NationStates Jolt Archive

As most people know, obiesity is supposed to be a major problem in most nations. I want to ask people, is it really a problem, oe are we just more aware of the situation?

Over the past 50 years, methods to track obiesity have improved significantly and we know have a system to find out what weight people should be at and what their currant weight should be labeld as.

Studies are also showing that alot of people are heavy because they are geneniticly enclined to be heavy or they have a low metabolism and are eating as much as they should.

Is obeisity really or problem or do we just know more about weight?

btw: my first post in a week or 2 :D

The problem has certainly increased with the advent of fast-food chains and Giga-sized food portions. People like feeling that they are getting a deal, even when the size of the meal is grossly more than they need to eat.

And of course with our friends T.V., video games, movies, and the like; we are more likely than before to choose to spend our free time sitting on our butts than outside doing physical activity.

Just my thoughts. :p

well, historically, those who had slow metabolisms who could store more fat would have a better rate of survival because food was scarce. not to mention that people used to get a lot more physical activity.

now we're all overfed and lazy. hell, the aitkin's fad will testify to our collective laziness, we'll harm our bodies horribly and irreversably just to avoid the e word. (exercise)

i think we are fatter than we used to be

our lifestyles have changed radically in the past 40 years. we are much more sendentary and our "meals" come from a restaurant or out of a box.

most of us need to rethink our way of living and eating. better food + more activity = better quality of life

I think we are indeed fatter due to a massive transition in our lifestyles. But at the same time, we are also skinnier...

Look at a lot of old paintings, the women aren't skinny by today's standards.

Yes, 200 years ago and back further, women that were chubby were prized. The reason...food was scarce and only people with money could afford to have extra weight on their bodies. Now, being thin is prized because only people with money can get a trainer to help them sculpt a perfect body. Now we are mostly a sedentary society unlike 100 years ago and food is very cheap and plentiful in industrialized nations because of this there is a disproportionate amount of overweight people.

Part of the problem is the food in today's modern world. The cheap food is the worst for you. Candy bars, snacks, pop, everything full of sugar and fat is really cheap and available everywhere.

Food that's actually good for you (real food) is harder to get and more expensive.

Let's say you're hard up for cash. You have a choice between McDonald's and any normal sit down restaurant. Which will get you more food for your money? Chances are McDonald's will.

Or if you get hungry in the middle of the day at schools or work, you can often find a vending machine. But when did you last see a vending machine offer vegetables or fruits (that were good) as a snack? My school currently has vending machines with healthier food, which is great, but even trail mixes and cereal bars are not exactly the best for you.

Super huge problem, pun intended

I think this is the single best "problem" any nation could ever have. At what point in history has a nation looked at itself and said "Shit, we're too god, we have to much, its too easy to survive in our society"? I think too much is made of this issue honestly. Its bad that a great number of people are obese, and a health risk and all that, but people are still living longer than they ever have in recorded history, with a higher standard of living, and with relatively little effort compared to past generations.

I think this is the single best "problem" any nation could ever have. At what point in history has a nation looked at itself and said "Shit, we're too god, we have to much, its too easy to survive in our society"? I think too much is made of this issue honestly. Its bad that a great number of people are obese, and a health risk and all that, but people are still living longer than they ever have in recorded history, with a higher standard of living, and with relatively little effort compared to past generations.
I thought WW2 was our greatest problem....where we looked at ourselves and said "Shit, we're one of the last two gods. I got an idea, challenge the last god and see who wins!"

Part of the problem is the food in today's modern world. The cheap food is the worst for you. Candy bars, snacks, pop, everything full of sugar and fat is really cheap and available everywhere.

Food that's actually good for you (real food) is harder to get and more expensive.

Let's say you're hard up for cash. You have a choice between McDonald's and any normal sit down restaurant. Which will get you more food for your money? Chances are McDonald's will.

Or if you get hungry in the middle of the day at schools or work, you can often find a vending machine. But when did you last see a vending machine offer vegetables or fruits (that were good) as a snack? My school currently has vending machines with healthier food, which is great, but even trail mixes and cereal bars are not exactly the best for you.

actually, if you eat in, rather than out, it's cheaper to eat healthy.

right now, i can't afford to eat junk food (except what my mom sends over with me) so i stick to healthy foods when i go grocery shopping. i keep losing weight and i don't know why.

so really, if you want to save money, pack a lunch. make yourself a sandwich before you leave for school/work and take it with you. bring an apple and some carrot sticks too, if you need something little to munch on.

it's even cheaper to make your own food than it is to buy from fast food places. for instance. 1 bag of dry pasta = $1, 1 jar of pasta sauce = $1-2. = at least 5 meals. compare that to the price of a big mac combo.

actually, if you eat in, rather than out, it's cheaper to eat healthy.

right now, i can't afford to eat junk food (except what my mom sends over with me) so i stick to healthy foods when i go grocery shopping. i keep losing weight and i don't know why.

so really, if you want to save money, pack a lunch. make yourself a sandwich before you leave for school/work and take it with you. bring an apple and some carrot sticks too, if you need something little to munch on.

it's even cheaper to make your own food than it is to buy from fast food places. for instance. 1 bag of dry pasta = $1, 1 jar of pasta sauce = $1-2. = at least 5 meals. compare that to the price of a big mac combo.

No argument that making your own food is way cheaper than eating out in any situation.

The problem is how many people actually make their own lunches. I know as a college student, it was hard to find places to warm up food, or having to carry your lunch with you all day.

