If we focused more on adult healthy eating, their kids will follow in the same path. We need to start with teaching the leaders to actually "lead".
2
The problem is not 'Focusing on Childhood Obesity'. The problem is focusing exclusively on the USA when there is a global obesity epidemic. This leads to spurious speculation about the causes of obesity in the USA that is unlikely to explain why the humans around the whole planet are getting fatter.
Many readers may be surprised to learn that the USA is not the world's fattest country but merely the 16th fattest and not that much fatter than Australia, NZ and the UK [1].
The world's fattest country by far is Tonga - and has been in recorded memory. 'In adults, estimated prevalence of obesity exceeded 50% in men in Tonga and in women in Kuwait, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Libya, Qatar, Tonga, and Samoa.' [1,2]
1) Lucy Carroll. 'Obesity rates soar in Australia, a global survey reveals' (29 May 2014); SMH; https://tinyurl.com/mskld55
2) Ng, Marie, et al. "Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013." The Lancet 384.9945 (2014): 766-781. https://tinyurl.com/gqtm4zz
Many readers may be surprised to learn that the USA is not the world's fattest country but merely the 16th fattest and not that much fatter than Australia, NZ and the UK [1].
The world's fattest country by far is Tonga - and has been in recorded memory. 'In adults, estimated prevalence of obesity exceeded 50% in men in Tonga and in women in Kuwait, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Libya, Qatar, Tonga, and Samoa.' [1,2]
1) Lucy Carroll. 'Obesity rates soar in Australia, a global survey reveals' (29 May 2014); SMH; https://tinyurl.com/mskld55
2) Ng, Marie, et al. "Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013." The Lancet 384.9945 (2014): 766-781. https://tinyurl.com/gqtm4zz
4
We really do need to wage war against Big Food. By scientifically adjusting the levels of fat, sugar and salt, they’ve made high-calorie foods as addictive as cigarettes. As a baby boomer, I remember very well what meals and snacks looked like in the 1950s and 1960s. We thought we were eating well, but by today’s standards, the food was totally boring. We ate as much as we felt like eating, but weren’t very tempted to overeat because food wasn’t addictive.
Breaking an addiction to overeating is hard because we can’t go cold turkey. We still have to eat—and foods we shouldn’t eat are everywhere. Even a supermarket like Whole Foods devotes a majority of their store space to foods we should eat rarely, if at all.
Furthermore, the social pressure to overeat is as strong. One’s friends don’t like to eat alone, so one constantly has to apologize for not partaking in snakes, sweets and other high-calorie food and drinks. If you’re obese, friends understand. But if you hope to avoid becoming obese, you’re in the battle all by yourself.
Breaking an addiction to overeating is hard because we can’t go cold turkey. We still have to eat—and foods we shouldn’t eat are everywhere. Even a supermarket like Whole Foods devotes a majority of their store space to foods we should eat rarely, if at all.
Furthermore, the social pressure to overeat is as strong. One’s friends don’t like to eat alone, so one constantly has to apologize for not partaking in snakes, sweets and other high-calorie food and drinks. If you’re obese, friends understand. But if you hope to avoid becoming obese, you’re in the battle all by yourself.
4
As long as the food industry maintains committees devoted exclusively to maximizing the addictive palatability of their products (yes!) we will be fighting a losing battle. Food is universally appealing, ubiquitous, and easy to come by--and the most addictive foods are the cheapest. As many commenters have noted, processed foods are the worst offenders. These include any food not in its original--or "whole"--form--including not just white but also whole grain bread and pastas. I was bingeing on sweets and baked goods and yo yo dieting,until 7 years ago ,I tried Weight Watchers, Overaters Anonymous, Jenny Craig--you name it. Finally I bit the bullet and decided to give up sweets entirely. So, I switched to the Mediterranean diet -- minus the bread. I now eat exclusively fresh fruit, nuts, vegetables, with small amounts of cheese, poultry and fish. My only grains are long cooking oatmeal in the morning and brown rice occasionally when eating out. Do I like my food? Absolutely love it--and I can eat a lot of it without gaining weight. 'Ive discovered wonderful ways of combining fruits and nuts, as well a the creamy nuttiness of avocados. Do I miss the sweets and breads? I did for awhile, but no longer. I am at a very healthy weight....and nothing tastes as good as thin feels!
6
Speaking as someone who was obese as a child and has only continued to get more and more so over the past fifty-odd years, I think it is a cop out to blame the obesity epidemic on "food marketing". People eat the things that are bad for them because they taste good and/or are convenient. The marketing doesn't help, of course, but you'd be hard pressed these days to find an adult who doesn't realize eating that Big Mac or those french fries is a bad idea. They just do it anyway.
I think it is combination of many factors - low cost, easy access, more sedentary lifestyle. I don't pretend to know the solution, but I think dumping it all in the lap of food marketing is naive, at best.
I think it is combination of many factors - low cost, easy access, more sedentary lifestyle. I don't pretend to know the solution, but I think dumping it all in the lap of food marketing is naive, at best.
3
An alien anthropologist would be fascinated by our system of capitalism. Big Food, Big Tobacco, and Big Alcohol relentlessly market health-destroying products for high profits. And their companies are considered good investments because of that.
Then we worry about the hundreds of thousands of excess deaths caused by the sale and consumption of those products, relying on exhortation and persuasion to limit sale and conumption -- means of very limited effectiveness.
Then we worry about the hundreds of thousands of excess deaths caused by the sale and consumption of those products, relying on exhortation and persuasion to limit sale and conumption -- means of very limited effectiveness.
5
I don't suppose the aging of the population might have something to do with increased obesity rates? There are double the number of people over 65 now as compared with 1980. Let's face it; the older you get, the harder weight is to get off and the easier it is to put on, especially if you're female. Not the only cause but quite likely significant.
2
Like many of our ills the influence big corporations have, in this case industrial foodcproducers, doesn't help this cause. If anything they undermine the ability for people to get accurate information about what they consume & the true detrimental cost of our govt subsidized food industry. The latter with the constant bombarding of misleading advertising about food makes it difficult for the "average" adult to make sound decisions. It starts with the peddling of baby foods and never stops.
2
Let's face it, the food industry is a powerful force that has its hands in every branch of our government and has ungodly sums of money with which to shape public opinion. Any policies, campaigns or research studies that negatively affect its bottom line are met with resistance, ridicule and wrath. The reason why we focus on childhood obesity more so than adult obesity is because society agrees, for the most part, that targeting our kids who have little to no autonomy is a bad thing. Not so much with teens, let alone adults. The food industry *cough* tobacco industry will have us believe that teens (and adults) are old enough to make their own decisions. We've tried enacting laws that curb obesity for all Americans, adults included, but they have not fared well here. Case in point - soda taxes. Despite evidence suggesting that they actually decrease the prevalence of obesity (see Mexico), these taxes have been met with serious resistance here because the fear-mongering food industry wants us to believe that our fundamental right to choose what to put in our bodies is being upended. Thus, it's easier to make policy changes that affect children.
3
'...including plenty of PHD's --are overweight ' should have included MD's.I have always been amazed if you visit a hospital how many of the staff are over weight. I wonder why
1
Something else is needed: effective weight reduction programs for adults who are already overweight/obese. This is too often neglected. Research shows that few if any "diets" lead to significant weight reduction, and virtually none of them lead to lower weight in the long-term, even when combined with plenty of exercise. The nutritional experts have let us down on this, and they keep changing their minds about what works. Lots of people want to lose weight. This is an enormous industry. But the money is wasted, because nothing works very well. We won't make much progress on obesity until this problem is front and center.
3
A quick shout-out for alcohol consumption in adulthood as a factor in adult obesity.
5
What's making us fat is a lifestyle of working 24/7 with not enough time for living; activities, sleep & cooking from scratch (real fruit & veg you have to shuck or chop). No canned, boxed or frozen processed & packaged food-like products with added whatever.
We have to read articles to tell us that if we don't get enough sleep we'll gain weight; if we are sitting most of the day (12 hrs at a desk) regularly we'll gain weight; eating mostly sugar and other simple carbohydrates filled with fillers....
We need to decide as Americans that we will work 8 hour days, 5 day work weeks, sleep 7-8 hrs, eat real slow cooked meals with family, take siestas daily, and take month long vacations like the Europeans do. We too will have enough time & energy to walk to market, cook healthy food, & live real lives. Work to live not live to work.
Then companies need to hire enough people to do all the work that needs to be done. Overtime pay for anything over 8 hrs or 5 days for salary and hourly paid workers will quickly allow companies to understand it's in their own best interest. Added bonus, that will help take care of what's left of the unemployment problems we still have.
Halfway through typing this I noticed Helena's comments. I agree with Helena.
We have to read articles to tell us that if we don't get enough sleep we'll gain weight; if we are sitting most of the day (12 hrs at a desk) regularly we'll gain weight; eating mostly sugar and other simple carbohydrates filled with fillers....
We need to decide as Americans that we will work 8 hour days, 5 day work weeks, sleep 7-8 hrs, eat real slow cooked meals with family, take siestas daily, and take month long vacations like the Europeans do. We too will have enough time & energy to walk to market, cook healthy food, & live real lives. Work to live not live to work.
Then companies need to hire enough people to do all the work that needs to be done. Overtime pay for anything over 8 hrs or 5 days for salary and hourly paid workers will quickly allow companies to understand it's in their own best interest. Added bonus, that will help take care of what's left of the unemployment problems we still have.
Halfway through typing this I noticed Helena's comments. I agree with Helena.
6
When we visit Europe, we typically forget about trying to eat 'sensibly' and just have whatever we like - meats, bread, pastries, gelato, pastas, etc. - and invariably come home having lost a few pounds each. We tend to eat what we eat here - fresh cooked meals of a wide variety - but without thinking about what and how much. Yes we also tend to walk a bit more but we spend plenty of time walking and working out here at home in the States.
I'm starting to believe that there may be an environmental element to American obesity that goes beyond what people eat, that the ingredients with the same terms elsewhere are actually significantly different such as wheat, meats, seafood, vegetables, etc. I wouldn't be surprised that the difference could also account for how much people here eat at a single sitting.
I'm starting to believe that there may be an environmental element to American obesity that goes beyond what people eat, that the ingredients with the same terms elsewhere are actually significantly different such as wheat, meats, seafood, vegetables, etc. I wouldn't be surprised that the difference could also account for how much people here eat at a single sitting.
5
In answer to "the government should leave us alone."
If the government left us alone we would have no roads, no schools, no laws to govern traffic, and worst of all, when we do get diabetes, no one to pay for the education and treatment that is then necessary to keep us alive. The diabetic person would die without treatment, after losing their feet, their vision, and their kidneys. The majority of obese people could not possibly pay for their future medical care. So you, and I, through the government, pay for that care. If I am paying for your medical care, I should have the right to criticize your very expensive behavior.
If the government left us alone we would have no roads, no schools, no laws to govern traffic, and worst of all, when we do get diabetes, no one to pay for the education and treatment that is then necessary to keep us alive. The diabetic person would die without treatment, after losing their feet, their vision, and their kidneys. The majority of obese people could not possibly pay for their future medical care. So you, and I, through the government, pay for that care. If I am paying for your medical care, I should have the right to criticize your very expensive behavior.
10
I work at home. I can control my lunch. If I worked in an office, it would be more difficult.
Usually, on Sunday, I go to Whole Foods (across the street!) and get three lunches from the salad bar. Usually, broiled chicken, quinoa, kale, grated carrots, and a few pieces of cauliflower.
My big vice (in terms of consuming bad stuff) is coffee. I day trade stocks I have 5 cups of coffee a day. Not super strong coffee. Still, it makes me more tired than wired.
Usually, on Sunday, I go to Whole Foods (across the street!) and get three lunches from the salad bar. Usually, broiled chicken, quinoa, kale, grated carrots, and a few pieces of cauliflower.
My big vice (in terms of consuming bad stuff) is coffee. I day trade stocks I have 5 cups of coffee a day. Not super strong coffee. Still, it makes me more tired than wired.
Has obesity proven lower in overall national health care costs than smoking? That is, if you include all obesity-related medical problems, such as diabetes, hip and knee replacement surgeries, etc. Surely the ideal is neither smoking or over-eating. But has there been any victory if one vice has just been replaced by another?
1
My parents and grandparents (and those of my friends) hardly ever exercised (no jogging or gym), and although they were physically active, they all watched a lot of TV. But very few were obese. The types of foods we eat-- nowadays a lot of dairy, corn syrup, salt, hormones in meat, snacks, and less often eating at home-- has a significant effect on health and weight. Also, the huge increase in the use of antidepressants (causes weight gain) and antibiotics (affecting gut bacteria) could be a factor.
8
To be honest I think the only intervention needed here is to have scaling insurance premiums for obese patients. Let them pay for their medical expenses if they want to eat themselves to death. I don't want to be paying for their gastric bands, cardiac interventions, diabetes medications, etc. etc. etc.
Overindulging is a choice, despite all the media trying to convince people that they're victims and have a metabolism that defies physics and no autonomy. I don't see why food companies shouldn't be able to advertise their goods, we act like people can't make decisions. Marketing isn't the problem here, its the consumers.
What an absurdity, that the biggest health problem in the united states is one that can be easily cured by doing nothing other than eating less.
Overindulging is a choice, despite all the media trying to convince people that they're victims and have a metabolism that defies physics and no autonomy. I don't see why food companies shouldn't be able to advertise their goods, we act like people can't make decisions. Marketing isn't the problem here, its the consumers.
What an absurdity, that the biggest health problem in the united states is one that can be easily cured by doing nothing other than eating less.
9
What's new? The so called healthcare providing community has been part of this for ages. We avoided using terms like obese, overweight and fat for the same reasons that we prescribed the antibiotic of the day; scared about losing the fees from a customer. Obesity is big business to Big Pharm and to so called Healthcare. Why seek to decrease the numbers of obese adults when that's big money for hospitals, surgeons, drug sellers and other terminal providers of "care"? Selling big beds, lifting equipment and snake oil for lifelong obese people with dwindling muscle mass longing to be healthy? Big joke. The medical industry is at the heart of this, knowingly and increasingly powerless. Information is there and it needs to be learned without depending on traditional MDs/DOs.
2
As much as I'd like to see a slimmer USA, I'm still going to invest in the companies that make insulin, small cranes for lifting people in nursing homes, and oversized coffins. The only hope would be to convince the people that obesity is a plot hashed by the same people who want to take away their guns. But as one person here pointed out, the Japanese are bombarded with the same junk food choices as we are, yet somehow are not an obese nation - what is the difference?
5
What adults eat is none of the government's business, nor yours, New York Times. It is theirs and theirs alone.
Stop trying to tell us what to do.
Lots of words are unnecessary.
Stop trying to tell us what to do.
Lots of words are unnecessary.
All of these overweight and obese people are what is driving the nation's enormous health care costs, especially in Medicare. Every taxpayer is paying for someone else's obesity. The nation's obesity problem is costing us billions. If you want to be obese, that's your business--if you also agree to never see a doctor or check in to a hospital. Since that's not going ever going to happen (there are no libertarians in emergency rooms) I want the government to do everything in its power to stop fat people from overeating, because that is what is going to keep our government from going bankrupt.
9
Why is it okay for the food industry to tell us what to eat on a daily if not hourly basis?
5
Information is the best weapon. Clear and consistent labeling combined with aggressive public information campaigns. Free professional dietary guidance to anyone requesting it would easily pay for itself in reduced healthcare spending. Selective taxation of some foods however, is a non-starter. The public is clearly unwilling to allow the government to tell it what to eat and drink. This was clearly demonstrated by Msyor Bloomberg's attempt at soft drink regulation. If liberal New York wouldn't buy off in that, Ohio and Florida certainly won't. It does not matter what the arguments for it are. Selective food restrictions/taxation crosses the "none of the governments business" line for most voters. Smoking was a unique situation. Health advocates must stay focused on what is doable. It is the best path to achieving the maximum benefits to society in the shortest amount of time. People will always accept help far more readily than they will accept being imposed upon.
2
If the cause of adult obesity is mainly marketing, as the author suggests, than the wise adult would make sure to limit marketing in her life. Our family strenuously avoids advertisements (only because I find them so annoying, to be honest). We have no TV, and I favor grocery stores that don't have those annoying magazines and candies at the check out line. We also listen to radio stations without advertising. Maybe that makes it easier for us to salivate over healthier, and smaller portions of, our food.
4
This is like my quest to not eat anything with corn syrup of any kind in it. You don't realize how infested everything is till you realize everything you have to cut out or make yourself.
2
If resources are used to fight poverty instead of obesity, we will probably see obesity rates decline significantly.
7
100% agree that poverty is a huge (reaching for a pun but not enough caffeine to see it through) cause.
1
We have had a modern failure of self control at the time of cheap food and decreased physical activity to survive.
The entire modern society in general lacks self control: obesity, debt, egocentricity, falling standards of etiquette, physical fitness, falling academic achievement levels, ETC.
The entire modern society in general lacks self control: obesity, debt, egocentricity, falling standards of etiquette, physical fitness, falling academic achievement levels, ETC.
4
We are apparently also lacking in self-control from typing every judgmental thought that comes into our heads.
5
Few people are disciplined in managing their health and wealth.
This sad reality needs to be discussed in public forums.
Some people actually do resond and make changes.
This sad reality needs to be discussed in public forums.
Some people actually do resond and make changes.
2
Everything that comes in a box or a bottle is laced with sugar. Sugar makes you fat because it triggers insulin, which tells your liver to turn sugar into fat. Sugar substitutes in so-called "diet" sodas suppress the endocrinological signals that tell your brain that you are full. Obesity has nothing to do with exercise among people who walk around and use their bodies do everyday things. Obesity is a result of the poisoning of our food supply with sugar by multinational corporations.
6
After stopping smoking and completing a graduate degree while caring for two young children, I gained a great deal if weight so I went to Weight Watchers in 1981 and lost 108 pounds. I've been at my goal weight just about ever since. It's not easy. I exercise regularly but that is not sufficient. In fact, the most important thing is monitoring what and how much I eat.
I can understand how hard it is for very busy adults to grab high fat, high carb, high sugar prepared foods that you can eat on the run or nuke when you get home from work. Our difficult schedules and our kids' overly programmed activities make time for cooking from scratch with nutritious ingredients a real challenge. When scrawny dietitians appear on TV touting obscure ingredients and time consuming recipes, I want yo throw rocks at the TV. We need
advisors to show people how to buy prepared foods that are low in fat, high in nutrition. It can be done. Many supermarkets are trying to do their part.
Consumers need to take responsibility for what they eat and feed their kids, but it's so easy to fill your gut with fat-filled, easy-to-eat cr@p. There's no one enemy, no one food, and no gluten filled or absent ingredient that will curb obesity. It is a multi-faceted, multi-culpable problem that we must all deal with on many levels. Nothing will change while people look for magic bullets.
I can understand how hard it is for very busy adults to grab high fat, high carb, high sugar prepared foods that you can eat on the run or nuke when you get home from work. Our difficult schedules and our kids' overly programmed activities make time for cooking from scratch with nutritious ingredients a real challenge. When scrawny dietitians appear on TV touting obscure ingredients and time consuming recipes, I want yo throw rocks at the TV. We need
advisors to show people how to buy prepared foods that are low in fat, high in nutrition. It can be done. Many supermarkets are trying to do their part.
Consumers need to take responsibility for what they eat and feed their kids, but it's so easy to fill your gut with fat-filled, easy-to-eat cr@p. There's no one enemy, no one food, and no gluten filled or absent ingredient that will curb obesity. It is a multi-faceted, multi-culpable problem that we must all deal with on many levels. Nothing will change while people look for magic bullets.
9
Oh, for crying out loud. I don't have a tv and am rarely exposed to ads for junk food. Yet I was overweight for years. I finally decided to bite the bullet -- so to speak -- and spend the *enormous* amount of additional money it takes to buy decent food. The cost per calorie of junk food is radically lower than that of good, healthful food. The completely rational decision on the part of someone whose budget is tight is to buy a lot of cheap, government-subsidized junk food, especially corn-based products.
The cost, per calorie, of fresh fruits and vegetables staggers the imagination. If the government had any wish at all to cut down on the obesity rate, it'd stop subsidizing junk food and start subsidizing fresh (or even frozen) vegetables and fruit.
The cost, per calorie, of fresh fruits and vegetables staggers the imagination. If the government had any wish at all to cut down on the obesity rate, it'd stop subsidizing junk food and start subsidizing fresh (or even frozen) vegetables and fruit.
24
A tale of two Appalachias.
There is a part of Appalachia I visit from time to time. Probably just over half of the people smoke. Many of them are rail thin. Most of the rest are normal weight. In this area, there are very few restaurants and no fast food restaurants at all.
Then there is another part where obesity seems to be almost everywhere. There's often a line to get the electric wheel chair/ carts at Walmart. These people might smoke a bit less than those at the other place. However, fast food restaurants are on every corner.
There is a part of Appalachia I visit from time to time. Probably just over half of the people smoke. Many of them are rail thin. Most of the rest are normal weight. In this area, there are very few restaurants and no fast food restaurants at all.
Then there is another part where obesity seems to be almost everywhere. There's often a line to get the electric wheel chair/ carts at Walmart. These people might smoke a bit less than those at the other place. However, fast food restaurants are on every corner.
9
What's with the obsession over sugary drinks and processed foods? They're no worse for us than raw foods; in particular, apple juice is just as bad for sugar content and insulin spikes as soft drinks.
The sensible approach steers clear of demonization and quick fixes and focuses instead on balanced diets, portion control, and exercise.
With advice like this, it's no wonder Americans are getting fatter.
The sensible approach steers clear of demonization and quick fixes and focuses instead on balanced diets, portion control, and exercise.
With advice like this, it's no wonder Americans are getting fatter.
3
As a health and physical education teacher in a public school system, I wholly concur with this article. Not only do I work with children teaching nutrition and activity lessons, I provide professional development for my colleagues. It is shocking that there are so many highly educated adults that do not know the basics of caloric science and human nutrition. This has been lost on so many adults that every amount of fad dieting will not benefit.
Simply put, they want to be educated and realize it is essential to their health. This should be the focus of the next "let's Move" style campaign. You are never too old to learn about your health!
Simply put, they want to be educated and realize it is essential to their health. This should be the focus of the next "let's Move" style campaign. You are never too old to learn about your health!
The problem with articles focusing on obesity whether child or adult related is that the "problem" and causes are very complex, and cannot be explained by a single point of view. There is not one or two or even three reasons for the prevalence of obesity in the United States. There is an interplay of a myriad of complex genetic, psychological, medical, economic and cultural causes that science is just beginning to make a stab at understanding. A fascinating and truly unique book, very informative and sometimes heartbreaking "Fat Kids: Truth and Consequences" written by Rebecca Jane Weinstein contains interviews, first hand accounts, science, new research and theories with profound insight about children who struggle with what is considered the curse of obesity. This is an important read.
