how do people react to being overweight in your country?
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I don't know about how people react in other countries, especially China, but the obesity rates for America are apalling. Check out this page from the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html. We have an abundance of stores for clothing for overweight people, wider tables and chairs in restaurants to accommodate us, etc. I have always found it comforting because I have been large, but find it a frightening complacency with being unhealthy.
And a lot of your banter with the med guy - both sides of the story are true. However, it is lifelong eating patterns that make the difference. A diet rich in fish and fresh vegetables is bound to be healthier than one heavy in comfort foods like fried chicken and lots of beef. A lot of foreign diets are more healthy than what we usually are exposed to in the US, such as a Mediteranean diet, a true Chinese diet, etc. where fat content is a lot lower.
Body image is, I think, a reflection of what is available in society. While it is true that the people who come from the poor provinces of china are thin because of a lack of food availability, it is also probably true that the girls in the cities obsess with thinness. In the US, it is grossly acceptable to be quite large.0 -
In Britain its becoming the norm and almost acceptable to be obese.
I definitely think British people are getting fatter in general but I don't think it has become anywhere near acceptable to be obese.
Certainly in London there seems to be a perceived general link between weight and social status. If you are generally in shape or slim then you are given a higher social status. Being fat is still looked down upon.0 -
I mean hell even when I was at my thinnest (128lbs) I fit into a Large or XL over there.
And me at 120lbs & 34-26-35 (aka size 2), I can only fit in a size M or L clothes (mostly M) over here but usually I'm S in international clothing standards. The size S here is the equivalent of the ones in the kid's section in stores in the US, Canada, UK etc.0 -
In Britain its becoming the norm and almost acceptable to be obese. Men have for many years patted their stomachs and said proudly that its "all bought and paid for".
Where exactly in Britain do you live? Because I live in the west of Scotland, and here is it hardly acceptable to be overweight. Britain is a big place, and using it in that context is such a blanket statement.0 -
In Britain its becoming the norm and almost acceptable to be obese.
I definitely think British people are getting fatter in general but I don't think it has become anywhere near acceptable to be obese.
Certainly in London there seems to be a perceived general link between weight and social status. If you are generally in shape or slim then you are given a higher social status. Being fat is still looked down upon.
I disagree. I think people just have differing views on what is considered 'obese'. Many people are obese but only consider themselves overweight. This relaxed attitude to weight has come about because it is more acceptable to be big.0 -
I live in the UK where 1 in 4 adults are obese, so it is getting way more common.
I'm originally Arab and back home my body type is considered desirable! They love a bit of T&A, good birthing hips, etc. I think there is also some of the old fashioned views that having a fat wife shows wealth! Why oh why can't I live there!0 -
In Britain its becoming the norm and almost acceptable to be obese.
I definitely think British people are getting fatter in general but I don't think it has become anywhere near acceptable to be obese.
Certainly in London there seems to be a perceived general link between weight and social status. If you are generally in shape or slim then you are given a higher social status. Being fat is still looked down upon.0 -
Remember proportion. Chinese women are quite short with a slender bone structure. They are always going to look tinier than taller women regardless of their frame and will look especially tiny compared to anyone with a larger, denser bone structure.0
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i know right, they are so judging here.
Yeah, I'm afraid it's a cultral thing. Traditional Chinese (like in Asia vs living and accultrated elsewhere) think that starring and telling you that your fat is perfectly acceptable. Afterall, if someone just pointed it out to you, then you can do something about it right!?! *eye roll*. Keep in mind that WHO has placed different BMI strandards on Asians as opposed to other races due to bone structure/norms. Also keep in mind that in most Asian countries it's just as bad to be athletic/muscular as fat so I'm not sure getting pulled into these health norms are not necessarily the best for you. However, it IS perfectly normal to get caught up in the expectations and norms of your environment. Just don't lose yourself too much...
As for me, I live in the US where overweight is the norm. However, being in the military, my weight is closely regulated... lol. And in this particular environment, most people are athletic and a healthy weight. Personally, weight is an interesting concept as my Chinese family is constantly trying to get me to lose weight while my Hispanic fiance is constantly trying to fatten me up! I try to stay out of it and maintain a comfortable weight for me. And because I like being athletic and fit, I maintain that type of lifestyle and frame. Though I am sheading a few pounds for my upcoming nuptuals (now THAT might be falling to the American standard... lol!).0 -
America is mostly fat, and being fat is akin to being a leper. The irony abounds.0
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Jamaican men loves them some thick women. They want the curves. big butts and hips are assets here :-p
Jamaican women dont care for thick men... well i dont anyway. dont need the muscles, but we dont need the big bellies and so on.0 -
Everyone in the US is fat.
Honestly, i cannot imagine living in such a country.
People stare if you're thin here, at least in my town, and assume I either are sick or drug addicted. I work in a store and the average size is 40 and above, both men and women. While I know 40 isn't heavy, the size 62 pants I sold the other day sure are!0 -
this thread is a joke, correct?0
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I'm brazilian, and there is a very strong "super model" thing going on in here. Lots of fat shaming and whatnot, but the media does value curvy women / large butts and legs / etc over the extremely skinny ones.0
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Jamaican men loves them some thick women. They want the curves. big butts and hips are assets here :-p
Jamaican women dont care for thick men... well i dont anyway. dont need the muscles, but we dont need the big bellies and so on.
haha that's the same as in Serbia. Tiny waist and big butts... but here in China everybody likes BONES0 -
For the US, it really depends on where you are in the US whether obesity is the norm and/or accepted.
I grew up in the deep south in a small town in Tennessee, and most people are obese there (over 70%). I grew up a skinny athletic kid, and I was picked on for it there while the fat kids were the norm. Totally the opposite in cities like New York (especially Manhattan) where being overweight is frowned upon. The US is demographically very varied in almost every way possible including body size and acceptance.
It also varies ethnically. My latina friends are pushed to be heavier by their family than I am (I'm white).0 -
In the U.S. it is looked down upon but widely common. When I was in Okinawa the Okinawans' weren't AS obsessed with dieting but they still did it, they weren't AS thin as the girls I saw in Beijing, South Korea and mainland Japan. I always felt like I was massive over there even when i was at my thinnest. Now that I am quite big I am appalled by the idea of going back for fear of the reactions.
although I'm very interested in reading these posts, I just wanted to say i LOVE your nyan cat ticker0 -
Maybe that's why people from US are crazy about crazy skinny girls... they are just like a contrast or something0
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Everyone in the US is fat.
I disagree- though perhaps it depends on what PART of the US you're in. I live in the Northeast, and although there's certainly an obseity problem, statistics tell me that we're not nearly as bad off as, say, Mississippi (sorry Mississippians, I know that's not the case for all of you!). I do see a lot of CHUBBY people around my community, but few morbidly obese. Yes, they're there, but there's no way they're the norm.
Plus, those who ARE chubbier don't especially like it, I'd imagine, and in general are trying to get smaller... or at least wishing...
Side note- in high school almost everyone was thin. Or at least not obese. There were few "fat" people- I think the social pressure was too much to (sorry for the phrase) let themselves go. After high school though, plenty of girls I run into that had killer bodies are now chubbier than myself. Drastically different from the way they were, but not necessarily "obese."0 -
In my part of England, UK, people are generally more likely to be rude to you or judge you if you're overweight than if you're skinny. It is seen as ideal to be slightly underweight. I know it varies quite a lot from place to place in Britain but locally it seems larger men are considered fine but if a woman has an extra 5-10lbs on her she is suddenly a glutton and should be locked away with nothing but vegetables and a treadmill.0
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