Obesity on the rise in the US

[Ariel85]

This disgusts me.

 

On average, now more than 25% of Americans are obese. This doesn't mean overweight by a few pounds. Obese is categorized as having a BMI over 30%. 30%!!! Meaning almost a third of you is FAT.

 

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[elcie]

The statistics are very similar in Australia.

 

I'm just an average weight, but I feel positively SKINNY when I walk around the local shopping centre. What's even more concerning is the number of obese children and teenagers. I've heard that the rate of diabetes type two is rising in young people!

[Ariel85]

Exactly!

 

I am very fit (BMI under 20%), and I am amazed at how many really fat people I see on a daily basis. And you're right - how many kids are magnificently overweight.

 

I blame the computer age, and pandering from the fashion/auto/restaurant, etc. industries.

 

People used to be ashamed to be this fat. Now it's almost past the point of enablement, and right into encouragement.

[Ganjette_69]

Do you SERIOUSLY think people are proud to be fat? Seriously, you guys disgust me by hating someone else for how they look. Yes I get it, a lot of them do it to themselves and it is unhealthy, but then again you have no idea what their lives are like. Maybe they're going through complete hell and have absolutely no one there for them so they turn to food. Instead of bashing people you should have some sympathy and be more encouraging towards taking healthy approaches to lifestyles. Not only do I get frustrated by people who are lazy and don't know how to cope properly, I get just as frustrated at hateful bullies who are so quick to judge someone when they themselves have no idea what it is like.

[Crazyaboutdogs]

I wonder what the statistics are for people with eating disorders such as anorexia, obsession with exercise and having the "perfectly" sculpted body.

[elcie]

Do you SERIOUSLY think people are proud to be fat? Seriously, you guys disgust me by hating someone else for how they look. Yes I get it, a lot of them do it to themselves and it is unhealthy, but then again you have no idea what their lives are like. Maybe they're going through complete hell and have absolutely no one there for them so they turn to food. Instead of bashing people you should have some sympathy and be more encouraging towards taking healthy approaches to lifestyles. Not only do I get frustrated by people who are lazy and don't know how to cope properly, I get just as frustrated at hateful bullies who are so quick to judge someone when they themselves have no idea what it is like.

 

Hi Ganjette, if you reread my reply you'll find that my post is one of concern and not of hate!

 

And I DO know what overweight people are going through because I have dealt with weight issues all my life!!!

 

It is only recently that I have had control of my weight. It was when I stopped dieting and started changing my lifestyle that things started to change for me.

 

So....my post is not meant to be seen as a personal attack but as a voice of concern at the escalating problem of obesity in our society.

[tiredofvampires]

Do you SERIOUSLY think people are proud to be fat? Seriously, you guys disgust me by hating someone else for how they look. Yes I get it, a lot of them do it to themselves and it is unhealthy, but then again you have no idea what their lives are like. Maybe they're going through complete hell and have absolutely no one there for them so they turn to food. Instead of bashing people you should have some sympathy and be more encouraging towards taking healthy approaches to lifestyles. Not only do I get frustrated by people who are lazy and don't know how to cope properly, I get just as frustrated at hateful bullies who are so quick to judge someone when they themselves have no idea what it is like.

 

This.

 

The 4th leading cause of death in the U.S. is side effects of prescription medications. It kills tens of thousands of people each year.

 

And count in the top-selling medications anti-depressants and anti-anxiety agents.

 

This is a place of great abundance -- and yet people are very unhappy. Until there is a mass change of priorities, people will turn to anything that takes them out of it for a while. For many people, that's food. (And the very unnatural ways food is prepared for the market, with various synthetic ingredients and excesses like sugar that spike the effect.)

[Seraphim]

These threads always end up bad. It always ends with people being hurt. Those who are overweight KNOW they are overweight. There is no reason to point it out.There are many many emotional,mental,physical and medical reasons as to why someone can be overweight. We all do not know the reasons for an individual person. I think as a society too we KNOW the stats. Yes, people need help, they know it. But it is not really helpful to state stats and then say, "man that is so disgusting".

[Ambiguous X]

I've always lifted weights and sometimes i'm big and sometimes i'm big and fat. This way if you don't respect me, you are gonna fear me. Amerika! -yeah!

[OptomisticGirl]

Well skinny people who deem their body type is the only body type in the world disgust me - and that is not a jab at the OP. people in my everyday life expect this and it drives me bat crap crazy.

 

I am one of those Americans who has a BM of 30%. I'm 5'4" and weigh 205 lbs. Medically i should weigh about 140. I have been 140 before and I do not like how skinny I was then. I may have my insecure moments and my 'I'm going to lose this weight!' kicks, but I'm finally at a spot in my life were I am happy with who I am and how I am. no one wants to be fat or over weight - but when it's cheaper (at least in this area of the country) to buy fattening food compared to healthy food and people aren't getting raises or don't have jobs, it's a two in hand thing. this country is in major debt and our unemployment rate is down the toilet - not surprised if over half of us are fat.

[Ariel85]

And it's exactly this type of pandering that keeps people obese.

 

Why is that? When I was a kid, you rarely saw very overweight people. Now it's pervasive.

 

I think people can rationalize being obese til the cows come home, but why don't I ever hear people making excuses for being overweight being concerned about their increased health risks? Does this never cross ones mind?

 

Honestly, I really think the fact that so many people accept and tolerate the obesity rates rising is what will make it continue. Everyone seems to have a reason why they are or it's perfectly acceptable to be so obese, but does no one care about their health risks?

 

FWIW, I'd be just as tweaked if I saw that smoking was on the rise. Being obese is just as dangerous to your health as smoking. We are well aware of the pitfalls, and ways to overcome the problem. Yet, why are more and more people ignoring that, and just becoming complacent???

 

This is the real problem, folks. You start embracing and accepting an unhealthy lifestyle, and before you know it, healthy and fit is abnormal.

[Seraphim]

So basically you made this thread to poke at overweight people?

[elcie]

.... when it's cheaper (at least in this area of the country) to buy fattening food compared to healthy food and people aren't getting raises or don't have jobs, it's a two in hand thing. this country is in major debt and our unemployment rate is down the toilet - not surprised if over half of us are fat.

 

This situation is so paradoxical........in history and some of today's cultures, being overweight was/is considered a sign of wealth and plenty; therefore a positive trait. In western society, with it's cheap, fattening fast food, it means the opposite. Obesity is seen as a sign of poverty; therefore seen as a negative trait.

 

It's strange times we live in!

[avman]

Thread closed.