5
Michael's comment comment was exactly my finding. After so many years of trying to lose weight; switching to mostly vegetarianism (for all the other reasons) was, surprisingly, most effective.
3
Yep, the food system is yet another key dimension of the conundrum the capitalist system has led the human race into. The United States is unique only in having pioneered the way, and having driven us (literally) the furthest into a historic developmental cul-de-sac.
As the writer notes, adults are subject to an enormous propaganda apparatus ("commercial advertising") demanding that they consume low-value processed foods for profit. This allows supply to flood the market with the same, leaving the individual to struggle thru a maze of disinformation to find their way out to a healthy diet.
But food production is just part of a larger matrix that also involves transportation (automobile dependency, frequently overlooked as a source of "diabesity"), education (devaluation of liberal arts and critical thought), health care (devaluation of preventive medicine), and housing (the isolated SFH resting upon private landed property).
If "matrix" invokes the famous film of the same name, with a plot centred upon the robotic harvesting of human beings, then it can be invoked quite literally here, as modern capitalism is indeed the controlled and systematic harvesting of human labor power for profit. It turns out that diseased, isolated, socially clueless human labor power is more conveniently harvested despite its inherently inferior physical labor productivity, for which capitalist "technology" exists as productive compensation, as Henry Ford first demonstrated.
As the writer notes, adults are subject to an enormous propaganda apparatus ("commercial advertising") demanding that they consume low-value processed foods for profit. This allows supply to flood the market with the same, leaving the individual to struggle thru a maze of disinformation to find their way out to a healthy diet.
But food production is just part of a larger matrix that also involves transportation (automobile dependency, frequently overlooked as a source of "diabesity"), education (devaluation of liberal arts and critical thought), health care (devaluation of preventive medicine), and housing (the isolated SFH resting upon private landed property).
If "matrix" invokes the famous film of the same name, with a plot centred upon the robotic harvesting of human beings, then it can be invoked quite literally here, as modern capitalism is indeed the controlled and systematic harvesting of human labor power for profit. It turns out that diseased, isolated, socially clueless human labor power is more conveniently harvested despite its inherently inferior physical labor productivity, for which capitalist "technology" exists as productive compensation, as Henry Ford first demonstrated.
Dr. Farley -- I completely reject the premise that the focus in reducing levels of obesity and overweight has been on children because we believe that adults "are capable of making sound food choices." It's because what years of trying to figure out how to turn fat people into slim people has demonstrated that it is virtually impossible to do so.
And we still don't understand why that is. Because we have been so focused on trying to make bodies thin, we haven't gone beyond the basic "it's a simple matter of thermodynamics" concept in our approach to understanding how the human body regulates weight.
As these comments demonstrate, people seek simple answers to complex problems. Unfortunately, those simple answers usually don't work very well when it comes to putting them into application. For right now, the simplest (and cheapest) way to solve the "OMG OBESITY EPIDEMIC" is to stop more people from becoming fat in the first place.
If we want to make fat people thin, we need to understand the complex mechanism by which the human body regulates weight, not just blather on about "it's as simple as calories out vs. calories in." This may shock some of you, but human beings are not Bunsen burners in labs, taking in and using calories in a steady state. If we're not willing to figure out how the body regulates weight -- we're never going to solve the problem.
And we still don't understand why that is. Because we have been so focused on trying to make bodies thin, we haven't gone beyond the basic "it's a simple matter of thermodynamics" concept in our approach to understanding how the human body regulates weight.
As these comments demonstrate, people seek simple answers to complex problems. Unfortunately, those simple answers usually don't work very well when it comes to putting them into application. For right now, the simplest (and cheapest) way to solve the "OMG OBESITY EPIDEMIC" is to stop more people from becoming fat in the first place.
If we want to make fat people thin, we need to understand the complex mechanism by which the human body regulates weight, not just blather on about "it's as simple as calories out vs. calories in." This may shock some of you, but human beings are not Bunsen burners in labs, taking in and using calories in a steady state. If we're not willing to figure out how the body regulates weight -- we're never going to solve the problem.
5
When the conversation turns to food, we blame lack exercise for the obesity epidemic. When lack of exercise is indicted, we all blame the junk food we're eating. As a physician specializing in obesity since 1988, I would suggest that there is another, perhaps more important, factor at work. The past thirty years suggest that we humans have become more susceptible to obesity. T he causative agents are as yet unknown. In this setting and with this knowledge, the smart money is on avoiding obesogenic foods-- especially carbohydrates-- and in keeping very active. But until we've figured out whether our micro biomes have been adversely altered, whether we've ingested too many plastic residues, drugs or pesticides or whether some other environmental factor has reconfigured our tendency to store fat, we are not going to be able to solve the problem by simply scolding people. Unless we believe that something has truly changed within us physiologically and that most of us can no longer eat as people might have done in past generations, we won't be making much progress. www.refusetoregain.com
10
Two years' ago I was laid off so I made emergency changes to my finances including switching to a mostly vegetarian diet. The results were dramatically positive: I cut my grocery bills by 50%, brought my weight down to a healthier level, stopped having heartburn and acid reflux, and I look better and feel better.
I exercise very moderately (light running and stretching 3-4 days/week), but it's really the dietary changes that helped me lose and keep to a healthy weight, not the exercising.
No secret to it: just learn how to cook vegetables and eat them more often than you eat beef/pork/chicken and don't go out to restaurants very often. Nothing is off-the-table, just limit certain things (meat, snacks, desserts, soft drinks) to an occasional treat instead of an everyday habit. An easy way to think about it is this: do the exact opposite of what the average American does, and there's your healthy diet.
I exercise very moderately (light running and stretching 3-4 days/week), but it's really the dietary changes that helped me lose and keep to a healthy weight, not the exercising.
No secret to it: just learn how to cook vegetables and eat them more often than you eat beef/pork/chicken and don't go out to restaurants very often. Nothing is off-the-table, just limit certain things (meat, snacks, desserts, soft drinks) to an occasional treat instead of an everyday habit. An easy way to think about it is this: do the exact opposite of what the average American does, and there's your healthy diet.
9
How many adults became obese after quitting smoking? I know the 35 lbs I put on in 3 months after quitting took 3 YEARS to lose.
Comparing smoking to eating is inherently apples to oranges...only one is a physical addiction, while the other has numerous causes including obsession, depression, medication and disability. This article, by calling out health care costs related to obesity, only helps perpetuate the stigma obese people already face, and reinforces the convenient belief that all fat people are weak willed.
Comparing smoking to eating is inherently apples to oranges...only one is a physical addiction, while the other has numerous causes including obsession, depression, medication and disability. This article, by calling out health care costs related to obesity, only helps perpetuate the stigma obese people already face, and reinforces the convenient belief that all fat people are weak willed.
2
As a working parent, part of a two parent household, my observations are that buying whole foods for a family is an expensive proposition, especially in Manhattan. It's a shame that families are forced to decide whether to save money in the short run and eat jprocessed food occasionally or jeapordize your health in the long run. I may be naeve but how did such a powerful country become a place where we destroy surplus food when there are millions of people who go hungry, create processed food that kills people and charge a fortune for "organic" food, when that's what it should be anyway?
4
Almost every heavy child I know has parents with truly terrible eating habits (as opposed to saying that it's genetic).
Overheard in the grocery store last week:
Young child picks up carrot: "Mom, can i have this?!!"
Mom: "Put that down. That's not something you would like!"
Overheard in the grocery store last week:
Young child picks up carrot: "Mom, can i have this?!!"
Mom: "Put that down. That's not something you would like!"
8
I saw an obese man with his adorable 5 year old kid at the market the other day.
Father to kid: "these are the ones you like" as he pulls down a box of frozen corndogs with maple syrup flavoring (apparently that is breakfast??? what happened to eggs, or oatmeal, or some fruit, or almost literally anything else)
He already had another box of a different variety of corndogs in the cart, and from what I could see, the rest of his selection was frozen pizzas. I don't think there was a fruit or veg or fresh dairy product or even some eggs or a piece of chicken in there. And from his attire, this wasn't because he couldn't afford these things.
Father to kid: "these are the ones you like" as he pulls down a box of frozen corndogs with maple syrup flavoring (apparently that is breakfast??? what happened to eggs, or oatmeal, or some fruit, or almost literally anything else)
He already had another box of a different variety of corndogs in the cart, and from what I could see, the rest of his selection was frozen pizzas. I don't think there was a fruit or veg or fresh dairy product or even some eggs or a piece of chicken in there. And from his attire, this wasn't because he couldn't afford these things.
8
CONFIRMATION BIAS
Confirmation bias, also called confirmatory bias or myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.
It is a type of cognitive bias and a systematic error of inductive reasoning. People display this bias when they gather or remember information selectively, or when they interpret it in a biased way. The effect is stronger for emotionally charged issues and for deeply entrenched beliefs.
So -- Ami believes that all fat people eat junk. So she remembers the anecdote about the father and the son and the box of corndogs, but forgets the fat lady buying broccoli.
If we seek the worst in people, we will surely find it.
Confirmation bias, also called confirmatory bias or myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.
It is a type of cognitive bias and a systematic error of inductive reasoning. People display this bias when they gather or remember information selectively, or when they interpret it in a biased way. The effect is stronger for emotionally charged issues and for deeply entrenched beliefs.
So -- Ami believes that all fat people eat junk. So she remembers the anecdote about the father and the son and the box of corndogs, but forgets the fat lady buying broccoli.
If we seek the worst in people, we will surely find it.
6
Reminds me of a TV news piece I saw some years back, on a major network, in which the correspondent was interviewing little kids about planned changes in their school lunch menu to include more fruits, vegetables, and similar healthful foods, and to play down the tater tots, junk, and sugar.
The correspondent (I'm tempted to supply a name, but I can't be sure I recall correctly which of the interchangeable toothy blondes it was) squatted among the children, thrust her mic at them, and, in her sweetest, most cajoling voice, fed them such impartial questions as 'you're not going to eat this, are you?' and 'do you think vegetables are yucky?' Thank heaven she wasn't questioning them on whether they'd been molested, or every adult in town would be in the lockup.
It's been proven repeatedly, folks, that despite our supposed programming for sugar-salt-fat, if you start a kid early on a variety of foods, he or she will develop a palate for a variety of tastes, including 'yucky' healthful foods.
A poet once said 'the child is father to the man,' and what we see now among adults is simply the grown-up children who were indulged by their parents. The boomers were the first child-centric generation, and carried their over-indulged eating habits forward into adulthood, when they no longer had the physical activity or the metabolism to support them. That's the pattern.
The correspondent (I'm tempted to supply a name, but I can't be sure I recall correctly which of the interchangeable toothy blondes it was) squatted among the children, thrust her mic at them, and, in her sweetest, most cajoling voice, fed them such impartial questions as 'you're not going to eat this, are you?' and 'do you think vegetables are yucky?' Thank heaven she wasn't questioning them on whether they'd been molested, or every adult in town would be in the lockup.
It's been proven repeatedly, folks, that despite our supposed programming for sugar-salt-fat, if you start a kid early on a variety of foods, he or she will develop a palate for a variety of tastes, including 'yucky' healthful foods.
A poet once said 'the child is father to the man,' and what we see now among adults is simply the grown-up children who were indulged by their parents. The boomers were the first child-centric generation, and carried their over-indulged eating habits forward into adulthood, when they no longer had the physical activity or the metabolism to support them. That's the pattern.
3
"Nobody's fat here!" a relative of mine exclaimed while visiting me in New York City recently. He lives in Louisiana, among the heaviest states in the nation, but still. With our city lifestyle -walking, walking, walking - we're noticeably thinner.
We must be doing something right.
Maybe, as young adults gravitate to cities and the walkable life, we'll begin to see some progress. At least it's a trend in the right direction.
We must be doing something right.
Maybe, as young adults gravitate to cities and the walkable life, we'll begin to see some progress. At least it's a trend in the right direction.
5
Our current medical system does not promote healthy eating and exercise. We are a treatment based society and the hospital administrators, big pharm and other medical professionals don't want people more healthy it would decrease their profit margin. I have worked my entire career on increasing awareness of how critical exercise and proper nutrition is. Our medical community is no different than the billion dollar diet industry. If the diets and supplements worked they would be putting themselves out of business. The same is true for our healthcare system. I have not seen any indication that leads me to believe that prevention is even on the radar other than as a token public relations façade. If you could bottle exercise and a proper diet it would decrease depression and all kinds of physical ailments. Where would you go to fill it is the problem.
1
That's absurd. My HMO gets the same insurance money out of me whether I'm healthy or terribly ill. They have every incentive to encourage me to eat well, exercise well, come in for preventive care, etc., because my being healthy keeps down their costs. Also, I suspect that people go into medicine because they actually don't want to see people suffer, but that's another issue. As for pharmaceutical companies...I have my doubts.
1
Sorry, Farley - you missed your chance. You could have addressed the marketing issue when you were COH. Instead, you and Mayor Bloomberg pushed for the soda tax that (predictably) blew up in your face. My hunch through that entire episode was that Bloomberg was loathe to actually penalize the companies making these unhealthy products (because...capitalism!), so instead decided to place the burden on individuals via taxation. I'm not saying a soda tax is a terrible idea, but it's not what you should have led with. Following the tobacco analogy, restricting/eliminating marketing for these products would likely have had a positive effect on public health as well as support from the public (who wants to see more ads anyway??). In fact, Canada and Mexico have already led the way in marketing restrictions to good effect. And don't get me started on your ridiculous "counter-advertising" campaigns. Fear mongering is not a strategy.
1
While my only slightly exaggerated opinion is that most companies and corporations will sell their mothers' souls to the highest bidder to make a buck (heyo Shkreli, tell me how that nutraloaf tastes), I think the American people are highly complicit in the obesity epidemic. We're a bunch of lazies looking for any excuse to be more sedentary than we were yesterday, and ignore all the advice that in 99% of people, no matter what diet you go on, exercise is necessary or the lbs are gonna keep on stacking. We just don't want to exercise, plain and simple. Now maybe thats because we're already fat and don't want to be seen in public looking like a beached whale doing yoga in a ridiculous neon outfit, or maybe its for a number of other reasons, but we can't yell "I didn't know eating Oreos for breakfast then sitting at a desk all day would make me fat." Thats highly disingenuous.
I think public education on nutrition, beyond just how to read a label, is necessary. I think legislation for standardized labelling of ingredients and nutritional value is necessary. I think reforming school lunch laws and regulations on what counts as a veggie (sayonara ketchup and a dollop of red tomatoey paste) is necessary. I thinker better access to healthier, less processed foods, whether they be fresh or frozen, is necessary. I think individuals owning up and saying "I'm going to get healthy, starting today" is necessary, too.
I think public education on nutrition, beyond just how to read a label, is necessary. I think legislation for standardized labelling of ingredients and nutritional value is necessary. I think reforming school lunch laws and regulations on what counts as a veggie (sayonara ketchup and a dollop of red tomatoey paste) is necessary. I thinker better access to healthier, less processed foods, whether they be fresh or frozen, is necessary. I think individuals owning up and saying "I'm going to get healthy, starting today" is necessary, too.
5
Is anyone here in a position to ask Campbell's Soup corporate chefs why their tomato soup is engineered to taste like candy? Is it just that corn syrup is cheaper than tomatoes? Or is there some more nefarious purpose in their effort to infantilize the American palate?
10
How about try a different kind or make your own? Simply complaining about it will get you nowhere.
3
They are motivated to condition us to prefer simple, very sweet and/or salty flavors--in part because these flavors are easily reproducible and store well. Complex, fresh flavors aren't consistent dish-to-dish. Even the old favorite recipes I cook nearly every week are never the same, because the individual flavors of the ingredients vary. But people don't like unpredictability when they're paying for things.
6
Finally, an analysis of a social problem that respects the abstract complexity of real world forces. It's just a shame that we still have to tip toe around the altar of big business, and feel the need to be so timid about addressing the components of the issue directly. Big Food needs to be held financially accountable for the damage that their addictive products cost to society. As soon as we collectively agree to that, solving the problem is doable.
2
The US government has created the obesity crisis with its subsidies to BIG AG. The SAD (Standard American Diet) diet of a hamburger, fries and a shake would be much more expensive were it not for the government subsidizing industrial agriculture! Yet, nobody talks about this! The US government should be subsidizing organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains... Oh, but fruits and vegetables don't have a powerful lobby on K Street. Let's face it: the meat and dairy industry controls the USDA and Congress.That is why we are a fat, fast food nation!
11
I think the obesity problem is due to more than the food marketing. It has a lot to do with how we have changed the content of our foods -- how we raise animals that have grazed on grass (cows) forever on grains; how we feed omnivorous pigs grains; how we feed the insectivorous chicken grains; how we feed fish grains and beans and all kind of things that will never produce Omega 3's in them. Then we have upped the sugar content of potatoes and corn and are putting soybeans and high-fructose corn syrup into everything from energy bars to tomato sauce! We've also increased the gluten in wheat which slows down the transit time in our bodies and mechanically smash grains to bits to put into cereal where it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. Add to this a complete inability to recognize that about 40% of us cannot handle the carbs even promoted in this article. Of course, the marketing just makes people think they are hearing some kind of truth. They believe so much of it.
7
40 percent of us cannot handle carbs? Where did this come from? Apart from pseud-scientific nonsense peddled by diet gurus, there is absolutely no foundation for this number. I just came from Italy, the land of pizza and pasta. American tourists were instantly identified on the street by their weight. Limit your calories and meat consumption, and most healthy people can eat whatever they want. I do.
6
It comes from the work of Dr. Victor McKusick at Johns Hopkins. I read it years ago and I can't find the exact link (but I will find it) and it also said that there were around 150 different genetic conditions that may lead to T2D, 40 of them were mitochondrial. Also, I can eat Italian pasta (in America) without breaking out with a mouthful of sores so Italy's wheat is definitely different from ours.
4
I was told to eat 44 grams of protein. and be careful not to lose too much weight.
2
Why is anyone surprised at the obesity in the US and why is anyone except us to blame? It's not difficult for an adult to get enough exercise - clean the house, walk a mile picking up trash along the way, skip rope with your kid, plant a garden, volunteer to work in someone's if you don't have one. We're a nation of consumers and couch potatoes, over-eaters and slobs. Look at the trash from fast food and drink containers lining our roads, urban and rural. The GOP cut budgets for public parks and recreation programs as far back as Reagan, every party has pandered to the junk food agri-business industry. We keep the masses poor, ship their jobs overseas - even the hand-held gizmos that mesmerize our barely-mobile kids and adults are produced somewhere else. By over-worked populations for whom obesity is usually not a problem.
6
I was bron in 1969. I was in jr high and prep school in the 1980's. About 95% of my fellow students were thin. We ate sweets after school, but we had after schools sports (soccer, field hockey, basketball) for 90 mins a day M-F. On top of that, we usually played touch nerf football during recess. So, we had about 120 minutes a day of athletic recreation (not including horsing around). I attended private schools. So, we had soccer fields and sports programs.
It's about exercise. If kids run laps and windsprints every day, they won't get fat.
Now, at 46, I work out 6 days a week. That's what I was taught to do in school!
It's about exercise. If kids run laps and windsprints every day, they won't get fat.
Now, at 46, I work out 6 days a week. That's what I was taught to do in school!
6
Calories in can't exceed calories out if you want to maintain your weight. When I am exercising, I'll often think "that just bought me a beer".
I think about aged strip steak and a glass of Tempranillo followed by a glass of Balvenie Doublewood.
I don't drink beer, because it goes straight to my gut. Wine is fine. Scotch is fine. I can drink those without gaining weight. Beer is the enemy.
I don't drink beer, because it goes straight to my gut. Wine is fine. Scotch is fine. I can drink those without gaining weight. Beer is the enemy.
2
You have very good concentration to think about such specific foods. I just think about how I'll feel better about eating/drinking whatever I come across for the rest of the day knowing I got in 45 minutes of exercise at the start of my day. Not to mention all the other benefits I am aware of as I slog through an early morning when I'd much rather be in bed using a cat as a comforter.
1
Simple rules to reduce calories:
1. Never buy or drink any packaged beverages, except maybe milk or milk substitutes. Virtually every packaged beverage is either bad for you due to the sugar or sugar substitutes it is saturated with, or in the case of water, can be gotten for nearly free from the tap. Sodas, fruit juice, "sports" drinks, etc. are heavily marketed because they are profitable, but you are better off with a refillable water bottle.
2. Before you buy, read the food label and calculate the sugar percentage by dividing the grams of sugar into the grams in a typical serving. Refuse to eat anything other than the occasional treat if it contains more then 15% sugar. I choose 15% because I eat granola and breakfast cereals, and it is very difficult to find much that is less than that. If you do this little sugar check regularly you will be disgusted when you realize how many packaged foods are laden with 25% sugar or more. Some children's cereals are nearly 40% sugar. No wonder we are raising overweight, diabetic children.
A lot of the problem of sugar results from our corrupt political system which actually gives subsidies to the sugar industry and has created the corn syrup industry (let a presidential candidate try to win in Iowa with policies against agribusiness). It does not help that the international market is flooded with cheap sugar, a crop which dominates way, way too much land that could be used to raise food that is actually good for people.
1. Never buy or drink any packaged beverages, except maybe milk or milk substitutes. Virtually every packaged beverage is either bad for you due to the sugar or sugar substitutes it is saturated with, or in the case of water, can be gotten for nearly free from the tap. Sodas, fruit juice, "sports" drinks, etc. are heavily marketed because they are profitable, but you are better off with a refillable water bottle.
2. Before you buy, read the food label and calculate the sugar percentage by dividing the grams of sugar into the grams in a typical serving. Refuse to eat anything other than the occasional treat if it contains more then 15% sugar. I choose 15% because I eat granola and breakfast cereals, and it is very difficult to find much that is less than that. If you do this little sugar check regularly you will be disgusted when you realize how many packaged foods are laden with 25% sugar or more. Some children's cereals are nearly 40% sugar. No wonder we are raising overweight, diabetic children.
A lot of the problem of sugar results from our corrupt political system which actually gives subsidies to the sugar industry and has created the corn syrup industry (let a presidential candidate try to win in Iowa with policies against agribusiness). It does not help that the international market is flooded with cheap sugar, a crop which dominates way, way too much land that could be used to raise food that is actually good for people.
7
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think a lot of overweight adults with terrible eating habits know that they're at risk, but they don't have the time or tools to correct their weight or food choices. Anyone who's struggled to lose weight knows that putting it on happens almost without thinking but getting it back off is an uphill battle---the appetite and the metabolism resist. Many busy workers also have little time to cook and never learned any cooking skills beyond boiling pasta and scrambling eggs. They're mediocre cooks, they know it, so it's more satisfying to order in, take out, or microwave and serve... usually the least healthy options, particularly when you're buying on the cheap. Only monks and martyrs feel satisfied eating bland food, the rest of us find it depressing so if we can't cook tasty food we buy it, even when it's not in our best interest. Eating is, after all, one of life's most primal pleasures. Overweight adults get shamed quite a bit, but they're in an extremely tough spot without a lot of support.
