America's overall health

[broken chain]

I just finished watching a Nat Geo program highlighting the building of the Porsche Panamera.Assembly of the Porsche took place in three different cities in Germany.Facilities were state of the art and super clean.
Attention to detail in every form was extrodinary.

What caught my eye though was the overall fitness of every employee,including floor workers,truck drivers,assemblers,management,mid management etc. .
I observed not one obese person in the one hour segement both male and female.
In one outside shot I saw a bicycle rack which looked to have approx. a dozen or so bikes.The facilities looked to be in a rural type setting so I would Imagine that the commute to work had to be a decent distance.

I don't know if they purposely target inshape people as a hiring requisite,but it would make sense that a fit person is a more productive person.

Obiviously the German people take great pride in their work as well as their personal appearance.

America needs to shape up both mentally and physically,we are far behind in the global scheme of things.

 

[Master50]

I have been in Italy on holiday for a week and I too am surprised at the shape of these people. Yes there are overweight people here but no where near what I see at home. While many of the young people don't look like they get a lot of exercise they are not bulging over their jeans. For as much as they seem to eat I have actually lost a kilo this week. Pasta bread, and cheese but the food isn't full of sugar. So much food is made from scratch and it sure is wonderful to eat a tomato that was picked within a day of consumption instead of a week or more.
Fresh food without all the processed and sugar laden fillers goes a ways to leaner people too. The lack of exercise however looks more universal.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Being from Germany i think you should not make conclusions out of such a tV segment.
Don't forget that Porsche is an elite company, if you work for Porsche you certainly have a good reputation. I assume this kind of motivates peole who work their to sty in shape themselves.
If you take a look at the overall population, there are many many overweight persons too. Maybe there are not that many super fat people but nevertheless i think Germany has a big weight problem too.
I guess it's a bit of a perspective think. Maybe as an American you think that Germany is quiet well of in terms of overweight. That doesn't mean that the situation in Germany is reall good, it's just good compared to the horrible situation in the USA.
That's actually true for most countries

 

[BroDeal]

countries

Number one with a bullet, baby. We're number one. We're number one. Oh, wait...

I always wonder about these people who look like they can barely walk they are so fat. WTF! The quality of life must suck. Push away from the table occasionally.

 

[BillytheKid]

America needs to shape up both mentally and physically,we are far behind in the global scheme of things.

http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/cars/ford-focus-is-world-s-top-seller-1.3943700

Here's a AP story on the Ford Focus becomming the world's top selling car.
Although we might think that because the new plant, being in Thailand, is a bad thing, most auto manufacturers are building plants in markets that they sell in.

So the bottom line is that Ford unlike the the propped-up Gerneral Motors is thriving. Perhaps Ford is a model for American sucess as it was at its beginning.

They've toppled Toyota and Honda from a market they use to own here without the help of a government bail pail and in a time of woe.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Was baffled when I saw a tv program where the children in american kindergartens were fed with burgers, french fries, nuggets and chocholate milk. Kids in the age of 4-6! No wonder all the healthy stuff taste worse if you are raised with that being your everyday lunch.

Is that really normal practice?

 

[Christian]

The thread title is "America's overall health", yet you seem to mostly speak about weight. Of course the two are very closely related, but even though morbidly obese people might be more rare in Europe than in the US, I feel that the US is way ahead of many European countries in other health-related issues.

Smoking for example is only recently being banned in restaurants, bars and public places, and never without huge protest and indignation. As a former smoker myself, I was opposed to smoking being banned in public places. But after having spent some time in countries where it was banned (among them the US), it bothered me a lot and now I can't believe it when people try to make pseudo-rational arguements pro-smoking in bars, etc. I think the US is the most progressive country in the western world when it comes to anti-smoking laws, decades ahead of Europe, even though the tobacco lobby was really strong (and maybe still is) in America.

The same goes for drinking. While I do admit that the age limit of 21 is extreme and ridiculous, the underage drinking in many European countries is also extreme. It is generally condoned that 14 year-olds get drunk, it is seen as part of the "culture". Underage girls get crowned "wine queen" and so on. Of course underage drinking also exists in the US (and also sometimes with fatal outcome) but I believe that it is much less the case then in Europe.

