What do you think is the primary reason for obesity?

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  • EternalJourney
    EternalJourney Posts: 138
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    Lack of exercise, abundance of food within arms reach, and simply not caring.

    All these were factors for me.
  • Michelle650
    Michelle650 Posts: 218
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    I know the food industry should take a lot of the responsibility, but it's not their fault entirely. I believe greed is the main issue. All types of foods are readily available to almost everyone! We are not content with just eating one slice if cake......we have to have 2 or 3. We think 'it's there, why not eat it, why let it go to waste!'

    I know many people won't agree with me and think I'm being mean and unfair, but I think people need to stop making excuses for themselves and realise that it is themselves that are eating all this food, not the food companies. Yes they are putting additives and sweeteners into food, but they are designing products that their customers want, foods that are in demand!

    I am not just blaming other people, I too am accepting that I spent many years being greedy. Not only wanting certain foods, but on huge portions. It's tough to break this cycle, but it has to be done. We have to take responsibility and stop blaming others.
  • ShilohMaier
    ShilohMaier Posts: 135
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    I think as a culture, we are too far removed from our food. Very few of us grow it ourselves, or even cook it ourselves anymore. We don't see what they do to it before they give it to us- and what they do is NOT good. I think all the chemicals they pump into everything has to be a contributing factor to the rampant growth of metabolic syndromes. Grass-fed beef is far healthier than corn-fed. You know why they feed the cows corn? It fattens them up super fast, and is cheap. Take a look at just about any processed food label- you will likely see corn or a corn byproduct on the list of main ingredients. If it fattens up cows, what do you think it does to us? And let's not forget that the corn being used is genetically modified, so is itself not natural.

    My husband and I have started a garden- we purchased only organic/heirloom varieties of the vegetables we planted. We will be buying a half of a cow from a local farm that does not corn-feed (bonus- if you buy a cow-share, you get the whole unpasteurized milk and it's not illegal!). We get our eggs from my uncle, who raises a few chickens that only eat what chickens were meant to eat- grass, bugs, worms... the eggs taste amazing. The yolks are rich and creamy. I've noticed that all the organic things we buy seem to have more actual flavor. You can even smell the difference between a greenhouse tomato and an organic tomato.
  • sarahharmintx
    sarahharmintx Posts: 868 Member
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    Being uneducated about food/meals/ingredients/calories/daily needs. How many of us have eaten something only to look it up later and go "holy crap I thought it was a lot better (or not that bad)". Now imagine doing that for years but never looking it up. That adds up quickly. No one is to blame but ourself.
  • kgprice11
    kgprice11 Posts: 750 Member
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    I honestly think its dues to:

    1.) The increase in advertising by the fast food industry.
    2.) Technology as a whole (i.e. television, video games, voice activations, remotes, wireless controls.)
    3.) Laziness
    4.) The interaction of people in groups and physically is on a decline (because of skype, facebook, twitter, etc)
    5.) Working outside has been on the decline such as yard work, swimming, basketball, outside activities, etc.

    Those are my reasons I think, they are not right and they are not wrong, they are opinions but many USA citizens are obese and continue to become more obese.
  • Puddles0308
    Puddles0308 Posts: 74
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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.

    I can agree. They started adding HFCS into an awful lot of foods between 1975-1985...which is when America started to gain weight.

    Also. The BMI scale change of 1998. Millions of Americans became "fat", without gaining a pound.
    http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/9806/17/weight.guidelines/
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
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    the correct answer is laziness. laziness makes you get fast food when you should be cooking. laziness makes you not exercise.

    of course people will whine that they dont have the time but those same people probably do things like watch tv.
  • Nutrition1st
    Nutrition1st Posts: 216 Member
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    This has become an epidemic that has far more implications than the scale. I run a non profit nutrition company and our primary focus is helping people understand how obesity is a leading risk factor to diabetes, cancer, strokes, kidney disease and heart disease. Especially in athletes or those who grew up active. When I speak to groups or individuals, one of the first questions I ask is "What does eat healthy and exercise mean"? Because that's what everyone hears from their doctor, neighbors, in the news and posted on every billboard. And in 4 years, I have never had 1 person answer that question correctly. It's always eat fruit and veggies and walk. People need to be educated about the value of protein, meal portions, active muscles ability to uptake glucose when insulin is present, etc. When we yo yo diet, or deny our body essential nutrients like carbs, we are killing our liver and pancreas. The pancreas creates so much insulin...more than it was designed to carry that in the case of diabetics, at some point it just stops. It's not just our grandparents anymore. This is becoming more prevalent in obese teenagers.

    I believe the primary reason for obesity today is education. Not inherited nor genetics. I have never scene an obese skeleton before. Before losing 100+ lbs and removing these risk factors from my life, my parents (who are both diabetics) almost passed down their disease b/c they fed me junk food my entire life. And even worse, I was obese b/c I only ate 1 meal a day. We have to educate the children and the parents until it becomes a lifestyle change. Kids don't prepare the meals or do the grocery shopping. I have 4 boys and my kids eat what I put on the table. As a responsible parent I educate my kids about healthy eating and how it reaches several other areas of life besides the mirror. I'm proud to say that my 14 year old who was at a high risk factor has already completed his early morning empty stomach cardio and is in the kitchen right now preparing his own oatmeal b/c he gets education from me weekly about obesity and what it can lead to.