5
They're also deeply conditioned to prefer simple, sweet and salty flavors. Witness how many people have an abhorrence of anything remotely "spicy". I know people who think ketchup is spicy. They want to eat what they like and know--processed, packaged, salty and sweet foods like those they grew up on. So you're right--as is Pollan--eat (actual) food, not too much, etc.
4
I just returned from three weeks in Japan, a country that I lived in for five years when I was a young man. I was struck then and once again on this recent visit, at how few people in Japan are fat. Almost everyone you se, old and young alike, appears slim and trim. It's easy to understand why. Japanese people eat food in modest amounts and they walk a lot. In restaurants, portions are small but very tasty. People get around by walking to and from train stations an bus stops, constantly going up and down stairs. In addition, the Japanese are a very disciplined people with a good deal of self-control, both conditions that are severely lacking in this county. There is no government campaign to behave this way. Life in Japan is simply that way. In the U.S. people eat too much, eat too frequently, and eat fattening foods. Moreover, Americans don't much like to walk. When there is an escalator near to a staircase, observe the number of people on each. If Americans don't want to get fat, they should exercise some self-control when it comes to eating and get some exercise every day as a matter of course in how they live. Obesity is not a disease, nor are we facing an epidemic. It's simply a case of living incorrectly. If you pay attention to media ads for food and eating you are a fool. Turn the stupid TV off and cook something healthy for yourself. Then take a walk. It's that simple. Live your own life, not the one prescribed by corporate America.
7
I've spent some time in Japan and am married to a Japanese woman. While they do enjoy the marginal advantages mentioned in transportation and health care, the Japanese are also subject to the commercial inundation of low-value food. Hence obesity rates rise there too, particularly among the younger generation, who have been instructed by the commercial propaganda to consider the traditional Japanese diet as "uncool".
Here in the USA it is all about designing our urban-metropolitan environment for the convenience of Henry Ford's product. Be prepared to walk for hours (bicycle is simply too high risk).
Here in the USA it is all about designing our urban-metropolitan environment for the convenience of Henry Ford's product. Be prepared to walk for hours (bicycle is simply too high risk).
2
Your last sentence is the key.
2
For adults: If you drink; stop. Sleep nightly and get some walking in.
1
And you too will live forever.
Seriously people, stop telling everyone else how to live.
Seriously people, stop telling everyone else how to live.
9
that's stupid. if you drink, stop? where'd you get that? alcohol in moderation is not harmful, and might possibly be beneficial.
i've had it up to here with commenters giving holier-than-thou advice
sheesh.. happy holidays
i've had it up to here with commenters giving holier-than-thou advice
sheesh.. happy holidays
8
Point blank fact is that our once well-regulated food industry during the span of approximately post-WWII years up to the pre-Reagan 80's was kept on a very short leash marketing and advertising wise. That containment all ended with the onslaught of mass corporate pressure to lobby for the defeat of legislators who favored keeping these very wise regulations and subsequently creating huge voting blocks which steered silent corporate money and favors to free-market Ayn Randian politicians who could have cared less who would be hurt by allowing monster-ingredient junk food to permeate our once solicitation-free school hallways, gyms, cafeteria's of our vulnerable children's schools and play areas. We allowed corporations and their politicians to tell us what was good for us instead of the other way around. Problem is, those Dunkin Donut's, McDonald's frankenburgers or Starbuck's oversweetened latte's don't come with either a diabetes disclaimer or for that matter an honest ingredients list.
Smart people avoid sketchy food sources. But sadly, too many people just don't care what they eat which of course leads us right back to that original idea of 'regulation'. We had it right the first time. Live and learn.
Smart people avoid sketchy food sources. But sadly, too many people just don't care what they eat which of course leads us right back to that original idea of 'regulation'. We had it right the first time. Live and learn.
14
At every grocery store there is an entire aisle dedicated to chips, snacks, and candy; another for soft drinks; and another for alcohol.
Double the sales tax on junk food, and eliminate all taxes on healthy foods. If you are skeptical that government won't be able to fairly tell the difference: hint, the food that people aren't magnetically attracted too is the healthy stuff (you know, fresh stuff like broccoli). You vegans and vegetarians out there, no offense intended.
Double the sales tax on junk food, and eliminate all taxes on healthy foods. If you are skeptical that government won't be able to fairly tell the difference: hint, the food that people aren't magnetically attracted too is the healthy stuff (you know, fresh stuff like broccoli). You vegans and vegetarians out there, no offense intended.
1
I live in a state where junk food is taxed and "real food" like produce and meat is not.
Still a lot of fat people here.
Still a lot of fat people here.
2
I don't agree with the basic premise of this article. We're not "focusing on child obesity because we think adults make good food choices," but because very few obese individuals will return to a normal weight and stay there for any length of time. (Yes I realize that some people do manage to do this - my own husband has - but the rate of failure among adult dieters is far greater than the success rate.) It's far, far better to prevent obesity in the first place, and it is far easier to develop healthy eating and exercise habits in the first place, than to try to lose a large amount of weight and stay there, or to change a lifetime of unhealthy habits.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
4
Those darned human beings and their feelings. If only the government could inoculate everyone against having feelings, all of these substance issues would recede into the background.
1
Don't let science get in the way of feelings!
Young children seem to be interested in, and sometimes even "passionate" about, the environment. Maybe one way to get them to eat healthier would be to let them know that the consumption of certain foods, particularly meat, have been shown to be a major contributor - if not the biggest contributor - to global warming vis-à-vis the processing of steer, including the amount of water and food they need. Let them know the corollary as well: that not eating meat, and eating healthy foods, increases lifespan by decreasing the probability of certain diseases and conditions. Then show them the documentary "Super Size Me," and I think many of them will realize why it is important to eat healthfully.
The best diet advice I've ever read: if you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're not hungry.
11
I'm an incorrigible grocery cart/cart pusher observer. The correlation between the foods and the physique is almost always perfect.
Lots of chips, soda, cookies, white bread in its many forms, popcorn, grain oils, white rice, boxed foods, frozen entrees, baked goods, chocolate milk, sugary deserts
VS>
Fruits and vegetables, olive and coconut oils, eggs, nuts and peanuts, beans and lentils, butter, kefir, cheese, yogurt, whole grain products if you do eat grains.
Meat is not the variable, it is found in both carts, generally.
Lots of chips, soda, cookies, white bread in its many forms, popcorn, grain oils, white rice, boxed foods, frozen entrees, baked goods, chocolate milk, sugary deserts
VS>
Fruits and vegetables, olive and coconut oils, eggs, nuts and peanuts, beans and lentils, butter, kefir, cheese, yogurt, whole grain products if you do eat grains.
Meat is not the variable, it is found in both carts, generally.
11
Want to know how to control and lose weight?
(1) Start by understanding that if you don't live in a major city where you walk every day, you are getting very little exercise, much less than any previous generation in our history. Tapping a computer, pushing the buttons on the TV clicker, sitting in a chair all day just don't burn off many calories. So, when you see the helpful little hints that you should be consuming 2,000 calories a day, don't believe it. You may well gain weight on 2,000 calories a day.
(2) 2,000 calories isn't much. Count your calories for a few days until you understand how many there are in typical foods. You will be amazed how little you can eat and not gain weight.
(3) Find ways to put more exercise back into your life. Gym, walking, gardening, whatever.
(4) You probably can't hold your weight or lose by just controlling what you eat or how much exercise you get. You must do both.
(5) Inescapable physiology: if you don't eat less than you want, and exercise more than you want, you will become a porker. Sorry, but I lost 35 pounds, kept it off, will never gain it back, and have the holier than thou attitude of a born again weight loss zealot.
(1) Start by understanding that if you don't live in a major city where you walk every day, you are getting very little exercise, much less than any previous generation in our history. Tapping a computer, pushing the buttons on the TV clicker, sitting in a chair all day just don't burn off many calories. So, when you see the helpful little hints that you should be consuming 2,000 calories a day, don't believe it. You may well gain weight on 2,000 calories a day.
(2) 2,000 calories isn't much. Count your calories for a few days until you understand how many there are in typical foods. You will be amazed how little you can eat and not gain weight.
(3) Find ways to put more exercise back into your life. Gym, walking, gardening, whatever.
(4) You probably can't hold your weight or lose by just controlling what you eat or how much exercise you get. You must do both.
(5) Inescapable physiology: if you don't eat less than you want, and exercise more than you want, you will become a porker. Sorry, but I lost 35 pounds, kept it off, will never gain it back, and have the holier than thou attitude of a born again weight loss zealot.
7
Forgot to add: Get out of the almighty automobile!
3
Walk anywhere around Atlanta- it looks like a cattle drive. There are almost more fat people than thin people, especially women. You think their kids are going to turn out any different? There has to be more fast food places in Atlanta than anywhere on earth.
I'm thinking this may be the savior of Social Security.
I'm thinking this may be the savior of Social Security.
10
Obesity is a problem but the first step is to learn to ignore most of what you read in the NY Times. For years it has been a goldmine of incorrect information. It has repeatedly advised eating low -fat - ignoring that fat for example in yogurt or butter are flavor enhancers. To make such artificial food palatable you need to add huge amounts of sugar. Or to avoid salt. Why? For some people, but most assuredly not all salt is an issue. But for many more it is not. Salt again is a flavor enhancer. You can reduce what you eat if what you eat tastes good. If you listen to the experts popcorn with butter and salt is bad- but it's not. It's a good low cost tasty treat. I could go on and on, ignore the experts, eat low processed natural foods and you can't go wrong.
3
Indeed. But that's not enough of a guilt trip.
;-)
;-)
1
We have had a modern failure of self control at the time of riches of cheap food and decreased physical activity to survive.
The entire modern society in general lacks self control: obesity, debt, egocentricity, falling standards of etiquette, ETC.
The entire modern society in general lacks self control: obesity, debt, egocentricity, falling standards of etiquette, ETC.
4
If you think for a minute that people transplanted from the 1800s into the present wouldn't get as fat as we are, I suspect you're mistaken. We aren't somehow worse human beings than we were before.
11
Temperance is a fickle virtue. Easy access often leads to indulgence. Scarcity works wonders for moderation. It sounds like you're saying there are limits to those things that bring us pleasure, but temptation often wins the day.
3
People are people and they haven't changed. The externals have changed.
Since self control in not intrinsic but learned with harsh realities, this aspect of human nature is now playing out destructively for most people.
The only solution: self control.
Since self control in not intrinsic but learned with harsh realities, this aspect of human nature is now playing out destructively for most people.
The only solution: self control.
1
We need to treat obesity as an existential threat, instead of the new normal.
The obesity epidemic has a similar effect on our health as did the polio epidemic 60 years ago, slowly crippling and killing people. Since polio was caused by a virus, we had no problem addressing it as a medical problem to be solved. There was no industry that made money spreading polio. But the obesity epidemic is caused by our Food Industry and by our pervasive culture of inactivity as we all sit at our desks at work, then sit in our cars as we drive too long to get home, then sit at our TVs and other electronic devices at night.
But we are reluctant to take on the capitalist system that we lionize, even as it preys upon us, and too many have gotten used to lives of inactivity. It has taken decades to develop, so we have slowly gotten used to a situation that ought to appall us all. The legions of hugely overweight people, destined for diabetes, degenerative joint diseases, and heart conditions have become our new normal.
Had we behaved like this with polio, half the nation would be on crutches by now.
The obesity epidemic has a similar effect on our health as did the polio epidemic 60 years ago, slowly crippling and killing people. Since polio was caused by a virus, we had no problem addressing it as a medical problem to be solved. There was no industry that made money spreading polio. But the obesity epidemic is caused by our Food Industry and by our pervasive culture of inactivity as we all sit at our desks at work, then sit in our cars as we drive too long to get home, then sit at our TVs and other electronic devices at night.
But we are reluctant to take on the capitalist system that we lionize, even as it preys upon us, and too many have gotten used to lives of inactivity. It has taken decades to develop, so we have slowly gotten used to a situation that ought to appall us all. The legions of hugely overweight people, destined for diabetes, degenerative joint diseases, and heart conditions have become our new normal.
Had we behaved like this with polio, half the nation would be on crutches by now.
25
Polio could be prevented with a vaccine.
Since we still don't truly understand how the human body regulates weight, it's no surprise that we still haven't figured out how to make most fat people thin permanently.
Since we still don't truly understand how the human body regulates weight, it's no surprise that we still haven't figured out how to make most fat people thin permanently.
2
After about 35 of my 45 years in Texas, my favorite green veggie has many health benefits: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/nutritional-benefits-jalapeos-1217.html
1
Yes!!
Overall, this article makes a good point. However, as it points out, PhD's also have a problem with overweight/obesity, and I'd like to think it's not from a lack of critical thinking and media literacy in regards to "big" food marketing. I think it has a lot to do with sedentary overwork (coinciding with adulthood), which affects physical activity, creates the need to reach for convenience food (which, in my case, I do buy alternative, healthy less-processed frozen foods, but still the pounds are coming on), and increases stress and cortisol, increasing the urge to eat high-calorie foods. I wonder why this type of critical analysis (of the powers that be and interests at hand) is neglected...
2
"Stopping the obesity epidemic will require fighting the marketing of junk foods everywhere, not just in schools. We need taxes on sugary drinks, counter-advertising and limitations on where in our everyday world those foods tempt us. (Do we really want candy and soda at every cash register, for example?)"
n other words, let's stop treating children like adults and start treating adults like children.
n other words, let's stop treating children like adults and start treating adults like children.
2
I hear what you are saying, mikecody. But a couple of days ago I was checking out behind a young mother with a 4-year old. It was late afternoon and the child was getting cranky, though the mother was handling it fine. Then the kid saw the frozen ice-cream treats in the bright display next to the line. Predictably the little girl began to whine and cry for the treat. I admired how the mother stood firm, saying "no," even as the child went into a tailspin. But I also thought: can't we make it just little easier to be a good parent? Does the store really need to display sugary junk right at the kids' eye levels?
9
Stacy - This is exactly how it should work. The store has the goal of maximizing profits, and checkout displays are a good way to do so. The mother has the goal of raising her child properly, and saying 'no' achieved that goal. That is treating the adults like adults and the children as children, and should continue.
4
"When a nation is constantly adding layers of fat, the problem isn’t victimized children or uneducated adults. The problem is normal people overwhelmed by food marketing."
Half true. We are prepared to acknowledge that children are particularly susceptible to manipulative advertising... to the point where they are not responsible for their own actions and need to be protected from themselves. Are we really prepared to go down that road with adults? Some of the same commenters who would have us believe that adults can responsibly use all manner of mind-altering drugs, simultaneously assert that adults are incapable of dealing with sugar! Is the food industry so ingenious that full grown adults are simply HELPLESS in the face of their marketing campaigns? I just cannot understand why self-control in the face of advertising and marketing efforts is a non-starter. The author implies that, similar to schoolchildren, our society must make LAWS preventing adults from having easy access to certain foods. Why? Because some people can't just pay for their groceries and leave without grabbing candy bars from the checkout aisle shelves? Do we need to limit McDonald's commercials because some people choose to always drive-thru (but never drive by) a fast food restaurant? If these foods are truly THAT habit-forming, maybe no one should be able to produce them at all! I'm not anti-government, but this entire line of discussion seems very, very paternalistic.
Half true. We are prepared to acknowledge that children are particularly susceptible to manipulative advertising... to the point where they are not responsible for their own actions and need to be protected from themselves. Are we really prepared to go down that road with adults? Some of the same commenters who would have us believe that adults can responsibly use all manner of mind-altering drugs, simultaneously assert that adults are incapable of dealing with sugar! Is the food industry so ingenious that full grown adults are simply HELPLESS in the face of their marketing campaigns? I just cannot understand why self-control in the face of advertising and marketing efforts is a non-starter. The author implies that, similar to schoolchildren, our society must make LAWS preventing adults from having easy access to certain foods. Why? Because some people can't just pay for their groceries and leave without grabbing candy bars from the checkout aisle shelves? Do we need to limit McDonald's commercials because some people choose to always drive-thru (but never drive by) a fast food restaurant? If these foods are truly THAT habit-forming, maybe no one should be able to produce them at all! I'm not anti-government, but this entire line of discussion seems very, very paternalistic.
2
Then vote against food industry subsidies, factory farm subsidies, and tax incentives. Government is helping to create this. You don't have to be anti government to be against what is happening and create a solution. Government is linked to all of this and tax payers can vote against it. If they want. Or stick their heads in the sand and go on paying the obesity premium.
2
How about we stop subsidizing sugar, corn (and corn syrup) and grains (that become highly processed)? Let's use our legislative power to make broccoli CHEAPER than something made with processed wheat and corn syrup, and see what happens then.
I grew up poor, eating crap (because that was what we could afford and had time/knowledge to prepare), and became overweight at a young age. It is EXTREMELY HARD to overcome habits ingrained in childhood, and I genuinely believe my metabolism was damaged by eating crap and not exercising for my entire childhood.
I grew up poor, eating crap (because that was what we could afford and had time/knowledge to prepare), and became overweight at a young age. It is EXTREMELY HARD to overcome habits ingrained in childhood, and I genuinely believe my metabolism was damaged by eating crap and not exercising for my entire childhood.
13
Re-evaluate the foods eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits. Remove soda and processed foods with sugar as a major ingredient. Big Food and the Convenience Store lobby will fight this, but the taxpayer won't.
Modern cookbooks have literally doubled portion sizes. I am sixty and learned to cook long ago; recipes shared by friends on Facebook shock me with the sizes of their servings.
And, at sixty, I'm finally fat (not just healthy but unfashionable). It was a medication/metabolism shift. and thoroughly annoying. The twenty pounds that took six weeks to gain can take a year to lose, especially when exercise aggravates old joints. I don't eat much but I don't move much any more either, and I've no idea what makes for a healthy body at my age when most folks around me are overweight and sedentary and have been for years...
Modern cookbooks have literally doubled portion sizes. I am sixty and learned to cook long ago; recipes shared by friends on Facebook shock me with the sizes of their servings.
And, at sixty, I'm finally fat (not just healthy but unfashionable). It was a medication/metabolism shift. and thoroughly annoying. The twenty pounds that took six weeks to gain can take a year to lose, especially when exercise aggravates old joints. I don't eat much but I don't move much any more either, and I've no idea what makes for a healthy body at my age when most folks around me are overweight and sedentary and have been for years...
4
Clarification. Type 2 diabetes.
Anyone concerned about overweight must notice the bad diets that contribute to it. This leads to awareness that our food system uses public money to subsidize the overproduction of much of the worst food out there -- sweetened, fatty, salt-laden, food bombs. Yet we don't subsidize production of healthy, nutritious, local fruit and vegetables. This is clearly a huge misuse of tax money, a misdirection of resources, a horrible mistake that we must all push our legislators to fix.
But don't stop at criticism of the food sector! WHY do people at all levels of income and education subsist on fast food and junk food and unhealthy prepackaged meals? Why are they spending more on food, and spending less time on exercise?
Lack of free time because people are either working 2 part-time jobs or working massive overtime in their full-time job. Lack of decent wages for so many, lack of time to relax and exercise and cook healthy meals outside of work. Car culture that leads people to drive everywhere, lacking walkable neighborhoods or bike routes to school and work. Depression and stress from our horrendously messed-up economic and work system, both of which cause people to reach for "comfort" foods and fast foods and sugar and caffeine to try to jack up their energy and mood in the face of grim reality.
If you care about obesity and bad diet, don't just advocate for better food. Advocate for better wages -- better urban design -- and better jobs.
But don't stop at criticism of the food sector! WHY do people at all levels of income and education subsist on fast food and junk food and unhealthy prepackaged meals? Why are they spending more on food, and spending less time on exercise?
Lack of free time because people are either working 2 part-time jobs or working massive overtime in their full-time job. Lack of decent wages for so many, lack of time to relax and exercise and cook healthy meals outside of work. Car culture that leads people to drive everywhere, lacking walkable neighborhoods or bike routes to school and work. Depression and stress from our horrendously messed-up economic and work system, both of which cause people to reach for "comfort" foods and fast foods and sugar and caffeine to try to jack up their energy and mood in the face of grim reality.
If you care about obesity and bad diet, don't just advocate for better food. Advocate for better wages -- better urban design -- and better jobs.
5
If you feed your family processed food, it's the cheapest thing they can get away with for the money. You can't rely on profit-making corporations to do the right thing by you or your children.
Buy a cook book and let the kids help.
Buy a cook book and let the kids help.
9
Yes the children smoking is just an effect of smoking in the general population. Kids take cigarettes from their parents or find partly smoked cigarettes in ashtrays.. . Boredom, availability, angst, lack of other healthy pursuits give rise to starting smoking. Smoking tastes good, once you get used to it. A real pleasure. Once the hysteria began about "second hand smoke" and the anti-smoking purge began sometime back in, say, the 80s, all bets were off and blaming, over reaction, and the band wagon effect were in full swing. People do things they want to do. Education and guidance are fine, but to make pariahs out of people and institutions is unwise and unhealthy. Let people be people, and if you don't like smoking, don't do it. That second hand smoke stuff is mostly just hoopla and exaggeration.
1
Here's a thought: worry about your health and the health of your family. And if your weight or their weight bothers you, do something. But let grown adults make their own decisions; social engineering is simply the coercion by those who know better than anybody else what everyone should want and what everyone should need.
10
The marketing of junk foods itself is an insidious form of social engineering and earns billions for manufacturers. Efforts to reverse their power are a social good in their own right. Let them make the stuff, but get the junk displays away from cash registers and stop the endless advertising.
5
Are you going to pay their health costs?
3
Sometimes some people DO know better. As to making policy, that's another issue.
To combat obesity, portion sizes must be changed. If you buy a "small" yoghurt in the US, you get twice as many calories as a "small" yoghurt in Europe. If you buy a bag of potato chips in a machine in the US, you get half as many potato chips as you do in Europe. I know, coming home on the Paris metro and seeing the Lay's dispensers.
2
@Philip Sedlak:
The issue of portion size begs the question of why those giant portions don't make us feel full. It's the nutritional quality of the food.
The issue of portion size begs the question of why those giant portions don't make us feel full. It's the nutritional quality of the food.
2
And remind them to cut the price based on the smaller size.
The problem is normal people overwhelmed by food marketing. Food companies use all the tools at their disposal to sell processed junk full of the salt, sugar and fat that we crave.
I would argue that it is more than that. When you put obesity along side drug use and alcohol use it points to a deeper issue in American culture. One way or another alot of Americans are medicating themselves.
I would argue that it is more than that. When you put obesity along side drug use and alcohol use it points to a deeper issue in American culture. One way or another alot of Americans are medicating themselves.
36
Yes there are some drugs that pack on excess pounds and Prednisone which is one of the most prescribed do just that! I was put on it and then packed on 15-20lbs on a 5" frame that is a lot---yet as soon as I stopped taking them I literally Pee'ed out all that extra weight which was actually water retention!
We need Michael Moore to do an in depth documentary on the evils of big food.
