Are People Obese in America because it is Socially Acceptable

originally posted by: ketsuko
People don't cook. They eat convenience food and too much of it. So they eat wrong. It makes them fat and instead of learning how to live better, they demand it be normalized as a beautiful lifestyle choice.

You are so correct as usual I used to love to cook and was good at it too, even tried it when I was newly single for a few weeks. But it was such a pain in the ass, and that next door to McDonald's was always cooking. Being single I'd go to work extra early and stay late so Id just stopped cooking and start consuming ate McDonald's breakfast on the way to work and grabbing McDonald's or something else for dinner. Once you get your body over that tipping point you are screwed. The problem is it creeps up on you and you don't feel like crap till it's way too late, and you have abused your body.

Have no doubt there is a lot of depression eating going on too, once you get to a certain weight or look you feel like nothing and no amount of anything will take it off. People eat loads of IDGAF at that point. Food addiction is no different than any other addiction, nicotine, alcohol, or drugs it just has different consequences and is easier to get away with publically.

As a woman, I buy online at some of the sites such as QVC and the like, and I notice them offering clothing in sizes now up to 5X, modeling it as well. I want to see how this clothing looks on models of my regular size, and feel left out quite often, and they are calling this 'all inclusive'. LOL These clothing corporations are now catering to a totally different category of sizes for the almighty dollar. It's fine to include everyone, but isn't health important anymore.

Speaking as someone that coaches athletics at the highschool level and seeing these kids on a daily basis a lot of it is laziness and eating habits.

The school I work at provides meals etc for the kids before practice etc and its all processed garbage. It does contain some fruit but typically a very small orange or apple but usually they go uneaten for the chips and garbage prepackaged crap. I always ask my son who is a sophomore about the lunches and they are bad. I also think most homes have both parents working or the single parents I know of that work 2 jobs many just don't have the time or perceive to have the time to make something with real ingredients.

Inflation is only making things worse as it seems many of the processed dinners and products loaded with corn syrup and sugars haven't gone up as much as the real food or real baked items. I know for baked bread my store has gone up over $1 per loaf at almost $5 total for their bakery variety with no preservatives. While the mass produced preservative loaves are still waay less. I have started making my own bread when I can because I can't justify paying $5 per loaf of oat bread or rye bread. Maybe its just me but I don't feel comfortable eating bread that doesn't mold for a few weeks.

Then you get to the kids work ethics and mental toughness to push through and better themselves. I just had a conversation with a coworker basically stating how we are going to be screwed unless something big changes because the mentality of the young people and the acceptance of quitting is overwhelming. I also think the lack of gym class and physical activity in the schools is a big issue. For many of the kids that would be the only chance to get out and physically move and it doesn't happen. Instead they just sit all day long and get no exercise.

This is just the young people and I am not going to get into the adults that I believe have accepted the idea of being overweight. One main issue is the insurance companies etc do not hold people accountable or reward people enough for exercise or healthy living instead everyone gets to pay for the many people that choose to live poorly. I do understand that there are legitimate issues some people have but when looking at the shape of the nation right now it is dwarfed by the crowd that doesn't care.

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: infolurker

Fat shaming does not help people in any way, so why do people do it? I guess it gives people a feeling of superiority and power to emotionally harm other people.

Most bullies have low self-esteem so they do it to give themselves a sense of superiority.

If I had a daughter that was 300 lbs, trust and believe I would be shaming her every chance I got.
Sorry, but it is not attractive, it's unhealthy, and it's just plain lazy.

It's a mix of poor life choices, lack of education, and also big corps social engineering. Your processed junk food and pharmaceutical corps want you this way! Obesity is higher in poorer areas - why because healthy food is priced high, when you go to Walmart, you don't ever see 2 for 1 on fresh veg, or deals on fresh fish do you? What do you see deals on? Sugar and salty crap. I had a GP once down in Gloucestershire who said the aim is to kill you off at retirement age with cancers and heart attacks etc. You tend to stop consuming at retirement age and they have to pay you your pension which they don't want to do!

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: JAGStorm

There is no real preventative help in this country. They love to treat you with a myriad of pharmaceuticals AFTER, but if you try to be proactive you are totally on your own.

Yep! totally checks out, I've seen the same experience with people near me. It seems as if there is no money to potentially make out of you as a patience yeah they don't care that much.

Once upon a time, a long time ago in a mythical age before the 1970’s…people only had one car. You also only had one phone, usually on the wall in the kitchen.

If you wanted to go somewhere you either walked or rode a bicycle. If you wanted to talk with someone you either walked or rode a bicycle. The only time you were in the car was work, grocery store, clothes shopping, church or doctor’s appointment…all places no one really wanted to go.

Digging in your pocket to answer the phone versus rushing to the kitchen to beat that third ring…those days are long gone. And if you don’t fish your phone out in time, you know who called just by looking at it.

