What do you think is the primary reason for obesity?

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  • james1299
    james1299 Posts: 19 Member
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    Overall it really is as simple as calories in / calories out.
    Some people don't understand this or they deny it and make excuses, blaming genetics etc.

    We live in an age of convenience and calorie dense, processed food with little to no actual nutrition.
    If you don't read the info on the box, wrapper or whatever, or you are ignorant to it, it is very easy to consume massive amounts of cals and still want more.
    I think a lot of people don't actually realise what they are eating.
    Life is far too easy these days and we have a "fat acceptance" attitude going.
    Not saying we should discriminate obese people but too much fat is straight out unhealthy and I make no excuses for saying that.
    If you are overweight, the good news is that it is in your power to do something about it.
    The first step is accepting responsibility.
    The second step is educating yourself.
    Your body will love you for it.

    If you are obese and genuinely happy the way you are then hey...more to power to ya and I'm also happy for you!
  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
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    All of the above.

    Also that it isn't "normal" any more to cook your own food from basic products.
    A lot of people seem to have forgotten/never learned how to cook their own food and also a lot of people don't use basic, nutrient-rich foods anymore.
  • NicoleBecca
    NicoleBecca Posts: 55
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    lack of movement is a biggy,

    sleep > drive 2 work > sit at work > drive home > sit on the couch > sleep

    with people's busy work schedules people run out of time to actually work off the food they consume during the day
  • Prahasaurus
    Prahasaurus Posts: 1,381 Member
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    Im not from the USA but, i think this goes for almost every country: Education: Children are taught at a young age bad eating habits, and as adults that can be a hard habit to change! There are more and more obese children and of course they are growing up to be obese adults. For obesity to stop we have to start the the children, of course there are adults that need help and maybe grew up with good food habits but we are seeing obesity more and more in children and they really need help to try and stop this tread of bad choices and over eating

    Well said. I'm American, but I've lived in Europe for half my life, and I travel a lot of business. I see so many obese children now all over the world. What has started in America has now spread (no pun intended). And ultimately it's about education.

    In the past, every culture had its own food. It was a way to regulate how much, and what types of food, were "allowed." You really didn't need to think about it that much. Even the unhealthy items were balanced with other, healthy meals in a way that the ultimate result was a relatively healthy society.

    The advent of international cuisine, fast food, processed food that ignores borders, etc., has completely changed how people everywhere eat. Now it's about making healthy choices, and this requires education.

    I was at the mall yesterday in a Gulf state here in the Middle East, where they have an epidemic of obesity. Practically all of the children are massively overweight. I saw one girl who was at most 5 years old, significantly obese, carrying a large bag of potato chips, chomping away. I saw a mother pushing a stroller with a 3 year old child, and underneath she had a box of Pringles and a Sprite. At what point is this child abuse? These mothers (and fathers, of course) are condemning their children to a lifetime of obesity. All out of ignorance.

    --P
  • james1299
    james1299 Posts: 19 Member
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    lack of movement is a biggy,

    sleep > drive 2 work > sit at work > drive home > sit on the couch > sleep

    with people's busy work schedules people run out of time to actually work off the food they consume during the day