1
Progress against childhood obesity is fairly recent - as the article acknowledges - and it will pay off, because it's physiologically easier for a fat kid to remain fat. But I agree with the exercise brigade in the comments. When slim young adults become obese later on, the usual culprit is the almost total lack of exercise that American suburbia encourages and indeed, practically enforces.
I've noticed how in the parts of suburbia where sidewalks are non-existent, teenagers now commonly walk on the right - i.e. WRONG - side of the street: with traffic instead of facing it. This is tremendously unsafe! Schools in the 1960s commonly taught the "right" (left side) way to walk, when we were as young as 5 or 6. But now that kids aren't allowed to walk at all until they're 15 or so, apparently no one even mentions this crucial life-saving technique. No wonder kids find walking to be stressful and unenjoyable.
I've noticed how in the parts of suburbia where sidewalks are non-existent, teenagers now commonly walk on the right - i.e. WRONG - side of the street: with traffic instead of facing it. This is tremendously unsafe! Schools in the 1960s commonly taught the "right" (left side) way to walk, when we were as young as 5 or 6. But now that kids aren't allowed to walk at all until they're 15 or so, apparently no one even mentions this crucial life-saving technique. No wonder kids find walking to be stressful and unenjoyable.
1
What the author calls "Big Food" I call "Industrial Food."
Like industrial pollution, Industrial Food needs to be stopped at the source.
In our capitalist system, the only lever we have is consumer demand. Is it too much to hope that the children who have dodged the bullet of childhood obesity will grow up to be shoppers and diners who shun the sugar, salt and fat that are the hallmarks of Industrial Food?
Ralph Nader is gone and I don't see any prospects of legislating or regulating our way out of this mess because free-market fundamentalists have been so effective at turning the electorate against the idea of government.
Those who want to defeat Industrial Food need to borrow from the Republican play book and set up an influence apparatus of well-funded think tanks, public relations hit men, media experts, lobbyists to sway public opinion and create incentives for businesses to produce food that does not kill us.
Like industrial pollution, Industrial Food needs to be stopped at the source.
In our capitalist system, the only lever we have is consumer demand. Is it too much to hope that the children who have dodged the bullet of childhood obesity will grow up to be shoppers and diners who shun the sugar, salt and fat that are the hallmarks of Industrial Food?
Ralph Nader is gone and I don't see any prospects of legislating or regulating our way out of this mess because free-market fundamentalists have been so effective at turning the electorate against the idea of government.
Those who want to defeat Industrial Food need to borrow from the Republican play book and set up an influence apparatus of well-funded think tanks, public relations hit men, media experts, lobbyists to sway public opinion and create incentives for businesses to produce food that does not kill us.
1
I think the best solution is for the government to decide what we can eat and what we can't eat. We can start with those receiving SNAP benefits by not allowing food stamps to be used for the purchase of sugared beverages, candy, ice cream, potato chips and other snack foods, etc. To offset these exclusions we could double the food stamp value for purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables.
3
I wonder if this would stigmatize healthy food. I have older British relatives who remember growing up with rationing during WWII, and today the food we consider healthy, like whole wheat bread, beans, etc., reminds them of deprivation, so they prefer white bread, candy (totally unavailable to them at all during the war) and other things we would consider "junk food".
1
I realize that this comment would be like blowing against the wind, but obesity (via obesity related diseases) doesn't even come close to killing 100,000 Americans a year. What does kill those people, and what causes adult onset diabetes, is inactivity combined with poor diet. The article is spot on in that regard, but being overweight or obese is not, per se, unhealthy. Indeed, longitudinal studies typically find the best health results and greatest longevity in the BMI range of 25-30. Being overweight won't cut your life short, but being inactive and fast food might.
4
But you can't see diabetes or poor diet. You can see fat people. Fat people are an easy target.
6
Well Gee how about the Cuba example, make everyone so poor that they can't afford that nice food that we enjoy. Make them walk everywhere. Now genetics is a large factor is both obesity and other issues. Not to mention other physical limitations.
I live in NYC and we don't feel angry that we are being "made" to walk everywhere. And it is less common to see overweight people in NYC--usually, they're the tourists. Our stores sell out of smaller sizes as soon as they're put out, but when I go to visit family in the Midwest, the clearance racks are full of 4s and 6s. (Perhaps that's why tourists like visiting us so much--no sales tax on clothing items under $100, and lots of XLs available.)
5
Apples and oranges. I don't think teens will aspire to being obese so they can be adults.
1
In our 21st century stressed out America, over eating, like alcohol and
drugs relieves the anxiety, fear and stress that so many people feel
these days. Throw in another opiate, TV, along with savvy marketing
that lacks a conscious, and you have a country full of over weight
people with health issues.
drugs relieves the anxiety, fear and stress that so many people feel
these days. Throw in another opiate, TV, along with savvy marketing
that lacks a conscious, and you have a country full of over weight
people with health issues.
4
What has worked very well for me (& husband) is that we do not eat out - haven't in yrs., this includes fast food. We avoid processed food like frozen meals in a bag, chicken nuggets and the like and try to buy fresh veggies/fruit that are in season, or frozen (not pre-cooked, no seasoning). No cookies/cakes ice cream, soda, etc. (many don't realize that 8 oz. of Coke = 9+tsp. sugar) and avoid high fructose corn syrup like the plague. We have also cut back on meat in general, especially processed meats. When you prepare your own meals, you control what goes into them. Not only do we eat better, we save money.
While this may sound terrible, we do not suffer, and yes it was a bit difficult at first. We both cheat once in a while - my weakness is French fries, his is fresh baked bread - and it's hard to be in the vicinity of a good restaurant and resists the enticing aromas. However, BMI and weights are excellent - actually a little under what's considered appropriate for our age.
It saddens me to see so many young people that are not just overweight, but are obese. They must not realize that the older they get, the harder it will be to lose the weight, and that they are much more likely to develop diabetes and/or heart disease. I too applaud Michelle Obama's efforts to educate people more about consequences of an unhealthy diet and what constitutes a healthy one, and contrary to some comments here, it has nothing to do with the "nanny state" - it's just common sense.
While this may sound terrible, we do not suffer, and yes it was a bit difficult at first. We both cheat once in a while - my weakness is French fries, his is fresh baked bread - and it's hard to be in the vicinity of a good restaurant and resists the enticing aromas. However, BMI and weights are excellent - actually a little under what's considered appropriate for our age.
It saddens me to see so many young people that are not just overweight, but are obese. They must not realize that the older they get, the harder it will be to lose the weight, and that they are much more likely to develop diabetes and/or heart disease. I too applaud Michelle Obama's efforts to educate people more about consequences of an unhealthy diet and what constitutes a healthy one, and contrary to some comments here, it has nothing to do with the "nanny state" - it's just common sense.
31
Perhaps, but the self-discipline involved in your behavior is difficult to come by. If it were easy, we'd all be thin. It's not easy, and the continuing and apparently futile quest to make it easy is the motivation behind all these studies and diets and proposals.
3
I agree with all you are saying, but I would like to expand on your last point. Education of the populace is in no way a nanny state; legislating behavior through taxation or outright banning of products is. I too applaud efforts to teach; even efforts to preach, but I draw the line at efforts to compel.
1
It's wonderful that this works for you. It doesn't really work for me. I eat and cook fresh foods. I've been a vegetarian since seeing the movie "City Slickers" in the early 90s. I gave up sugared soda by my 10th birthday. No product with HFCS (or, incidentally, partially hydrogenated oils or artificial flavors/colors) comes into my home. We eat out only on the very occasional date night a few times a year. I check all the right common sense boxes. But I'm obese. Usually anecdotes don't make for thoughtful comments, but I'm telling you this because I am astounded by how many people believe it's "common sense" to solve obesity.
Every new study that comes out, this issue gets more complex. There are many factors involved with obesity. Hormones play a role. Gut flora play a role. Childhood trauma plays a role. Good old genetics plays a role. On top of, yes, of course, food choices. And I've seen this play out in my own life, as friends indulge in restaurant meals and sweets that I'd never touch and still stay thin, while my salad and I are over here in obesity corner. If I thought I was some kind of metabolic anomaly, it would be one thing, but given the trends...I am just saying, while the ability to be sensible is a nice thing and a good starting point, there is more at work here, biologically, for a non-trivial chunk of the population, than passing up meat would solve.
Every new study that comes out, this issue gets more complex. There are many factors involved with obesity. Hormones play a role. Gut flora play a role. Childhood trauma plays a role. Good old genetics plays a role. On top of, yes, of course, food choices. And I've seen this play out in my own life, as friends indulge in restaurant meals and sweets that I'd never touch and still stay thin, while my salad and I are over here in obesity corner. If I thought I was some kind of metabolic anomaly, it would be one thing, but given the trends...I am just saying, while the ability to be sensible is a nice thing and a good starting point, there is more at work here, biologically, for a non-trivial chunk of the population, than passing up meat would solve.
3
Rational single-payer health systems tax everything that adds to its costs.
2
I think the author's narrow focus on junk food misses many of the other economic, historical, and environmental factors that make it so incredibly difficult to avoid obesity as an adult in the US. Many of us who still have jobs are working 50-60+ hours per week to have homes, health insurance, children, college costs etc.... Salaries and wages have not kept up with skyrocketing costs. Fitting in exercise and shopping for and cooking nutritious meals at home takes Herculean effort and discipline (I know -- I work very hard to do this with varying degrees of success). We also struggle to get adequate sleep -- another factor that's increasingly implicated in studies of obesity.
Caricaturing adults/parents in the US as a group of junk food eating couch potatoes fails to capture many of the complex factors that need to be named and addressed to successfully help adults in the US avoid and address obesity.
Caricaturing adults/parents in the US as a group of junk food eating couch potatoes fails to capture many of the complex factors that need to be named and addressed to successfully help adults in the US avoid and address obesity.
2
The problem of American adult obesity is not only "normal people overwhelmed by food marketing." It is also normal people overwhelmed by the stress involved in living and working in an advanced society that lacks the minimal social assistance that most other societies provide. Lack of sufficient parental leave means that families with children play a nerve-wracking game of managing the full-time requirements of both work and home. The costs of education and yes, the high cost of Obamacare, mean that most of us have to work more to earn less. The U.S. has the lowest vacation rate of all advanced industrial countries. The stress of getting through each week and making ends meet leaves little room for what becomes the luxury of calorie control, exercise and health living.
2
CLUE: Being Skinny is just as bad for your health! Such is a fact as your body lacks the Nutrients to keep it healthy no matter how much exercise one gets!
"Stopping the obesity epidemic will require fighting the marketing of junk foods everywhere, not just in schools." Seriously? Every person who eats junk food is doing it for fun and they know it's not good for them but don't care. Until obese Americans have consequences that matter to them, perhaps increased health insurance costs or having to reimburse the system for obesity related government-subsidized health care (10% of income tax rebates back into the coffers?) there's nothing that will stop this epidemic. Depressed people often "comfort eat" and then get even more depressed when they see how fat they are. We are a depressed nation based on the obesity rates.
7
If we actually knew what "eating healthy" means, what "healthy food choices" are, then this discussion might we worthwhile. Just looking at comparative epidemiology, Americans are visually and statistically far fatter than any other population (save, perhaps, Germany) in the world. So we must be doing something wrong. What exactly is wrong is not at all clear. When someone tells you you are not "eating healthy" they usually mean you are not eating in a way they eat or think makes sense, but there is precious little science to say what is healthy and what is not. To some extent this is because we really do not know what is in most foods, beyond some basic components. Michael Pollan has offered the best hypothesis about what "healthy" eating might be, and it looks a lot like what Italians (the vaunted "Mediterranean diet" is. The problem is, Italians spend hours preparing foot and while they eat less than Americans, it takes them longer. Americans want to be efficient, which means stuffing in a Big Mac as they drive way from the drive through, washing it down with French fries and a 20 oz soda pop. It seems to make sense this cannot be good, but there is really no persuasive science to prove that.
1
If you're "washing down" anything with French fries, you're not doing it right. :-)
The American medical and public health sectors made a huge mistake when they advocated a low-fat, high-carb diet starting in the 1980s. This advice was based on shaky science, and it is clear that it had disastrous consequences for the nation's health. There is still debate over what an ideal diet looks like, but there is near consensus that sugar, refined carbohydrates, trans-fats, and most pre-packaged and processed foods are to be avoided; while vegetables, fruit in moderation, fish, poultry, beans, whole grains in moderation, and healthy fats such as olive oil are beneficial. That still leaves a lot of territory unresolved (red meat, dairy, eggs, butter, vegetable oils). But it is a start.
1
great article but i think U have missed an important point pertaining to craving . It has to do with agriculture. Although Agriculture has brought about inexpensive food for the masses we It is nutritionally void , no minerals , no amino acids , no nothing Hidden Hunger a great book predicting this epidemic. We are not what we eat but what are food stuff eats , and our food stuff is not feed the right nutrients o bring about healthy foods. Bodies crave nutrients so therefore we eat various junk foods looking to fill this void, with subconscious thoughts to fulfilling this void . Feed healthful foods , producing muscle and we will use more calories to support them , this a major reason for obesity . So many people diet and never lose a lb. because feeding fat doesn't require a lot of calories but feeding muscles does. It will curb the appetite and utilize more calories a win - win situation for the body and mankind kind .
1
Car culture is a huge part of why American adults are obese. Most people around the world get their basic daily exercise by walking -- either to work, or to a subway or metro stop with stairs that will take them to work. They often grocery shop lightly on the way home, carrying the groceries home while walking back. It is pleasant, no need to think about it, and you've got the basic exercise quotient that a person needs to feel healthy built into the day. In the US, by contrast, you step out onto your driveway and get immediately into a car, and don't get out again until you park right next to the building where you work. The few times I have lived that way, I could feel my energy levels and metabolism dropping -- so much sitting, so much lethargy. And exercise becomes something extra you do at a gym -- if you have the willpower -- and if you are ready to pay extra for it. Bad design, bad social engineering, bad culture. We need to dial back car culture, and then people will naturally maintain a steady weight or even drop some pounds.
15
No It is NOT!!!!!!!
1
True but impractical for far too many of us. Hence the gym.
We need a better, fairer social structure. My farmer-neighbors grow some of the best food in the country, including organic veggies, pastured livestock, and all the rest. And you can't buy much of the organic produce around here, because they ship it to Phila and New York, where folks can afford to pay for it. The conventional farming business here, meanwhile, is super-well established, while organic farming tied in to local marketing is not expanding, but shrinking, as the few organics available in the supermarket are shipped in from California and around the world, but not from anywhere local. Again, marketers know who can afford to pay for what. Big signs read "LOCAL" on lovely-looking local produce, but it's not cheap and if it's local it's not organic. Believe me, it's much cheaper to eat junk food, at least until you start counting in the medical costs. Oh, and our air quality is among the worst in the nation, and heaven knows what's happening to our water supply. But hey, we're just the guys who ship you urban guys the stuff that keeps you in the class of the worried well.
14
This is really a issue of economics. Most people can not
afford to feed their families the grass feed beef , organic
veggies etc.
afford to feed their families the grass feed beef , organic
veggies etc.
1
I live in Austin Texas. Surrounded by cattle, yet the grass fed beef in the grocery stores come from Australia! Talk about distorted economics and policies.
1
Mary, Take one chicken (if you can't afford organic buy the other), put it in an oven proof pan with a couple of onions underneath, toss in a bag of non-organic carrot, couple cut up potatoes, some celery, maybe even stick an apple (they're always cheap) in it's cavity - douse with a little oil, some seasonings, turn the oven to 400 and take it out in 80- 90 minutes. - You can eat off this grub for several days. Make sandwiches with leftovers, pick the carcass clean, toss in some water, beans & rice to make a soup with the drippings later. Or stir fry chopped veg, toss w/ any old kind of noodles, top w/ cheese. How hard or time-consuming is any of this? We have the most available, various, fresh, safe food in our markets. Just cook some.
4
Families have no time to prepare healthy meals (not that they know what healthy is) and with the too convenient availability of every imaginable fast food outlet, humans don't really stand a chance anymore.
"Eating out" was maybe a once a week treat two generations ago, but it's become a daily ritual for many people, sometimes twice a day.
A complete fast food meal for lunch and dinner with the requisite sodas probably has a calorie count of between two and three days of food for an individual from two generations ago.
Sugary sodas and juices (masquerading as healthy) are absolute death bombs, basically mainlining sugar into our bodies for no purpose other than to slowly kill us.
"Frappuchino" style drinks are nothing more than 850 calorie milk shakes in disguise, which you see people carry around like fashion accessories all day apparently under the delusion that they are "healthy".
There is nothing complicated about what is causing this epidemic, people eat and drink too much garbage.
Obesity has little or nothing to do with "exercise". Sure, exercise is great, important, and everybody should do it, but obesity, childhood or adult, is not being caused by lack of exercise.
I was an obese child when it was extremely rare and uncool to be so (the sixties), but have been "thin" for 40 years (since age 15). When I walk by an obese child, it makes me feel sick because I know their pain.
Their lives are literally being stolen, and it's a tragedy.
"Eating out" was maybe a once a week treat two generations ago, but it's become a daily ritual for many people, sometimes twice a day.
A complete fast food meal for lunch and dinner with the requisite sodas probably has a calorie count of between two and three days of food for an individual from two generations ago.
Sugary sodas and juices (masquerading as healthy) are absolute death bombs, basically mainlining sugar into our bodies for no purpose other than to slowly kill us.
"Frappuchino" style drinks are nothing more than 850 calorie milk shakes in disguise, which you see people carry around like fashion accessories all day apparently under the delusion that they are "healthy".
There is nothing complicated about what is causing this epidemic, people eat and drink too much garbage.
Obesity has little or nothing to do with "exercise". Sure, exercise is great, important, and everybody should do it, but obesity, childhood or adult, is not being caused by lack of exercise.
I was an obese child when it was extremely rare and uncool to be so (the sixties), but have been "thin" for 40 years (since age 15). When I walk by an obese child, it makes me feel sick because I know their pain.
Their lives are literally being stolen, and it's a tragedy.
64
Good comment. Just wanted to add that two generations ago most families very rarely ate meals out - and certainly not once a week. My mother recalls going to her first "real" restaurant when she was in her 20s (in the 1950s). She had been to the drive-in root beer stand (open in the summer), the counter at the drug store, and the local diner. But a place with a menu and a waiter was something new. The vast majority of her meals had been cooked at home by her mother. I don't think she was unusual.
2
Exercise is important for raising metabolism, and that is key to managing body weight, along with eating right. Meanwhile, low value food full of starch and sugar *lower* metabolism.
1
Everybody sell your car and start walking! Jobs should pay you for the extra time to get there, and also require you to live close by. Walking! It is a thing of the past. My mother used to walk 45 minutes to get to McCarren Pool in Broolyn. No wonder they were thinner in those days!
Also corporate control of our lives is to blame.
IMHO!
Also corporate control of our lives is to blame.
IMHO!
1
This is not a backfire. What it shows is the difficulty of changing eating habits of people who grew up eating a poor diet. Stopping childhood obesity with a focus on good nutrition will pay off. Now what we need is to figure out how to cope with this segment of the population that has to heal itself. Here is where there are too many choices in how to lose weight.
Unless the underlying patterns of desire that are preprogrammed in (sometimes starting with the pregnancy eating practices of the mother) to adults are addressed it will be a hard change to come. But consider the new generation is starting from a better place.
Unless the underlying patterns of desire that are preprogrammed in (sometimes starting with the pregnancy eating practices of the mother) to adults are addressed it will be a hard change to come. But consider the new generation is starting from a better place.
1
This is only one example of the fundamental flaw of the much touted "My house, my rules" approach to parenting. How many children have been admonished by their parents that when they became adults they'd be free to eat whatever they wanted, but for the time being they were to eat the (presumably healthy) meal put in front of them? Is it really a surprise that so many no-longer-children took Mom at her word and stopped eating healthy the minute no one was forcing them to do so anymore?
A much wiser approach, with much better chance of long-term carry-over, is letting children "discover" good foods by having regular Let's Try One New Thing meals primarily featuring something the kids already like. And wait till they're teenagers, and more concerned about their appearance, to start getting a little more hard sell on what foods are more likely to result in hotter bods.
A much wiser approach, with much better chance of long-term carry-over, is letting children "discover" good foods by having regular Let's Try One New Thing meals primarily featuring something the kids already like. And wait till they're teenagers, and more concerned about their appearance, to start getting a little more hard sell on what foods are more likely to result in hotter bods.
2
There is a cultural component to the obesity epidemic: prevalence of snacking, giant portion sizes, acquired taste for sugary foods, and acceptance of fat as new normal. My job often takes me abroad and coming back from Italy, Hong Kong or Japan, it takes time to adjust to the body shapes of people and the junk-laden supermarket shelves. I literally cannot eat American fast food because it tastes so terrible and yet people are addicted to it! Biologically-based explanations downplay the cultural component but Americans are not a different species from the rest of the world. In the Bay Area, with a large population of people from Asia and Europe, there is a culture of good food and emphasis on staying trim. But we recently came back from a trip to Utah where we had to stay hungry on the road because the only restaurants were fast-food chains. The people we met there advertised that fact in their extra pounds and apparently thought us weird for refusing to eat junk.
5
We have enormous power to choose to be healthy. I suggest that - rather than "The problem is normal people overwhelmed by food marketing" - we can educate ourselves, and our children - from as early an age as possible - that all of us have this power to mold our future selves. As a person in my twenties I read the nutritionist Adelle Davis' books, and though controversial, said to us that by eating "healthy foods" we "could" produce healthy selves - a thrilling statement. THIS is power and all we have to do is choose to take it.
1
The premise and tone of this articles is absurd. Looking at the success of the efforts that helped reduce obesity in children and say we've done nothing for adults is ridiculous. I volunteer with groups (Team for Kids and Action for Healthy Kids) that work to get children exercising and eating healthy. The parents of the children in these programs can benefit from everything we do. If they decide not to do so, I do not see that as a problem with focusing on the children.
Thom Farley contends that we should focus on adults rather than children and he tries to make the case that childhood interventions will not translate into healthier and less obese adults. Others make the case that since we all need to eat, interventions to change food preferences in kids will not continue into adulthood. I have to agree with Dr. Farley. Research has shown that soda, both with sugar and diet sodas, are associated with obesity. My husband and I never allowed our children to drink soda. They are in their twenties now and they have continued to avoid these. Although all of their cousins are obese and my husband and I struggle with our weight they remain slim. Finally, taking my own advice, I kicked my three-diet-sodas- a-day-habit about five years ago. I lost thirty pounds within a few months. Avoiding soda isn't easy, but it is a good first step.
