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Does where you live influence your weight & fitness?

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  • ___Soundwave___
    ___Soundwave___ Posts: 1,182 Member
    I remember growing up the football teams from the mountains were all pretty tough, which we attributed partially to walking around on hills and slopes all day, every day, all their lives.
  • ___Soundwave___
    ___Soundwave___ Posts: 1,182 Member
    I remember growing up the football teams from the mountains were all pretty tough, which we attributed partially to walking around on hills and slopes all day, every day, all their lives.
  • Jcmhfp
    Jcmhfp Posts: 13 Member
    edited July 2021
    YellowD0gs wrote: »
    Just a question, how did they define "obesity"? Simple BMI chart?

    Yes, I believe so.

    Here's a quote from that Canadian Prison study, regarding methdology (Ill and pregnant inmates were excluded from the study:

    "The 3 main outcomes of the study were change in weight (difference between weight at admission and at follow-up), change in body mass index (BMI; difference between BMI at admission and at follow-up), and annual change in weight during incarceration (kg/yr; weight change during incarceration divided by the number of years of incarceration at the time of study). In addition, data on weight and BMI were compared with similar data from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Community Health Survey of the general Canadian adult population in 2015[6] to contextualize our findings."

    Statistics Canada generally uses BMI with this disclaimer (link: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2019001/article/00005-eng.htm ):

    "Measures of BMI can be used to understand how the weight of a population changes over time and how weight is related to health risks. However, while BMI is useful to monitor the health of a population, it does not necessarily reflect health risks for a person. Individuals should be cautious if using BMI to classify themselves since this measure is not as precise for predicting health risks for people who are naturally very lean or muscular, or people from certain minority ethnic groups."

    I should've included this originally - but here's another quote from the prison study comparing obesity and weight gain in Canadian prisons with Japan, UK, and USA:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6182125/#!po=94.4444

    "Penitentiaries in Japan have been shown to be less obesogenic than the general community. Most Japanese inmates lost weight, and BMI scores decreased during incarceration. Unlike Canadian inmates, Japanese inmates follow strict low-calorie diets and are obliged to work and exercise daily.[18,19] However, Japanese inmates were the only outliers in a recent systematic review that examined weight changes during incarceration.[7] The findings from 16 different studies showed that 50%–80% of inmates gained weight during incarceration in the United States and United Kingdom.[3,7,9,20–23] The amount and pace of weight gained varied by study, and ranged from a modest mean gain of 0.96 kg over 2 years[3] to a substantial 0.5-kg gain per week.[9] The latter study involved female inmates in the US and was based on weight gained during the first 2 weeks of incarceration.[7,9]"
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,456 Member
    edited July 2021
    33gail33 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    33gail33 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    NVintage wrote: »
    I also agree. I seriously doubt that you all are eating very much of those foods, and probably eat healthy most the time. You all know you're healthy despite eating a little junk not because of it! I grew up eating frozen dinners and junk food and hardly any vegetables except corn. If I hadn't gotten on a health kick at 16, I'd probably have the same chronic diseases, by now, that my parents have.
    Living in a non-walkable area definitely influences weight and fitness. It's easier to stay fit when you have the option of walking places, or running outside.

    Any supermarket that removed junk food would face a huge backlash and probably go out of business. You can't dictate something as personal as food on that scale. Some communities do have a culture of healthy eating and tend to have lower rates of obesity. But you can't force people to change their culture, at least not without a backlash, and that raises ethical questions.

    Also, even "healthy organic specialty" supermarkets have plenty of junk food. You have the causality backwards -- the supermarkets in your area stock more healthy foods because there is more demand due to the local culture of being healthy/fit.

    And anyway, junk food doesn't make you fat. It's the quantity of calories that makes you fat, regardless of where it comes from.

    Actually junk food does make you fat. All the salt, sugar and chemicals makes you crave more salt and sugar so you eat more junk food full of empty calories and chemicals. And healthy nutritional foods are used by the body as fuel while junk food just clogs arteries, is stored as fat, gives you high cholesterol, is conducive to diabetes and otherwise reeks havoc on the body. It’s not even all about weight, but health and nutrition. I can never understand how people are basically putting poison in their bodies every day and food corporations are getting away with poisoning Americans. There is literally no value whatsoever to “foods” like Cheetos or Twinkies and still people consume them. Why? Not only is there no nutritional value to them, they are BAD for you, poisonous! Sodas like Coke and Pepsi, even the zero calorie kind are pure poison! People have to think less about losing weight and more about nutrition. If people stuck to healthy, pure, non-prepackaged foods with high nutritional value, they would automatically lose weight and feel so much healthier!

