Has "overweight" become the new norm in the US?

@NiKva said:

@EpicSteve said:

@thabigred said:

I workout 7 days a week, run a mile a day at least 4 days a week(taken a break during the holidays) and I am one of the one third of Americans considered overweight.

I'm not going to excuse my brethren eating cheezy poofs but I think the BMI scale is archaic and fucked.

It's totally your diet that's screwing you over. Not to mention your nervous system gets too wrecked with daily workouts. Try cutting two days out of the week. Actually run 1.5 or 2 miles, or run the mile fast. And look into some supplements like proteins and vitamins.

Can't tell if serious or not.

Physically fit people will be "heavy" compared to the standard BMI weight, even if their weight is mostly muscle.

Unless thabigred weights a lot because of his muscles rather than fat, everything EpicSteve wrote is dead on. Working out that much is not good for your overall health. The body need time to rest and recover. thabigred should also look into the possibility of running more than just a mile. Any reasonable young and healthy person can run 2 miles at mild pace. You can add at least 0.5 miles every week. I also think the diet is to blame if you're not losing body fat. Your diet plays a major role in losing body fat and building muscles.

BMI is not super useful for many other reasons, but for actual underweight or overweight people, it's a good indication how much off the scale they are from their ideal weight. If your BMI values says you're overweight and it's plainly obvious it's because of muscle mass and not fat, then your BMI values are not really that interesting and you probably look like The Rock.

I blame video games.

@SL68 said:

This is probably going to make some Americans mad, but you'll have to deal with it. As a European (not from UK though), I can't help but see what's defined as overweight here, is defined as normal by Americans.

I've not seen this once or twice. I've seen it, or heard it, a lot of times from Americans. Is it because so many Americans today are overweight that they think it's normal now? If you are what is considered normal where I live, Americans think you're a thin stick who'll break if you touch it.

Another example is sexual preferences. On American message boards, I often see people praising the huge asses of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian. And then they think that every ass that doesn't stick out 1 meter is "flat". I'm not saying Kim is fat, but her ass is.

Please note that I'm not saying that obese or fat are the new norms, but "overweight" is. In the US and UK, there are so many people overweiht today, maybe the society has begun to think it's normal and attractive? I mean, physical ideals change through time, that's a well known fact.

Is this just rubbish, or is there any truth to it?

I pretty much agree with you on everything but this. I've got a pretty unique perspective on it, so here goes...

I'm a chubby chaser. I love the fat girls. That being said, I'm a very small minority here in the US of A. In my experience, skinny girls are the ones that everyone goes after. Some guys will go after "thick" girls, but usually when most guys think thick they mean maybe five or ten extra pounds, all in the breasts or ass. My attraction to fatness is a fetish, I don't see it as a sign of the times or anything.

I don't think being overweight will be seen as attractive or normal any time soon, in the media and entertainment industry at least. If you'll notice, Hollywood still has the agenda that thin is beautiful, which I think to a point is necessary, considering we all know the health risks associated with obesity. As far as being normal goes, as long as high school is a part of everyone's life, being fat will never be normal or socially acceptable. It is what it is. I'd never try and make a case for obesity as a healthy or normal lifestyle, because it simply isn't. As much as I love fat women it'd be simply ignorant of me to defend it. I believe people are free to make their own decisions, and if a girl decides a nightly threesome with Ben and Jerry is the life she wants, I'm all over it.

@EpicSteve: @EpicSteve said:

I've been doing a lot of research on diet and exercise and am astonished at how easily it is to eat poorly. Even when you think you're on a good diet, chances are you aren't. I read a statistic that 67% of Americans are obese. That's obese, not just chubby or kinda fat. Everyone I know that isn't fat only appear "fit" due to their natural metabolism. People are simply too lazy to workout and too undisciplined to not eat terribly.

I seriously hope you don't actually believe that.

Since the beginning of time a little bit of fat on women was attractive. Look at the art from the earlier days of man kind in cave paintings. Female bodies are exaggerated and inflated.

Women with curves > women who look like they are made of twigs. That's all I have to say about this.

haha here we go

America is built around the automobile (ie. suburbs and big ass roads) and has systems in place that make corn and sugar ideal to produce and manufacture. It's not Europe or Asia, get over it. Also I'm sorry you have a small ass, but don't worry some people are into that, you'll find the right person sooner or later.

