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Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

cdc.gov

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Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#81

Post by toasterlovin »

nicolashahn wrote: post #40

Anyone have statistics on what % of those overweight adults are actually healthy, or at least have an acceptable body fat %? Many athletes and weightlifters would be considered overweight by BMI due to muscle mass. And according to the "Adults" PDF, that's the metric they're using. It's probably not a large percentage but I get ticked off a bit to know that you can be in the "overweight" BMI category and have clearly…

I fall into the group you mention. BMI of 34, which makes me obese, but not, you now, actually obese. That being said, serious weight lifters and large athletes are not a meaningful % of population.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#82

Post by Isamu »

izietto wrote: post #20
3pt14159 wrote: post #8

This is directly related to the way American cities are designed. It’s a car centric culture where big houses are far away from each other. That means driving everywhere. That means long commutes. That means TV over communal activity. That means big grocery runs with shelf stable food. Then pile on hyper sweet drinks and nutritional misinformation campaigns, and of course Americans are going to be overweight. The wor…

I'm italian and I visited united states a couple of months ago. In my opinion the biggest problem is that you don't have decent food at affordable prices. Healthy food has nonsensical high prices and if you want something at a human price you don't have much choice except fast food. What a shame.

Shelf space at the stores seems to be shifting more toward prepared and semi-prepared foods. This comes at a cost of more carbs, sugar, etc. I interpret this trend as consumer choice, that people are preferring to spend less time cooking and preparing meals.

If you have a strong food culture that demands fresh ingredients (Italy) then the prices may follow.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#84

Post by adrr »

8ytecoder wrote: post #50
adrr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not about eating healthy food, obesity is about the over consumption of food. You can maintain a healthy weight eating hamburgers and fries every day. The problem is portion size.

Diet is more complicated than that. I lost a significant amount by being on a low-carb diet. I didn't really try to control the portion size - though that may have happened naturally. What you eat does matter.

High fat and high protein provides high satiation which prevents the over consumption of calories. I've also lost significant weight on a keto diet. I've also done it with intermittent fasting and eating anything but keeping my calories below my required calorie intake.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#85

Post by DoreenMichele »

bpicolo wrote: post #28

Doesn't a 25 BMI seem like kind of a crappy metric for "overweight"? That makes my 6'4" brother "overweight" at like 205 which seems nuts. That doesn't feel overweight at all. (Defined in the footnote on page 222)

My ex was career army. He had to pass a PT test and pass weight to keep his job. He was a little guy, so he lifted weights to be able to do his job.

When he was on recruiting duty, every year they attended a conference. Every year, there was an insurance guy there. Every year, every one in the office was pronounced overweight according to their height and weight charts.

The army offers a tape test as an alternative if you can't pass weight. It is sometimes necessary to prove that bodybuilders are all muscle. My ex and his office mates were not so muscular that they needed to rely on a tape test. They were still pronounced overweight by the insurance guy every year.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#86

Post by yodsanklai »

craftyguy wrote: post #47
pm90 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it only now that obesity is reaching such epidemic proportions though? We've had a car-centric culture since Post WW2. Why haven't we seen this epidemic before?

Because GP's reasoning is likely not to be correct. The proliferation of cheap, high calorie foods along with a sedentary lifestyle (including occupations that require very little physical activity) are more likely to blame than 'cars did it.'

I would add that food corporations devote a lot of resources to make people eat their junk. It's not only that the food is there to eat. Companies like Coca Cola or Mac Donald's spend billions to convince people to eat their stuff.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#87

Post by doubletgl »

bpicolo wrote: post #28

Doesn't a 25 BMI seem like kind of a crappy metric for "overweight"? That makes my 6'4" brother "overweight" at like 205 which seems nuts. That doesn't feel overweight at all. (Defined in the footnote on page 222)

It's the lower end of "overweight" and also "BMI exaggerates thinness in short people and fatness in tall people". Your brother is most likely fine.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#88

Post by graeme »

bpicolo wrote: post #28

Doesn't a 25 BMI seem like kind of a crappy metric for "overweight"? That makes my 6'4" brother "overweight" at like 205 which seems nuts. That doesn't feel overweight at all. (Defined in the footnote on page 222)

BMI is not meant as an individual health measure. It's a general population measure valid over a large sample size.

6'4" is a statistically rare height. I believe BMI is less valid for the extremely tall and extremely short. That doesn't mean it isn't useful when viewing the whole population.

For an individual, BMI + a waist measure is a better indicator. Your brother probably isn't overweight, unless he has low muscle mass and a large waist - but that individual anecdote does nothing to argue against the population level validity of BMI.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#89

Post by natethinks »

izietto wrote: post #20
3pt14159 wrote: post #8

This is directly related to the way American cities are designed. It’s a car centric culture where big houses are far away from each other. That means driving everywhere. That means long commutes. That means TV over communal activity. That means big grocery runs with shelf stable food. Then pile on hyper sweet drinks and nutritional misinformation campaigns, and of course Americans are going to be overweight. The wor…

I'm italian and I visited united states a couple of months ago. In my opinion the biggest problem is that you don't have decent food at affordable prices. Healthy food has nonsensical high prices and if you want something at a human price you don't have much choice except fast food. What a shame.

I find healthy food to be very accessible in the United States if you cook for yourself. Most of our grocery stores have huge varieties of produce and lean proteins are relatively inexpensive. I think eating fast food is becoming more and more common as well as people buying pre-made packaged foods to heat up at home which are often just as unhealthy as fast foods.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#90

Post by dj-wonk »

scarface74 wrote: post #43

How many of these people are actually "overweight" as far as health and how many are "overweight" according to BMI? When I was in the best shape of my life from my mid 20s to my mid 30s, working out 12 hours a week (part time fitness instructor and a runner) with a body fat of 12% (measured with calipers) and a 29-30 inch waist, I was according to the BMI calculations 30 pounds overweight. Even now weighing 10 pounds…

There are big problems with BMI. Here is just one article on the topic: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265215.php

Another, broader question is this: what are the health impacts of various body compositions?

See also "Medical Myths Doctors Believe":

https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Doctors-Believe-Michael-Ancho...

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