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Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

cdc.gov

131–140 of 271 posts

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#131
post #54
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This definitely concerns me as a dad. I need to keep discipline not just for myself, but to set the right example.

Parents are number one. You rarely see overweight children with normal weight parents

FWIW, your observation is not controlling for the contribution of genetics.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#132
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 don't understand this. Rice, potatoes, vegetables are still cheap here. I guess if you're looking at restaurants, this is true. If you are with a group and have to go eat somewhere, they usually provide healthy options which are not too expensive compared to the unhealthy ones (though sometimes, that's just due to smaller portions). Maybe you have a different experience, having just visited, instead of living here.…

yes. And beans. Beans are very cost effective, 1 to 2$ per pound or less. And they're very high in nutrients: Protein, Fiber, and countless micronutrients, super low in sodium and fat. They're easy to make too.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#133

Methinks that if 70% of you population is affected, something is effecting them. It's not just "low will power" even if that explanation makes 30% of people smug.

Public policy, lack of education, overall culture and scale and dominance of food corporations. I'm not surprised with this data. The best example to understand this is to go to your nearest US convenience store. Price of an Arizona Iced Tea 23oz can = $0.99 Price of the average bottle of water 16 oz = $1.50 Any poorly educated individual wouldn't understand the health implications of gulping 70g of liquid sugar when…

Do people really not understand that drinking 23oz of empty calories day after day will make you fat?

People aren't really that ignorant, they make choices, often driven by short term desire. The corporations get this, but I feel like you are using poor as a synonym for stupid. We gotta stop treating poor people like they are dumb helpless animals, it gives them no agency.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#134
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 watched a good youtube video that compared the 7/11-level food available in japan vs america and was convinced that this is one of the biggest issues. What's the healthiest thing you can get in a 7/11 in the States? An apple? One of those shitty packaged sandwiches that has a slice of ham with a mysterious wad of splooge? A hotdog that's been turning on the spit all day? Then you realize this is how it is every ste…

For whatever reason, there seems to be a gap in the US between convenience store and full-fledged grocery store. There are various mostly non-chain markets in many cities but, for the most part, you either have pretty much junk food or you have to find a big grocery store. In London at least there are a lot more of the Sainsbury Local or other chains that don't have the selection of a bigger store but aren't just junk either.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#135
post #44
post #12

Holy shit, this is the scary part to me: * Percent of adolescents aged 12-19 years with obesity: 20.6% (2013-2014) * Percent of children aged 6-11 years with obesity: 17.4% (2013-2014) * Percent of children aged 2-5 years with obesity: 9.4% (2013-2014)

It will get worse. You rarely see fat children with skinny parents. But a lot of fat parents have fat kids too. Once these grow up it will be more and more likely that their children will get fat too. Also when you grow with a lot of fat people around you you don't even know how normal weight looks. I noticed this last time in Paris. I had completely forgotten how normal weight looks.

It's worse even than that. Over 40% of people in France are overweight now - the numbers have increased rapidly over the past 20-30 years.

Paris is leaner than the French average, but you were probably still seeing a population with a fair amount of overweight people. Just, less overweight than what you're used to.

Seeing Paris 110 years ago would be a shock. (On many levels, but certainly on the average body composition level).

I have a book by Georges Hebert, who was an influential fitness instructor in France about 100 years ago. In it, he has pictures of French peasants shirtless, and some African tribesmen and women. They are in a form that today would be considered "unrealistic".

I can't find any of the peasant pictures online, but here are a couple of examples of the Africans:

https://actionlondaise.blogspot.ca/2016/03/georges-hebert-ce...

http://ayeparkour.blogspot.ca/2012/02/tracuers-of-legend-geo...

(The top photo on the second link is Hebert)

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#136
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 would add that many Americans seem totally unaware that junk food is bad for them and for their kids. Even in well-educated families, I would see kids drinking soda and eating snacks all the time. As I understand it, it is also a political issue, food corporation have huge marketing power and any attempts of regulation draw big protests (free will / nanny state arguments).

My ex has a degree in biology, yet can't understand that feeding the kids box mac-and-cheese and pasta multiple times per week (because it is easy to prepare) is what's making them fat, not just the portion sizes. So yeah, what you describe is real. I'd take it one step further though - not only do most Americans not really understand the content of their food, but most can't cook. They have really no understanding of how to plan means, shop for meals, or prepare meals quickly. So then you throw in long working hours and commute times and they feel compelled to reach for food that is fundamentally unhealthy.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#137
Maintaining healthy weight cuts your risk for an enormous amount of fatal illnesses including stroke, heart attacks, and many types of cancer.

Want lower blood pressure? Lower your weight.

Want higher testosterone and lower estrogen? Lower your weight.

Want lower cholesterol? Lower your weight.

Lower diabetes risk? Lower your weight.

Healthier gallblader, liver and kidneys? Lower your weight.

Reduce back pain? Lower your weight.

Aid sleep apnea? Lower your weight.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"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." New York City is perhaps one of the most walkable cities in the world. It's also a place where you absolutely do not need a car and the majority of residents don't have a car. Yet 34% or New Yorkers are overweight and 22% are obese.[1] The BMI statistic for the EU are none too…

Well, honestly, this comment is only giving more credence to OP, since, apparently, the US average is 70% is much much worse than the 34% of NY. EDIT: Haha, apparently the HN crowd is very quick to point out inconsistencies since the original comment has been up 2 minuites and there are already 3 comments pointing the same thing (and counting)

The numbers there are additive. (34 + 22) = 56%. Still lower than the national average, but not half.

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#139
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)

According to [1], obesity classified by DEXA scan agrees with obesity classified by BMI 82% of the time.

Not bad for a metric that can be easily computed at home.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/summer-of-sc...

Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S

#140
post #120
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Healthy food isn't expensive. You can buy chicken breast for $3 to $5 a pound. You can buy a head of lettuce for $2. Oatmeal is dirt cheap. Most vegetables are less than $3 a pound.

I may be wrong, but I think OP is referring to buying it at a restaurant instead of at a grocery store.

No, that sounds about right. At the normal grocery store in my area, for example, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage are $1.99/pound right now, celery is $1.49/pound. Asparagus is much more expensive, I think around $4.99/pound.

I cheat by shopping at the local Korean grocery store instead, prices are much cheaper but you have to sort through the produce to make sure quality is up to par.

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