Joking aside, I think fitness classes should be mandatory in school just like many other subjects.

It hasn't become the new norm yet, but it is on pace to be.

It's the norm in the south and in specific communities (Micronesians for example; which is a US territory), country-wide probably not for a while yet; also the precipitous decline of the US in the near future will probably hurt obesity's success.

http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/2/1/10

@SL68 said:

@MonkeyKing1969 said:

Nope, I honestly think most Americans think being fat is disagreeable. Being fat will never seem normal to most people. Oh, there are people who do like the look of fatness, just as some people get turned on by 'any other' body type. But, the concept of beauty for humanity has been studied a great deal for the past 200 years. Even accounting for culture, and physiological differences between distant cultures the concept of what is attractive is fixed in our human million years old human primate programming. You can reprogram people with all sorts of positive and negative reinforcement to make them believe something consciously, but unconscionably we know what is attractive and what is not.

My point is that Americans see "slightly overweight" as "normal" these days. The definitions have changed with the increasing weight problem. So no, no one likes to be fat, but the problem is that the definitions of what's fat is changing.

And, my point is I don't think definitions have changed. I think we all know even as children what people should look like, its cultural and what you see around you...but what you see around you is also magazines, tv, movies. I don't think the average Americans conception of normal weight has changed in 100 years, and I don't think it will change until the outfielder of the bell curve change as well. I would even say the inclusion of more heavy people in media (CBS sitcom Mike & Molly) is doing more damage then help. I think when people flip the channel on that they see the same presentation of weight as they did from Laurel and Hardy in the 1930s or Rerun on What's Happening. It is the same same fat jokes done over and over.

Speaking as a 19 year old Black guy, I love me some thighs. Oh, and there's a noticeable difference between being "thick" and being "obese."

@Vinny_Says said:

Joking aside, I think fitness classes should be mandatory in school just like many other subjects.

As far as I know they are. They were when I was a kid and I'm 26. That's probably determined on a state by state basis though.

Honestly, where I go to college I see far more fit/skinny people than overweight/obese people.

I swear I'm one of two people who is overweight at my college.

Also, maybe its because those who are medically overweight, but when I see them, they look normal/healthy.

The OP's confusion over big butts made me laugh so hard.

@Turtlebird95 said:

The OP's confusion over big butts made me hard.

Fixed.

It's a lot easier and cheaper to get unhealthy foods than healthy foods.

I just ate 4 tacos for supper with nary a vegetable or fruit in sight. I'm doing my part to make this thread's dream America a reality!

Also *in my sexy voice*

"Hello, ladies. I think you look fine no matter what the size of your behind. I'll call you later. Maybe we can get something to eat."

@Voxel said:

It's a lot easier and cheaper to get unhealthy foods than healthy foods.

True, but that doesent explain it.

@SirPsychoSexy said:

@EpicSteve: @EpicSteve said:

I've been doing a lot of research on diet and exercise and am astonished at how easily it is to eat poorly. Even when you think you're on a good diet, chances are you aren't. I read a statistic that 67% of Americans are obese. That's obese, not just chubby or kinda fat. Everyone I know that isn't fat only appear "fit" due to their natural metabolism. People are simply too lazy to workout and too undisciplined to not eat terribly.

I seriously hope you don't actually believe that.

Someone pointed out I mixed the percentage of obese and just overweight. Regardless, a lot of people in this country are really lazy and fat.

@Zlimness said:

@NiKva said:

@EpicSteve said:

@thabigred said:

I workout 7 days a week, run a mile a day at least 4 days a week(taken a break during the holidays) and I am one of the one third of Americans considered overweight.

I'm not going to excuse my brethren eating cheezy poofs but I think the BMI scale is archaic and fucked.

It's totally your diet that's screwing you over. Not to mention your nervous system gets too wrecked with daily workouts. Try cutting two days out of the week. Actually run 1.5 or 2 miles, or run the mile fast. And look into some supplements like proteins and vitamins.

Can't tell if serious or not.

Physically fit people will be "heavy" compared to the standard BMI weight, even if their weight is mostly muscle.

Unless thabigred weights a lot because of his muscles rather than fat, everything EpicSteve wrote is dead on. Working out that much is not good for your overall health. The body need time to rest and recover. thabigred should also look into the possibility of running more than just a mile. Any reasonable young and healthy person can run 2 miles at mild pace. You can add at least 0.5 miles every week. I also think the diet is to blame if you're not losing body fat. Your diet plays a major role in losing body fat and building muscles.

