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Adult Obesity Facts

cdc.gov

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Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#91

Post by dasudasu »

CabSauce wrote: post #51
yupper32 wrote: post #23

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 i…

We (Americans) didn't understand CICO any better in the past. I'm not saying you're wrong, but the way we get our food has changed dramatically. For the most part, we know what we're supposed to eat. It's just so much easier to eat poorly now. We need to change incentives to make it more costly to eat unhealthy food.

Portion size is very cultural. People from the 50s would be horrified by how large meals have gotten.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#92

Post by bcrosby95 »

waiseristy wrote: post #49
minikites wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The problem is overeating. We've had a food surplus for a long time, why is obesity a relatively recent problem?

You don't get addicted to 2 lbs of turnips and some bacon fat. You get addicted to three 1500 calorie McDonalds meals per day

It's mostly about the drive through. Is it impossible to make drive through with food that isn't grossly terrible for you?

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#93

Post by kiba »

frabjoused wrote: post #43
boomskats wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But who is going to lobby for any of those things?

20 years ago, who is going to lobby for electrical cars or solar power? They aren't financially profitable.

It's far easier to make technological progress than it is to fight in politics.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#94

Post by ThePadawan »

justwalt wrote: post #45
echelon wrote: post #7

We need to stop putting sugar in everything. That's the root cause of most of our problems. It's not just industrialized preprocessed and prepackaged food, because restaurants are guilty of this too. I don't buy the "cars and suburbs" as a root cause argument. People would be less sedentary if they felt healthier and more energetic. Sugar is the problem.

I can't stand sugar in savory foods. I had a friend tell me a handy tip at Thai restaurants is to ask for your food made with no sugar, so I tried it at my favorite place. The college student waiter got a wide eyed look on his face and lowered his voice to say "can't do that, and it's in _everything_." It sucks that this is as commonplace as it is.

That's a key part of Thai cuisine though, isn't it?

I imagine you'd have an easier time at the nearest German restaurant. Not sure what they even could put sugar into and have any positive impact.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#95

Post by CabSauce »

paulddraper wrote: post #57
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.

The problem with "policy solutions" is that they don't account for individual preferences. Do people want walkable cities? Or do they want single-family dwellings and yards? Do people want to be healthy? Or do they want sugary foods and television programs? Fortunately, the U.S. has plenty of each, to accommodate multiple preferences. Life is trade-offs. It's the conceit of policy makers to force their trade-off pref…

An alternative approach is to encourage people to make more effective decisions by actually including the negative impacts of their decisions as actual, dollar costs. If we included the higher healthcare costs of obesity into the cost of soda, it might not be as enticing.

This isn't forcing people to make a decision, it's including all of the costs in the dollar value of the product on the shelf.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#96

Post by [deleted] »

kiba wrote: post #62
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.

Yes, exercise is good for you, and should be taken, but diet seems to be the most important factor. Research had came out indicating that exercise doesn't really do much good in losing weight. Might help in maintaining weight.

[deleted]

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#97

Post by lolpython »

boomskats wrote: post #20
rjbwork wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walkable and bikable cities and suburbs. Increased transit. Reduced working hours so that people don't feel the need to choose between health and survival and stress. Getting the garbage out of our supermarkets. Not subsidizing massive amounts of corn syrup and sugar. I really could go on.

But who is going to lobby for any of those things?

We already are. At the national level, there is a High Speed Rail lobby group http://www.ushsr.com/

At the local level, it is up to you. In my city of Pittsburgh, we are removing parking and expanding transit access and bike lane coverage. But there is still a lot to be done, so I am advocating for change by participating in groups and contacting my city councilman.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#98

Post by zen_of_prog »

paulddraper wrote: post #57
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.

The problem with "policy solutions" is that they don't account for individual preferences. Do people want walkable cities? Or do they want single-family dwellings and yards? Do people want to be healthy? Or do they want sugary foods and television programs? Fortunately, the U.S. has plenty of each, to accommodate multiple preferences. Life is trade-offs. It's the conceit of policy makers to force their trade-off pref…

But the trade-offs are already affected by policy. Do people want oil policies that make driving cheap? Do people want subsidized corn leading to cheap sugary foods? It's worth questioning what led to policies existing in their current form.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#99

Post by epi789 »

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.

That’s because it’s profitable and it’s very difficult to make systemic changes. Here’s a few points:

- In the documentary Fed Up, it showed how Michelle Obama had to back down to the big food companies over her push for healthier food.

- I worked with bariatric surgeons and some incredibly cited papers stating that people can’t lose weight by diet and exercise alone. The surgeons I knew were incredibly narrow-minded and uninterested in any counter arguments.

- Sleeve gastrectomies are the most effective technology to fight obesity. If someone can’t change on their own in 10 years, then it is a good option. It removes 90% of the stomach including the hunger hormone ghrelin.

- The surgeon I worked with had a sleeve procedure, stretched his stomach out, and had a 2nd sleeve.

- Long term, the food environment has to change. Living expenses are high, work demands are high, people are stressed and all the easy options are terrible for you.

- We should distribute good meats, foods, vegetables and essentials in an entirely new way.

- Our business leaders like Buffett and Gates need to realize the absurdity of respectively owning Coca Cola and selling potatoes to the fast food industry. Buffet also owns DaVita, a dialysis company. Gates promotes global health but earns money from french fries being sold at McDonalds.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#100

Post by yupper32 »

Loughla wrote: post #71
yupper32 wrote: post #23

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 i…

People like to say that it's something else, in my experience, because they do, in fact, know what CICO is, and have tried it, and have failed when they tried it. With broad strokes, those failures can be lumped into 2 categories: 1) lack of willpower (pretty self-explanatory) and 2) hoodwinked, bamboozled, and otherwise tricked by food package nutrition labels. It is genuinely hard to discern real calories consumed…

What do you mean by your distain for food package nutrition labels?

In the US it's tightly controlled. The only thing I can think of (calories wise) is that people only look at the per-serving calories and not the per-package calories. This has gotten better over the past 5-10 years but still requires people to actually read it.

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