Why is the world getting so fat?

i might suggest some light reading on this subject. it is not, perhaps, how much we eat but rather how and what and where it comes from. it is all so obvious but not so easy anymore...

http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php
and
http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php

(i know that one should gather information from many sources but Michael Pollen is one stop shopping for a pretty unbias summary of our amazing problem)

I really hate the picture used for this thread - but pun intended) it does illustrate the topic.

I am a big proponent of natural, organic foods. I stay clear of fast food, commercially grown produce and processed foods as much as possible - which is most of the time.

When I'm in LA, I go a favorite little health food store in Santa Monica where I buy liquified vegetables made to order. Mmmmm. I feel great and it's amazing how it and a cup of yogurt sustains me for hours - and I automatically begin shaving off those couple of extra pounds.

Too much meat and processed foods consumption and not enough fruits and vegetables. Also, the car culture has something to do with it in the USA. Most cities here are structured such that it is impossible to get anywhere except by car. In contrast, people in Tokyo get quite a workout. They can walk everywhere, climbing many stairs in the process. I quite envy them, actually.

I do agree that it's not always how much we eat but rather how we eat, what we eat and where it comes from. But I also think it has a lot to do with poor exercise. And most people want to eat the foods that are tasty and not always healthy. Sure you can eat what you want but if your not going to have an diet plan along with it then what's the point? Of course your going to be overweight.

While the world worries about starving to death, we have an abundance of ho-ho's and, hamburgers and everything that can fit into a deep-fryer. Add that to inactivity and you have a world of fat people.

Overly Processed Foods + Culture of Convenience =

1.3 Billion Fat People.

Maybe if we took an hour away from our couches every day, and got some exercise, that number wouldn't be so high.

We have abundance of processed food, which do not provide us with the nutritional needs our body requires for proper nutrition.

Thus we remain hungry....

This is culture at work, promote sugar, white flour, high calorie, processed, but nutrient dense foods. Sell more food, and don't forget to add into the equation, unhealthy eating habits, can cause lots of health problems, hospitals are big business.

Oh don't forget to check out High Fructose Corn Syrup, I just learned by coming to Current, that HFCS cuts off our natural "full" feeling, thus we eat more.

The world eats too much.

while "crack" is again on the rise in several metropolitan areas....

oh sorry..

yea, i agree that the fatness is a result of many things.. most people dont know their limits nor when to stop.. it has become quite convenient to stuff our faces with restaurants on every corner.. the quality of what we eat is completely different from what our ancestors sustained themselves on.. not to mention the inverse relationship with exercise and manual labor over the years..

so yea, its definitely a "huge" problem.. (types the sedentary person behind the computer with a bowl of cereal next to him)


by the way, ever wonder what was in a twinkie?

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/203199

oh gosh !!!

Amen to what most of you are saying. A thread in which most of the comments being made are based on facts, not just opinions!

It is true it isn't how much, but what we eat. It's also what we can afford to eat. The cheaper something is, the more unhealthy it is. The fact the government not only doesn't encourage organic farming and practices, they discourage it by making it nearly three times more expensive to produce (regulations in the market and farm subsidizing).

Then add fuel to the fire by using grain for gasoline. This will make things worse for the food shortage crisis.

Exercise is also important, but I think first we need to realize if you don't have the right fuel in your body, you won't be able to work out efficiently. We should treat food as fuel first and as an indulgence second or not at all. I have no problems with people enjoying a "quick bite" to eat or something "decadent" every couple or three months. When this is a daily occurence, it takes it's toll on the body and the drive within most people to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

More than anything else, inactivity. I can say that when we moved to Texas I saw more really fat people than I've ever saw in my life. It is miserably hot most of the time so people go from their air conditioned homes to their air conditioned cars to air conditioned stores or work places, and back again. They hire their yard work done. They even barbecue from inside going out to put the meat on, turn it and bring it back inside to eat. There is no outside physical activity at all. The biggest culprit in the fat thing is super sized soft drinks, especially the diet drinks. They have them in their hand nonstop from early spring until late fall, some are year around. Eating seems to be an indoor sport. They eat too damned much, even little kids. I cook meat, we eat pastas, I love to bake. We aren't fat because I make iced tea and control the amount of cane sugar that goes into it. A fresh salad is as good tasting to me as homemade enchiladas, tacos, or pizza. Well, almost. We eat, sometimes too much and we aren't fat. I believe that it's because we use our yard, do our own yard work and don't drink soft drinks. To be fair I'm hyperthyroid and skinny, but my husband and grandchildren aren't fat.

High Fructose Corn Syrup, processed foods, and overconsumption are just a couple of reasons, along with a lifestyle that does not include enough exercise.

Instead of Bush moaning about wanting to drill in ANWR, why doesn't he throw some money at making neighbourhoods more fitness oriented? Leave gas prices high. Hell, make them higher by adding tax to them. Use that tax to improve bus and train systems and fitness options for people. That's what the rest of the civilized world does...

