about people who exercise. If Maurice casually cycles down the champs elysees, the French actually consider that exercise activity. And the WHO of all organizations. They don't even have an accurate statistic on the amount of ebola patients on earth.
With respect to the WHO data: Flawed or not their data is actually data rather than guesstimate. It was based on "those who engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week". So, on that subject what was your statement: "But the amount of athletes, jocks, crossfitters and fitness nuts is the highest in the US." based upon - Care to cite your source?
If we are playing the "I-just-took-a-quick-look-around-the-places-I-know- and-extrapolated-for-my-own-country-whilst-randomly-guessing-about-all-the-others" game though: I live in a small northern British town, 26,500 population. There are three crossfit* gyms. Three regular "mainstream" gyms, and a municipal (council run) fitness center and a metric *kitten* tonne of sports clubs. I assure you, my town is not extraordinary, the next town along (slightly bigger) has slightly more.
*one is an official CrossFit box, the other two are crossfit style gyms (multi discipline, functional movements, lots of barbell complexes performed in rapid succession, kipping pull-ups - you get the picture.
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I live in Rome and we have crossfit in our small gym. Also, once while talking to someone that goes to a bigger gym, he introduced us to one of the trainers--an American. So, we're not lacking.1
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I'll speak about the countries i know.
In Greece, you have the "grandparents syndrome". Basically grandparents babysit every day (daycare costs a lot), and they show their love by stuffing the children with chocolate/sweets/food.People love good food, eating out used to be cheap.Lack of exercise due to lack of proper public playgrounds,etc. Lately it has become important and kids have activities 3-4 times a week, but it costs.
In the Netherlands, Dutch people are usually very fit.They bike everywhere, with rain,snow,ice, doesn't matter they're on their bikes. Their staple meal is meat,potatoes and veg. No snacking throughout the day.People bring their own lunch at school/work, and even if they don't the cafeteria in the school/workplace has healthy alternatives.Not great variety in the sweets section. In the city where i live, the city doesn't allow fast food restaurants in the city centre, so the few that do exist, are not really close to walk to or bike to.
Personally i'm 30 years old, and i've only eaten Mc Donalds once (ice cream), Burger king once (at the airport), Subways a couple of times, KFC never.
I've been to America once, visited walmart and one supermarket, and omg the variety and prices of junk food.I'm so glad i don't live there, i can imagine it would be hard avoiding the sweet things at the supermarket.Also portion sizes at restaurants are insane.1 -
StealthHealth wrote: »Cutaway_Collar wrote: »There's also a sense of anti-Americanism in Europe, which propagates the thought that Americans are fat, which trickles down back to us.
But the amount of athletes, jocks, crossfitters and fitness nuts is the highest in the US.
Also Big Food is an economic phenomenon which was able to prosper in the US. Other economies are a little less advanced and the infrastructure was never there to foster the fast food culture, which put many American food corps on the map, not just here but the rest of the world. So it's always a case of economics because the American economy was the forerunner of all economies on how to make money and use the medium sized population we have (compared to China or India) to churn billions with clever marketing.
Like with any thriving economy comes decadence and over-indulgence. That should put the whole perspective in place. Just saying Americans are fatter because of culture and food habits is an ignorant statement. Ours is (or at least was) a very advanced economy which made this happen. It's a question of "luxury" - even the low income hourly wage individual can attain the lifestyle of a basic car and a drive through meal. That level of luxury does not percolate down that far in other economies.
Not true. WHO figures (2010 is latest data set for exercise activity) shows that, for example, whilst the Portuguese and British exercise less than Americans, and the Spanish and Italians about the same, the French and Germans exercise more.
http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_InsufficientActivity_Adults_Males_2010.png
http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_InsufficientActivity_Adults_Females_2010.png
http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/physical_activity_text/en/
I've also got some doubts about the idea that Americans are fat being part of an anti-Americanism or indeed coming from Europe and spreading back to the US.
