What do you think is the primary reason for obesity?
ronadams52
Posts: 176 Member
I thought it might be interesting to see what our site feels might be the root cause(s) to our country becoming 66% overweight or obese.
Is it due to?
1. Poor food choices
2. Portion control
3. Lack of exercise
4. Lack of sleep
5. Physical problems (thyroid, hormonal imbalances, diseases, chronic illnesses, genetics)
6. Mental issues (lack of an equal quality of education)
7. Emotional problems (stress, finances, job loss, divorcee or a bad relationship. etc.)
8. Lack of self-control or will-power
9. Lack of availability to get quality foods in some areas
10. Sedentary lifestyles now common place in the work and home environments
11. Fast food restaurants
12. Regular restaurants who in many cases serve portion sizes twice what one should eat
13. TV/Cell phones/Internet/Gaming
14. Something else
Is it due to?
1. Poor food choices
2. Portion control
3. Lack of exercise
4. Lack of sleep
5. Physical problems (thyroid, hormonal imbalances, diseases, chronic illnesses, genetics)
6. Mental issues (lack of an equal quality of education)
7. Emotional problems (stress, finances, job loss, divorcee or a bad relationship. etc.)
8. Lack of self-control or will-power
9. Lack of availability to get quality foods in some areas
10. Sedentary lifestyles now common place in the work and home environments
11. Fast food restaurants
12. Regular restaurants who in many cases serve portion sizes twice what one should eat
13. TV/Cell phones/Internet/Gaming
14. Something else
0
Replies
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I think processed foods are engineered (yes, engineered, as in a factory or lab...) to be addictive. High-fructose corn syrup, for example, is very addictive, and it's in a TON of processed/fast food. Same with MSG. These kind of foods are manufactured to leave the consumer wanting more...hence the profit.
Another big factor would be how our culture treats food. Think about it...cake on birthdays (not just for you, for everyone, on everyone's day of birth), big feast at Thanksgiving, big feast at Christmas (or Hannukah, breaking of Ramadan fast, etc.), big feast at Easter (or Passover), getting drunk on high-calorie brews on Cinco De Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween, Halloween candy, ice cream or chocolate when you are sad, chocolate on Valentine's Day, big dinner dates, potlucks, BBQ's, eating contests, binge eating, eating your feelings...
Our culture sees food as a reward and an emotional, rather than physical and nutritional, experience. I think this emphasis on food being all sorts of things it truly is not--love, comfort, reminiscence, joy, etc.--that contributes to the problem. Remember, we are a very stressed out culture as well. And most of us do stress eat.0 -
I think the biggest problem is our sedentary lifestyle. People sit all day and when they sit all day they end up lacking the motivation to do much of anything including preparing healthy meals.
We've become a nation of lazy, someone else should do everything for me people.
When I talk about all of the things that I prepare homemade people tell me that they take too much time or they could never do that because they have X, Y, and Z to do. However, I've been working 50+ hours a week and raising 2 kids. It's honestly just laziness on their part.0 -
Me myself and I0
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I think portion control is the biggest problem. I eat any kind of food, I just eat a small amount.0
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Great comments. One person sent me a message adding - the need for instant PLEASURE!!!0
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1. Poor food choices
2. Portion control
3. Lack of exercise
4. Lack of sleep
5. Physical problems (thyroid, hormonal imbalances, diseases, chronic illnesses, genetics)
6. Mental issues (lack of an equal quality of education)
7. Emotional problems (stress, finances, job loss, divorcee or a bad relationship. etc.)
8. Lack of self-control or will-power
9. Lack of availability to get quality foods in some areas
10. Sedentary lifestyles now common place in the work and home environments
11. Fast food restaurants
12. Regular restaurants who in many cases serve portion sizes twice what one should eat
13. TV/Cell phones/Internet/Gaming
14. Something else
I suppose the simple answer is "Yes", it's all of those and more. When you get right down to it we eat more than we need. Why that's true is different for everyone.
