Why Are So Many People in America Fat? page 6

[egrok]

The whole fat acceptance thing really pisses me off. Sorry for the rant.

+1

It's a huge problem that should not be accepted. Sure we shouldn't discriminate (unless the job necessarily needs fit people like firemen), but we shouldn't encourage it either!!

[anna5]

Cheap, highly palatable food, which is pervasive everywhere. A culture of "me, me, me" and "I want this now". American food is significantly larger in size or cheaper than most of the rest of the world.

A culture of me,me, me? I am pretty sure that in other cultures people eat too. Moreover, I am pretty sure that they too prefer to eat food they like.

[egrok]

+100 for mentioning both Dr. Lustig and Dr. Mercola!

[Leida]

Food is cheaper and more accessible in the States. It's all about 'opened 24 hours' and get more crap for less money & the proximity to Mexico which grows cheap food. It is actually cheaper in the states to eat out on crap & processed than cook at home. Plus, they are now well into the third generation that is eating out of a box and a can, so pop in the microwave pizza is actually regarded as food.... Also, a lot of Americans are actually poor and badly educated.

It is not just most Americans are overweight, it is also that the overweight portion of their population is CRAZY overweight. They are not just plump, they are enormous. It's kindda frightening that a human being can be that large.

[Miss Understood]

Well, I used to be fat and now I'm not. What changed was I stopped eating grains and processed oils.

Is it too big a stretch to believe that everyone else who is fat is that way because they still eat that stuff?

I really think this is at the heart of the issue. As Mark says, too much grain and other carbs puts people into the realm of insidious weight gain. I think people eat way more wheat and corn based products than they did a few decades ago. Growing up in the 50s and 60s a typical dinner was meat, potato and a vegetable. Now and then a casserole. It was mostly real food freshly prepared. Now people eat so much food that's pre packaged and loaded with grains and sugar. There is wheat, corn and sugar in 95% of the processed foods. And people snack on more wheat and corn based foods which stimulates their appetites: crackers, corn chips, muffins, cookies, fruit and fiber bars/granola.

Heart-healthy-whole-grains will be the death of many people.

[Knifegill]

Food is cheaper and more accessible in the States. It's all about 'opened 24 hours' and get more crap for less money & the proximity to Mexico which grows cheap food. It is actually cheaper in the states to eat out on crap & processed than cook at home. Plus, they are now well into the third generation that is eating out of a box and a can, so pop in the microwave pizza is actually regarded as food.... Also, a lot of Americans are actually poor and badly educated.

This is extremely true! My parents were the boomers, who were trained to trust and love brand names and things in boxes. I grew up almost exclusively eating out of cans and boxes, with the occasional meat loaf that was really more of a bread loaf. My mom thinks vegetables are poisonous and is afraid to eat them. I KNEW something was wrong but I had no idea quite how badly we had it. Cereal for breakfast, macaroni and cheese or ramen noodles for lunch, and spaghetti for dinner. Kool-aid on tap, and pizza at school and at home on the weekends.

[SarahW]

Tonight I had to go to an ATM, so I drove around the bank navigating the maze to the drive-up ATM.

My husband, a European, commented "This is why Americans are fat."

Not even Micky D's have drive-thru's in Europe. Well, there may be a few. But they are considered strange.

[PandaRose]

i agree with portion sizes. i have family in England and my uncle says that noone would ever ask for a to-go box in a restaurant and that you dont need them because the portions arent as large.

[Fitness Wayne]

Another reason is that people are always in a hurry to make sure they will die sooner. That's why most people eat and drink out of a box, wrapper and plastic cup inside their car or while watching tv or at the movies, stuff that someone else has prepared for them.
It hasn't always been like this. If you see films from the sixties and earlier,and I'm not talking Hollywood stuff, but rather documentaries showing average people on the streets you'll see more slender, nicer and healthier looking people. Most women actually had waist lines back then. Much better dressed too.
The whole fat acceptance thing really pisses me off. Sorry for the rant.

Great post, I think that the fat acceptance movement has made the obesity problem so much worse. Now people who are 30 to 50 pounds overweight describe themselves as average. I guess they are right that most people are overweight also but when I think of average I think of what a normal person should look like not what they actually look like today.

[AmyMac703]

Great post, I think that the fat acceptance movement has made the obesity problem so much worse. Now people who are 30 to 50 pounds overweight describe themselves as average. I guess they are right that most people are overweight also but when I think of average I think of what a normal person should look like not what they actually look like today.

+1
I think that there's a fine line between making overweight (I'm talking people who are 10-20 pounds overweight, not people who are 300-400lbs) people feel OK about themselves and encouraging unhealthy behavior. It's one thing for a single mom working full time to be a bit overweight and/or have other priorities besides going to the gym and getting ripped, but I'd say the majority of people who are overweight or obese don't really have any legit excuses for being the way they are. At the same time though, I've met people who are 10-20lbs overweight but are way healthier and fitter (in terms of athletic abilities), than plenty of skinny-fat people who've never lifted anything or run three miles in their life.
But still, people who are single, in their 20's, and obese have no excuse for their condition. Sorry if this makes me seem like an asshole, but sugar-coating (hahah ... bacon-coating?) the truth doesn't help anyone.