Both cause of course high cholesterol and other problems, same goes for many European cuisines which include a lot of cheese and greasy dishes.

I also found that sports have a much higher standart in US schools than in Europe.


When it comes to obesity, I believe that it is mostly a problem of the so-called "underclass", and that it goes along with poverty, poor education, lack of perspectives and so on. I don't know if there are any statistics to prove this, so I might be wrong. This counts for the US and Europe. But because the gap between rich and poor is much bigger in the US, you will see more and more extremely obese people there than in Europe. And as someone pointed out, the Porsche factory is not a good example. If they had made a NatGeo documentary about the unemployment line or the high appartment buildings in the poor suburbs, it would have been a different story. Oddly enough those rarely make it to TV

 

[Christian]

Was baffled when I saw a tv program where the children in american kindergartens were fed with burgers, french fries, nuggets and chocholate milk. Kids in the age of 4-6! No wonder all the healthy stuff taste worse if you are raised with that being your everyday dinner.

Is that really normal practice?

I spent a year in a US highschool as an exchange student in 2006 and the food was unhealthy, greasy and disgusting. It mostly consisted of what you describe. I only ate it in absolute emergencies.

But you have to relativize. In general, not many students ate it (since they also found it disgusting). Most kids brought lunch from home. Also lunch was not the biggest meal of the day, as in many European countries, but dinner. Also there was no chocolate or soft drinks in the vending machines.

 

[FitSsikS]

Now we have to blend these numbers with any national data that can be found for...umm....cheating.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Was baffled when I saw a tv program where the children in american kindergartens were fed with burgers, french fries, nuggets and chocolate milk. Kids in the age of 4-6! ?

This.

And more. We live in a nation where everyone is in a hurry. Everyone works all the time with very little vacation (holiday). It's hurry up and work, hurry up and get home, hurry up and watch TV. And two of the things that go along with that are working instead of exercising, and most of all, eating fast and junk food. McDonalds, Burger King, Jack in the Box, etc. But also instead of eating things like apples, carrots, grapes, etc. for snacks they eat candy, chips, etc. We also live in a society where instead of simply eating healthy, we try to cheat obesity with fad diets. Low carb this, low fat that, etc. Then blame it on things like insulin, hormones, etc. etc. Or, as a doctor friend of mine told me, the best diet is a balanced diet in whole foods. But that doesn't sell books.

 

[Jalina]

Hmmm, I think on last reports Australia had moved up the obesity ladder. Yay for us. Although using BMI as the sole indicator of obesity is notoriously unreliable, the table would be reasonably accurate. Don't think that the US is on their own.

I recently watched Food Inc and that was a bit of an eye-opener concerning the state of the food industry in the US. Quite simply, it's cheaper to eat crap. While not to the same scale here, it is true to a certain extent. On the go, you can grab a sandwich and a bottle of water and pay $12, or you can grab a meal from Maccas for $7. Throw a couple of kids into the equation and it's not hard to see how Maccas can win.

While I can sort of see the economic argument, what I don't always understand is the convenience argument. I don't understand how ordering take away is that much quicker than cooking at home. You can go to the supermarket and get pre-cut fresh meat, a pack of pre-cut vegies and cook a stir fry in less time than it takes to order something from the local Chinese. A lot of it does come down to laziness. As for fat little kids? I put that down to the inability of some parents to use the word "No" and the trend of wrapping kids in cotton wool so they never get outside to get exercise and instead spend their days in front of the box/playstation.

As Alpe mentions above, a varied diet of whole fresh foods, cutting out processed crap and a bit of exercise is usually all it takes to remain relatively healthy (for those without underlying health problems). And the big one, keeping an eye on portion sizes. A bit of planning with the weekly shop can benefit both health and the budget. It's not as hard as it's made out to be by those that are trying to sell us something.