    I agree that some people aren't active enough but if you were eating at a calorie deficit or at maintenance you wouldn't gain a gram of weight even if you laid in bed all day.
    On the flip side, you could spend 8 hours running 7 days a week and still gain weight if a caloric excess is present (though this would be very hard and you'd need like a truck load of big macs)
  • jsp2374
    jsp2374 Posts: 131 Member
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    :drinker:
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    James, I don't think anyone would argue that as a population (in the affluent world), we're taking in more calories than we need. But the question is really why are we doing it now, when we didn't do it (so much) 40 years ago? I don't believe it's because people were more educated 40 years ago and that foods were better labelled, because I don't remember that being the case. So I think we have to look at other things that were different 30 or 40 years ago.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Research shows that pushing stuff in your mouth results in accumulation of stuff around your gut and *kitten*.
  • gatecityradio
    gatecityradio Posts: 401
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    People not knowing when to quit stuffing their face.
  • james1299
    james1299 Posts: 19 Member
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    We didn't have 2000 calorie mocha's and a fast food outlet on every corner back then.
    Everyone is out to make a buck and people have grown to demand convenience.
    I see it as a failure of our first world system.
    When you can swallow your daily caloric needs in one go and still feel hungry, well that's not a good thing.
  • LizAWDavis
    LizAWDavis Posts: 45
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    Hi - I reckon generally people's lifestyles are so sedentary - and highly fatty foods are everywhere and so cheap and easy to buy that this contributes. BUT I do think that it is primarily up to each individual - everyone can choose what to put in their mouths and if they want to sit down all evening once they come in from work. It's 'easier' to be overweight and 'harder' to lose it as it takes more effort.
  • katicasi82
    katicasi82 Posts: 121 Member
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    I think that my being over weight stems from grief and depression - not to be a whingey cow but when I found out my sister was ill in three months i went from size 10 (USA 6) to a 16 (USA 12) and stayed there until now - three years after her death in August...
  • poppy191
    poppy191 Posts: 10
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    I did my dissertation on this and apparently we arent eating significantly more calories than in the 1950s the major changes are lifestyle changes i.e. less incidental exercise through driving to work and labour saving devises and longer commutes which reduce the amount of leisure time available to exercise. Exercise not only boosts metabolic rate and burns calories it improves moods which reduces things like stress eating and it curbs your appetite. However I am also of the opinion that given the amount of chemicals in food these days are bodies have to work extra hard making them less efficient at processing the food we eat properly.
  • Aperture_Science
    Aperture_Science Posts: 840 Member
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    My opinion: Primarily poor portion control and sedentary lifestyle.
  • zombiesama
    zombiesama Posts: 755 Member
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    Aliens!!

    :O
  • ShaunMc1968
    ShaunMc1968 Posts: 204
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    We live in cavepeople's bodies. They are designed to store fat in time of glut and shed fat in times of famine. Our evolution has not caught up with the current situation. Sone of the major causes of obesity are:

    1, The constant availability of cheap calories. (fast food, sugar treats, sweets etc)

    2, the move to a more sedentary lifestyle.

    Add those two together and you have a time bomb of obesity and health related problems.

    S,.
  • i_am_losing_it
    i_am_losing_it Posts: 310 Member
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    I think it is simple, we have easy access to food and do not have to expend any energy to get it. For example, within the last century if you wanted to have butter you had to raise and feed the cow daily, milk the cow twice daily, strain the milk, pour in a container, when the cream rises to the top skim it off, strain the cream again, churn the butter at about 90 revolutions per minute until granules form and then pour off the milk and immediately cleaning out the butter churn. Then after you had pretty much used more calories making the butter than if you at it all you could spread some on your bread, oh wait, then you had to make the bread.
    I can take about 5 minutes to drive to the store and walk to the back and grab the butter in about 30 seconds, walk back to pay and walk out another thirty seconds and drive home 5 more seated minutes. I have used what 25 calories and if I ate the whole pound of butter that would be approximately 2240 calories.

    It is not some big conspiracy, people like to blame everything and everyone. It is simply our society has made life less physically demanding and our high calorie foods more easily and readily available. Not rocket science by any means.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    It's the L'Oreal theory, because I'm worth it. We have a hard day at the office and managing our home life and reward ourselves with food. Party food (sweets, crisps, fizzy drinks, alcohol) adults would only get a couple of times a year when I was growing up are available, acceptable on a daily basis and hard-marketed at every turn.

    I sound like an old fart, but few people were obese when I was growing up when we'd have three square meals a day and other food just wasn't available. If you went on a family day out, you'd bring a packed lunch because there weren't fast food outlets on every corner. And eating out was expensive.
  • Nationalluv
    Nationalluv Posts: 23 Member
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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...

    Good advice right here. On Sunday I was going to go to the gym and get a little workout in, instead I had a brillant idea to go to the park. I am so glad I did. It was really fun and I havent been in a while. I played volleyball it so simple but fun to be outdoors.
  • Tankplanker
    Tankplanker Posts: 365 Member
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    The abundance of low quality processed food, lack of exercise and poor impulse control.

    Its hard and expensive to eat 3000 calories of clean, cooked from scratch food without adding mountains of carbs or fat that will quickly make you feel very full. Very easy and cheap to eat 3000 calories of processed food and still feel hungry during the day.

    Lack of exercise doesn't make you fat, it just makes you unfit, eating more calories than you burn makes you fat.

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