Now I can actually take my Caesar salad each day. Makes me happy. :)

The problem rests mainly with poor education, and today's free-market economy and advertisin

Great article : http://www.harvard-magazine.com/on-line/050465.html

"Food is the most essential of all economic goods. Fifty percent of the world's assets, employment, and consumer expenditures belong to the food system, according to Harvard Business School's Ray Goldberg, Moffett professor of agriculture and business emeritus. (In the United States, 17 percent of employment is in what Goldberg calls the "value-added food chain.") He adds that "7 percent of the farmers produce 80 percent of the food—and do it on one-third of the land in cultivation. In the United States, half the net income of farmers comes from the government, in forms like price supports and land set-asides." The food industry is huge and exerts enormous influence on government policy."

i think macdonalds and tv is the main reason

i think macdonalds and tv is the main reason
yes. evil mcdonalds! I'm hating it! :rolleyes:
why do you think mcdonalds is that successful? Because we buy their food, we eat their food, we love their food.
Don't blame it on them we're too lazy to cook for ourselves, to take the time to sit down and eat, and don't blame it on them that we buy their food. That's just ridiculous.
Same goes for tv. sort of.

The problem has certainly increased with the advent of fast-food chains...




Wrong (http://www.dacy.org/hobbies/restaurants2.htm)

You could just as easily blame it on Rock and Roll, which came out at about the same time. So did space exploration and frisbees.

Don't confuse cause and effect. The answer is not so simple as to blame food vendors. The answer for most folks is right in their own mouth - literally.

Nobody else can take responsibility from you for what goes into (or comes out of) your mouth.

The number of people with genetic dispositions is much lower than you may think. Another factor can masquerade as genetics - that being we learn to eat and cook from out parents.

I think much of the issue is also societies tolerance of fatness and sedentary living. Everyone wants to be a victim and nobody wants to be responsible.

I say,if you're fat that is your issue not mine - but don't expect any favors from me if your lard ass can't fit in an airline seat or you get winded walking across the parking lot.

No argument that making your own food is way cheaper than eating out in any situation.

The problem is how many people actually make their own lunches. I know as a college student, it was hard to find places to warm up food, or having to carry your lunch with you all day.

Now I can actually take my Caesar salad each day. Makes me happy. :)

my school has microwaves in the eating areas.

but there's always the option of cold food anyways and backpacks usually accomodate a tupperware container.

my school has microwaves in the eating areas.

but there's always the option of cold food anyways and backpacks usually accomodate a tupperware container.

I *think* the dining halls might have had microwaves, but they were not immediately close to where I was on campus. So I never bothered.

But when you commute to school and end up being there around 12 hours a day, 1 tupperware container doesn't quite cut it.

Actually, I shouldn't complain, I actually had a place for a few years to drop stuff during the day, so I brought a lunch box. :)

I thought WW2 was our greatest problem....where we looked at ourselves and said "Shit, we're one of the last two gods. I got an idea, challenge the last god and see who wins!"


What? I said that this really wasn't a problem at all, and that if you wanted to say it was this is the best possible problem anyone could ever have.

"Shit! I'm too successful! Its too easy for people to live in this country! Quick, someone release the dinosaurs and barbarians and such to thin us out and provide some challenge."

Wrong (http://www.dacy.org/hobbies/restaurants2.htm)

You could just as easily blame it on Rock and Roll, which came out at about the same time. So did space exploration and frisbees.

Don't confuse cause and effect. The answer is not so simple as to blame food vendors. The answer for most folks is right in their own mouth - literally.

[remaining text clipped because I don't feel it matters.]

:rolleyes:

I had to debate whether to even bother to address such nonsense. You compare rock and roll to fast food, while on is obviously disturbingly high in fat and incredibly unhealthy, while the other is not even a food item.

If you can't debate sensibly, please don't debate at all.

There is no question that the prevalence of cheap, high fat/low nutritional value food that is available with no effort has increased obesity levels. While some of the restaurants may have existed for quite some time, I can assure you the profane combos meals and biggie-size options that exist now did not then.

Do you really think they had triple cheesburgers and grossly supersized drinks, french fries, and Lord knows what other crap in 1920? And do you really think that as many people ate those kinds of things back then?

Your argument is an insult to anyone with a grain of intelligence. It does nothing but make factless semantic arguments, and doesn't make any attempt to compare actual differences between fast food restaurants (nor their menus of available items, nor the nutritional value of those items) in the early half of the 20th century with modern day fast food restaurants.

Thanks for taking 10 minutes of my life. ¬_¬

It's a combination of things. The transition to an overly sedentary livestyle is definitely a major cause. Work is usually a mentally exhausting, rather than physically exhausting, task. Walking is only short distances. Entertainment is spectating, rather than participating.

Food choices are definitely a problem, as well. Humanity's natural laziness will put them into a position of where they will do what's easy rather than what's healthy or cheaper. For example. Plan two weeks worth of meals, drive to the store, buy everything, go home, seperate out the raw materials for meals before freezing, then taking the time each day to cook. OR -- not deal with that at all and simply stop at Burger King on the way home from work.

We're also raised with more tolerance to sweet things, to a point where we want them all the time. Soda used to come in 8 oz bottles and were considered a special treat. Now it comes in giant 1-liter bottles or gallon tubs. Candy was a rarity.

The world had experienced an unprecidented cultural shift in the last hundred years -- especially in the western world. My great grandfather moved from Tennessee to Texas around the turn of the last century (i'm 25, btw) in a covered wagon pulled by horses. That's only four generations ago.

It will take us, as a global society, time to adjust. Obesity is one of those things we'll have to deal with. Either we'll become a society of fatasses, or culturally we'll begin to control ourselves.

We'll probably end up all fat. God knows I'm already a tubby bastard.