America is FAT!

On the bright side I hear its actually leveling off

Last week there was a National Donut Day, a day or two later, National Rocky Road Ice Cream Day, and a day or two ago National Chocolate Ice Cream Day... SMH. And some wonder why there's an epidemic.

Let's not be pessimistic. I believe that awareness about healthy food is being raised. In Britain, for instance, doctors are rooting for a ban on all advertising related to fast food or soda. Just like a ban against cigarette comercials was raised in the 70s (?). I sincerely hope they win the battle and the trend will spread to other countries so we are less exposed to such temptations...

I just saw something about this on the news where Disney is trying to ban fast food commercials or something like that? I'll try to find a link.

Edit: Here's one from CNN

http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/05/news/companies/disney-junk-food/index.htm

Let's not be pessimistic.

Noone is being pessimistic, just realistic. We are fat. Normally above average is a good thing but not when you are talking about your waistline. We are fat and we celebrate it, we coddle it, we treat the fatness but don't prevent the problem. We are not proactive, we are reactive.

Alright, I phrased it the wrong way. "On the brighter note!".

Let's not be pessimistic.

Noone is being pessimistic, just realistic. We are fat. Normally above average is a good thing but not when you are talking about your waistline. We are fat and we celebrate it, we coddle it, we treat the fatness but don't prevent the problem. We are not proactive, we are reactive.

I think gradually becoming aware of what fast food and junk has done to people in general is making us start to really think about what we eat, what is in our food and how it's prepared. Before we started getting bigger as a nation, I don't think nutrition information was as widely available as it is now, people just didn't stuff their face with fast food three times a day because it wasn't available.

Also, with the internet and the information so readily available, this is the first time that nutrition and exercise health information is just THERE. With smart phone apps we finally have the tools right in our hands to become healthier and fit. Now, it's a learning process for everyone.

Yes, we are.

It's embarrassing.

It's not just the US.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity

7 are above 20%. It is a world wide issue not just one country.

It's funny. People used to be skinny because they were poor and didn't get enough to eat (and this is still true in 3rd world countries).

But now, there is such an abundance of food, that they've found a correlation of weight to income. So the more money you have the less likely you are to be overweight.

Cheap food tends to be unhealthy. And it tends to be hyper-palatable -- engineered in factories to appeal to your taste buds.
Cheap foods tend to be made out source foods that are subsidized.

fast food nation is a big buck economy. you try and slow down this monster and the economy suffers BIG TIME. the government knows fast food nation causes a huge stress on health services and quality of life, but I'm afraid the cynic in me says $$$$'s come first before the health and welfare of a population. fast food nation helps governments get elected. I wonder how many of Macdonald's or KFC's board of directors are morbidly obese?

It's funny. People used to be skinny because they were poor and didn't get enough to eat (and this is still true in 3rd world countries).

But now, there is such an abundance of food, that they've found a correlation of weight to income. So the more money you have the less likely you are to be overweight.

Cheap food tends to be unhealthy. And it tends to be hyper-palatable -- engineered in factories to appeal to your taste buds.
Cheap foods tend to be made out source foods that are subsidized.

Or . . . . to more money you have, the more likely you are to be educated, and the more educated you are, the more likely you are to pay attention to diet.

I work in a grocery store and noticed, that most people on foodstamps are pretty fat. Makes me wonder....

america sucks in this department. I hate how our food industry works.

it's not just america. western europe ,too. whilst we do have the dual suspects like MacDonalds etc, our home grown merchants of garbage foods do a roaring trade..especially the grocery stores where frozen food is KING...that is, frozen french fries,frozen pizzas etc.