1
When I studied nutrition, at Michigan State in the late 60's, we were taught that obese was 10 lbs. over the weight recommended on the Weight Guidelines, so common in those days. They listed an ideal range, based on height, a different one for men and women. After reading this article, I went online to search for similar information. Information on obesity talks about Body Mass Index...way to difficult to compute on one's own, and too expensive,for many, to see a doctor about. The range was very generous, I constantly fell a couple pounds under, but it must have been effective, because obese people were kind of a rarity. And simple...either you are in the healthy range or you're not. I don't understand why those guidelines no longer exist. Their range is generous, so " big boned" people can fit in. I am reminded of something CHER said, years ago. "If thin came in a bottle, nobody would be fat. But it takes work". She was right then and now. Let's at least put out guidelines and bring back the word OBESE, enough with calling someone's fat, their CURVES.
2
Nutrients in food should be the number one consideration when selecting what to eat, Period. This revelation occurred to me as I was reading a superfoods book. It focused on individual fruits/vegetables that were so high in nutrition with so many health benefits, that adding them would begin to bring you back to health. I developed an appreciation, even an admiration for these power packed foods. It also brought home the point that we need to consume a certain number of calories a day, and when we make poor decisions, like junk food, we are ceding those calorie to non-nutritious options, depriving our bodies of the opportunity to function optimally. As we choose day after day, calories devoid of nutrition, ill health will eventually follow.
Because I learned to appreciate nutrition in foods, I now look at all those soda and candy bar displays with a jaundiced eye. Another key is to learn to identify and avoid "food" (or what I like to call chewing plastic) that is aggressively unhealthy. Bad No. 1: Partially-hydrogenated fats (trans fats), followed by HFCS. Read your labels.
Because I learned to appreciate nutrition in foods, I now look at all those soda and candy bar displays with a jaundiced eye. Another key is to learn to identify and avoid "food" (or what I like to call chewing plastic) that is aggressively unhealthy. Bad No. 1: Partially-hydrogenated fats (trans fats), followed by HFCS. Read your labels.
3
There is considerable evidence that change in the human biome in developed countries, caused by overuse of antibiotics (and perhaps the elimination of our traditional parasites) has contributed to weight gain across society. Antibiotics are fed to animals specifically to make them gain weight. Those are large does, but over time, we all absorb significant doses, from meat and from useless prescriptions. There is also evidence that this tendency to gain weight can be passed down to one's children. Fast food and sedentary living are culprits, but not the only ones.
1
We are focused on fixes rather than understanding the sources of 'addiction'. the real source of obesity. Sorry for the jargon I will use but here goes. Early childhood development of self regulatory competencies emerges from competent, present, involved, compassionate, loving and skillful parenting. Self reliance results from a parent who is present, available, loving, stable and deeply aware of his/her child's struggles at mastering increasing independence and doing so in ways that protect health and safety. All that our culture offers now drowns out self awareness in a incessant din of noise and distraction including the foods we eat. ALL are meant to obliterate the in the moment awareness of self. EVERY FOOD is advertised in that fashion. BUT...that mode is at the center of our culture. It drowns out the present moment and self awareness. Our culture is a clear and present danger to sanity, stability, self awareness and competent self care. Parents do not know how to parent because they were themselves not parented well. Gimmicks will not work. Loving self care emerges from the experience of being cared for enduringly and lovingly. Our environment is beyond toxic. It is fundamentally dangerous because it is framed as deliberate exploitation of our vulnerabilities based on the fantasy that a product including ALL foods will bring about a self state that is soothing and pleasurable. It is the most deceitful and dangerous lie/toxin that pervades our lives.
2
You correctly focus upon a very key issue, which is the parent(s) have to take ownership of healthy nutrition for the child. Children under the ages of 12 or 13 simply don't have the wherewithal to regulate healthy intake.
By the time they are able to figure it out for themselves, most of the time it's too late, the damage has been done.
The psychological dynamic between parent and child can also become completely toxic and fraught, which is something that I've never seen brought up in the type of articles typically published in the "mainstream media" for casual reading.
If you have a "heavy" parent, it's going to be that much tougher for the child to overcome that for a number of reasons.
If the parent lacks the tools to control their own weight, how are they going to help the child? Do they even want to, or even worse do they take a "well, I'm heavy, so it's Ok if my child is" attitude?
When your parent is not helping you or even in some cases actively working against you, it makes a very difficult task almost impossible.
It's an incredibly touchy and tough subject, one that I experienced and dealt with firsthand.
I was lucky, I made it through, but it leaves psychological scarring that never completely heals for either party. It can be a rough ride, it was for me.
By the time they are able to figure it out for themselves, most of the time it's too late, the damage has been done.
The psychological dynamic between parent and child can also become completely toxic and fraught, which is something that I've never seen brought up in the type of articles typically published in the "mainstream media" for casual reading.
If you have a "heavy" parent, it's going to be that much tougher for the child to overcome that for a number of reasons.
If the parent lacks the tools to control their own weight, how are they going to help the child? Do they even want to, or even worse do they take a "well, I'm heavy, so it's Ok if my child is" attitude?
When your parent is not helping you or even in some cases actively working against you, it makes a very difficult task almost impossible.
It's an incredibly touchy and tough subject, one that I experienced and dealt with firsthand.
I was lucky, I made it through, but it leaves psychological scarring that never completely heals for either party. It can be a rough ride, it was for me.
2
While I certainly support teaching children good eating habits and providing nutritious meals both at school and at home, it is a far more complicated subject than just not eating the garbage that is marketed to either children or adults.
I was quite thin as a child and as a young adult. In my childhood, processed foods didn't exist, but homemade baked goods sure did! When I turned 40, my metabolism started changing and I added 10-15 pounds over that decade. I wore at size 10 so I was hardly obese.
Then 50 came and with with it came 5 pounds a year, with little change in my activity level or eating. Then 60. By then, I was 70 pounds overweight. I had to do something as I now also had serious pulmonary problems as well.
So, I joined a pulmonary rehab program 3 days a week and started vigourously working out. I changed my diet even more - I had never been a soft drink person - water was my drink of choice - and I never bought or ate snack foods or processed foods. Over two years, I lost 70 pounds and was thrilled.
I continue to eat the way I was when losing and slowly, 2-3 years later, the weight started to return. I have now gained back 25 pounds that I lost. I have added resistance training at a gym twice a week to my pulmonary rehab, and have cut out as many carbohydrates as possible from my diet. It's a daily battle, and at 72, with progressive lung disease, I cannot possibly work out as virogously as I once could.
It's complicated...
I was quite thin as a child and as a young adult. In my childhood, processed foods didn't exist, but homemade baked goods sure did! When I turned 40, my metabolism started changing and I added 10-15 pounds over that decade. I wore at size 10 so I was hardly obese.
Then 50 came and with with it came 5 pounds a year, with little change in my activity level or eating. Then 60. By then, I was 70 pounds overweight. I had to do something as I now also had serious pulmonary problems as well.
So, I joined a pulmonary rehab program 3 days a week and started vigourously working out. I changed my diet even more - I had never been a soft drink person - water was my drink of choice - and I never bought or ate snack foods or processed foods. Over two years, I lost 70 pounds and was thrilled.
I continue to eat the way I was when losing and slowly, 2-3 years later, the weight started to return. I have now gained back 25 pounds that I lost. I have added resistance training at a gym twice a week to my pulmonary rehab, and have cut out as many carbohydrates as possible from my diet. It's a daily battle, and at 72, with progressive lung disease, I cannot possibly work out as virogously as I once could.
It's complicated...
13
It's an awful tough job to remain in the healthy weight category in today's society. Walking around NYC and I'm struck by how easy it is to consume 1000 calories for not much money, but how difficult it is to get exercise on a budget. I often feel like the angel on the shoulder of my patients, but on the other shoulder is Starbucks frapuccino, McDonalds dollar menu, and Dunkin' Donuts. Guess who gets more attention.
We need to make exercise more available and less expensive. We need to expand access to bariatric surgery, and newer procedures like the Gastric Balloon. We need to better meet the needs of our obese population (which is over one third of us mind you) but we also need to challenge ourselves to pay more attention to our nutrition and exercise habits.
-Matthew R. Brackman, MD, FACS
We need to make exercise more available and less expensive. We need to expand access to bariatric surgery, and newer procedures like the Gastric Balloon. We need to better meet the needs of our obese population (which is over one third of us mind you) but we also need to challenge ourselves to pay more attention to our nutrition and exercise habits.
-Matthew R. Brackman, MD, FACS
28
Walking around NYC and I'm struck by how easy it is to consume 1000 calories for not much money, but how difficult it is to get exercise on a budget
while walking around you found how difficult it is to get exercise ?
harry truman said th secret to his good health was to stop eating before he felt full and take a brisk walk every day
he lived to 88 yo
while walking around you found how difficult it is to get exercise ?
harry truman said th secret to his good health was to stop eating before he felt full and take a brisk walk every day
he lived to 88 yo
1
Walking around NYC IS exercise! and all the exercise you really need----30 minutes a day, 5 days a week....free, easy, pleasant, and invigorating.
If we trained our palates to enjoy complex flavors, junk food and candy at the check out have little appeal. Mc D's greasy fare actually makes me ill, my digestive system can't take it.
Walk, and as the saying goes, "eat fresh" and you're good to go.
If we trained our palates to enjoy complex flavors, junk food and candy at the check out have little appeal. Mc D's greasy fare actually makes me ill, my digestive system can't take it.
Walk, and as the saying goes, "eat fresh" and you're good to go.
2
It would take two hours of walking at 2mph, three days per week to burn the calories from one large Starbucks Specialty coffee. When you say "walking is exercise!" you are doing a great disservice to those struggling with obesity. Power walking is a different story but would still take 48 minutes three times weekly. Two coffees per day? Might as well walk from NYC to Montauk.
3
How about making it easier for all of us to get exercise? What about not having people work overtime and thereby giving them time to have lives outside of work? And what about making healthy food less expensive? One other thing that might really help would be giving all people time to relax, access to public exercise facilities that are clean, well kept, and don't cost a fortune.
22
Great post, hen3ry!
Who is paying for all this and how are you going to force people to do these things. Just not freedom at all, and hopefully won't be happening in the US.
No. Work 'til you drop. your fatcat corporate overlords demand it.
2
I am very aware that there has been a focus on childhood obesity, as well there should be, but that has not been, from my point of view, at the expense of focusing on adult eating habits. We have all been put on notice that soft drinks and fast foods are unhealthy and we must change our eating habits. Knowing that junk food is junk is one thing, not eating the junk is another.
I haven't met an adult that doesn't know what junk food is and its connection to poor healthy. However, by all means continue the effort to help us change our ways.
I haven't met an adult that doesn't know what junk food is and its connection to poor healthy. However, by all means continue the effort to help us change our ways.
8
Ah! The guilty pleasures found in the all-you-can-eat buffets. No MSG be damned, there aren't enough steamed veggies to turn down a fried cheese puff, an egg roll or two or some General Tso's chicken.
With so many to choose from with quality and price to consider, now even types of fare to nosh, children who, like a sapling, enter adulthood and fill out like the mighty oak.
With so many to choose from with quality and price to consider, now even types of fare to nosh, children who, like a sapling, enter adulthood and fill out like the mighty oak.
3
jack lalanes old bromide :
10 seconds on th lips, a lifetime on th hips
10 seconds on th lips, a lifetime on th hips
3
The declining rate of obesity in children is a harbinger for good things to come. Lasting change comes from educating the young. Had we done this 35 years ago today's rate of adult obesity would be much less... The future is now.
2
Educating the young? Seems like the young eat what their parents provide, that is where the improvements are coming from.
Calling most packaged edibles"food" is a problem. What many people are eating isn't nourishing and they don't know it ,and are addicted to it.
Most packaged items are not real food.
Most packaged items are not real food.
13
My body my choice… I don't want the government in my kitchen… A BMI between 19 and 25 is a cultural construct… Fat shaming leads to depression - and possibly worse… Food puritanism is a myth that reasonable people have moved beyond...
3
Not sure if you're being sarcastic, Todd.
If you don't want the government in your kitchen, then you need to stop buying unadulterated foods, or foods labeled with their (correct) ingredients, etc.
If you don't want the government in your kitchen, then you need to stop buying unadulterated foods, or foods labeled with their (correct) ingredients, etc.
3
And being obese, with all the associated health problems, isn't cause for depression?
4
I certainly want SOMEBODY in my supermarket to stop food manufacturers from promoting MORE, MORE, MORE. It's not likely for profit makers to stop promoting MORE.
2
No doubt all that advertising influences eating choices but in a country where the income gap grows ever wider and more and more people are having difficulty making ends meet it should not be surprising that many people eat junk food because it is cheaper than healthier choices.
As to that tax on sugary drinks, my state senator Liz Kruger said that the soda bottlers so frightened those who might vote for it (they threatened to use massive amounts of money to defeat anybody who would have the temerity to do so) that it couldn't even come up for a vote in the NY State legislature. If this is in one of the most liberal states, its chances of being enacted throughout the country is about as unlikely as finding a unicorn outside your front door.
Dr. Farley can dream but what's the use of making recommendations that have no chance of becoming reality.
As to that tax on sugary drinks, my state senator Liz Kruger said that the soda bottlers so frightened those who might vote for it (they threatened to use massive amounts of money to defeat anybody who would have the temerity to do so) that it couldn't even come up for a vote in the NY State legislature. If this is in one of the most liberal states, its chances of being enacted throughout the country is about as unlikely as finding a unicorn outside your front door.
Dr. Farley can dream but what's the use of making recommendations that have no chance of becoming reality.
2
I just used $20 worth of vegetables to make 12 quarts of soup from the chicken stock I'd made (which cost another $4.00 or so.) Go take a good look at the overloaded shopping carts of the "people having difficulty making ends meet" at Walmart. They spend five times what I do. Every penny on a mountain of junk.
11
Judging others does nothing to solve the problem of obesity Rea. A little kindness goes a long way.
2
Marketing and advetising of food consumption sure makes otherwise sensible people start saying words like socialism, communism, doesn't it?
1
One of the best ways to combat excessive calories is by requiring restaurants to post calories. Since MacDonald's has done so, it has been easier for me to resist a 500 calorie-plus quarter-pounder and choose something with 300 calories and not eat all the bread. Not great I know, but in the end it is all about calories. Calories in, calories expended. You see restaurants advertising their All-American or whatever breakfast and I'm sure it exceeds 1000 calories. And yes, the soda epidemic is ridiculous. Do people have any idea how many calories are in those jumbo sodas that kids can grab cheaply at the local gas station. My rule: drink nothing with calories except alcohol and don't drink much of that.
And my last comment is about labeling on packages. I do check it but surely it could be made large enough to read easily (without pulling out my glasses). And a little bit of honesty too: I once bought a muffin and saw that it only had 310 calories. And then I noticed that the serving size was half a muffin. I mean, really, isn't a muffin generally a one-person item? Just put the general usage calorie count on it.
I'm hungry all the time too and am trying to deal with it by eating small amounts throughout the day. Keeping grapes in the fridge as a quick snack, etc.
And by the way, I had home-cooked meals in the 50s and that friend chicken, potatoes and gravy, are what started the problem. Yes, we have a long way to go to overcome that tradition.
And my last comment is about labeling on packages. I do check it but surely it could be made large enough to read easily (without pulling out my glasses). And a little bit of honesty too: I once bought a muffin and saw that it only had 310 calories. And then I noticed that the serving size was half a muffin. I mean, really, isn't a muffin generally a one-person item? Just put the general usage calorie count on it.
I'm hungry all the time too and am trying to deal with it by eating small amounts throughout the day. Keeping grapes in the fridge as a quick snack, etc.
And by the way, I had home-cooked meals in the 50s and that friend chicken, potatoes and gravy, are what started the problem. Yes, we have a long way to go to overcome that tradition.
4
2
Okay, so I read that after I wrote my comment but I stand by what I said. First, no data other than the universal was cited. Second, even if it only changed the eating habits of 10 - 25%, that would still be a significant improvement.
2
I travelled to Japan last year and was also confronted with many sugary foods, desserts, alcoholic beverages, sedentary people who work long hours at desk jobs, and a huge array of junk food dispensed everywhere including alleys!
Yet I saw, perhaps a handful of "fat" people who would otherwised be called anorexic in America.
There is a culture of obesity, indeed a religion of fatness in the US, that renders it normal to see 300 lb women in black spandex and flip-flops walk around unashamed. At any gathering outside of LA or NY one sees a sea of black clothed cows who are socially normalized in the cult of fatness.
Take responsibility for what you eat, how you eat, how much you move, and stop blaming "the food industry" and the rest of the world for your own physical condition.
Yet I saw, perhaps a handful of "fat" people who would otherwised be called anorexic in America.
There is a culture of obesity, indeed a religion of fatness in the US, that renders it normal to see 300 lb women in black spandex and flip-flops walk around unashamed. At any gathering outside of LA or NY one sees a sea of black clothed cows who are socially normalized in the cult of fatness.
Take responsibility for what you eat, how you eat, how much you move, and stop blaming "the food industry" and the rest of the world for your own physical condition.
15
Why did you single out a fat woman? Should fat men not be ashamed or only overweight women?
12
I take issue with your third paragraph, as it focuses exclusively on overweight women. Apparently your big problem is that you don't find fat women sexually appealing. For the record, neither do I. But I find fat men equally prevalent, and if anything, more unappealing. At least when women put on weight, it tends to be in places that are appropriate for females - see, e.g., the prehistorice Tanagra figurines. Whereas 'man breasts' are just, well, icky, and I can't think of any culture that has ever found them appealing.
That's all beside the health issues, though.
I'm off to the gym shortly for a break, and I expect to have the sight of 'man boobs' inflicted on me. While the proportion of adult (30+) males to females at my gym is roughly equal, the number of sloppy-fat men far outweighs (pardon the expression) the number of such women; the women tend to be, if not ultra-toned, of reasonable proportions. Whether this is social pressure or something else, I don't know, but guys seem to be willing to let themselves bloat up like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Monster.
That's all beside the health issues, though.
I'm off to the gym shortly for a break, and I expect to have the sight of 'man boobs' inflicted on me. While the proportion of adult (30+) males to females at my gym is roughly equal, the number of sloppy-fat men far outweighs (pardon the expression) the number of such women; the women tend to be, if not ultra-toned, of reasonable proportions. Whether this is social pressure or something else, I don't know, but guys seem to be willing to let themselves bloat up like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Monster.
9
Come now somehow you missed that those people were Japanese? Genetics is the answer here, not some "culture".
3
Wall-e
As more gadgets are created that give us less to do, that movie seems quite prophetic.
The list is endless. Need to lock your front door? Turn on your TV? Light your battery operated candles? Vacuum your living room? There is a remote or an app for that.
As more gadgets are created that give us less to do, that movie seems quite prophetic.
The list is endless. Need to lock your front door? Turn on your TV? Light your battery operated candles? Vacuum your living room? There is a remote or an app for that.
Because the dangers of starvation were so acute in prehistoric times, human beings were programmed by nature to eat all they could when they found high-calorie or fat-rich food while foraging. A person who came across a cache of honey or a source of animal fat or something like nuts would naturally devour as much as possible.
In those days storing fat in the body could mean the difference between life and death in periods when food was difficult to obtain. (This helps to explain why women, the mothers and caregivers for the young, store fat more readily and hold on to it much better than men. If they die, so do their children.)
Because it was so important to human survival, calorie-rich food was the most appealing to our ancestors. People were designed to have intense cravings for foods that would create fat.
Fifty or a hundred thousand years are only a blip in evolutionary time.
Humans still have the same cravings and tendencies to stock up on calories as they did when life was feast or famine.
Combine these normal proclivities and the more sedentary nature of modern life with a corporate food industry that spends millions to make their products look incredibly rich and delicious, and it's not hard to see why there is an an obesity epidemic.
In eating what is no longer good for them, humans are only following evolutionary programming.
What is unnatural is the greed of corporations making money on things that harm both adults and children, from junk food to cigarettes.
In those days storing fat in the body could mean the difference between life and death in periods when food was difficult to obtain. (This helps to explain why women, the mothers and caregivers for the young, store fat more readily and hold on to it much better than men. If they die, so do their children.)
Because it was so important to human survival, calorie-rich food was the most appealing to our ancestors. People were designed to have intense cravings for foods that would create fat.
Fifty or a hundred thousand years are only a blip in evolutionary time.
Humans still have the same cravings and tendencies to stock up on calories as they did when life was feast or famine.
Combine these normal proclivities and the more sedentary nature of modern life with a corporate food industry that spends millions to make their products look incredibly rich and delicious, and it's not hard to see why there is an an obesity epidemic.
In eating what is no longer good for them, humans are only following evolutionary programming.
What is unnatural is the greed of corporations making money on things that harm both adults and children, from junk food to cigarettes.
10
The greed of corporations is no less natural. The people in positions of power are storing up their own kind of fat for themselves and their families, including the prestige of wealth. Humans have always done so.
Good analysis! The sacred "profit motive" is why so many low-nutrition, harmful foods swamp the supermarkets, and we get ads promoting "Fifth Meal" and non-stop "snacking." Yeah, we DO need a "mommy state" to step in. Why should Americans resist, when we've fixated on "big daddy gummint" to provide total protection from those scary, scary terrorists?
2
This is junk science to justify consumption of junk food. Evolution has not come to a standstill 100,000 years ago (witness the rapid spread of lactose tolerance in the last 6000 years). Contemporary Europeans who are the same ethnic groups as the majority of the U.S. population are thinner, trimmer, and eat less sugar and meat. There is no evolutionary pressure to weigh 300 pounds, eat 5 times a day, never walk and wear a tight-fitting dress, as so many American women do. Blame culture, not genes.
1
Changing tastes and palate takes a long time, and starting good dietary habits with kids is important. However, satiating hunger requires the old adage "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper" and requires PROTEIN of some sort with every meal and snack. I think we generally try to satiate ourselves with carbs, which works temporarily but sets us down a bad path.
8
You can't legislate parental good choices. What we can do is stop making excuses for them!
4
In the Seattle school in which I work, food provided to children is not particularly healthy. It is highly processed, over-sugared, and available with unlimited amounts of ketchup, sauces and dressings that render even the salad bar a potentially unhealthy choice. In addition the food is served is tepid and soggy, driving our high school students into the arms of the fast food purveyors around the campus. No one should think that school food is a particularly healthy choice--or that anyone in their right mind would make it a choice at all.
5
Once addicted to these foods, it's nearly impossible to stop, to diet, lose the weight, and keep it off. After seven tries from age 14 to 30, I lost 85 + pounds and have kept it off for almost 30 years.
Keeping it off has taken its toll - I've had to make it a priority. I've had to figure out the right foods to eat - for me - which changed over the years. I insidiously managed to continue eating unhealthy foods in unhealthy amounts - for instance eating a bag of hard candies for dinner for several years, or literally eating so many carrots I turned orange.
I'm in a better place now, and with the resource of the internet have figure out a lot about obesity and diets. Here's what I think:
Once obese, sugar and most grains are out. Eating a Paleo type diet - and there are many versions - is a DOABLE way to lost weight and maintain it. One isn't hungry - not psychologically hungry - and while for beginners it's not easy, it is far easier than any other kind of diet.