 

[gregod]

I just finished watching a Nat Geo program highlighting the building of the Porsche Panamera.Assembly of the Porsche took place in three different cities in Germany.Facilities were state of the art and super clean.
Attention to detail in every form was extrodinary.

What caught my eye though was the overall fitness of every employee,including floor workers,truck drivers,assemblers,management,mid management etc. .
I observed not one obese person in the one hour segement both male and female.
In one outside shot I saw a bicycle rack which looked to have approx. a dozen or so bikes.The facilities looked to be in a rural type setting so I would Imagine that the commute to work had to be a decent distance.

I don't know if they purposely target inshape people as a hiring requisite,but it would make sense that a fit person is a more productive person.

Obiviously the German people take great pride in their work as well as their personal appearance.

America needs to shape up both mentally and physically,we are far behind in the global scheme of things.

glad to know my car is built by healthy people. i hope that fitness has a positive effect on quality.

on your original point, as an american expat i think i have noticed two reasons for americans robust waistlines. first, food culture has changed such that everything is about convenience and speed. so, fast food, soft drinks, prepackaged meals, which used to be an occasional treat, are now staples for a large number of people. second, american's seem to feel entitled to be able to eat as much as they can stuff themselves with and not have any consequences for it. like many things in america, there is no moderation.

pic related

 

[rhubroma]

The thread title is "America's overall health", yet you seem to mostly speak about weight. Of course the two are very closely related, but even though morbidly obese people might be more rare in Europe than in the US, I feel that the US is way ahead of many European countries in other health-related issues.

Smoking for example is only recently being banned in restaurants, bars and public places, and never without huge protest and indignation. As a former smoker myself, I was opposed to smoking being banned in public places. But after having spent some time in countries where it was banned (among them the US), it bothered me a lot and now I can't believe it when people try to make pseudo-rational arguements pro-smoking in bars, etc. I think the US is the most progressive country in the western world when it comes to anti-smoking laws, decades ahead of Europe, even though the tobacco lobby was really strong (and maybe still is) in America.

The same goes for drinking. While I do admit that the age limit of 21 is extreme and ridiculous, the underage drinking in many European countries is also extreme. It is generally condoned that 14 year-olds get drunk, it is seen as part of the "culture". Underage girls get crowned "wine queen" and so on. Of course underage drinking also exists in the US (and also sometimes with fatal outcome) but I believe that it is much less the case then in Europe.

Both cause of course high cholesterol and other problems, same goes for many European cuisines which include a lot of cheese and greasy dishes.

I also found that sports have a much higher standart in US schools than in Europe.


When it comes to obesity, I believe that it is mostly a problem of the so-called "underclass", and that it goes along with poverty, poor education, lack of perspectives and so on. I don't know if there are any statistics to prove this, so I might be wrong. This counts for the US and Europe. But because the gap between rich and poor is much bigger in the US, you will see more and more extremely obese people there than in Europe. And as someone pointed out, the Porsche factory is not a good example. If they had made a NatGeo documentary about the unemployment line or the high appartment buildings in the poor suburbs, it would have been a different story. Oddly enough those rarely make it to TV

With the exception of the British, who make a culture of their drink, Europeans do not drink as much as Americans. In Italy wine goes with food and is mostly done with moderation. So I don't know where you get your perception from, but condoning 14 year old drunkeness is simply nonsense, at least in Italy, where being drunk period is viewed with disapproval. In fact, in contrast with what setting a legal drinking age at 21 (a rigorist and prohibitionist move) is supposed to achieve, I'm sure that statistically speaking cases of teen drunkeness and even alcoholism are much higher in the US, not Europe. Then, since one does not here live in a culture of rigor and prohibition, there isn't a need to "reward oneself" after a hard day’s work with alcohol. Wine is freely drank at lunch and dinner, but as I said not to get drunk, and just to follow the natural rhythms of the work-resting times of the day.