    I feel the same way.
    If eating low quality food for years ACTUALLY caused chronic disease, then explain how prison inmates have been in penitentiaries for decades eating some of the lowest quality foods 3 times a day and NOT suffering many of the maladies that the average very overweight/obese population is suffering from?

    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

    9285851.png

    Where are you getting this information from? I don't think this is accurate. Inmates in general gain weight during incarceration, and their risk of "maladies that the average overweight/obese population suffer from" isn't less than those outside prison.

    I have never seen a study that shows prisoners are healthier than the general population. They might have some benefits in the treatment of chronic illness that perhaps very low income people wouldn't have access to for financial reason. But if you are going to hold them up as an example of good health you are going to have to provide some data for that.

    Show me pictures of obese inmates who've spent at least a year in prison. I've been to several prisons with friends who are CO's and if you compare the population of obese there you're talking maybe 1%.

    NEVER said prisoners were healthier than general population. I stated they don't suffer many of the maladies that many overweight/obese do and that's because the prison population per capita isn't overweight/obese in the same percentage as general population. I KNOW for a fact that 65% of the prison population isn't in the overweight/obese category like the US population is.

    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

    9285851.png

    I think your "facts" are wrong. Unless you have some actual peer reviewed studies on the effect of incarceration on obesity, other than what you have "seen" and pictures you have googled? I really am curious as to where you are getting your information from. It is contrary to everything I have read on the subject, but I am willing to keep an open mind if you can direct me to your sources.

    The study I originally linked was Canadian. Here is an American one.

    The Effect of Incarceration on Adult Male BMI Trajectories, United States, 1981–2006

    "Cumulative exposure to prison increased BMI for all groups."

    "By the last observation in 2006, mean BMI had increased almost 6 BMI units to BMI 25–29.9; that is, on average the respondents were overweight"

    "Focusing on a single, continuous indicator of health (BMI), this study clearly links incarceration to weight gain. "

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4010134/
    Using BMI is useless. Put it this way. I'm muscular at 190lbs and 5'7". I'm categorically OBESE. There are large populations of prison inmates that are "jacked" too.
    "NEVER said prisoners were healthier than general population. I stated they don't suffer many of the maladies that many overweight/obese do"

    Well saying that they don't suffer the many of the maladies that overweight/obese people do the implication I would take from that is that they are healthier. So are you saying that they suffer less maladies, and are also less healthy? I'd like to understand exactly what you mean by that if you would care to clarify it for me.

    "I stated they don't suffer many of the maladies that many overweight/obese do"[/b]

    Do you have a source for this statement?

    I mean to be fair you are using statements you are making regarding prisoner health and weight to back up your underlying assertion regarding "healthy" and "unhealthy" food. If you are going to do that you need to be able to support those statements with more than your personal observations and pictures on google.
    I'll put it this way. We have more general population being hospitalized for obesity and weight related issues daily versus a prison population that gets hospitalized more for health issues due to drug use, chronic illness they had likely obtained going into prison and just bad conditions of prison alone. It's a wonder that many do more that 10 years in there and stay alive and somewhat fit for many. Unfortunately, I CAN'T provide studies that aren't done. There's very little even studied on this likely because it's not that interesting to the public and doesn't get funded. Whether you agree or not, that's fine. I have no reason to lie about what I've experienced with what I've personally seen and from people I know who were incarcerated. I pit that against my everyday observation of the public I see on an everyday basis. And I think I'm a pretty good knowledgeable person to see the difference. So we can agree to disagree.


    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

    9285851.png
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    Interesting article related to this thread. Didn't know so many drunks in TX and WI. Wow.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2018/05/15/the-drunkest-and-driest-cities-in-america/34901003/
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,427 Member
    Interesting article related to this thread. Didn't know so many drunks in TX and WI. Wow.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2018/05/15/the-drunkest-and-driest-cities-in-america/34901003/

    Wisconsin is a fun state. Just look at the northbound traffic leaving IL on the weekend and southbound going back Sunday evening.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    edited July 2021
    Interesting article related to this thread. Didn't know so many drunks in TX and WI. Wow.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2018/05/15/the-drunkest-and-driest-cities-in-america/34901003/

    Oh yeah, in Wisconsin, bars outnumber grocery stores 3-to-1.
    Add in the cheese and bratwurst, and it's probably not the healthiest of states.
    We love to vacation there, though...there's some beautiful areas...just stay off the roads on a Saturday night.

