Adult Obesity Facts • Hacker News Board

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#21

Post by wccrawford » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:37 PM UTC

yehudalouis wrote: post #3

Nitpicking is pointless here, but the phrasing was immediately confusing to me. "US Adults are 42.4% obese" leads me to believe that all US adults are 42.4% of the way to becoming obese, where as in actuality it appears that 42.4% of US adults are obese.

I'm medically "obese", but nobody looking at me would say that. Whenever I tell people that I'm dieting, they're surprised and often tell me that I look good.

So with the medical definition of obese not matching what peoples' eyes tell them, I'm not surprised that 42% are "obese".

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#22

Post by avelis » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:37 PM UTC

One major contributor to growing obesity is the US diet. It is terrible IMO. I believe we need massive corporate responsibility to solving this issue. Without some form of intervention we are going to see rising costs to our healthcare system to sustain high levels of obesity among the populous.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#23

Post by yupper32 » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

Every time I comment on one of these threads, I mention how most people don't know about the most fundamental component of weight control: Calories-in calories-out.

And then I get a mass of people complaining that "it's not that simple! x y and z also impact weight!"

I think so much has to do with these two points:

1. Most don't know about CICO.

2. Many who do throw it away as not useful.

We should be teaching this in school health classes. I'm not sure if we are, as I'm from the food-pyramid era which was not even close to useful.

Edit: I went from +7 to 0 in a very short period of time. This isn't me complaining, this is me making my point. People downvote the most fundamental component of weight control, even among a likely more educated than average group of people.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#24

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #6

rjbwork wrote: post #2

We've designed our cities, suburbs, food industry, and society such that the average person is at least overweight, nearing obese. If the average person suffers from what should be an anomaly, perhaps it is less a personal failing than a societal failing and we should try to fix the societal problems generating the poor outcome.

> we should try to fix the societal problems generating the poor outcome What would this look like policywise?

[deleted]

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#25

Post by CabSauce » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #6

rjbwork wrote: post #2

We've designed our cities, suburbs, food industry, and society such that the average person is at least overweight, nearing obese. If the average person suffers from what should be an anomaly, perhaps it is less a personal failing than a societal failing and we should try to fix the societal problems generating the poor outcome.

> we should try to fix the societal problems generating the poor outcome What would this look like policywise?

At a minimum, make it more costly to eat unhealthy foods by taxing added sugar and subsidizing healthy foods.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#26

Post by waiseristy » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

There are plenty of people who consume highly processed foods and stay skinny. There are plenty of people who eat greasy, sugary, fattening foods who stay skinny.

The problem is not car culture, sugar, and processed foods. The problem is overeating. America, and the rest of the first world has major issues with food addiction and a culture associated with "eating until the plate is clean"

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#27

Post by boomskats » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

yehudalouis wrote: post #3

Nitpicking is pointless here, but the phrasing was immediately confusing to me. "US Adults are 42.4% obese" leads me to believe that all US adults are 42.4% of the way to becoming obese, where as in actuality it appears that 42.4% of US adults are obese.

Yep, "42.4% of US Adults are obese" would have been a better title.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#28

Post by umvi » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

asciimov wrote: post #5

We need to outlaw sugar and restrict simple carbs in made to order foods.

Outlaw sugar? What about those of us that can use sugar on moderation? Sugar passports might be better - you have to get a physical from a doctor and if your BMI and biometrics are ok you can get a sugar passport allowing you to order soft drinks and purchase candy.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#29

Post by wiremine » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

sharkmerry wrote: post #8

Is this solely done based on BMI? Some of you may know that BMI can be wildly inaccurate. (this guy is technically obese on BMI scale - https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=153207891 ) I wonder if we would find better connections between disease and "weight" with body fat % or similar measure.

I've read in a few places that BMI can be inaccurate too. Wondering if anyone has any good articles or perspective that dig into this some more:

1. Is it a "good enough" metric? 2. Is it "wildly inaccurate" for most, or just some outliers?

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#30

Post by flying_kangaroo » Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

sharkmerry wrote: post #8

Is this solely done based on BMI? Some of you may know that BMI can be wildly inaccurate. (this guy is technically obese on BMI scale - https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=153207891 ) I wonder if we would find better connections between disease and "weight" with body fat % or similar measure.

The way I've heard it, BMI can be inaccurate on the individual level, but it was created to analyze populations more broadly, where it can be a somewhat useful heuristic. I would guess athletes with obese BMIs are a small enough portion of the population to not make too much of a change to the population-wide statistics.