If the problem were simple enough to pinpoint a single cause, we wouldn't have so many obese people, nor would we have a multi-billion dollar weight loss industry.0 -
As a kid, I under ate and consumed lots of processed foods (pop tarts, Totino's pizzas, etc) but spent 5 hours a day playing sports outside. During college, I ate about 7,000 calories daily to build muscle mass but still choose mostly processed foods (Foot long Meatball Sub, box of Hamburger Helper, box of Tuna Helper, etc). In the first case, I was ripped but had very little muscle mass; in the latter, I was huge but still had a BF under 20%. If I had been sedentary my entire life, I would have been skinny fat or immensely fat if I had followed both diets the way I did.0
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Processed food, take aways (easier than cooking), portions and not enough physical activity...
Laziness.0 -
People want to eat whatever they want, and don't want to work. People are just getting lazy.. I see it all the time.0
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For me, laziness, and making excuses for the laziness. It was easier to go to McDonalds than to spend 10 minutes packing a lunch in the morning.0
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It is called "disease of affluence", and America has it bad!
Meditate for 20 minutes, twice a day. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, eat plenty of organic fruits and vegetables, spend more time in nature, less indoors, stop worrying about things you can't control.
Ditch your TV...0 -
All of the factors mentioned above. Obesity is definitely a multi-faceted problem that cannot be limited to just one major reason ;x!
Also, fun fact: My cellular and molecular biology professor told us that MSG is a neurotoxin due to its additive nature ^^. It stimulates our umami receptors. Pandas lack then gene coding for these receptors, that's why they don't eat meat :laugh: !0 -
I think the answer would have to be different for everyone. The basic answer is more calories in compared to calories expended. But why am I obese?? That's deeper than calories in and calories out.0
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Think of how much effort we have put into eliminating the need to move. Elevators, escalators, cars, remotes, yada yada. I know people at work who won't go down one flight of stairs to the empty bathroom. Instead they stand outside the door waiting for the other person to get out.0
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We eat too much. That's simplistic, but that's it really. We eat more than we should, and move less than we ought, for a variety of reasons, both mental and physical, internal and external, big and small. Thankfully, reversing that process by eating less and exercising more does work.0
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Complacency. While all the choices are good, I don't believe it is the root, especially since many who strive for excellence can incorporate all those choices into a lifestyle and still be successful. IMHO, the american culture is no longer the underdog, but the gimme culture. The percentage of people I see don't strive for excellence; they want the easy way, which leads to complacency. It is easier to open a mouth and grumble, than to actually do something about the problem.
There is now so much propganda supporting obesity, and although in few cases in cannot be avoided, the masses blow it out of proportion and use it as an excuse. Not to mention, when I was whining and complaining (but taking no action) about my weight, I had so many people "ensure" me I did not have to worry about my weight because I was beautiful. Need I mention I was a size 14 tight. And yes, I do beleive I was beautiful, but that did not make it ok to be obese.
Even after losing the weight I have thus far, I still have very little support in rl. I am surrounded by individuals who have pretty much given up on life because it is what is taught to us: don't rock the boat, don't question authority, don't think outside the box. I am proud of the weight I have lost so far, and when it is brought up in conversation and I am asked how I do it...I am told, "I couldn't do that", "I don't know how you find the time.", "I don't have access to a gym". Again complacency: what is the magic formula, and when it is found to be work, backs are turned.
IMO, complacency is found in more than just the health field, but that is my belief as to the root of obesity in America.0 -
Lack of activity, not just exercise, non-exercise activity, sitting non-active jobs combined with sitting none active free time.0
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I say all the above!!! As well as growing up in the south where everything is fried and has tons of butter. Being 22 and still living at home, I am just now really learning how to coI thought it might be interesting to see what our site feels might be the root cause(s) to our country becoming 66% overweight or obese.
Is it due to?