Plus in the 70’s, we played Jarts. There was a special advantage to not being a fat ass built into the game called sudden emergency dodging.

originally posted by: RonnieJersey

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: infolurker

Fat shaming does not help people in any way, so why do people do it? I guess it gives people a feeling of superiority and power to emotionally harm other people.

Most bullies have low self-esteem so they do it to give themselves a sense of superiority.

If I had a daughter that was 300 lbs, trust and believe I would be shaming her every chance I got.
Sorry, but it is not attractive, it's unhealthy, and it's just plain lazy.

Same here. Fat and lazy is no way to go through life.

My question to all you fatties in here, How many of you drink diet cola? I am willing to bet more than half.

What do Europeans drink(used to, Hear they are getting fat now too) ? Americans should do that. Also probably getting rid of all the horrible poison in our food would be good. Though for whatever reason we love it?

originally posted by: AuditTheAudit
It's a mix of poor life choices, lack of education, and also big corps social engineering. Your processed junk food and pharmaceutical corps want you this way! Obesity is higher in poorer areas - why because healthy food is priced high, when you go to Walmart, you don't ever see 2 for 1 on fresh veg, or deals on fresh fish do you? What do you see deals on? Sugar and salty crap. I had a GP once down in Gloucestershire who said the aim is to kill you off at retirement age with cancers and heart attacks etc. You tend to stop consuming at retirement age and they have to pay you your pension which they don't want to do!

Hmmm that's interesting here around me metro Atlanta vegetables have gone up but they are still cheap and definitely cheaper than most of the other crap. Sure they got deals but all groceries prices have gone through the roof.

I can be happy with salads and grilled vegetables for a long time.

no, its because how poor America used to be we always focused on doing everything we could to make food as cheap and abundant as possible, like using artificial substitutes and preservatives in everything as an example, so when we became an economic superpower and food became abundant our old habits of hoarding food and stuffing ourselves whenever possible stuck around, especially where America is the poorest and least developed. its similar in many nations that escaped poverty more recently, when people are struggling for food its only natural to horde food and eat as much as possible when they can, its what humanity and every living creature does to guarantee survival.

a reply to: JAGStorm

read all the posts, some good points made. one thing that hasn't been mentioned unless i missed it is Mental Illness

Several studies have found that a disproportionate number of patients with mental illness are obese compared to the general population. A study comprising randomly selected outpatients receiving psychiatric care in Maryland found that their body mass index (BMI) was almost twice that of the comparison group.2

While rates of obesity are increasing globally, with 39% of adults overweight or obese, there appears to be a link between mental illness and obesity.3 According the World Health Organization, patients with a history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a greater chance of becoming obese.3 Furthermore, a Swedish study found that obese patients suffered from depression as intense as those experiencing chronic pain.4 Therefore, a history of mental illness may increase the risk of obesity, while obesity may increase an individual’s chances of developing a psychiatric disorder.

The reasons cited for the link between obesity and psychiatric problems are unsurprising: poor self-image, physical inactivity, the biological disruptions caused by obesity, and the social stigma related to being overweight all contribute to a predisposition to mental illness.

Mental Illness and Obesity

so for those that say shaming them is the answer, your probably doing nothing more than adding to the problem.
lots of folks cope with sh@@ in different ways, some of those ways aren't the healthiest.

take addiction for instance, it is quite common for a person addicted to a substance to replace one substance for another when quitting the first. some of which could be just as bad as the first or others.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I have struggled with weight most of my adult life. There is so much more to it than people realize. Its not a lack of willpower or self control. Its not a lack of self respect or dignity. That is simply not it. You want to know what willpower is? Its walking out the door every day knowing how poorly people are going to treat you just because of how you look, but you do it anyway.

One of the biggest problems, especially for kids, is the foods they eat. Eating healthy is expensive. Eating natural food is expensive. Eating real food as opposed to processed or lab created is expensive. The more processed the food is the less healthy nutrition there is. Look at the label of Quaker Oats Oatmeal sold in the US compared to the one sold in Europe.

The US label for Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal:
Whole grain rolled oats
sugar
creaming agent (maltodextrin, sunflower and palm oils, whey, sodium caseinate)
flavored and colored fruit pieces (dehydrated apples treated with sodium sulfite, artificial strawberry flavor, citric acid, red 40)
salt
guar gum
artificial flavor
citric acid
niacinamide
vitamin a palmitate
reduced iron
pyridoxine hydrochloride
riboflavin
thiamin mononitrate
folic acid
(did you notice there are no strawberries in this strawberry and cream oatmeal?)

The UK label for Summer Berries Oatmeal
Quaker whole grain rolled oats
sugar
freeze dried raspberry pieces
freeze dried strawberry pieces
natural flavoring

This is one of the main reasons.