Having said that, oddly no one ever listens to me seriously about losing weight, even though I've done it successfully and am one of the very few such success stories. That in and of itself is interesting.
Keeping it off has taken its toll - I've had to make it a priority. I've had to figure out the right foods to eat - for me - which changed over the years. I insidiously managed to continue eating unhealthy foods in unhealthy amounts - for instance eating a bag of hard candies for dinner for several years, or literally eating so many carrots I turned orange.
I'm in a better place now, and with the resource of the internet have figure out a lot about obesity and diets. Here's what I think:
Once obese, sugar and most grains are out. Eating a Paleo type diet - and there are many versions - is a DOABLE way to lost weight and maintain it. One isn't hungry - not psychologically hungry - and while for beginners it's not easy, it is far easier than any other kind of diet.
Having said that, oddly no one ever listens to me seriously about losing weight, even though I've done it successfully and am one of the very few such success stories. That in and of itself is interesting.
12
People want to believe there's a magic bullet. Surely there's an easier way than the way that actually works - eating less and moving more and being diligent and patient about it. Surely there's a pill or a surgery or a meat-only or pineapple-only diet that will melt those pounds away!
I was an obese child and adult 'til I lost it 23 years ago. Anyone who wanted to badly enough could do what I did. It's about wanting it badly enough. Because it isn't easy in this culture of food everywhere.
I was an obese child and adult 'til I lost it 23 years ago. Anyone who wanted to badly enough could do what I did. It's about wanting it badly enough. Because it isn't easy in this culture of food everywhere.
1
Harvey Levenstein, a Canadian historian who has written social histories of American foodways, neatly sums up the beliefs that have guided the American way of eating: ” . . . that taste is not a true guide to what should be eaten; that one should not simply eat what one enjoys; that the important components of food cannot be seen or tasted, but are discernible only in scientific laboratories; and that experimental science has produced rules of nutrition that will prevent illness and encourage longevity.”
Westerners whose Cartesian mind-body divide (i.e the ‘divide’ between immaterial mind and the material body) that ran so deep in their psyche, will continue to be convinced of the infallibility of "scientific laboratories; and that experimental science has produced rules of nutrition that will prevent illness and encourage longevity.”
I recall here Carl Jung the path-breaking psychiatrist, touching a very important heart center of Indian Yoga philosophy: "The Indian not only knows his own nature, but he knows also how much he himself is nature. The European on the other hand has a science of nature and knows astonishingly little of his own nature"
Westerners whose Cartesian mind-body divide (i.e the ‘divide’ between immaterial mind and the material body) that ran so deep in their psyche, will continue to be convinced of the infallibility of "scientific laboratories; and that experimental science has produced rules of nutrition that will prevent illness and encourage longevity.”
I recall here Carl Jung the path-breaking psychiatrist, touching a very important heart center of Indian Yoga philosophy: "The Indian not only knows his own nature, but he knows also how much he himself is nature. The European on the other hand has a science of nature and knows astonishingly little of his own nature"
3
What nonsense. On the contrary, we Americans are eating ourselves to death on food that has been deliberately calibrated to appeal to our most basic desires. If we thought more about what put in our mouths we'd be a lot better off. And Indians have their own problems with food; they hardly present a replicable model.
4
Even if you want it is not possible to deliberately avoid "industrially processed, sugar-, fat- and salt-laden food -- food that is made in a plant rather than grown on a plant, as Michael Pollan would say -- is biologically addictive."
Indians and the rest of the world have their own problems with food, mainly because of dominant presence of multinational food corporations out to make fast buck selling "biologically addictive" poison as food globally!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/food-addiction-could-it-e_b_... succinctly sums up
"The "just say no" approach to drug addiction hasn't fared to well, and it won't work for our industrial food addiction, either. Tell a cocaine or heroin addict or an alcoholic to "just say no" after that first snort, shot, or drink. It's not that simple. There are specific biological mechanisms that drive addictive behavior. Nobody chooses to be a heroin addict, cokehead, or drunk. Nobody chooses to be fat, either. The behaviors arise out of primitive neurochemical reward centers in the brain that override normal willpower and overwhelm our ordinary biological signals that control hunger".
Indians and the rest of the world have their own problems with food, mainly because of dominant presence of multinational food corporations out to make fast buck selling "biologically addictive" poison as food globally!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/food-addiction-could-it-e_b_... succinctly sums up
"The "just say no" approach to drug addiction hasn't fared to well, and it won't work for our industrial food addiction, either. Tell a cocaine or heroin addict or an alcoholic to "just say no" after that first snort, shot, or drink. It's not that simple. There are specific biological mechanisms that drive addictive behavior. Nobody chooses to be a heroin addict, cokehead, or drunk. Nobody chooses to be fat, either. The behaviors arise out of primitive neurochemical reward centers in the brain that override normal willpower and overwhelm our ordinary biological signals that control hunger".
4
Good observations below. The column is too simplistic. Families don't eat together, parenting isn't a life's ambition for most, time is what's really in short supply in our modern age and fast food, in all guises works. Probably the worst culprit, though, is a wholly changed life style over generations. We don't grow and gather our food, we don't walk to the store because we are so spread out, we drive from the moment we can, we watch TV and even more, we stare at our phones incessantly and sit at a computer in some form the rest of the time. Yes, those who can may exercise in a scheduled manner; kids play sports in a controlled way. They don't "play outside" by the hour with friends any more. Neighborhoods are suspicious; can't wander around. Our lives have changed and our diets have, too, but not helpfully. The transition may happen, but it will come from the people, not from more regulations, rules and punishments from elites. We are a convenient, hurried, pleasure driven society, unaccountably entitled to feel good. Right? Be careful what you wish for.
12
Big government to the rescue again. They will help save us from ourselves. Only a small price to pay called freedom, who cares about that anyway???
6
You know, we probably wouldn't even have big government, much less need it to set policy to help "rescue" us, if we didn't have big business. But something has to counter the power, prevalence and persistence of big business when it comes to the problems they can create, including theiir efforts to cultivate bad health in people (which costs us all) purely in the pursuit of profit.
3
I'm fine with that, as long as you also are willing to accept the consequences of your bad choices rather than dumping all the costs on society. You can't have a culture of all rights, no responsibilities.
Consider: The movement toward single-payer Medicare for all is gaining steam. But combined with the untrammelled freedom you evidently cherish, it is a recipe for disaster: basically, the individual has a right to trash his health in any way he desires, then dump on the rest of us the cost of his bad choices. Scare words such as 'rationing' and 'death panels' have been bandied, but the fact is, at some point any sustainable health system would have to limit the amount it will pay for what are, in effect, voluntary illnesses.
Consider: The movement toward single-payer Medicare for all is gaining steam. But combined with the untrammelled freedom you evidently cherish, it is a recipe for disaster: basically, the individual has a right to trash his health in any way he desires, then dump on the rest of us the cost of his bad choices. Scare words such as 'rationing' and 'death panels' have been bandied, but the fact is, at some point any sustainable health system would have to limit the amount it will pay for what are, in effect, voluntary illnesses.
2
When Republicans talk about "freedom," it usually has something to to do with being able to buy as many guns as they can, or buying and eating so many Doritos that they won't be able to see their "six-shooter" hanging on the belt below their enormous stomachs. I think "free-dumb" is a more accurate description of what they really mean! (Of course, women shouldn't be "free" to make their own reproductive decisions -- that goes without saying!)
2
Lots of comments about diet, and that's important. . . .
A very large fraction of the young to old occupants of our country today leave school or work, come home to the couch, comfy chair or bed and either play video games or watch TV until almost comatose, fall into bed and get very little sleep because their brains are overstimulated with video junk, get up without waking up and try to get through school or work without being called out for inattention. The only thing that gets them through the day is thoughts of the next episode of their TV pablum, or the next level of their video game.
I'm more worried that we've created a country of vacuous zombies, and I don't think they even know they're fat! By the time many kids who live this life are ten years old their metabolism is so slow, and their habits of inactivity so ingrained, their chance of escape into a healthy lifestyle are practically 0%.
While salad would help, exercise is what is needed!!!
A very large fraction of the young to old occupants of our country today leave school or work, come home to the couch, comfy chair or bed and either play video games or watch TV until almost comatose, fall into bed and get very little sleep because their brains are overstimulated with video junk, get up without waking up and try to get through school or work without being called out for inattention. The only thing that gets them through the day is thoughts of the next episode of their TV pablum, or the next level of their video game.
I'm more worried that we've created a country of vacuous zombies, and I don't think they even know they're fat! By the time many kids who live this life are ten years old their metabolism is so slow, and their habits of inactivity so ingrained, their chance of escape into a healthy lifestyle are practically 0%.
While salad would help, exercise is what is needed!!!
77
You've described, sadly, my two morbidly obese stepchildren (both between 250-300+ lbs. at 19 and 22 yrs. old) and many of their peers. I think the big issue is WHAT people eat and how MUCH of it they eat. In rural Alabama, most people eat fast food (99% of local restaurants); "southern/country" food, which is primarily fatty animal products (bacon, hamburgers, fried chicken), fried potatoes, and anything else that can be fried or smothered in grease and/or gravy; or prepared/frozen food purchased at Walmart. In other words, while I don't disagree about the need for exercise and personally watch as little tv as possible, there is NO way that I could ever exercise enough to make up for the additional calories I would consume if I ate like the average person down here. I think the scariest part for me is that I can tell that my stepchildren's taste buds (and those of their friends) have been conditioned such that anything that isn't greasy, salty, or sweet tastes bad. No matter how many vegetables I make and in how many different ways, they won't eat them unless they are smothered in Ranch dressing or topped with brown sugar and butter. After gaining 10% of my bodyweight by trying to cook food that they would eat, I've given up. Now, they eat out at fast food restaurants and my husband and I eat healthy meals at home by ourselves. The good news: my husband recently suggested we eat meat only twice a week (I'm a former vegetarian). Hallelujah!
3
I've been obese (until age 18), and also dangerously underweight (18-25), and am now at exactly the right weight (25-60+). So I've seen the problem from all angles. So I can say there is no single right answer, because both children and adults are obese for such a wide range of reasons.
One reason slim kids become chubby adults is simply that they don't adjust intake for slower metabolism and less activity, duh. You can't eat at 35, sitting all day at a desk job and driving an SUV, the way you ate at 12, playing Little League and riding a bike. After age 40 in particular you need to eat fewer calories. It ain't rocket science. Beyond that ... a variety of causes, not mutually exclusive.
Sometimes nutritional ignorance. Other times just self-indulgence, laziness, and a lack of self-discipline, mindless eating. For some it's psychological - for a bullied or lonely child or adult, Little Debbie and Sara Lee are the only friends who won't laugh at you behind your back. And there is social pressure: if everyone is eating, and especially if they're overweight, they will resent your self-discipline and scold or ridicule you.
One reason slim kids become chubby adults is simply that they don't adjust intake for slower metabolism and less activity, duh. You can't eat at 35, sitting all day at a desk job and driving an SUV, the way you ate at 12, playing Little League and riding a bike. After age 40 in particular you need to eat fewer calories. It ain't rocket science. Beyond that ... a variety of causes, not mutually exclusive.
Sometimes nutritional ignorance. Other times just self-indulgence, laziness, and a lack of self-discipline, mindless eating. For some it's psychological - for a bullied or lonely child or adult, Little Debbie and Sara Lee are the only friends who won't laugh at you behind your back. And there is social pressure: if everyone is eating, and especially if they're overweight, they will resent your self-discipline and scold or ridicule you.
5
@ACW:
Agree with much of this, but this also begs the question of why a person would feel hungry for more calories than his/her body is burning. If we are more sedentary, on average, shouldn't we feel satiating with fewer calories, rather than with more?
Types and qualities of foods have changed, which profoundly affects hunger/satiety and fat storage, independent of calories.
Agree with much of this, but this also begs the question of why a person would feel hungry for more calories than his/her body is burning. If we are more sedentary, on average, shouldn't we feel satiating with fewer calories, rather than with more?
Types and qualities of foods have changed, which profoundly affects hunger/satiety and fat storage, independent of calories.
The Pooch: You're assuming people feel hunger. I think the average American doesn't know what actual physical hunger feels like. The urge to eat, which we automatically call 'hunger', can be triggered by the sight or smell of food; by context and social expectations (have you ever, for instance, tried sitting at a Thanksgiving table where everyone's eating but you?); by emotions such as depression or boredom, as I noted; or, conversely, the association of food with a positive experience, such as cake, ice cream, pizza etc. with parties or candy with Halloween and Valentine's Day. It's a Pavlovian response. It's also been pointed out that what we think is hunger may actually be thirst; drink a glass of water.
3
There are few sadder sights than a little kid so fat he or she can't run or play. Close behind are the increasing number of teenagers and young adults, both young men and women, who are grossly overweight - their stomachs hanging down to their knees in some cases. I get the author's point that all obesity is bad, but I can also understand why we've focused more intently on the young, whose development is so impacted by decreased mobility and social stigma.
Personally, I would love to see the public health measures the author is calling for. But in an age of Trump, when any level of discipline is seen as "politically correct" (by the Right) and oppressive and insensitive (by the Left), I don't see it happening any time soon. Eventually, the obesity crisis may be like the crack epidemic of the 1980's/90's, which ended when the drug was no longer seen as cool. The same thing may be happening with soda and fast food. But I'm not holding my breath.
Personally, I would love to see the public health measures the author is calling for. But in an age of Trump, when any level of discipline is seen as "politically correct" (by the Right) and oppressive and insensitive (by the Left), I don't see it happening any time soon. Eventually, the obesity crisis may be like the crack epidemic of the 1980's/90's, which ended when the drug was no longer seen as cool. The same thing may be happening with soda and fast food. But I'm not holding my breath.
4
When my kids were little I was one of the few parents who refused to bring a snack to a 60 minute soccer practice/game. Needless to say other parents weren't happy with me but my point was that by turning up with snacks reinforced the notion that food was associated with everything. No one was going to starve, no one was going to faint, no one was going to go hungry as a result of a snackless hour on a Saturday. While taking on the food industry is laudable, we also need to focus closer to home. Stop with the endless snacks and drinks at each and every event, kids don't need it and creates the idea that for something to fun there needs to be food.
70
I couldn't agree more. Adults need 2-3 meals a day. Nothing in between. Young children may need several small snacks, with the emphasis on "young" (i.e. pre-schoolers) and "small." Older children may want a reasonable after-school snack. But what is it with parents providing food to their kids constantly?
7
Soda bottles were once six ounces and that was it. And, isn't that a big part of the obesity problem? It's not so much what people eat but how much? What is the size of a standard soda can/bottle today? I don't know because I gave up my soda sugar for homemade pies long ago but I'll bet you it's a lot more than six ounces and I read that people drink several a day? That's madness.
I just received a Christmas photo from friends I only see every three or four years and all the males, eleven year-old included, are wearing those big t-shirts with vast pidgeon-pounty chests and abdomens sticking out. And, then I read in the catch-up letter for the year that another family member has diabetes.
We make it sound like it's somebody else's fault but those companies that entice you to drink and eat bad stuff are just trying to make money. As far as I know, we still have the power to ignore them.
Moderation in all things, really. Have a soda now and then or a candy bar but that's not American. We go all the way, all the time, because...we can!
I just received a Christmas photo from friends I only see every three or four years and all the males, eleven year-old included, are wearing those big t-shirts with vast pidgeon-pounty chests and abdomens sticking out. And, then I read in the catch-up letter for the year that another family member has diabetes.
We make it sound like it's somebody else's fault but those companies that entice you to drink and eat bad stuff are just trying to make money. As far as I know, we still have the power to ignore them.
Moderation in all things, really. Have a soda now and then or a candy bar but that's not American. We go all the way, all the time, because...we can!
12
'Pepsi-Cola hits the spot/12 full ounces, that's a lot!/Twice as much for a nickel, too./Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you!'
Yes, Cokes once were 6 ounces ... and Pepsi made quantity a selling point. Even then, the marketing hook was 'more'.
When my mother was growing up in post-WWI Australia, and my father in post-WWI Manhattan, a Coke or Pepsi was an occasional treat. When I visited my grandma in Brooklyn in the 1960s, she always had a 12-oz bottle of Pepsi in the fridge for me. I didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't a treat - I drank the stuff with every meal.
Yes, Cokes once were 6 ounces ... and Pepsi made quantity a selling point. Even then, the marketing hook was 'more'.
When my mother was growing up in post-WWI Australia, and my father in post-WWI Manhattan, a Coke or Pepsi was an occasional treat. When I visited my grandma in Brooklyn in the 1960s, she always had a 12-oz bottle of Pepsi in the fridge for me. I didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't a treat - I drank the stuff with every meal.
I agree. There is nothing addictive about the food, it just requires a lot of discipline to not eat it.
Mark, as another comment points out, we tend to take a 'serving' as the contents of a single package. That comment speaks of reading the nutrition information on a prepackaged muffin and finding that the calorie count is 310 - but the serving is *half a muffin*. Most people buying that muffin, if they look at the calorie count at all, will see 310 and assume, reasonably, that a 'serving' is one muffin. For awhile food processors were devising all kinds of weird portion sizes to bring the calories-per-serving number down. If memory serves, for awhile Coke was listing the number of servings in one can as two, or one-and-a-half. The trend now, acknowledging the "1 pkg = 1 serving" assumption, is to tailor package sizes, such as 100-calorie snack packages of cookies, cans and bottles of soda in all kinds of mid-sizes. (Which, just coincidentally, jacks up the price per ounce, for those who lack the self-control, energy, and/or awareness to seek out a glass and pour from a larger container.)
2
"Stopping the obesity epidemic will require fighting the marketing of junk foods everywhere". It will take much much more than a marketing program. It is much much more than a self-control issue, too, which is how the industry lobbyists like to spin it. The central problem is that the entire industrial food system, which produces probably 90% of our calories, is designed to provide us with foods which will inevitably drive us down this slope towards obesity. There are no USDA support programs for vegetables and fruits, as there are for grains. The government program dollars aimed at supporting the "sustainable agriculture" or "agroecology" sector is less than 5% of that directed towards big ag. We are a Fast Food Nation, and it shows. Another central problem is the extraordinary time pressures on individuals and families, from work, schools, etc. You have to make a serious conscious life-style choice to eat healthy, and sacrifice some other activities. Lastly, until we get real living wages, the bottom two quintiles in America will have no choice but to eat crappy processed foods, because that is all that they can afford, or they have no time to cook.
12
I for one did not know what I was eating until I developed diabetes, and went to special classes that taught me.
I ate very well, often at the best restaurants. It was not a lack of resources.
I am very well educated. It was not lack of time studying stuff and learning it.
Education in food, and how to eat, is not the same as learning a fad diet. Yet that is about all I ever heard about.
We eat in rather standard cultural practices, that are based in large part on ignorance.
Much of the time when a person makes a mistake, it is because the person did not know it was a mistake when he did it. Reckless or wanton behavior happens, but ignorance is also very common.
Why do people eat that stuff? They don't really know what they are eating.
Oh they know that people say it is "bad" but they don't actually know what is in it, or what that means for them.
Meat that has been pumped full of sugar? They don't even know that can happen to meat. How much? They haven't a clue. Other parts of the meal? Potatoes? Veggies? They would not even think it.
It isn't just the marketing. It is the ignorance to which they market, often smart people who don't even realize how ignorant they are.
I ate very well, often at the best restaurants. It was not a lack of resources.
I am very well educated. It was not lack of time studying stuff and learning it.
Education in food, and how to eat, is not the same as learning a fad diet. Yet that is about all I ever heard about.
We eat in rather standard cultural practices, that are based in large part on ignorance.
Much of the time when a person makes a mistake, it is because the person did not know it was a mistake when he did it. Reckless or wanton behavior happens, but ignorance is also very common.
Why do people eat that stuff? They don't really know what they are eating.
Oh they know that people say it is "bad" but they don't actually know what is in it, or what that means for them.
Meat that has been pumped full of sugar? They don't even know that can happen to meat. How much? They haven't a clue. Other parts of the meal? Potatoes? Veggies? They would not even think it.
It isn't just the marketing. It is the ignorance to which they market, often smart people who don't even realize how ignorant they are.
14
Nobody wants to be fat or have diabetes. I don't know about anyone else, but if I want to be thin I have to put up with hunger multiple hours a day. Someone very high and mightily told me that's not normal, but if that's not normal, why are so many people overweight? I try to eat healthful food, not junk food, but around mid morning or mid afternoon I get hungry, and not just stomach hungry, but whole body hungry. Limiting carbs helps, but not that much. Being thin means putting up with hunger.
There may be people who aren't this way. But if I'm that unnormal, why do so many people struggle?
If you aren't hungry, food doesn't temp you. If you are whole body hungry, and someone is offering food, it's very hard.
I don't have diabetes, but I've told everyone at work I do. That way, when someone is trying to give me cake or cookies (daily occurrence) and they say, one little piece, cooome onwwwnn, I can so don't you know that would kill me? Even though it's a total lie. The lengths I go to.
Forget about walking into any store whatsoever, walking past the muffins, etc. They have cookies and snacks in home depot!
There may be people who aren't this way. But if I'm that unnormal, why do so many people struggle?
If you aren't hungry, food doesn't temp you. If you are whole body hungry, and someone is offering food, it's very hard.
I don't have diabetes, but I've told everyone at work I do. That way, when someone is trying to give me cake or cookies (daily occurrence) and they say, one little piece, cooome onwwwnn, I can so don't you know that would kill me? Even though it's a total lie. The lengths I go to.
Forget about walking into any store whatsoever, walking past the muffins, etc. They have cookies and snacks in home depot!
43
It's possible you may need to recalibrate how, what and when you eat. Snacking isn't a bad thing, the issue is what you snack on. The less processed the food you eat, the more it'll fill you up without adding unnecessary calories. The major difference between an orange and orange juice is the mountain of fibre you get inbetween the juice. Vegetables are even better.
1
Karen in NJ,
One can look at the glass as half full or half empty. Temptations ?
Instead of looking at the difficulty of resisting food try going out, sometime during the day, for a grand & glorious walk in the fresh air.
It changes one's perspective. It changes mine.
When you visit Home Depot (or any Mega-mart), do you park as far away from the entrance as possible ?
One can look at the glass as half full or half empty. Temptations ?
Instead of looking at the difficulty of resisting food try going out, sometime during the day, for a grand & glorious walk in the fresh air.
It changes one's perspective. It changes mine.
When you visit Home Depot (or any Mega-mart), do you park as far away from the entrance as possible ?
1
If I were Queen of the Realm the first thing I would do is outlaw people who constantly push brownies/cookies/birthday cake onto co-workers. Ditto mandatory workplace meetings where only muffins, bagels and doughnuts are served. I love your solution!
As for hunger, I think it is normal an hour or two before the next meal. It shouldn't be a scary thing. But if it's strong enough to be distracting, then that is problem. Two thoughts: Are you possibly dehydrated? (A lot of people are without realizing it.) Also, try higher fat and lower carb, especially for breakfast (such as unsweetened whole fat yogurt with some nuts). That works for me. I used to feel starved around 11 a.m. Now, I'm hungry for lunch, but not desperate. And I've lost weight.