    That said, I think I'd be healthier if I lived in Wisconsin...I enjoy outdoor activities, and there's more opportunity for that there as opposed to the dense urban environment in which I currently live.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Interesting article related to this thread. Didn't know so many drunks in TX and WI. Wow.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2018/05/15/the-drunkest-and-driest-cities-in-america/34901003/

    Oh yeah, in Wisconsin, bars outnumber grocery stores 3-to-1.
    Add in the cheese and bratwurst, and it's probably not the healthiest of states.
    We love to vacation there, though...there's some beautiful areas...just stay off the roads on a Saturday night.

    That said, I think I'd be healthier if I lived in Wisconsin...I enjoy outdoor activities, and there's more opportunity for that there as opposed to the dense urban environment in which I currently live.

    Madison WI is ranked the 4th healthiest city in the US
    https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a33313169/2020-fittest-city-in-america/

    Proof you can exercise away a bad diet. JUST KIDDING.

    That’s cause those college kids don’t eat the cheese and brats. :D
    They must run off the beer, though.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    Interesting article related to this thread. Didn't know so many drunks in TX and WI. Wow.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2018/05/15/the-drunkest-and-driest-cities-in-america/34901003/

    Oh yeah, in Wisconsin, bars outnumber grocery stores 3-to-1.
    Add in the cheese and bratwurst, and it's probably not the healthiest of states.
    We love to vacation there, though...there's some beautiful areas...just stay off the roads on a Saturday night.

    That said, I think I'd be healthier if I lived in Wisconsin...I enjoy outdoor activities, and there's more opportunity for that there as opposed to the dense urban environment in which I currently live.

    Now I think the opposite to some degree when it comes to dense urban environments. I live in downtown Chicago and the short distances encourage walking or biking for everyday stuff as opposed to getting in a car. And I kinda think your day to day burn is more important than one off deliberate exercise.
  • crossfire8676
    crossfire8676 Posts: 1 Member
    I would agree with the idea that where you live impacts your weight. I tend to think that diet is largely cultural and different areas have different 'cultures' attached to them. Hollywood is going to have a different culture than Memphis and there will be different popular food choices there than in Austin or Chesapeake, MD.

    I think it also makes a difference with respect to how people react to seeing an overweight person. There might be some places that are more accepting of it than others. If you are the only overweight member of a group you might feel more of an inclination to conform and thin down to fit in.

    I think weight issues as a cultural thing also makes sense with respect to the fact that America has such a tremendous obesity problem and there are other countries that do not.
  • Jcmhfp
    Jcmhfp Posts: 13 Member
    Interesting article related to this thread. Didn't know so many drunks in TX and WI. Wow.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2018/05/15/the-drunkest-and-driest-cities-in-america/34901003/

    Oh yeah, in Wisconsin, bars outnumber grocery stores 3-to-1.
    Add in the cheese and bratwurst, and it's probably not the healthiest of states.
    We love to vacation there, though...there's some beautiful areas...just stay off the roads on a Saturday night.

    That said, I think I'd be healthier if I lived in Wisconsin...I enjoy outdoor activities, and there's more opportunity for that there as opposed to the dense urban environment in which I currently live.

    Now I think the opposite to some degree when it comes to dense urban environments. I live in downtown Chicago and the short distances encourage walking or biking for everyday stuff as opposed to getting in a car. And I kinda think your day to day burn is more important than one off deliberate exercise.

    That's generally been my experience too. Downtown cores tend to have proper sidewalks and lots of crosswalks. The scenery and public transit systems are also deceiving when it comes to distance; you can cover a lot of ground but it feels like less (urban distractions take your mind off of things?).

    The suburbs I'm currently living in don't have all the sidewalks, crosswalks, safe bicycle lanes, have limited routes and "destinations", can be monotonous, etc.

    The many urban cores of a greater metro region can vary though! In Metro Vancouver, BC I work in the city of New Westminster- it's all inclines, wind tunnels and ice slides in winter, and subject to industrial fire and construction debris along the River's industrial sector in the summer. It can be a more of a nuisance to get around there than downtown Vancouver proper (flatter - has Stanley Park, and an array of entertainment attractions) but is still far more walkable than the city of Surrey, which doesn't believe in pedestrians, crosswalks, or city centers without long, congested roads intersecting them, and has a underdeveloped public transit system compared to population needs.

    If you have to commute from one part of the metro area to another, depending on travel time, there's not always a lot of incentive (or time) to make healthier lifestyle choices; you may have to really work at developing an efficient routine and carving out space for yourself.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    Suburbs are generally not friendly to walking, cycling, or being alive. Let's not confuse them with the city, though. If a city is a family run Indian restaurant, the suburbs are Olive Garden.