As far as weight is concerned, people in the US simply eat too damn much and don't move enough. The portions one is served at the public eateries are ridiculously oversized and everyone has to use the car to move around, practically everywhere. This is why I tell my students on our 3hr site visits and walking tours, when they say they are "starving," that nobody in the West is ever allowed to say "I'm starving." Then there is the demand, in a consumer driven culture, to invent a myriad of junk food products that frankly people should simply do without. European diets are no where near the high fat, sugar, processed food type you find in America. Your point here is simply laughable, with the exception of Britain, which in several ways though is like the 51st US state. So here we should more specifically be talking about the Continent.

Don't forget though that the diet industry in America would have us believe a host of ridiculous things. In fact fat content has little to do with it, so much as how much consumption is processed food and, above all, how much exercise one gets. A recent study (I read, but no longer can cite the source) on Russian peasants demonstrated that despite being fed on a natural high fat, high caloric diet (as they have for centuries), remaind fit and trim because they walk an average of something like 15k per day. Thus eating a traditional diet, however high in fat and calories, based on what the land provided and a lifestyle that isn't based on mechanized transportation and movement, in short living a pre-industrialized way of life, is much more a guarantee to remain fit and trim, then any contemporary diet fad that tries an compensate for the excesses of modernity.

The problem for Europeans is that some of these bad habits have begun to be established here, not to the dimension of the US, but certainly being overfed has started to set in. In fact there was practically no obesity in Italy until the recent generation.

As far as smoking is concerned, yes there are more smokers, though the campaign to vilify the activity has not been as marked as in the US. However, smoking was banned in Italian eateries and other public places over a decade ago.

 

[Christian]

With the exception of the British, who make a culture of their drink, Europeans do not drink as much as Americans.

As someone who has lived on both continents, I simply cannot agree with this. What you say about Italy might be true - I have no way of knowing - I can only share with you my experiences in the Benelux, Germany and France, and compare those with the community that I lived in in the US.

In the greater area that I live in, it is customary to have one or two apéritifs before a meal, then several glasses of wine during, then a digestif after. This is seen as part of the culture. I have never experienced this in the United States. The community that I lived in either consumed alcohol very marginally, or disregarded it altogether.

As for youth drinking, again I can only speak for my latitudes and not for Italy. (I begin to perceive that our whole problem might be that we judge "Europe" by our own "national" experience - you from an Italian point of view and me from a Benelux point of view). It might not be a problem in Italy, but over here I believe that underage drinking is a big problem.

European diets are no where near the high fat, sugar, processed food type you find in America. Your point here is simply laughable, with the exception of Britain, which in several ways though is like the 51st US state. So here we should more specifically be talking about the Continent.

Of course you "find" high sugar, fat, etc. food type in the US. But my point is that supposing that simply because it is available, every one eats it is wrong. You must consider that there is also Trader Joe's, Wholefoods and what not. As I said about my former High School - junk food was the only available option, so most students chose to bring lunch from home. Again I reiterate my theory that, in the US maybe more then elsewhere, unhealthy nutrition goes along with lack of education and lack of financial means.

As far as smoking is concerned, yes there are more smokers, though the campaign to vilify the activity has not been as marked as in the US. However, smoking was banned in Italian eateries and other public places over a decade ago.

Again you speak of Italy - I begin to perceive that I may have hurt you in your Italian pride, whereas I may have been offended in my pseudo-US-pride - but again it is a different story for my latitudes. Smoking in bars is still legal in Luxembourg, legal in some places in Germany (many loopholes in the law), only recently banned in Belgium for example. In France I got the distinct feeling that the general opinion was that smoking is really not all that bad. In Norway several people made the case to my girlfriend that chewing tobacco is healthy.

Also (again, in my latitudes - no idea about Italy), many kids (including myself) start smoking at ages 16 or younger, and it is no problem to buy cigarettes in public at that age. Among US kids smoking is virtually non-existent in my experience, and sports are very highly valued in schools (also contrary to my own country's schools - again, no idea about Italy).


I should not have used the term "Europeans" since it is too generalizing and what may be true for some countries is not true for Italy or others. But in the same sense I believe the term "Americans" is too generalizing. While it may be statistically true that Americans have poorer health than Europeans, I would argue that you would have to very closely look at the different social classes for more accurate results

 

[rhubroma]

As someone who has lived on both continents, I simply cannot agree with this. What you say about Italy might be true - I have no way of knowing - I can only share with you my experiences in the Benelux, Germany and France, and compare those with the community that I lived in in the US.