As for hunger, I think it is normal an hour or two before the next meal. It shouldn't be a scary thing. But if it's strong enough to be distracting, then that is problem. Two thoughts: Are you possibly dehydrated? (A lot of people are without realizing it.) Also, try higher fat and lower carb, especially for breakfast (such as unsweetened whole fat yogurt with some nuts). That works for me. I used to feel starved around 11 a.m. Now, I'm hungry for lunch, but not desperate. And I've lost weight.
11
The US is still in the midst of an expanding obesity epidemic because most people, young and old, eat too much.
Personal responsibility for this deadly fact is lacking. Hunger cannot be tolerated. Big food. Not enough money to eat less. Unhealthy choices. Income inequality. The wrrong calories ingested. ETC.
Expect more obesity!
Personal responsibility for this deadly fact is lacking. Hunger cannot be tolerated. Big food. Not enough money to eat less. Unhealthy choices. Income inequality. The wrrong calories ingested. ETC.
Expect more obesity!
3
@R.R.:
"Eating too much" is a description but not an explanation. If eating too much is a moral failure or character flaw, then why did obesity rates suddenly increase around the late 1970s/early 80s? Did we have a sudden, nation-wide moral failure?
"Eating too much" is a description but not an explanation. If eating too much is a moral failure or character flaw, then why did obesity rates suddenly increase around the late 1970s/early 80s? Did we have a sudden, nation-wide moral failure?
4
And why, when you walk through the streets of Paris, is nary a fat person to be seen?
It's the American culture that is toxic - the fast food, the lack of exercise, the rush. So sad.
It's the American culture that is toxic - the fast food, the lack of exercise, the rush. So sad.
4
Food became much, much cheaper as part of an overall budget. The food budget was as much as 30% of an overall budget, meaning prices were much, much higher. Eating out was once a treat, something that was rarely done. No one had soda in their fridges. When you wanted a snack you could have fruit, but apples mostly, as fruit out of season was also expensive. My mother loved pears, waited until they came in season, bought two, one for me and her and that was it for another year. They were expensive!
2
We are reaping the unintended consequences of choices, mostly well-intended, that were made years ago.
Back in the day, in most households, one parent worked, generally a 40 hour week, the other stayed home and was able to cook meals that by today's standards were healthy and moderate in size. Maybe you ate out once a month if that.
Today, generally, both parents work. Our work days have also expanded. Among the professional class by "choice" among the working class by necessity. At the end of a long day on the job who has the energy to cook?
We eat out, order out or throw a frozen dinner in the microwave and why not.
The affluent, of course have more choices both in food and in the ability to work the food off. If you're poor a it's fast food joint on the way home and, if you're fortunate enough to live in an area with sidewalks (not a given in the suburbs) and that is safe enough to walk or jog at night (not a given in many urban areas) a walk or run after dinner.
We're not going back to the 50s any time soon. I'd like to see a return to home economics classes in the schools--mandatory for both sexes. Making vegetables and healthy grains available to the poor is not going to help if people don't know how to prepare them. Leisure time is essential. Raise the minimum wage, limit everyone but the upper management class to a 40 hour work week. Encourage exercise.
Back in the day, in most households, one parent worked, generally a 40 hour week, the other stayed home and was able to cook meals that by today's standards were healthy and moderate in size. Maybe you ate out once a month if that.
Today, generally, both parents work. Our work days have also expanded. Among the professional class by "choice" among the working class by necessity. At the end of a long day on the job who has the energy to cook?
We eat out, order out or throw a frozen dinner in the microwave and why not.
The affluent, of course have more choices both in food and in the ability to work the food off. If you're poor a it's fast food joint on the way home and, if you're fortunate enough to live in an area with sidewalks (not a given in the suburbs) and that is safe enough to walk or jog at night (not a given in many urban areas) a walk or run after dinner.
We're not going back to the 50s any time soon. I'd like to see a return to home economics classes in the schools--mandatory for both sexes. Making vegetables and healthy grains available to the poor is not going to help if people don't know how to prepare them. Leisure time is essential. Raise the minimum wage, limit everyone but the upper management class to a 40 hour work week. Encourage exercise.
35
The problems of obesity cannot be taken in isolation of food habits. Of course, children are influenced by what is served in the homes but outside of homes there are allurements spread out to lure them into taking carbohydrate-rich food and drinks. This interferes with the satiety center and blocks the action of leptin hormone produced by the adipose tissue. The result is increased hunger and desire for food rich in carbohydrate and to this is added the taste of fatty substance. Curbing on such weight gaining items is difficult unless taught to learn about forsaking them for the sake of health. This leaves aside the genetic factors which cannot be maneuvered except of some epigenetic means.
3
We have an obesity epidemic and some of it is caused by our horrible sugar and carb laden food. The epidemic may also actually be a real bacterial epidemic. With our use of c_sections and multiple antibiotic use in we are altering our gut bacteria in ways that cause obesity. Mice that get obese peoples gut bacteria, become obese while eating the same food and exercising the same. Read the blog from Well. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/we-are-our-bacteria/?_r=0
9
For those with nervous energy and need to do something with their hands and mouths, how about chew sugarless gum? I was a chain chewer in my 20's, and it helped get me through difficult times. Of course, exercise should be emphasized too.
1
@Helena - please no! I see lots of people smacking and cracking their gum, still fat.
1
If one zooms out on the industry for a moment, one would find that all that has occured here has to do with resource allocation. Advesrtising to kids is something that for a long time has been a challenge for food companies, thanks to tighter regulations.
However, for adults, this is not nearly the case. Food companies use every tool in their power to advertise, and convey, exactly the message they desire, so that adults will consume their products, excessively.
Society assumes that adults are smarter than children and thus have more resources to make better food decisions. Society, therefore, allows for looser regulations.
This article proves the exact opposite.
However, for adults, this is not nearly the case. Food companies use every tool in their power to advertise, and convey, exactly the message they desire, so that adults will consume their products, excessively.
Society assumes that adults are smarter than children and thus have more resources to make better food decisions. Society, therefore, allows for looser regulations.
This article proves the exact opposite.
19
Check out what folks buy at the grocery store. You'll see lots of frozen pizza, frozen chicken nuggets, frozen dinners, chips, cookies, and soda. When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, there was no such thing as processed food. It's rare now to see people buying fresh fruit and vegetables and lean meats. People have become lazy and don't want to take the time to cook a healthy meal. No wonder people are overweight.
6
Another comment here cites to the decline of home economics classes. I, too, grew up in the 1960s (the same age as Bobby Draper in Mad Men). Home Ec was mandatory in junior high, elective after: cooking and sewing for girls, woodworking and metal shop for boys. (In retrospect, 'home economics' should also have included real economics - making a budget, balancing a checking account, etc. Insufficient foresight.) And, as another comment also notes, our mothers (and sometimes our fathers) cooked; there were some frozen, canned or boxed ingredients, such as cake mixes or Hamburger Helper, but takeout fried chicken, Swanson's TV dinner, or McD's was either a treat or an emergency solution, not a routine.
There is a 'Mad Men' episode in which Don, Peggy, and Pete debate various ways to present a fast-food burger place as a guilt-free alternative to family dinner; it ends, pathetically, with these three lonely, unmoored people bonding into a pseudo-family under the harsh lights and across the laminate table, a scene like an updated Hopper painting.
I don't want to go back to the homophobia, sexism, and rigid roles of he 1950s; but something valuable was lost as well, and that moment in Mad Men seems to pinpoint what and when.
There is a 'Mad Men' episode in which Don, Peggy, and Pete debate various ways to present a fast-food burger place as a guilt-free alternative to family dinner; it ends, pathetically, with these three lonely, unmoored people bonding into a pseudo-family under the harsh lights and across the laminate table, a scene like an updated Hopper painting.
I don't want to go back to the homophobia, sexism, and rigid roles of he 1950s; but something valuable was lost as well, and that moment in Mad Men seems to pinpoint what and when.
6
Wrong.
My husband and I eat homecooked meals most of the time. I spend several hours on the weekend preparing food for us to eat during the week.
And we're still fat.
Try again.
My husband and I eat homecooked meals most of the time. I spend several hours on the weekend preparing food for us to eat during the week.
And we're still fat.
Try again.
2
JM,
Cook smaller portions. And go for a walk after dinner. Home eating isn't a guarantee you won't be fat, just a start.
Cook smaller portions. And go for a walk after dinner. Home eating isn't a guarantee you won't be fat, just a start.
4
During the wheat embargo, the government make it a policy to protect our food supply by ramping up farm subsidies which had been around since the dust bowl. What they created was an oversupply of food, particularly corn and grains. Today we have government subsidized fast food, and there is no end in sight. For a single mom living in an urban area that is devoid of supermarkets, it provides the maximum amount of calories, for the least cost. For others it provides, convenience. There is a direct correlation in this country with obesity and subsidies. There are no starving children in the US, that is a myth. It is the food corporations, Coke, YUM, Frito-Lay that are lobbying the Department of Agriculture for more, and yes to expand the food stamp program. Little, overweight kids, don't lobby Congress.
4
Hawk in New England,
..... and big blocks of federally subsidized so-called "American" cheese.
..... and big blocks of federally subsidized so-called "American" cheese.
@hawk:
Obesity is a form of malnutrition, too much of some nutrients and not enough of other nutrients. A child can be obese and still be very hungry at the same time, because his/her body is not getting any real nutrition.
Obesity is a form of malnutrition, too much of some nutrients and not enough of other nutrients. A child can be obese and still be very hungry at the same time, because his/her body is not getting any real nutrition.
2
There are plenty of grocery stores in 'urban areas', the whole food desert thing is just a myth.
2
With all the scientific studies showing how sugar, fat, and salt light up the pleasure centers of the brain and create an almost irresistible craving for the processed foods that contain them, there is certainly no incentive for the food companies and their stakeholders to eliminate the profit centers these foods represent. Sadly the average adult consumer is probably no match for the multitude of scientists, marketers and advertisers, packaging experts, trend predictors, and even " medical experts" making dubious health claims, that the food industry has lined up to fight their corner. Something must be done to create a more level playing field for the rights of the consumer. This is a battle for public health that we literally cannot afford to lose for now and for the future.
60
Susan in Paris,
.... speaking of "lighting up the pleasure centers of the brain", perhaps if more people took the very eye-opening, on-line, "implicit association" test, they'd realize how much is going on sub-liminally or "below the surface".
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
I don't want to be a "puppet" with some other entity pulling the strings".
And, despite full-time job or jobs, it's easier at Farmers Markets.
Children can too & pick out "their" favorites.
.... speaking of "lighting up the pleasure centers of the brain", perhaps if more people took the very eye-opening, on-line, "implicit association" test, they'd realize how much is going on sub-liminally or "below the surface".
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
I don't want to be a "puppet" with some other entity pulling the strings".
And, despite full-time job or jobs, it's easier at Farmers Markets.
Children can too & pick out "their" favorites.
I wonder if Americans tend toward overweight because there is so little time for much else in their busy, overworked days, and there are fewer entertaining activities as well. Here's how it appears to work: Take away much of the funding for art and museums; reduce or eliminate art, music, dance, etc. in the schools; reduce funding for creating and maintaining parks and public spaces; don't allow the endless entertainment of public transport, just go it alone in your car; make public spaces marketing spaces so that relaxation equals shopping and you will need money to do it; make people pay to watch a half hour of advertisements at the movies; make sure that everyone has enough work to do that they cannot take breaks and get it done. The result will be less time to work and fewer places to go, especially if you don't have disposable income. Nothin' to do but eat, quickly, often--try to fill that void.
158
Thank you for this comment. There is so much more to obesity than food choices. People need to get outside and move and not just in the context of private gyms and team sports. They need safe parks and other public spaces. They need to be able to make walking a part of everyday activities, which is why the availability of safe, reliable, well-scheduled public transportation is a public health issue. And they need adequate leisure time to exercise and socialize in the outdoors. Anyone who has ever lived by a well-kept and easily accessible and good-sized public park knows what a lift it gives to personal well-being.
5
Excuse me; I meant to say, "less time outside of work."
1
No -- Americans are overweight because there is yummy food everywhere. Most people don't cook so they don't have the slimmest notion of the junk they are eating. I am a consummate cook so even when I slip up I KNOW what's in the food I am eating. Young people today are clueless.
Good food, junk food, take out is everywhere. They can't resist. There is also some racial and socio-economic disparity. Higher income non-minority adults have the lowest obesity rate. It takes a lot of intelligence and impulse control to stay the path. I am 65 and weigh the same as high school. At the holidays, I too have diffculty. My office brings in so much junk -- today in the break room there were doughnuts, high end cupcakes, home made banana cream pie AND pudding, and a brioche, and cookies. I beg the office manager to toss it. She looks at me like I am nuts. Takes an incredible amount of will to pass it up. The deck is stacked. And this is the same company that spends thousands in health care costs and programs to fight employee ill health. Wow what a disconnect.
Good food, junk food, take out is everywhere. They can't resist. There is also some racial and socio-economic disparity. Higher income non-minority adults have the lowest obesity rate. It takes a lot of intelligence and impulse control to stay the path. I am 65 and weigh the same as high school. At the holidays, I too have diffculty. My office brings in so much junk -- today in the break room there were doughnuts, high end cupcakes, home made banana cream pie AND pudding, and a brioche, and cookies. I beg the office manager to toss it. She looks at me like I am nuts. Takes an incredible amount of will to pass it up. The deck is stacked. And this is the same company that spends thousands in health care costs and programs to fight employee ill health. Wow what a disconnect.
1
My only complaint with this article, and many of the commenters is the mantra of unhealthy salt, sugar, fat.
Sugar, yes a problem.
Salt sometimes a problem, sometimes not.
Fat, depends a lot on the source.
Missing from the list of villains -- refined white flour -- refined carbohydrates -- the number one problem and what most highly processed junk foods are dominantly made of.
Sugar, yes a problem.
Salt sometimes a problem, sometimes not.
Fat, depends a lot on the source.
Missing from the list of villains -- refined white flour -- refined carbohydrates -- the number one problem and what most highly processed junk foods are dominantly made of.
44
Too much olive oil will make you just as fat as too much butter. Weigh and health are separate issues, though certainly related.
7
Eat too much of anything and you'll be overweight.
1
Exactly right, sugar is, essentially, only the most highly refined carbohydrate on a spectrum.
1
Every time I go the grocery store, I see other customers with huge bottles os 12-packs of soda. How hard is it to simply not drink soda? And the junk food such as chips. It can't be that they haven't heard. I wonder how many of them are also smokers, in other words, they know but don't care.
14
I have an obese friend who lives alone. If we have a conversation about what we are having for dinner, she will say something like, "a chicken breast and a salad." Ran into her at the grocery store the other day, and she had two huge bags of tortilla chips in her basket, as well as several large bottles of soda. While we were standing there, she told me she had come in after work to get food for dinner, and that she was going to have a salad. Neither of us mentioned the contents of her cart. :(
1
That was kind of you.
Fat people lie about what they eat because they're sick to death of being insulted, judged, and corrected. Fat people know they're eating too much. They know when they're eating crap. They're just tired of the verbal abuse and judgment from others. The lies and denial ("II don't really eat that much") are just ways of trying to avoid further attacks from thin judgmental people.
Fat people lie about what they eat because they're sick to death of being insulted, judged, and corrected. Fat people know they're eating too much. They know when they're eating crap. They're just tired of the verbal abuse and judgment from others. The lies and denial ("II don't really eat that much") are just ways of trying to avoid further attacks from thin judgmental people.
1
This is such a complicated issue, but there are several specific points I think are salient. First, along with the growing rates of obesity in the US has come obesity in our PETS. People feed their pets too much and don't exercise them enough: same as for their kids. Second, although body type is inherited, our ancestors were not overweight, because they engaged in hard physical labor and historically ate only two meals a day--and they slept when the sun set and got up before it rose. I don't advocate a return to this scenario, but vigorous moving around certainly has an effect on one's BMI and lack of sleep can generate higher body fat, as well as encouraging carb eating. Third, affluent populations are far less obese and this is obvious in the US. We have to have healthy prepared food options for the millions of people who are working 2, even 3 jobs in order to sustain their families and who don't have time to prepare food themselves. Among the urban poor, "food deserts" mean that such options are unavailable. We shouldn't demonize people who do not have access to healthy food--we should help them by encouraging stores in non-affluent areas to invest in selling healthier options and helping people to utilize those options. Fourth, portion control is possible only when restaurants and prepared foods companies get on board with the idea of serving less--and not to make higher profits, but to present smaller portions as healthy AND economical.
The trendline, once less evident east of Pennsylvania, is now very apparent in New Jersey. Enter a diner, sit down and look around. The people have become immense. Soon enough, we may see models on the Upper East Side of Manhattan not gliding along like malnourished gazelles but waddling along in chunky jeans and flat sandals. I’m beginning to think all this will fundamentally change our standards of female beauty to those of earlier times.
But that’s a separate issue to what we do about it. If the primary disadvantage to obesity in adults is the litany of negative health effects that accompany it, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and depression, then perhaps we should be focusing on how to reduce the incidence of such diseases and conditions IN the obese. If that’s done, the same artificial mechanisms, undoubtedly centering on drugs, could almost certainly be used by EVERYONE, not JUST the obese.
As Americans we used to see a problem and dare to seek a solution that didn’t involve changing who we were. People should eat less, eat better and do sit-ups. But we shouldn’t define these actions as the only solution to those who won’t embrace a behavioral change that is becoming increasingly difficult in a post-industrial economy.
But that’s a separate issue to what we do about it. If the primary disadvantage to obesity in adults is the litany of negative health effects that accompany it, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and depression, then perhaps we should be focusing on how to reduce the incidence of such diseases and conditions IN the obese. If that’s done, the same artificial mechanisms, undoubtedly centering on drugs, could almost certainly be used by EVERYONE, not JUST the obese.
As Americans we used to see a problem and dare to seek a solution that didn’t involve changing who we were. People should eat less, eat better and do sit-ups. But we shouldn’t define these actions as the only solution to those who won’t embrace a behavioral change that is becoming increasingly difficult in a post-industrial economy.
2
' I’m beginning to think all this will fundamentally change our standards of female beauty to those of earlier times.'
Not to digress (heck, yes, I'll digress) but I venture to say the standard of beauty will actually get even skinnier. The question is: is 'beauty' defined as an absolute quality, as, say, the Greeks did, or relative, the far end of a bell curve?
If beauty is an absolute, you can imagine a society in which everyone is beautiful. I submit though that we, at least, define it as relative; it exists only as a comparative to the ugly, average, less or more beautiful.
The problem there is that as more people avail themselves of techniques to attain the existing standard of beauty, plastic surgery, diets, etc. you have to keep moving the goalposts. Compared to the movie stars of yesteryear, our current female idols are just about emaciated, our males built like tanks. (Compare the two Uhuras. Nichelle Nichols in the 1960s was slim and toned, but a babe with breasts and a booty. Ain't enough meat on her successor to bait a fishhook.)
;}
Not to digress (heck, yes, I'll digress) but I venture to say the standard of beauty will actually get even skinnier. The question is: is 'beauty' defined as an absolute quality, as, say, the Greeks did, or relative, the far end of a bell curve?
If beauty is an absolute, you can imagine a society in which everyone is beautiful. I submit though that we, at least, define it as relative; it exists only as a comparative to the ugly, average, less or more beautiful.
The problem there is that as more people avail themselves of techniques to attain the existing standard of beauty, plastic surgery, diets, etc. you have to keep moving the goalposts. Compared to the movie stars of yesteryear, our current female idols are just about emaciated, our males built like tanks. (Compare the two Uhuras. Nichelle Nichols in the 1960s was slim and toned, but a babe with breasts and a booty. Ain't enough meat on her successor to bait a fishhook.)
;}
3
I agree. Since our beauty standards are heavily influenced by the media, there's no profit to be had in accepting that normal is beautiful. The more dissatisfied Madison Avenue can make you with yourself, the more they can sell you.
2
Terrils, normal is not beautiful. There's no shame in it, but it is not beauty any more than a C average is genius. For the word 'beauty' to have any meaning at all it has to denote a quality of unusual excellence. Where everyone is beautiful, no one is beautiful. Hence my observation, in my original comment, about moving the goalposts. Perhaps simply what we need to accept is that this is not Lake Wobegon, and not all the children can be above average - that there is no shame in being, well, just normal.
1
We need to acknowledge and begin to address the link between climate change and excess consumption of all types, including excess junk food consumption. In a world with more than 7 billion people, we must begin to take individual and collective responsibility for human actions. Not least is the ubiquitous worldwide "economic growth" model, which needs to begin shifting instead toward a sustainability model.
7
I never fail to be amused at how some people can somehow connect climate change to nearly anything but nothing has caused me to laugh out loud at connecting eating excess junk food to it.
I look forward to reading your thesis on the subject.
I look forward to reading your thesis on the subject.
3
That's funny!
1
Our US and increasingly global, agricultural practices are contributing both to climate change and to poor health, including obesity. This has all happened since the introduction of GMOs to farming. The biotech industry has not allowed real independent studies of the effects of GMOs, but more specifically the chemicals that are used with them to weeds and pests, but foreign studies are showing these to affect the gut biota in our systems. As far as climate change goes, the destruction of our soils through overuse of chemicals, and the killing of soil-building microbes, sends carbon from the soil into the atmosphere. 30 to 40% of carbon emissions are coming from soils that can no longer store atmospheric carbon.
Perhaps as kids learn about healthy food and nutrition, live it, and get used to making healthy food choices, they will carry over that knowledge and perhaps, habit, as they grow into adults.
Not to give up on the now adults, but maybe there is hope for the adults of the future because some children will know what it is to be healthy and want to stay that way.
Michelle Obama was criticized endlessly for her campaign. And isn't it interesting, her efforts have greatly paid off. As a nurse who has worked in schools and seen the changes and their pay offs - thank you Michelle - there are plenty out here who sincerely appreciate what you've done for the kids and future adults of this country. Amen.
Not to give up on the now adults, but maybe there is hope for the adults of the future because some children will know what it is to be healthy and want to stay that way.
Michelle Obama was criticized endlessly for her campaign. And isn't it interesting, her efforts have greatly paid off. As a nurse who has worked in schools and seen the changes and their pay offs - thank you Michelle - there are plenty out here who sincerely appreciate what you've done for the kids and future adults of this country. Amen.
111
As I understand it there has been a reduction in youth obesity because they've been throwing away the food served from the "Michelle Menu". It's the trash cans that are bulging as well as the pigs who get to eat the stuff.
1
Mima - heartsny,
As an R.N. & as "a fellow human being" I add a very hearty "AMEN" to your appreciation of Michelle Obama !
As an R.N. & as "a fellow human being" I add a very hearty "AMEN" to your appreciation of Michelle Obama !
2
To paraphrase Michael Pollan.....eat real food, mostly plants and not much....nuff said!