As a Brit my view may be very skewed - Europe is much less homogeneous than most like to think and the UK is something of an outlier with respect to our relationship with the US (not least because of a common language) - but, the views of Americans among the British are heavily shaped by the massive imports of American culture - films, television, music, Internet blogs and sites. Even as an American-o-phile, my 2 weeks per year holiday is nothing compared to that media. A side effect of this is that I would say that the average British person, probably has a better understanding of the political, regional, and cultural variations across the US than they do those of France or Germany.
So, if the British do have a view that Americans are fat, I would hazard a guess that it is because that is the picture that has been presented via US media rather than something that we have concocted and presented back to you.
Agreed.0 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »
Dude, what are you talking about?? Many in Europe don't even know what crossfit is. There are more gyms in the mainland USA in a ten mile block radius than the same in any European country.StealthHealth wrote: »Cutaway_Collar wrote: »There's also a sense of anti-Americanism in Europe, which propagates the thought that Americans are fat, which trickles down back to us.
But the amount of athletes, jocks, crossfitters and fitness nuts is the highest in the US.
Also Big Food is an economic phenomenon which was able to prosper in the US. Other economies are a little less advanced and the infrastructure was never there to foster the fast food culture, which put many American food corps on the map, not just here but the rest of the world. So it's always a case of economics because the American economy was the forerunner of all economies on how to make money and use the medium sized population we have (compared to China or India) to churn billions with clever marketing.
Like with any thriving economy comes decadence and over-indulgence. That should put the whole perspective in place. Just saying Americans are fatter because of culture and food habits is an ignorant statement. Ours is (or at least was) a very advanced economy which made this happen. It's a question of "luxury" - even the low income hourly wage individual can attain the lifestyle of a basic car and a drive through meal. That level of luxury does not percolate down that far in other economies.
Not true. WHO figures (2010 is latest data set for exercise activity) shows that, for example, whilst the Portuguese and British exercise less than Americans, and the Spanish and Italians about the same, the French and Germans exercise more.
http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_InsufficientActivity_Adults_Males_2010.png
http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_InsufficientActivity_Adults_Females_2010.png
http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/physical_activity_text/en/
I've also got some doubts about the idea that Americans are fat being part of an anti-Americanism or indeed coming from Europe and spreading back to the US.
As a Brit my view may be very skewed - Europe is much less homogeneous than most like to think and the UK is something of an outlier with respect to our relationship with the US (not least because of a common language) - but, the views of Americans among the British are heavily shaped by the massive imports of American culture - films, television, music, Internet blogs and sites. Even as an American-o-phile, my 2 weeks per year holiday is nothing compared to that media. A side effect of this is that I would say that the average British person, probably has a better understanding of the political, regional, and cultural variations across the US than they do those of France or Germany.
So, if the British do have a view that Americans are fat, I would hazard a guess that it is because that is the picture that has been presented via US media rather than something that we have concocted and presented back to you.
I am talking about jocks and athletes and you are giving me data about people who exercise. If Maurice casually cycles down the champs elysees, the French actually consider that exercise activity. And the WHO of all organizations. They don't even have an accurate statistic on the amount of ebola patients on earth.
Actually "crossfit" is probably not called that in another country. It would be hard to get statistics on how many gyms in Europe have crossfit if it's called something else.0 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »^
Yep, when Europeans saw the first IBM computer, they called it the electric box which says green things.
^^it's true and somewhat embarrassing, that up until the first IBM computers we had been looking like complete buffoons by calling them "Turing Machines" and before that "Babbage Difference Engines" 0 -
When I was in America as a child the first thing I remember is the fact you guys don't have many sidewalks.... and lots of highways, making driving or public transport a must.... whereas here in the UK, unless you are on the motorway there is always a way to walk, for instance, I walk everywhere, no matter if it's 50 minutes away, I walk.
Also in your fast food places, your kids meal burgers are like our normal burgers here.... and a plate of pancakes I had there for breakfast one day was just fecking ridiculous.1
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