What do you think is the primary reason for obesity?

I think portion control is the biggest problem. I eat any kind of food, I just eat a small amount.

^^^^ This. As a country, we don't seem to do "moderation" very well. Also, I hear a lot of people talk about what they "deserve"....but just because you "deserve" something doesn't mean you should have it.

I won't even respond to this because all of the food company employee *kitten*/trolls who constantly police these message boards will tell me to take off my "tin foil hat" and go eat a nice healthy bag of Doritos and a Big Gulp... after all it's just calories and all calories are the same according to them...

I don't think it's a conspiracy but more insecure people in denial about their eating.
IF MAN MAKES IT, WE SHOULD NOT EAT IT.
So, why not just say that, then just admit to being a work in progress?
They can't do that, and it bothers me as well. Clean eating is so simple.
These weaklings are like alcoholics in denial.

Like I said....spoons cause obesity.....:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I think it all stems from lack of proper food education from a young age.

And also I echo about growing your own veggies, which is good exercise, too.

I was a wartime baby, and sugar, chocolate, meat, butter and eggs were strictly rationed until into the 50s, and you rarely saw anyone obese then... the diet was lots of homegrown veggies, apples and seasonal foods, with a bit of meat now and then. Alas, I can remember the day sweet rationing ended, and I could eat as much as my pocket money would buy. And then the advertising started kicking in, about the benefits all these processed foods would bring.

So can we lay down for our children some new cultural norms - like birthdays do not mean a visit to a fast food palace, and lots of toys, but time spent with friends and family.

I know for me, the biggest thing was lack of exercise. I used to be a scrawny kid, so scrawny you could count my ribs. I wasn't unhealthy though, the doctors always said I was just fine and perfectly healthy. I used to snack on raw carrots, and I would have raw veggies when I could. Broccoli with ranch, fresh snow peas, whatever. I hated cooked veggies. I would also eat hot dogs right out of the package. I loved them a lot. I would have one or two throughout the day.

However, I also spent the majority of my time outside running around. When the outdoor play slowed down and video game playing increased, I gained weight. Then I started to increase portion sizes, like I was competing with my dad to see who could eat more. Not that it was intentional that I did, just something that happened, and gained more weight. So now, I am trying to fix the habits I created and do better about exercise and eating healthy.

Each obese person has their own reason for being obese. Yes, there are triggers that have influenced obese Americans that come from all different directions but at the end of the day there is no blame to be given out to anyone other than the obese person. I have been obese my entire life and I know this to be so. I am obese and had to figure out why. Once I found the cause it is my responsibility to remove the cause and work to not be obese. The TV, fast food, laziness, hormones, etc., did not cause me to become obese. A big problem we as humans have is wanting to post blame on someone other than ourselves. As an obese person, I now look in the mirror everyday knowing I am the reason I am obese and it is MY responsibility to repair the damages.

Gluttony and laziness......a no brainer......:bigsmile:

Yes, of course this is right... but why? WHY are we more lazy, WHY are we more gluttonous, WHY do we all make excuses?

Have humans fundamentally changed in two or three generations to become lazy slobs with no self control?

I don't know the answers, but it's a fascinating discussion!

Exactly. Why are we lazier than our grandparents?

And why would the food companies want us obese? Is it some government plot to keep the health care system loaded up?

They don't want us obese, they want to make money, and if they can make things taste "good" using cheaper ingredients, ie corn syrup, or add chemicals to improve the color and texture (leading to more sales), they do.

I am obese because I used to eat all the time for pleasure. Bored? Go eat. Sad? Go eat. Hungry? Eat more. I ate my way to obesity, plain and simple. I regret it but all I can do now is try to fix the problem.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/08/us-usa-health-obesity-idUSBRE8470LC20120508


This is an interesting article on obesity and the social factors that contribute.

Basically we live in an obesity promoting environment. And whilst it is easy to go 'personal responsibility' etc. etc. the fact is that we are born and raised in a society that promotes obesity and we (as a society) need to work together to change these environmental factors.

I am not actually obese, and I don't blame 'everybody else' for any weight problem I may have had or may have. But I am also aware (through my sociology and psychology studies at University) of the way social forces shape our identity and decision making and feel that social action is the only way to prevent obesity.

Another interesting article I suggest you read if you have access to journals online here are some abstracts:

"victim-blaming ideology
both ignores what is known about human behavior and minimizes the importance of evidence
about the environmental assault on health. It instructs people to be individually
responsible at a time when they are becoming less capable as individuals of controlling their
health environment. "

" the cultural environment in which individuals are expected to take personalresponsibility for their health must also be thoughtfully considered. The average American
school-age child, for example, watches 10,000 television commercials per year, and
in a single recent year, one company spent more than $30 million advertising a single
sugar-coated cereal! During that same year, the amount spent by the U.S. government on
nutrition education for schoolchildren was just $50,000 per state.60 Americans not only
are bombarded with advertisements for high-fat, high-calorie foods but consistently are
provided large servings of such foods when they eat at most restaurants and fast-food
establishments. At the same time, as Robison61 points out, “When our culture continues to
say to us, ‘why walk when you can ride?’ when it admonishes us to get every new laborsaving
device, and to not even leave our chair to change a TV channel or our computer to
send a fax, is it any wonder that the notion of building in 40 minutes three or four times a
week for exercise goes against the grain?”

"Personal responsibility for health? A review of the arguments and the evidence at century's end" Community Health Education, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
Author is Meredith Minkler

I THINK IT IS A CYCLE WE GET CAUGHT UP IN. WE EAT THE WRONG FOODS, WE DON'T EXERCISE ENOUGH, WE GAIN WEIGHT. THEN WE TRY TO LOSE IT AND IT IS SO HARD WE GIVE UP. THEN THE POUNDS JUST PILE UP ON US. AND WE FILL HELPLESS BECAUSE WE ARE SO OVERWEIGHT ....EAT MORE, BECAUSE WE ARE DEPRESSED......CONTINUE TO GAIN......

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.

This ^^^^

I know what happened to ME.
As a teenager, I LIVED on Taco Bell and Little Ceasars spaghetti because I worked at LS and my BFF LOVED Taco Bell. I was skinny. However, I walked EVERYWHERE. I lived 4 miles from high school, and walked both to and from, all year round (yes, even part of the summer, I worked cleaning books). I lived 6 miles from my job, and walked to work, and was driven home. I walked to the store. I walked to visit friends. I walked EVERYWHERE.
Then, at 19 I got pregnant and moved to the middle of no where. And quit walking. And lived with family that ate all the time!!!
Lived there for 12 years. And got fat.

Now my kids are having a fit that they have to walk home from marching band practice next week- 3.5 miles, and I am driving them TO practice.