In the greater area that I live in, it is customary to have one or two apéritifs before a meal, then several glasses of wine during, then a digestif after. This is seen as part of the culture. I have never experienced this in the United States. The community that I lived in either consumed alcohol very marginally, or disregarded it altogether.

As for youth drinking, again I can only speak for my latitudes and not for Italy. (I begin to perceive that our whole problem might be that we judge "Europe" by our own "national" experience - you from an Italian point of view and me from a Benelux point of view). It might not be a problem in Italy, but over here I believe that underage drinking is a big problem.



Of course you "find" high sugar, fat, etc. food type in the US. But my point is that supposing that simply because it is available, every one eats it is wrong. You must consider that there is also Trader Joe's, Wholefoods and what not. As I said about my former High School - junk food was the only available option, so most students chose to bring lunch from home. Again I reiterate my theory that, in the US maybe more then elsewhere, unhealthy nutrition goes along with lack of education and lack of financial means.



Again you speak of Italy - I begin to perceive that I may have hurt you in your Italian pride, whereas I may have been offended in my pseudo-US-pride - but again it is a different story for my latitudes. Smoking in bars is still legal in Luxembourg, legal in some places in Germany (many loopholes in the law), only recently banned in Belgium for example. In France I got the distinct feeling that the general opinion was that smoking is really not all that bad. In Norway several people made the case to my girlfriend that chewing tobacco is healthy.

Also (again, in my latitudes - no idea about Italy), many kids (including myself) start smoking at ages 16 or younger, and it is no problem to buy cigarettes in public at that age. Among US kids smoking is virtually non-existent in my experience, and sports are very highly valued in schools (also contrary to my own country's schools - again, no idea about Italy).


I should not have used the term "Europeans" since it is too generalizing and what may be true for some countries is not true for Italy or others. But in the same sense I believe the term "Americans" is too generalizing. While it may be statistically true that Americans have poorer health than Europeans, I would argue that you would have to very closely look at the different social classes for more accurate results

No, no hurting of any "Italian pride" and I'm well aware of the drinking culture in Europe, which is just that a "culture" with all the millenial implications that this entails. I think what distinguishes what you describe and what we know takes place in a fair amount of US society is the level of commercialization of alcohol (and food) and the amount of new super-alcoholic products which have only recently hit the markets to stimulate greater alcoholic consumption (like food).

True, Italy is probably a special case, for which a Mediterranean diet and culture has perhaps "protected" Italian society from these deleterious (to the human organism and health) effects of modernity. Indeed the Italian people by and large are probably more moderate than their northern European neighbors, though I can attest that most people in France, Belgium, Germany etcetera are more trim than the Americans as a whole, as the above chart clearly elucidates. In any case this has become proverbial: namely, that the Americans are the fattest people on earth, with as a result the highest rates of coronary and heart disease, diabetes and other health related problems associated with diet and "way of life." If the US is more "avant guard" in trying to be healthy, it is precisely due to the excesses of its lifestyle, where food and drink are only symptomatic of a broader state of being. In Italy when gazing across the Atlantic and observing the American way of life, it is said without being nasty of course that : Gli americani sono una società di salutisti che però sono amalati ("The American's are a society of health fanatics ("salutisti") that, however, are ill). Wheresas here people are certainly less fanatical about being healthy, but by an large live heathier lives because of a certain historical memory and its traditions.

In this sense the whole health "craze" in America is like treating the symptoms without curing the disease, which is to say the lifestyle. Wholefoods and their affiliates? Just another aspect of the new age American health fad and marketing phenomenon. Though how many Americans can really afford to regularly buy designer food Wholefoods products? In places like Italy and France, its simply called going to the local market. Other than elitism for urban yuppies.