49
Wait a minute, didn't Pollan say, "Eat real food, mostly plants and not too much?" I don't think he said "not much." There is a difference.
1
I think we are over looking low calorie GMO's.
2
As a teacher of elementary aged children, I am amazed at what they bring in for snack and or lunch. I have one student who every day brings in the unhealthiest lunch imaginable.....completely full of sugar, fat and salt.....all processed food. It may be because this is all the child will eat, but I have to wonder if this is why the child is unable to focus on anything throughout the day? The child's parents are caring and educated....this child is thin so maybe they think it doesn't matter? We need to educate the parents on what types of food nourish our children and what ones don't.
40
Why does the Federal Government continue to subsidize an oversupply of these crops? The Dems always say the Republican are heartless evil people we they want to cut, the increase. Could it be the lobbyists?
4
I've noticed that educated apparently well-off people feed their kids plenty of crap! I see it all over my neighborhood, and don't understand it!
3
Kate - Rochester,
Maybe the child is on the road to an "eating-disorder" & the packer of the lunch is in denial.
Have you "referred" ?
Maybe the child is on the road to an "eating-disorder" & the packer of the lunch is in denial.
Have you "referred" ?
>
The enemy is sugar. Then comes these iPads and computers games that hypnotize kids into a lethargic zombie state.
The enemy is sugar. Then comes these iPads and computers games that hypnotize kids into a lethargic zombie state.
14
There is a big difference between sitting at a computer every day playing games for hours along with having all kinds of snack food available and the ability to consume it while sitting there, and riding your bike around or going swimming or playing soccer for hours plus no snacking possible at the same time.
1
I read books all day in the summer and all evening during the school year. I was a very thin child and am a normal weight adult. What’s the difference between reading a book all day and playing on an iPad all day? I’d vote for the book if it’s decent literature. I think it’s the content that is meaningful, not the method of absorbing the content. The difference between my childhood and today’s is that I only ate when my mother put a meal on the table, whereas today’s kids tend to snack and consume beverages during most any activity.
3
@janet,
I'm sure you're exaggerating your reading time. I read too, but I was just with my nephew and niece, both 15, at a beach house in FL with nice weather and I had to constantly force them off their iPads and out of the house. I was disturbing to see how addicted they are to those iPads.
They don't know what to do with themselves without the iPad.
I'm sure you're exaggerating your reading time. I read too, but I was just with my nephew and niece, both 15, at a beach house in FL with nice weather and I had to constantly force them off their iPads and out of the house. I was disturbing to see how addicted they are to those iPads.
They don't know what to do with themselves without the iPad.
1
How about tying fitness and healthy weight to patriotic duty? A flabby nation cannot beat ISIS. Fat people cannot fight in the armed forces; health care costs will ultimately impact our military spending; if we are truly "at war" we need to get in shape for it. All the demands to cut the deficit ring hollow as voters waddle into the polling booth. Big government is not the problem, big Americans are!
23
The issue is very complex. It is not simply a matter of "will power," i.e. 'good' person or 'bad' person. Genetics play a role. Family of origin food habits and messages are also powerful. Foods as prepared by Mom are, for many of us, the 'best' way to eat them. So, if Mom fried many things, cooked with sauces and oils/fats, and added lots of sugar, our taste buds are going to favor those things. Some families also use food more for consolation, comfort, and to celebrate every little thing than do others. For many the message is that food = love.
Then, too, we have a very out of control food industry which seems intent on stoking our desire for things loaded with sugar and fat. Consider cereal - 50 years ago there were some sugar sweetened cereals "for kids" (Trix, Sugar Pops, Frosted Flakes etc.), but there were also many unsweetened cereals both 'for kids,' e.g., Cheerios, and more 'for adults' (Bran Flakes, shredded wheat, Chex). While the latter still exist, sugary versions have been added, many with "clusters," which are some combo of fat and sugary goop. Even for adults the healthier choices are lost in the variety of fatty, sugary options. Something similar has happened to ice cream where variety used to be vanilla, chocolate, peach etc. - now we have all kinds with pieces of candy bar chopped up in it - candy in ice cream for G-D's sake - and we wonder why folks are obese!!!
The 3rd issue is lack of movement increasingly aggravated by more and more screen time.
Then, too, we have a very out of control food industry which seems intent on stoking our desire for things loaded with sugar and fat. Consider cereal - 50 years ago there were some sugar sweetened cereals "for kids" (Trix, Sugar Pops, Frosted Flakes etc.), but there were also many unsweetened cereals both 'for kids,' e.g., Cheerios, and more 'for adults' (Bran Flakes, shredded wheat, Chex). While the latter still exist, sugary versions have been added, many with "clusters," which are some combo of fat and sugary goop. Even for adults the healthier choices are lost in the variety of fatty, sugary options. Something similar has happened to ice cream where variety used to be vanilla, chocolate, peach etc. - now we have all kinds with pieces of candy bar chopped up in it - candy in ice cream for G-D's sake - and we wonder why folks are obese!!!
The 3rd issue is lack of movement increasingly aggravated by more and more screen time.
24
Air conditioning, too. When I was a kid, we didn't have air conditioning or electronic games so outdoors was at least as interesting as indoors. Now there are no plugs outside and it's too [fill in the blank: hot, cold, windy, dry, wet].
2
Anne-Marie Hislop - Chicago
You hit the nail on the head - it is a complex "issue".
Marketing - first responsibility is to a return on shareholders' investment.
Legislator election - dependent on lobbyists.
Family & cultural "messages re: food, love, exercise & amount of TV.
("Mangia, mangia" in it's sense of "devour" & it's equivalents in every language).
Ice Cream - It's fun to make one's own using farmer's market fruit.
Change is hard:
Michael Pollan's immortal words.
Michelle Obama's "Let's move".
You hit the nail on the head - it is a complex "issue".
Marketing - first responsibility is to a return on shareholders' investment.
Legislator election - dependent on lobbyists.
Family & cultural "messages re: food, love, exercise & amount of TV.
("Mangia, mangia" in it's sense of "devour" & it's equivalents in every language).
Ice Cream - It's fun to make one's own using farmer's market fruit.
Change is hard:
Michael Pollan's immortal words.
Michelle Obama's "Let's move".
I can't muster a whole lot of concern for people that don't take care of themselves. The only sensible thing to do, if you must do something, is make obesity more expensive for the obese. John Smith (below) offers what he seems to think is a novel and clever idea: charge those who pose a higher risk a higher price for healthcare insurance. The government he argues is so efficacious at solving societal problems eliminated that concept from the health insurance market with the ACA. The government also, arguably, precipitated the obesity "epidemic" when it advocated replacing fat in the diet with carbohydrates.
On second thought, take away their right to choose what to eat, that will be best for them and us.
On second thought, take away their right to choose what to eat, that will be best for them and us.
4
You can't take away certain foods from adults. Think of drugs: whoever wants them badly enough will get them, and, if need be, by means of enablers. The only possibility is to hit them where it hurts: in their pocketbooks. Have them pay full price for their medication, hospital costs, doctor's consultations and they might just decide to exercise more discipline in how much and what they eat.
Also take the producers of light food to task. A severely obese friend offered me a large packet of potato chips, light ones, and said: You can eat the whole bag: they're light. Sure, they may have less fat, but check out the carbohydrates.
Also take the producers of light food to task. A severely obese friend offered me a large packet of potato chips, light ones, and said: You can eat the whole bag: they're light. Sure, they may have less fat, but check out the carbohydrates.
3
Wonder what you would do with the underweight people. Make them eat more exercise less. I don't particularly care for the way you think. I thin the gov't should make you change your thinking.
7
"take away their right to choose what to eat, that will be best for them and us."
By all means. Lets empty out their closets and refrigerators and send out a guard to go shopping with them with the power to break their arms so they can't use a fork and spoon.
By all means. Lets empty out their closets and refrigerators and send out a guard to go shopping with them with the power to break their arms so they can't use a fork and spoon.
2
America groans under the curse of this disease of surfeit, obesity. Parents who are both compelled by financial necessity to work as many hours as they can endure are not parents who have much control over their children's activities, including eating. How many of my close friends at work manage Type 1 insulin-resistant diabetes because their children weigh 250 pounds at age 12 and whose father weighs close to 400 pounds himself and won't hear of curtailing their swinish consumption of food and drink? The addition of high-fructose corn syrup as an inescapable food ingredient, in order to justify inordinate price supports for corn as an agricultural commodity, are also to blame. But the inability to govern one's appetite, how to instill this discipline when the parents themselves lack it?
8
I think you mean Type *2* diabetes. Type 1 (used to be called juvenile) is insulin dependent, a disease where the pancreas's insulin-producing cells die off; it generally appears in children (some as young as a few weeks old) and adolescents. Type 2 (used to be called late-onset) is insulin resistant and often linked to overweight and lifestyle; up until fairly recently, it used to appear later in life or middle age. No amount of lifestyle change can reverse Type 1, but it can in Type 2.
11
For shame, goood article, yet nary a word about "exercise".
Our first exercise should be "throw out the TV. And get off your lazy behind and get some!"
Television is the opiate of the masses...
Our first exercise should be "throw out the TV. And get off your lazy behind and get some!"
Television is the opiate of the masses...
16
Although exercise has many health benefits, research has shown that weight control is mostly about the food, not the exercise. People generally overestimate the offset that exercise can provide. It takes a lot of intense movement to burn off even one donut.
5
@Janet Camp - while exercise alone doesn't result in large amounts of weight loss; being physically active can help reduce the likelihood of gaining excess fat.
1
A thousand and one ironies.
When people smoked (in the 50s, 77% of adults smoked!), they were also thinner. Why? Cigarettes were a cheap, socially acceptable product that coincidentally controlled hunger -- makes people more energetic -- gives them something to do with their hands -- makes you focused and alert.
I've heard wags say that if only cigarettes did not kill people, they would be a great invention with many benefits.
People stopped smoking starting in the 60s. Today, only 21% smoke vs. 77% -- a HUGE public health victory and done without banning anything. But many of those same people are now overweight.
Many folks including myself think there is a connection. The people of the past were not "naturally thinner" -- they were SMOKING. When they quit (or never started), they were suddenly subject to their bodies natural tendencies to gain weight. They still needed a "crutch" for nervous habits, or the desire to "do something" with your hands or mouth during work or relaxation. So they turned to food and drink.
It won't be remotely as easy to "ban" or tax food & drink. People need it to live. Also, there is no DIRECT connection between any food and obesity (or any food and diabetes). Plenty of people eat fast food without getting obese. Plenty of obese people DO diet constantly, and live off salads and Diet Coke -- but never get thin. There are also serious, troubling eating disorders (especially among women and young people) because of obsession with dieting.
When people smoked (in the 50s, 77% of adults smoked!), they were also thinner. Why? Cigarettes were a cheap, socially acceptable product that coincidentally controlled hunger -- makes people more energetic -- gives them something to do with their hands -- makes you focused and alert.
I've heard wags say that if only cigarettes did not kill people, they would be a great invention with many benefits.
People stopped smoking starting in the 60s. Today, only 21% smoke vs. 77% -- a HUGE public health victory and done without banning anything. But many of those same people are now overweight.
Many folks including myself think there is a connection. The people of the past were not "naturally thinner" -- they were SMOKING. When they quit (or never started), they were suddenly subject to their bodies natural tendencies to gain weight. They still needed a "crutch" for nervous habits, or the desire to "do something" with your hands or mouth during work or relaxation. So they turned to food and drink.
It won't be remotely as easy to "ban" or tax food & drink. People need it to live. Also, there is no DIRECT connection between any food and obesity (or any food and diabetes). Plenty of people eat fast food without getting obese. Plenty of obese people DO diet constantly, and live off salads and Diet Coke -- but never get thin. There are also serious, troubling eating disorders (especially among women and young people) because of obsession with dieting.
36
There is absolutely no data to support any of your personal observations. People are fat because they eat too much for their own personal ability to utilize those calories, regardless of smoking status.
In long-term studies, smokers don’t control their weight any better than non-smokers.
Paying attention to daily caloric intake and maintaining a healthy weight is not “obsessive”.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/87/4/801.abstract?sid=dfc4c4dd-2adc-4e...
In long-term studies, smokers don’t control their weight any better than non-smokers.
Paying attention to daily caloric intake and maintaining a healthy weight is not “obsessive”.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/87/4/801.abstract?sid=dfc4c4dd-2adc-4e...
4
Wow.......your points are well taken.....it is nervous eating
1
There may indeed be a statistically valid inverse correlation for the decrease in adult smoking to the increase in adult obesity. There is an inherent, common sense logic to it.
But this would not account for kids under the age of let's say 13, even if it were true.
And saying that people eat fast food without becoming obese does not really prove anything. People who are "living on salads" who remain heavy are most likely "cheating" with all sorts of high calorie cakes, cookies, candy and ice cream when nobody is looking. "Diet" sodas have been shown to mess up your metabolism so badly that in many cases people end up gaining weight, which is something you pointed out.
In any event, taking up smoking to lose weight doesn't seem to be a terrific idea based upon what we've learned about smoking in the last 50 years.
But this would not account for kids under the age of let's say 13, even if it were true.
And saying that people eat fast food without becoming obese does not really prove anything. People who are "living on salads" who remain heavy are most likely "cheating" with all sorts of high calorie cakes, cookies, candy and ice cream when nobody is looking. "Diet" sodas have been shown to mess up your metabolism so badly that in many cases people end up gaining weight, which is something you pointed out.
In any event, taking up smoking to lose weight doesn't seem to be a terrific idea based upon what we've learned about smoking in the last 50 years.
2
Take a look at the portions offered in many restaurants. The portions are outsized and the calorie counts crazy for almost everything. With more Americans dining out more frequently this only contributes to the problem. An establishment I went to yesterday for Breakfast 3 and 4 egg servings on all Breakfast platters- per serving.
As someone fighting the good fight down at the local YMCA gym, I assure you that caloric intake is far easier than burning calories. I am no supporter of the Nanny State but the food service industry needs to clean up it's act and offer smaller portions and far lower calorie options. The same is true of the processed food industry- way too much sodium, way too much fat and portions that are not realistic.
Go down to your local grocer and pull out some frozen vegetables. You will find far too many are "seasoned" which equates to loaded with fat and salt that many of us do not want so we can control sodium and fat intake. Look at canned fruits and see how many are larded with sugar in the form of Heavy Syrup or "Light" Syrup instead of just being fruit.
Our food system is a mess and concentrated among a small number of companies. These outfits could easily fix this voluntarily or they can be forced to by regulation. Not every American has access to a year round CSA of fresh local produce an must depend upon grocers or prepared food. This is a public health issue of great consequence.
As someone fighting the good fight down at the local YMCA gym, I assure you that caloric intake is far easier than burning calories. I am no supporter of the Nanny State but the food service industry needs to clean up it's act and offer smaller portions and far lower calorie options. The same is true of the processed food industry- way too much sodium, way too much fat and portions that are not realistic.
Go down to your local grocer and pull out some frozen vegetables. You will find far too many are "seasoned" which equates to loaded with fat and salt that many of us do not want so we can control sodium and fat intake. Look at canned fruits and see how many are larded with sugar in the form of Heavy Syrup or "Light" Syrup instead of just being fruit.
Our food system is a mess and concentrated among a small number of companies. These outfits could easily fix this voluntarily or they can be forced to by regulation. Not every American has access to a year round CSA of fresh local produce an must depend upon grocers or prepared food. This is a public health issue of great consequence.
80
We have that problem in Germany, too. I love German food, but the portions served are huge. Solution? I have such a meal perhaps once every two weeks and, otherwise, cook and eat at home and enjoy my small portions. Like that, I have my weight under control. I work out three times a week, am far above average for my age, yet, at being examined, wondered why I weighed so much. The trainer's tip: look at the proportion of muscle to fat and to the water in your tissues.
As one comment says: exercise. Sitting / lying in front of the TV set all day, cramming junk food into your mouth is a wonderful thing if you want to end up looking like a beached whale.
As one comment says: exercise. Sitting / lying in front of the TV set all day, cramming junk food into your mouth is a wonderful thing if you want to end up looking like a beached whale.
4
When I eat out, I ask for a to-go box when I order.I ask for it to be brought with the entree. I put half the entree in the box and eat what is left on the plate. I eat the to-go portion for lunch the next day. I realized I was eating long after satiation simply because it was in front of me. I wasn't even enjoying it at that point, and eating that much often made me uncomfortably full. Now by taking it off the plate, I have solved those problems.
7
Restaurant economics drive this. In order to cover salaries, rent, lights, etc, the restaurant needs to charge a high amount per plate. Food costs so little that it is better economics to load the plate full of food and charge more, than to downsize and charge less. The one redeeming thing about automating restaurant service is that after they have recovered the investment in automation, they should be able to offer less food for a smaller price. They'll need to, because no one will have a paying job that allows them to go to restaurants....
OBESE ADULTS In case anybody doubts the efficacy of government in solving problems in the US, the victory in lowering the number of obese children has dropped sharply. Another factor, of course, is that adults have legal rights that children do not. That complicates government's ability to become involved in imposing restrictions on adults that, in fact, adults may legally impose on children.
I'm not especially optimistic about the prospects of succeeding with government intervention with obese adults. Over 35,000 people are killed by firearms and over 60,000 are injured. Yet there are those who fight tooth and nail--hmmm make that an armed battle--against anything they view as an infringement on rights. Even if those rights include more people dying on US soil than in foreign wars.
If you really want to see some people grab for their firearms, try imposing a tax on unhealthful food and beverages. That could easily become the trigger that would make official the ongoing Civil War 2.0.
One possibility is a financial deterrent. Overweight adults who do not attempt to lose weight, therefore overburdening the healthcare system, should have to pay extra for their premiums. I can hear the howls of outrage at that idea. Obesity is a disease that can be controlled. Some might even argue that there is a right to be obese. However, smokers are charged higher insurance prices. So are others in high risk categories. Taxes on tobacco are accepted. Is junk food next?
I'm not especially optimistic about the prospects of succeeding with government intervention with obese adults. Over 35,000 people are killed by firearms and over 60,000 are injured. Yet there are those who fight tooth and nail--hmmm make that an armed battle--against anything they view as an infringement on rights. Even if those rights include more people dying on US soil than in foreign wars.
If you really want to see some people grab for their firearms, try imposing a tax on unhealthful food and beverages. That could easily become the trigger that would make official the ongoing Civil War 2.0.
One possibility is a financial deterrent. Overweight adults who do not attempt to lose weight, therefore overburdening the healthcare system, should have to pay extra for their premiums. I can hear the howls of outrage at that idea. Obesity is a disease that can be controlled. Some might even argue that there is a right to be obese. However, smokers are charged higher insurance prices. So are others in high risk categories. Taxes on tobacco are accepted. Is junk food next?
17
You are making so many errors of logic, I hardly know where to begin.
Cigarette smoking is one specific thing -- ONE product. That's why we can tax or restrict it. It is also completely unnecessary for life, and has no beneficial qualities.
Eating on the other hand: you have to eat to live. You cannot give up eating! We want people to QUIT cigarettes, not simply "cut down". If we tried to marketing it as "just cut down on your smoking", anti-smoking campaigns would have failed utterly. Cut down from what....to what?
You also fail by claiming that all obesity is due to "junk food" -- but of course, that is undefined. Is junk food candy? or soda pop? how about diet soda? what about that pizza -- junk food, or a perfectly reasonable food with tomatoes, veggies, cheese and maybe a whole wheat crust? is home cooking OK (because I know a LOT of fat people who got fat on home cooking!)?
Someone would have to define "junk food" vs. OK food -- and there are millions of foods. It's not like cigarettes -- one thing. Food has thousands of categories, each with thousands of sub-categories.
Most food nags think they will ban foods that "stupid poor rednecks" like to eat, but their own favorites will be left alone. However, it is FACT that Pad Thai is more fattening than even fried chicken or hamburgers. Are we going to ban or tax Pad Thai?
Cigarette smoking is one specific thing -- ONE product. That's why we can tax or restrict it. It is also completely unnecessary for life, and has no beneficial qualities.
Eating on the other hand: you have to eat to live. You cannot give up eating! We want people to QUIT cigarettes, not simply "cut down". If we tried to marketing it as "just cut down on your smoking", anti-smoking campaigns would have failed utterly. Cut down from what....to what?
You also fail by claiming that all obesity is due to "junk food" -- but of course, that is undefined. Is junk food candy? or soda pop? how about diet soda? what about that pizza -- junk food, or a perfectly reasonable food with tomatoes, veggies, cheese and maybe a whole wheat crust? is home cooking OK (because I know a LOT of fat people who got fat on home cooking!)?
Someone would have to define "junk food" vs. OK food -- and there are millions of foods. It's not like cigarettes -- one thing. Food has thousands of categories, each with thousands of sub-categories.
Most food nags think they will ban foods that "stupid poor rednecks" like to eat, but their own favorites will be left alone. However, it is FACT that Pad Thai is more fattening than even fried chicken or hamburgers. Are we going to ban or tax Pad Thai?
49
In my view, I don't think our society focuses on childhood obesity to the exclusion of adult obesity. Nearly all the weight loss advertisements are directed toward adults. The author makes the issue sound as if it's a zero-sum game.
6
@educationnet - agree 100%. One of the key reasons why the anti-smoking campaign focused so much on young people very few people start smoking after 25. So the idea was if you can get people through their early 20s without starting, it's unlikely they will ever pick up the addictive (and expensive) habit.
Same thing with childhood obesity. It's alot easier to change the behaviors (food choices, portion size, exercise) of a 10 year-old and impact their life - maybe they won't become obese or at least be able to lose 5-10s now, versus 50 when they are 40 years old.
Same thing with childhood obesity. It's alot easier to change the behaviors (food choices, portion size, exercise) of a 10 year-old and impact their life - maybe they won't become obese or at least be able to lose 5-10s now, versus 50 when they are 40 years old.
2
The battle against "processed junk full of salt sugar and fat" is an uphill battle. After all we crave this junk. And the same for candy and soda.
At the risk of appearing sanctimonious, for adults it is a matter of self-discipline and for children it is a matter of being educated by adults who are capable of self-discipline.
At times though the body is funny. Too much garbage over the years and one's body (and usually doctor) will tell one to desist or suffer the consequences. Sometimes we get a second chance. Sometimes we take it and sometimes we don't. You can't beat your body though; if you can't live with it correctly, often you won't live with it all.
Educate children and hopefully some will grow up to be responsible adults re the "nourishment" that they put into their mouths.
At the risk of appearing sanctimonious, for adults it is a matter of self-discipline and for children it is a matter of being educated by adults who are capable of self-discipline.
At times though the body is funny. Too much garbage over the years and one's body (and usually doctor) will tell one to desist or suffer the consequences. Sometimes we get a second chance. Sometimes we take it and sometimes we don't. You can't beat your body though; if you can't live with it correctly, often you won't live with it all.
Educate children and hopefully some will grow up to be responsible adults re the "nourishment" that they put into their mouths.
11