    I encourage everyone to go to http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/ and watch these videos. You can watch them online for free if you don't have HBO. This obesity problem affects everyone. The obesity healthcare cost for tax payers (not just the obese) is over $150 billion / year and growing astronomically. Companies can legally fire you or deny your healthcare b/c of obesity. It doesn't matter what background we come from. Anyone who has taken the time to seek out and join MFP is at least seeking knowledge or trying to fix the problem.
  • cryshelle247
    cryshelle247 Posts: 78 Member
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    well me it would b because of bad relationships. .
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,449 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.
    100% agree, things exploded 30 years ago. Why? What exactly happened 30 years ago to change the gradual increase into a sharp one? Andy why is that, within a few years of having access to "american foods" does obesity explode in other countries. When feasibly, they are still eating pretty similar to their old foods. And why do the other health problems increase significantly. I.e.Samoans were "fat but fairly healthy." Then the american food showed up and diabetes and high blood pressure became common. Considering it has been "good to be fat" there for thousands of years...how did this stuff only become a problem in recent years?
  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
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    I DO NOT agree with the laziness arguement. Many overweight people I know are driven and caring people, but they don't spend enough time on themselves. They are too busy taking care of everyone else. I also blame a lot of it on busy lifestyles and not being superficial (not caring what you look like and wanting to help others, etc.). A LOT of people on this site are FINALLY taking care of themselves, and good for you I say!
  • ronadams52
    ronadams52 Posts: 176 Member
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    So far I have read through about half the comments (and will continue). I think the replies have been very good, honesty and somewhat varied with however many saying all the factors were true that where mentioned as possible problems. Personally I am beginning to think, as one person mentioned, that society has made the greatest changes and our lack of properly adapting and adjusting to our ever changing world has left us carrying the bag (literally and figuratively) :)
  • robinhardysmall
    robinhardysmall Posts: 246 Member
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    I agree with many of the previous posts~ however I also wonder how many percentage points obesity rates have gone up in the past 10 years or so.

    I went through a very nasty divorce- I worked 3 jobs to pay my bills and paid my way- but paid a very dear price of eating from the Dollar Tree because it was cheap- For $10 I could buy a loaf of bread- pottted meat and two bags of chips to make it through the week.

    So- if you are so tight on money- and too proud to ask for assistance- you make some bad choices to get you through. My family was mortified when they came to visit and wanted a snack!

    ...but you know what- I made it through and back on my feet now with a wonderful husband who supports my journey.

    So what I have learned- is dont' always judge a morbidly obese, obese or overweight person- there might be alot more to their story than we see...
  • dyannajoy
    dyannajoy Posts: 466 Member
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    processed foods......hands down. When I was growing up on a farm, we ate almost no processed foods and cake, pie etc was a once in a while treat. Everything was home grown and made from scratch. My parents still eat this way and still live on the farm. They are 91 and 82 and are VERY healhy, and can still run circles around me.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    Eating too much.
  • dyannajoy
    dyannajoy Posts: 466 Member
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    processed foods......hands down. When I was growing up on a farm, we ate almost no processed foods and cake, pie etc was a once in a while treat. Everything was home grown and made from scratch. My parents still eat this way and still live on the farm. They are 91 and 82 and are VERY healhy, and can still run circles around me.

    I should also add that it was very rare to see anyone overweight when I was growing up (I am 62). We had ONE chubby girl in our class the entire 12 years I was going to school. In my family we were all on the thin side until we grew up and settled into city life and started eating out and eating processed food.

    I remember having an exchange student when our children were younger, who came here from Spain. One of his first comments was "there are so many fat people!" and he was astounded that we sat in front of the tv and ate. He had never seen that before. He said, in Spain, we either watch tv, or we eat, but never both. So we have created many bad habits in our country too. And of course I absolutely believe that our sedentary/technologic lifestyles do not help either.
  • annew1952
    annew1952 Posts: 77 Member
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    Hi I think there are a few reasons for the obesity issue. First off the children nowadays hardly take
    gym classes in school. The reason I say this I work in the high school in my district and I see
    what the kids do every day or do not do. First off they go out to the school track and they are not
    dressed in gym clothes so most of them sit on the grass and watch. All I ever see is kids throwing
    a frezzbie. Maybe once in a while they hit a softball. Also I am positioned outside the lunchroom
    and see what some of the children walk out with. They serve healthy options to eat and the kids
    who need to be eating healthy are the ones who are not eating healthy. The habits begin at
    home. Kids are too immobile. I am not an authority on everything but I have seen this for the
    past 15 years. I was raised active. I played tennis. I swam; I ice skated. Played softball and so much more.
    I guess every generation is different.
  • HausfrauB
    HausfrauB Posts: 104 Member
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    SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR!!!!

    Too much sugar directly from: high-fructose corn syrup, table sugar, fruit juices...

    Too many carbs that quickly break down into sugar: all refined flours, cereals, crackers, bread, tortillas...

    Sugar has a devastating effect on blood sugar and insulin response. Sugar drives a vicious circle of highs and lows in the blood sugar that lead to insatiable appetites.

    http://www.pvnutritionaltherapy.com/sugar-why-its-killing-us-and-what-to-do-about-it/
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Eating habit. Seriously. I didn't want to admit that I was a big eater. Then when talking to my "skinny" friends, I notice how they eat and how little they are eating. So all in all, calorie in/calorie out. There's not too much anything else in it. Of course we are not talking about medical issues here.
  • AbbsyBabbsy
    AbbsyBabbsy Posts: 184 Member
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    I think snacking, especially with children, is an issue. We no longer eat 3 meals a day. We eat all day long, around the clock. Growing up, I couldn't open the pantry door without asking first, but I've noticed now most kids seem to have run of the kitchen. I know parents super frustrated that every single activity their children are involved in includes a snack. Our bodies never get a break from eating. Our pancreases are working 24/7 to ward off all the carby snacks.

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