In fact the whole West, America and Europe alike, should now be embracing "happy downsizing," though the model of economic liberalism and the type of conspicuous consumption that it promotes and which no other country but the US nation has come to incarnate or disseminate so forcibly throughout the globe, simply does not allow for this in its ideology.

 

[elapid]

This.

And more. We live in a nation where everyone is in a hurry. Everyone works all the time with very little vacation (holiday). It's hurry up and work, hurry up and get home, hurry up and watch TV. And two of the things that go along with that are working instead of exercising, and most of all, eating fast and junk food. McDonalds, Burger King, Jack in the Box, etc. But also instead of eating things like apples, carrots, grapes, etc. for snacks they eat candy, chips, etc. We also live in a society where instead of simply eating healthy, we try to cheat obesity with fad diets. Low carb this, low fat that, etc. Then blame it on things like insulin, hormones, etc. etc. Or, as a doctor friend of mine told me, the best diet is a balanced diet in whole foods. But that doesn't sell books.

I recently read a book called "Good Calories, Bad Calories" which looked at the epidemic in obesity and type 2 diabetes. The book was an interesting read. The author used scientific literature, or the lack thereof, to assess the origin and causes of these epidemics. The long-and-short of the author's view is that nutrition became politicized in an effort to decrease the risk of mortality from cardiac disease. The blame was put squarely on the shoulders of dietary fat. As a result, increased amounts of carbohydrates were recommended. However, from an evolutionary perspective, we have not (yet) evolved to cope with the increased amounts of carbohydrates, particularly highly refined carbohydrates and sugars, and all the downstream effects it has on insulin, insulin-like growth factor, etc. Furthermore, high carbohydrate diets have not decreased mortality from cardiac disease and rather alarmingly have increased the rate of cancers such as breast and colon. The author supported his findings with other anecdotal evidence such as the increased incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiac disease and cancer when native populations accustomed to high fat or high protein diets were introduced to westernized diets; and the high rate of obesity in the lower socioeconomic classes (with a higher rate of manual labor and hence more likely to burn calories) where highly refined carbohydrate meals are cheap and readily available. The book made for compelling reading and intuitively made sense to me personally.

 

[LauraLyn]

With the exception of the British, who make a culture of their drink, Europeans do not drink as much as Americans. In Italy . . . . in contrast with what setting a legal drinking age at 21 (a rigorist and prohibitionist move) is supposed to achieve, I'm sure that statistically speaking cases of teen drunkeness and even alcoholism are much higher in the US, not Europe. . . . . Wine is freely drank at lunch and dinner. . . .

As far as weight is concerned, people in the US simply eat too damn much and don't move enough. The portions one is served at the public eateries are ridiculously oversized and everyone has to use the car to move around, practically everywhere. . . . . Britain, which in several ways though is like the 51st US state. So here we should more specifically be talking about the Continent.

Don't forget though that the diet industry in America would have us believe a host of ridiculous things. . . . .

The problem for Europeans is that some of these bad habits have begun to be established here, not to the dimension of the US, but certainly being overfed has started to set in. In fact there was practically no obesity in Italy until the recent generation.. . . .

You know the scene there better than me, but one thing that struck me in England was this culture of "binge drinking," especially among the youth. Young people go out at night with the express purpose of getting plastered. I could never get that.

From what I saw on the continent, not everyone drinks at every meal or every day. Yes, some do. But some of that "moderate drinking" did not appear all that healthy to me.

In the US there are tons of health conscious people. But I think you are right about the food industry and the ridiculously unhealthy portions in restaurants. I remember the first time I ordered a cheese sandwich in France and thought I got ripped off because there was only one slice of cheese on it. I later realized that in France they hardly ever put more than one slice of cheese on a sandwich.

The real figures to watch are obesity in children. And this has spread not only to the continent, but also to growing economies like China and India. It moves with income levels raising followed by an aggressive and unhealthy food industry.

But the US is still the worse. So many places here just accept obesity as the norm.

 

[BillytheKid]

Was baffled when I saw a tv program where the children in american kindergartens were fed with burgers, french fries, nuggets and chocholate milk. Kids in the age of 4-6! No wonder all the healthy stuff taste worse if you are raised with that being your everyday lunch.