As for accepting obesity - it isn't accepted. If you have ever been obese you know that you get stared at, mocked, laughed at, treated like you are somehow less intelligent, and blamed for all manner of things you had nothing to do with. You get paid less for the same job because you are perceived as less motivated or productive. You get passed over for raises and promotions because you will never look as though you have earned it. People make all kinds of assumptions about you that they would never make of anyone else for fear of being called out as a hater or bigot. Shaming is never okay.

Overweight people are the one demographic for whom discrimination is uniformly accepted.

Being obese isn't necessarily unhealthy in and of itself. There are plenty of skinny people in graves and plenty of obese people doing just fine.

One of the problems with obesity is that many people don't realize it is usually a medical condition, not a choice. Think about it, who would choose to be obese?

Many people complain about high insurance costs and blame obese people for it. Well, here is something for you to think about. I was insured through my employer and wanted to get into some kind of medically supervised weight loss program. I called my insurance company and asked what options I had. They said I had no options because weight loss is "purely cosmetic and is not covered." The person then went on to inform me that my weight was a huge health risk and I should do something about it. I responded by reminding this person they just told me its purely cosmetic - affecting appearance only.

I tried a little experiment. I called my own insurance company again only I called the sales line and said I wanted to get an insurance policy. The guy was all too happy to sell me one. We did all the questions and when we got to height and weight he stopped and said, "I cant insure you. You are too much of a health risk." I asked for clarification. He said my height and weight made me a health risk and he couldn't insure me. I asked if there were any options at all - someone has to have insurance somewhere... He said, "I could sell you a policy but I would have to charge you so much you could never afford it."

If I have insurance my weight is cosmetic. If I don't have insurance my weight is now a huge health risk. Think about that. If my weight is purely cosmetic, which is appearance only, he was going to charge me more because of how I looked.

And again, its not a choice for many people. For me, I was very athletic when I was younger. But, after cancer and a few major surgeries, one that left me with severed nerves, my activity level dropped to extremely low levels. Even though my appetite had decreased I still gained weight. Its funny, the cancer, the nerve damage, not one insurance company ever used those as an excuse to charge me more or deny me insurance. But my weight, which was a result of the cancer and the surgeries, yeah - ring me up big time.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
a reply to: JAGStorm

I owe the fact that I'm slim and fit to my close friend Ernie.

Ernie is a tapeworm.

NSFW I watch this it really keeps me from eating anything NSFW

People do not understand the fat epidemic in the US, it was manufactured by the food industry and the big pharma.

Yep, we are being drilled that is food choices, we are being drilled that is genetic related.

To a point is both.

Food choices, we have no food choices we buy what is offered to us in groceries stores, the problem is the way food is manufactured in the US.

Do a search history on food processing and you will find the link to big pharma.

Is harder to go out of your way to make sure you check every single item of food you buy, cook and eat than get ready and easy to cook items right from the shelves and freezers and cheaper too.

When the diet industry took hold in the 80s that's when fit American went down the hill and obesity started to become an epidemic.

Nothing in our society and in our nation happen by chance, nothing.

originally posted by: ketsuko
People don't cook. They eat convenience food and too much of it. So they eat wrong. It makes them fat and instead of learning how to live better, they demand it be normalized as a beautiful lifestyle choice.

I eat 'fast-food' maybe once or twice a year, mostly because of others then . I always cook at home, but it does get boring.
It just seems more fun with junk food

a reply to: JAGStorm

April 15th 1955 and it snowballed from there.
The beginning of the end.

That was the day the first McDonald's opened. What was a once a month treat became a lifestyle.
People stopped taking their lunch to work and just popped out to whatever was handy. On your way home, you get a bucket of KFC because you're too tired to cook. Entire generations grew up on fast food and look where it's got us.
Little Debbie, The Keebler Elves, Oreos, tv dinners/microwave meals, soda companies et al.

TV dinners, there's nothin' else to eat
TV dinners, they really can't be beat
I like 'em frozen but you understand
I throw 'em in and wave 'em and I'm a brand new man, oh yeah

TV dinners, they're goin' to my head
TV dinners my skin is turnin' red
Twenty year old turkey in a thirty year old tin
I can't wait until tomorrow and thaw one out again, oh yeah

TV dinners, I'm feelin' kinda rough
TV dinners, this one's kinda tough
I like the enchiladas and the teriyaki too
I even like the chicken if the sauce is not too blue
And they're mine, all mine, oh yeah
And they sure are fine
Gotta have 'em, gimme somethin' now

- ZZ Top

a reply to: BernnieJGato

I definitely think there is a mental health aspect to this.

Not just of the childen (even adult children) that are obese but mental health problem with the adults that raised them.
Maybe the adults were rewarded with food and things like that.