yeah, why is that? and to think the fatness was all the sexual (identity) rage and the icon of utmost beauty in even some by-gone historical cultures... I know some of you may not like to think of it that way but =D it does kinda raise some question doesn't it?...I mean, (as I grow a pair of horns and a barbed tail while donning a pitchfork) what if some are "born" or merely "prefer" to "be" that way? hmmmmmm? What if fat people are actually something very much like the "new" homosexuals?? who suddenly demand political "rights" by a constant political agenda because they feel discriminated against in personal, business and/or working relationships simply because they're considered perhaps "indecently" fat, and have even **better** genes to prove it than so-called "homosexuals" with their flimsy phantom genes they've never been able to find... (hey roll over beethoven, wider girths got the real and better-credentialed bone to pick!)??? and maybe, giving the benefit of the doubt, they've got those genes that arent' really so special...just the same but "different" so to speak from everyone elses' =P lol and don't/won't they need "help" too being "accepted" and "coming out" too about how difficult it is to fit into the majority of the mentality that society *suffers* on them intentionally and with malice of forethought??!! right???? How dare *anyone* of these "flatties" say the "fatties" should even think they need to change, or how dare *anyone* suffer their own personal disdain of opinion or preferences for "health/sexuality" on them!!! ;P especially when they were "born" to be "happy" about it or at worst in your face for ANY disagreement you can whimp up! =P lol and they'll park their great divide anywhere and in any manner they see fit, even if *you're* measley "preference" or irrelevant personal "concern" is in the way! lol =D and for that matter, no matter what the "churched" mind of the skinny/healthy has to say/feel about it! =D One day you may wake to find they'll be the ones telling you, "it's YOU who needs the gastrointestinal bypass buddy!" or "YOU freakn frakkn take that flight of stairs! *I'm* just fine the WAY I am!" (snub n huffs galore) =D One day... one day there might not be a poltical leg to stand on. Gimp. =P

You still having a problem with the truth?

funny you should mention that..

http://current.com/items/88924725_obese_inmate_sues_ove...

=D yeah that is funny. thanks...

it is true, it's hard to stay away from all that is bad for you. It is expensive and you can't just pick it up quickly at a deli... but the cost of the doctors visits, the missed days at work, the long term effects etc. should all be taught at a young age. it is as important as the safe sex talk, safe food is something that would have sounded strange in the US at one point but now?

the best rule of thumb i have picked up lately (and i'm really hard on myself) is:

do not eat anything with more than five ingredients in it and nothing you can't pronounce or have not heard of (if you question it... research it before injesting- just like a hunter-gatherer with access to google)...

Because healthy foods are usually more expenisve than cheap, fatty foods, and most people dont have the money to go organic or eat at Whole Foods.

Does that woman in the picture not have any mirrors in her house. Perhaps if she cut down on food she might be able to afford one.

its all about eating habits and lack of exercise. there is no human being with an excuse. its about will power.

my will power happened to fail last night with a bowl of rocky road ice cream but i already went to the gym for 2 hours this morning to make up for it.

wha? so nobody buys my story that some people were born to be fat?? =D

How there are people in this world dying because they eat TOO MUCH. When there are people in this world dying because they eat TOO LITTLE.

I personally have no problem if someone is happy with the way they look (fat or skinny), in fact I think before someone loses weight they SHOULD BE HAPPY with the way they already look and should do it merely for health or personal preference. I saw the Tyra episode (I know, I know, but I'm gay and she's fierce and ghetto and we [us gays] love to emulate fierce black women) about "Squashing" and I really respected Raqui, who was proud of her 6'3'', 500 lb frame. I thought she was articulate, looked very happy, and seemed "healthy", and was very sexxy because of her confidence and bravado. The skinny bitch criticizing her was more disgusting to me than the obese Raqui.

I just think I feel better when I workout and eat foods that are deemed healthier due to their caloric and nutritional values. I know chubby people that have clean bills of health and when you look at them you'd think they would have health problems. So I am not speaking from an "aesthetic" point of view (I mean who the fuck cares what some skinny bitches think about what's sexxy or not), I am speaking from a health perspective.

And when I say health, that means being able to live and function in your everyday surroundings and the ability to do the things you need to do to maintain that activity. If you can do that at 300 lbs and be healthy, then more power to you.

Someone needs to tell the chic in the picture just because the make it in your size doesn't mean you should sport it outside your home.

ok - nuclear war will force humanity to turn back to the hunter gatherer lifestyle which humans evolved to practice , and which aberrant intellectual development caused to go awry . "convenience" is not natural - having to flex some muscle to get fed is .

"Eat food, not too much, and mostly plants".

That's the answer.

One contribution may be that we have too many things in our lives that keep us sitting, not moving our bodies around enough to evenly distribute what we consume.
Just a thought.

Huntre, I completely agree.

As a child, I didn't have a computer of my own--video games were still at arcades and TV wasn't as much fun as swimming or tennis with my friends. Even as a younger adult, as a performing artist, I was on my feet a lot more, and between rehearsals, shows and dancing, I never needed to "work out" per se.

Twelve months after taking my first desk job I was buying a wardrobe 2 sizes larger than my normal. Ten years after that, I was was sizing up diet plans and gym memberships, trying to figure out when I might have time to squeeze a plan into my hectic schedule, because I was panicking about my health. That hectic schedule? Most of it takes place in an office, in front of a computer, and/or in meetings.

I can't imagine what an uphill battle with weight that younger generations have--raised on TV, computers and video games. All I have to combat is my own sense of ennui and fatigue at the end of the work day. They have to combat the habits ingrained from a childhood pop-culture based entirely on sedentary activities. Some of them break the pattern, but I think that most don't.

It ties in with the idea of kids thinking and doing for themselves being undermined by market sources devoted to replacing those crucial activities. I call them the "Imagination Killers".

Who cares if you want to be big that’s your prerogative. Less people walking around means less people on the sidewalk to get in my way when I’m skating. All I ask is that you mind the walkway when you’re pulling into that burger joint. Pedestrians have the right of way so don’t act like you didn’t see me I’m six foot three without the afro or the skateboard you jerk.

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