Is that really normal practice?

No, not in general. That would be a exception. Most kindergartens are private. Chris Horner was raised that way though and it has not effected him in the least.

I think your more likely to find obesity in the lower classes with single parents who may abondon tradition meal making for the fast-food lane becasue of time constraits. In general, the more wealthy the more fit.

One postive to the economy is the return of 12 oz and low suger size drinks like Coke and Pepsi. I will often have one on a longer ride or workout. Cokes use to be 7 oz. and a rare treat back in the 1930s.

 

[Steve H.]

Cokes use to be 7 oz. and a rare treat back in the 1930s.

...and made with real cocaine!

My wife and I went to visit her relatives in Italy in 2002 and they were all suprised by us weighing less than they had imagined Americans do.
I read the ingredient list on a possible food purchase and if sugar or corn syrup and the like are one of the first ingredients, I put it back. Once I started looking, I was surprised how much "sweetener" is added to foods even foods I don't tend to think of as sweet.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

UberFacts ‏
The United States spends about $190 billion every year trying to treat obesity.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Sgt. Antonio "Poke" Espera:-

Fifty percent of Americans are obese dog. You know what obese means, right? Fat as a mother****er. All these other countries nobody's fat. Think about this ****, dog? How does a mother****er get fat? You gotta sit on the couch and do nothing but eat and watch TV all day. White trash, poor Mexicans and Blacks, all obese as mother****ers. See, the white man has created a system with so much excess that even poor mother****ers are fat.
See, that's what this is all about, dog. The U.S. should just go into all these ****ed up countries, Iraq, Africa, setup American government and infrastructure - McDonalds, Starbucks, MTV - Then just hand it all over. I mean, how else we gonna make these hungry mother****ers want to stop killing everybody? Put a McDonalds on every ****in' corner. If we gotta blow up the corner, then build the McDonalds, so be it.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I have read somewhere also that the classifications of obesity and some of these statistics about American's health and other countries are at least, questionable. Will try to find them another time and post them up here.

 

[Bala Verde]

If you want to learn more about the weight/obesity issue in the US, I recommend this 4 part docu:

http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/

 

[fatandfast]

If you want to learn more about the weight/obesity issue in the US, I recommend this 4 part docu:

http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/

Is there any films or articles about the people who have not been afflicted by the "obesity epidemic". Given the food supply is the same for a great number of urban as well as rural Americans how are some people able to say no to the exrta calories, larger portions that are everywhere? What are the skinny/non obese people doing different than the masses?

 

[veganrob]

Truth is, it costs more to eat healthy than to eat crap fast food. Fresh fruit and vegetables, healthy grains etc is expensive compared to a Big Mac, pizza, KFC. And this food is laden with fat and sodium. Kids are brought up on it and are well on their way to obesity and all the health problems associated with it. So it is the underpriveleged that sufer the most.
Think of it, in the USA milk and soda cost less than clean water. Milk " the white death" is subsidized so much by govt it actually costs less than water. The mega food farms try to control what we eat. They have contracts with the schools to serve their ***. Salt, fat and corn syrup. That is what fuels the kids there. Oh and Monster Drink. It is a very sad situation.
P1sses me off. It is no way to treat innocent kids who are the future of the world.

 

[knewcleardaze]

Truth is, it costs more to eat healthy than to eat crap fast food. Fresh fruit and vegetables, healthy grains etc is expensive compared to a Big Mac, pizza, KFC. And this food is laden with fat and sodium. Kids are brought up on it and are well on their way to obesity and all the health problems associated with it. So it is the underpriveleged that sufer the most.
Think of it, in the USA milk and soda cost less than clean water. Milk " the white death" is subsidized so much by govt it actually costs less than water. The mega food farms try to control what we eat. They have contracts with the schools to serve their ***. Salt, fat and corn syrup. That is what fuels the kids there. Oh and Monster Drink. It is a very sad situation.
P1sses me off. It is no way to treat innocent kids who are the future of the world.

I think Krebs posted this in Velorooms.