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More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

diabetes.co.uk

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Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#61

Post by lotsofpulp »

rsynnott wrote: post #55
martindbp wrote: post #31

I still remember driving through some small town in Arizona 10 years ago, and I couldn't find a single non-obese person there. Not just overweight, full on obese. Parents, kids, everyone. It was the one of the most bizarre experiences I've had, as a visitor. Cities are not that bad though, but I'm sure many rural parts are close to 100%.

I've only ever visited San Francisco in the US, and the first time I was there I was slightly surprised that in terms of obesity it seemed pretty similar to Dublin (which wouldn't be the thinnest city around, but is middle of the road European). Then I flew back via O'Hare, and really saw the difference when waiting for the transfer; quite dramatic levels of obesity. I wonder how much of it is just down to urban Amer…

There are probably multiple factors, walking more and fewer time sitting in cars is quite possibly one of them. Urban areas also have more young people.

The added sugar in the US is a shame. Just this year, the nutritional labels are mandated to show added sugars in products now. I hope that helps.

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#62

Post by vecter »

rsynnott wrote: post #55
martindbp wrote: post #31

I still remember driving through some small town in Arizona 10 years ago, and I couldn't find a single non-obese person there. Not just overweight, full on obese. Parents, kids, everyone. It was the one of the most bizarre experiences I've had, as a visitor. Cities are not that bad though, but I'm sure many rural parts are close to 100%.

I've only ever visited San Francisco in the US, and the first time I was there I was slightly surprised that in terms of obesity it seemed pretty similar to Dublin (which wouldn't be the thinnest city around, but is middle of the road European). Then I flew back via O'Hare, and really saw the difference when waiting for the transfer; quite dramatic levels of obesity. I wonder how much of it is just down to urban Amer…

It’s all diet. I visited Nashville a couple of years ago and everything on the menu was fried or just terrible for you.

Most of weight is diet. Exercise helps a tiny amount but is more for your cardiovascular health and strength. Running for an hour burns far fewer calories than half of a muffin.

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#63

Post by kbenson »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #47
andygcook wrote: post #11

BMI isn't a reliable indicator to gauge obesity. For example, Tom Brady at 6' 4" and 225 lbs is considered overweight, which is obviously not the case. That being said, as an American, it really did shock me how fit the majority of people were in Italy when I visited there for the first time last year. This New England Journal of Medicine chart really does a good job of showing that America has gotten heavier over th…

Every time BMI is mentioned someone has to come up with an example of a body builder or fit athlete who has a high BMI. Yes, everyone realizes this already, and nobody who is in that position is going to be mislead into thinking they are obese. Sure, it would be great if everyone could do a caliper test or a water displacement test, but that isn't ever going to happen, and BMI is a trivial and good enough place to st…

> Yes, everyone realizes this already, and nobody who is in that position is going to be mislead into thinking they are obese.

No, but someone who works out the numbers and realizes that the BMI doesn't match them well, or their circumstances well, realizes it calls the study and what it represents into question. Using controversial metrics because they are easily available is counter-productive in the long run, because once people realize you were misrepresenting your credibility is lost. At best it's lazy.

Right now I'm obese. In high school according to the BMI I was almost half-way through overweight edging towards obese, and that was with very little fat, a very active lifestyle, and a visible six-pack. How do I consider studies that make claims about percentages of people that fit into those categories? As extremely ambiguous in what they are actually indicating.

Do Americans have a problem with weight? I think so. Does using false numbers to overestimate the problem help? I don't think so, especially when people realize the metrics leave a lot to be desired.

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#64

Post by rsynnott »

Clubber wrote: post #2

Using the BMI to gauge obeseness of a population is very lazy and disingenuous.

BMI is generally fine as a statistical tool. Obviously if you're looking at a whole country of olympic athletes it'll break down a bit, but in practice that sort of extreme edge case doesn't exist on a national level.

For personal use, it can be an indicator, but only that.

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#65

Post by viraptor »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #9

Is "healthy at every size" still a fringe movement, or is it gaining more social acceptance?

There's some social acceptance definitely recently. But that doesn't avoid the fact some things just scale with size/weight. Like the wear on joints or the amount of blood you need to pump. But the movement I've seen was more about acceptance than offsetting those issues.

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#66

Post by tunesmith »

It's impressive, because it's as if in America, we've figured out how to design a system that gets 73% of us to agree to do whatever we are doing to be overweight. That's really something when you think of it in terms of a population that is otherwise divided and polarized.

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#67

Post by HuwytNashi_008 »

turing_complete wrote: post #30
8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #9

Is "healthy at every size" still a fringe movement, or is it gaining more social acceptance?

"Body positivity" is -- inadvertently for the most part -- insidious. Of course, don't make fun of overweight people for being overweight, don't be an asshole. However, making people people believe that they can eat whatever they want, can be obese and still healthy doesn't help at all. It might make you feel nice, but it is very destructive and unhelpful in the long run.

>It might make you feel nice, but it is very destructive and unhelpful in the long run.

This is the decline of the West in a nutshell.

Expect the obese to become a legally protected class and have our governments actively importing obese foreigners soon. I'm sure there's already some kind of quota giving them preferential employment opportunities.

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#68

Post by lotsofpulp »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #54
lemonspat wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it is very destructive and unhelpful in the long run. If the United States ever moves to a public-funded healthcare regime, it will also be more expensive and destructive to care for from a government budget perspective.

False! Unhealthy people are great for saving money. Health care costs are disproportionately skewed towards end of life care. People who are unhealthy die younger and more quickly. Edit: Here you go. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05iht-obese.1.9748...

Assuming the healthcare issues resulting from being overweight result in a sudden death.

Considering they result in chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension and require things like heart bypass surgeries, I doubt it.

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#69

Post by sergiotapia »

newen wrote: post #22
yters wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony of the BMI is the more I workout to stay in the healthy range, the more difficult it is to stay in the healthy range. Best bet is to sit around not eating anything to be 'healthy' according to BMI.

True, I started weightlifting for three months and my BMI went into overweight territory. I had an athletic build both before and after. Probably good for a lot of people but weightlifting really puts it into question. It's not like weightlifting is something only few men can do; most men can weightlift. Then they end up having healthy body fat levels, but end up with BMI in the overweight category. If something as s…

Lifting heavy weight doesn't mean you're fit. You can still be very overweight and bloatmaxxed

This guy is strong as hell but he isn't healthy at all https://youtu.be/1LsIQr_4iSY

Re: More than 73% of American adults are overweight or obese

#70

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #54
lemonspat wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it is very destructive and unhelpful in the long run. If the United States ever moves to a public-funded healthcare regime, it will also be more expensive and destructive to care for from a government budget perspective.

False! Unhealthy people are great for saving money. Health care costs are disproportionately skewed towards end of life care. People who are unhealthy die younger and more quickly. Edit: Here you go. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05iht-obese.1.9748...

After 20 years of avoidable diabetes.
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