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Adult Obesity Facts

cdc.gov

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Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#131

Post by dangus »

hncurious wrote: post #82
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.

Unpopular opinion: It's both a personal and societal failing, but personal choice is dominant. You can choose to eat rice and beans and drink water. You don't have to eat hamburgers and fries and drink sugar.

I disagree with you because this view considers people in a vacuum as if they are receiving unbiased information to make choices from.

In reality, from a very young age people are bombarded with advertisements and other marketing materials that promote foods packed with sugar, carbs, and salt.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch is "part of this complete breakfast." In reality, it should never be a part of any breakfast.

Unhealthy foods are sold as healthy, e.g., the Nutella scandal: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/04/26/151454929/nu...

Another example: sugary, calorie-laden "vitamin" drinks and other "healthy" trends like flavored/sugared Kombucha, juices, etc.

I remember seeing advertisements from Coca-Cola "debunking" the idea that soda doesn't have hydration benefits.

Then you start realizing that doctors and other experts are receiving free materials from food and drug manufacturers. The food pyramid is influenced by food industry lobbyists.

So you're talking about it as if it's all "choice" but that becomes a very complex subject once you start following the money. The nutrition scientist at your local university or the dietician on main street doesn't have a marketing budget, but PepsiCo sure does.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#132

Post by josephcsible »

jmclnx wrote: post #66
asciimov wrote: post #5

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

I would not saw 'outlaw', but a lot of food has sugar added to it, especially bread type items. I even heard meat products have added sugar. I would say if a food item that people would think should not have added sugar, a very large label would be required on the package that states "SUGAR/CORN SYRUP ADDED". I heard corn syrup is even worse and that is used instead of Sugar in a lot of places.

> I would say if a food item that people would think should not have added sugar, a very large label would be required on the package that states "SUGAR/CORN SYRUP ADDED".

I see a strong parallel between this idea and the now-ubiquitous GDPR consent banners.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#133

Post by futevolei »

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 should be teaching CICO and that being fat is not healthy and not ok! This body positivity movement is BS and harmful. More personal responsibility and less excuses.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#134

Post by maerF0x0 »

feifan wrote: post #124
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…

CICO is probably valid but it's easy to misinterpret. For example, in the presence of insulin, fat and muscle cells take in calories, regardless of the energy state of the rest of the body, resulting in hunger and probably more calories-in. While insulin is elevated, the calories stored wIthin fat cells is inaccessible to the rest of the body … would those calories be considered "in" or "out" according to CICO?

> fat and muscle cells take in calories,

They can only do so acutely until the blood sugar drops. It will not matter in the long run if there is a calorie deficit. I like to summarize it like 24 hour calorie balance is far more important than short term acute effects.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#135

Post by CanceledAccount »

ErikVandeWater wrote: post #18

Sugar and its synthetic brothers are addictive. Sugar addiction should be classified as an addiction and given the same sort of attention and funding that alcohol and drug addictions receive.

Being against artificial sweeteners is like being against vaping. Even if they cause some harm, the alternative is a massive danger, so we should still encourage people to switch.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#136

Post by [deleted] »

torginus wrote: post #129
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.

There have been many suggestions in this thread about the root cause of obesity. While I'm sure these things do contribute to the issue, they are not the main cause - the main cause is that being fat is socially acceptable. I don't believe that if the average person placed great importance on being healthy - as great as making more money, getting a better job etc., they would be unable to afford the extra cost of hea…

[deleted]

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#137

Post by throw8383833jj »

nradov wrote: post #127
hncurious wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unpopular opinion: It's both a personal and societal failing, but personal choice is dominant. You can choose to eat rice and beans and drink water. You don't have to eat hamburgers and fries and drink sugar.

Hamburgers aren't necessarily more obesogenic than rice and beans, depending on the specific type of bun and condiments. Rice has a fairly high glycemic index. Nothing wrong with eating some rice in moderation, but getting the majority of your calories from rice isn't healthy. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/a-good-guide-to-go...

They are, if they're designed to be addictively delicious.

McDonalds and their ilk, have created taste formulas that are nearly irresistable. I've seen people from foreign countries come to america who've never tasted anything other than their local cuisines who can't imagine eating anything else. but the second they sink their teeth into a McDon hamburger, they are hooked.

MSG has been shown as a super reliable way to make mice obese: there's even a scientific procedure named after it: "MSG induced Obestity". It's a standard procedure used as a precurser to obesity experiments on rats. If it's that reliable on rats, just imagine what it would do to humans.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#138

Post by hncurious »

minikites wrote: post #116
hncurious wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unpopular opinion: It's both a personal and societal failing, but personal choice is dominant. You can choose to eat rice and beans and drink water. You don't have to eat hamburgers and fries and drink sugar.

Not everyone has the time to prepare healthy meals, that's why convenience foods are so popular in our overworked society. If the average person spent less time working, they would have more time to shop for and prepare healthy meals.

The average person in this country has time to binge watch Netflix and social media. Have you seen the stats? We do have the time.

Of course there are exceptions, but we're a long long way from only having the exceptions left.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#139

Post by sam0x17 »

dragontamer wrote: post #85
CabSauce wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think we can't come up with some definitions that at least push in the right direction? They don't have to be perfect, but just start somewhere and keep evolving in the right direction. Let's not pretend we have to get it perfect before we try anything.

Instead of banning (or discouraging) "processed foods", lets start with banning/discouraging "unhealthy foods". Because "unhealthy" is a better starting point than the arbitrary metric "processed". ------- You're going to do more for your health by cutting back on your rice portions, rather than worrying about what is or isn't processed. (And rice is barely "processed" at all... but its incredibly calorie dense with…

> You're going to do more for your health by cutting back on your rice portions, rather than worrying about what is or isn't processed. (And rice is barely "processed" at all... but its incredibly calorie dense with high glycemic index).

And yet Asia has basically no obesity problem. We clearly need better nutrition science.

Re: Adult Obesity Facts

#140

Post by aplusbi »

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…

I think the major problem with CICO is that advocates for it present it as if it is a diet when it's actually just an explanation for why diets work (or fail).

I've seen a lot of threads with people asking for advice on losing weight and inevitably someone chimes in with "Calories in, calories out." Great, but that doesn't provide any strategy or guidelines for actually losing weight. Calorie counting and tracking is a strategy (and so are many other things, like intermittent fasting, the potato diet, etc. As long as at the end of the day you are at a calorie deficit).

Additionally CICO ignores the reasons why people overeat in the first place. There are a lot of physiological and psychological reasons for that. Maybe someone is overweight because they eat to cope with trauma. Maybe they have a hormonal imbalance that doesn't properly regulate how full they feel. Dealing with those underlying issues is often more beneficial in the long run.

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