1. Poor food choices
2. Portion control
3. Lack of exercise
4. Lack of sleep
5. Physical problems (thyroid, hormonal imbalances, diseases, chronic illnesses, genetics)
6. Mental issues (lack of an equal quality of education)
7. Emotional problems (stress, finances, job loss, divorcee or a bad relationship. etc.)
8. Lack of self-control or will-power
9. Lack of availability to get quality foods in some areas
10. Sedentary lifestyles now common place in the work and home environments
11. Fast food restaurants
12. Regular restaurants who in many cases serve portion sizes twice what one should eat
13. TV/Cell phones/Internet/Gaming
14. Something else0 -
I don't think there is just one reason, but a really big part of it is the growth of food as a big business and the increasingly clever marketing that tries to convince us every single day that we really should be eating XXXX product if we want to be happy, healthy, gorgeous, popular, thin, buff, tanned, adventurous etc.
If you put these incredibly confusing messages together with our more sedentary lifestyles, our growing expectation of instant gratification, our increased disposable income, increased access to food 24 hours a day, expanding portion sizes, pricing wars making manufactured junk food cheaper than ever.... the question should really be "how does anyone maintain a healthy weight?"0 -
I say all the above!!! As well as growing up in the south where everything is fried and has tons of butter. Being 22 and still living at home, I am just now really learning how to cook the correct way. I am so ready to be on my own and things will be so much easier when I have my own groceries that I pick out.I thought it might be interesting to see what our site feels might be the root cause(s) to our country becoming 66% overweight or obese.
Is it due to?
1. Poor food choices
2. Portion control
3. Lack of exercise
4. Lack of sleep
5. Physical problems (thyroid, hormonal imbalances, diseases, chronic illnesses, genetics)
6. Mental issues (lack of an equal quality of education)
7. Emotional problems (stress, finances, job loss, divorcee or a bad relationship. etc.)
8. Lack of self-control or will-power
9. Lack of availability to get quality foods in some areas
10. Sedentary lifestyles now common place in the work and home environments
11. Fast food restaurants
12. Regular restaurants who in many cases serve portion sizes twice what one should eat
13. TV/Cell phones/Internet/Gaming
14. Something else0 -
If you put these incredibly confusing messages together with our more sedentary lifestyles, our growing expectation of instant gratification, our increased disposable income, increased access to food 24 hours a day, expanding portion sizes, pricing wars making manufactured junk food cheaper than ever.... the question should really be "how does anyone maintain a healthy weight?"
Well said!0 -
I think the majority of it is due to soda and processed foods.HF Corn syrup is in so many things anymore and its HORRIBLE for you. Im a firm believer that NOBODY should drink ANY soda.0
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Our biology hasn't caught up with our environment. Our bodies are used to physical work and periodic famines and simpler, less calorie dense food.
I don't think people are lazy, stupid, weak or emotionally fragile. Or any food is evil, deadly or addictive.0 -
Food tastes good. Technology has provided us an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Cheap, delicious food is in abundant supply.0
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I think processed foods are engineered (yes, engineered, as in a factory or lab...) to be addictive. High-fructose corn syrup, for example, is very addictive, and it's in a TON of processed/fast food. Same with MSG. These kind of foods are manufactured to leave the consumer wanting more...hence the profit.
THIS0 -
Fat.0
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Potion control and sedentary lifestyles.0
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All of the above.0
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Of course there are so many factors - some beyond people's control, but for the most part I believe it's: poor impulse control, laziness, and ignorance (proper portions / basic nutrition) - mostly selfish reasons...0
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I think processed foods are engineered (yes, engineered, as in a factory or lab...) to be addictive. High-fructose corn syrup, for example, is very addictive, and it's in a TON of processed/fast food. Same with MSG. These kind of foods are manufactured to leave the consumer wanting more...hence the profit.
THIS
In a way, I agree. But it also seems like a little bit of a scapegoat to blame the food and not the person's choices.0
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