BMI is not super useful for many other reasons, but for actual underweight or overweight people, it's a good indication how much off the scale they are from their ideal weight. If your BMI values says you're overweight and it's plainly obvious it's because of muscle mass and not fat, then your BMI values are not really that interesting and you probably look like The Rock.

I think BMI is a dumb way to gauge health. I just use a weight scale and a body fat percentage machine. Costs about $30. Me personally, I'm not concerned with what I should be. I'm concerned with my health goals. Right now, I'm on a mass-building diet and training routine.

My psychology professor says that we are genetically predisposed to like big butts because it tells our brain that they will be more than adequate for child birth. Personally I think he's full of shit, but whatever, if you spend thousands of dollars on a piece of paper that entitles you to that opinion, who am I to argue?

Europe and Australia are QUICKLY catching up in "fatitude"

@Hunter5024 said:

My psychology professor says that we are genetically predisposed to like big butts because it tells our brain that they will be more than adequate for child birth. Personally I think he's full of shit, but whatever, if you spend thousands of dollars on a piece of paper that entitles you to that opinion, who am I to argue?

He's right to the extent that such a evolutionary predisposition has an effect, which is to say somewhat but far from significant or majority. Of course I'm a sociologists so naturally I'm biased but in terms of defining and understanding what is considered beautiful, it's all the process of socialization, which happens over the course of a lifetime and is contingent on culture which itself is contingent upon historical and regional contexts.

The OP is really asking about 3 different topics all at the same time. Official statistics for what is considered obese, overweight etc., social definitions of normal for body types, historical/economic/social factors that explain national and regional differences in weight and food health, are all different topics that are kinda running together. The definition of normal is varied but patterned (it's the shape of the distribution that is likely elusive without research). There are certainly prevailing elements that suggest "fat" is still a status considered undesirable and implicative of some sort of failing relative to an internalized norm (as far as the individual is concerned. Whether it does or does not is moothere). The last 60 years of American history following the depression has probably the largest factor in explaining the supply side of food health in terms of what is being consumed and how it is distributed (super markets, larger calorie counts/portion sizes, huge subsidized agriculture industry etc.) as well as the demand. The national statistics are informed by the presence of poverty and segregation in the American south, which is a factor why it is highest in rates of crime and lowest in food health, but as a result of America's regional character as well as the urban/suburban/rural split, there is a great amount of stratification. It's why you have incredibly fat and incredibly thin people, people who fetishize BBW women and others who suffer mental disorders/cycles they can't break in the effort to get skinny. In general the median point has probably moved forward and shock stories of too fat/too skinny has a normative effect but overall I would say it's all over the place.

It's funny because personally I know of many Europeans who think we're health nuts and go way overboard on stuff like healthy food and exercise. So there's that.

@EpicSteve said:

@Zlimness said:

@NiKva said:

@EpicSteve said:

@thabigred said:

I workout 7 days a week, run a mile a day at least 4 days a week(taken a break during the holidays) and I am one of the one third of Americans considered overweight.

I'm not going to excuse my brethren eating cheezy poofs but I think the BMI scale is archaic and fucked.

It's totally your diet that's screwing you over. Not to mention your nervous system gets too wrecked with daily workouts. Try cutting two days out of the week. Actually run 1.5 or 2 miles, or run the mile fast. And look into some supplements like proteins and vitamins.

Can't tell if serious or not.

Physically fit people will be "heavy" compared to the standard BMI weight, even if their weight is mostly muscle.

Unless thabigred weights a lot because of his muscles rather than fat, everything EpicSteve wrote is dead on. Working out that much is not good for your overall health. The body need time to rest and recover. thabigred should also look into the possibility of running more than just a mile. Any reasonable young and healthy person can run 2 miles at mild pace. You can add at least 0.5 miles every week. I also think the diet is to blame if you're not losing body fat. Your diet plays a major role in losing body fat and building muscles.

BMI is not super useful for many other reasons, but for actual underweight or overweight people, it's a good indication how much off the scale they are from their ideal weight. If your BMI values says you're overweight and it's plainly obvious it's because of muscle mass and not fat, then your BMI values are not really that interesting and you probably look like The Rock.

I think BMI is a dumb way to gauge health. I just use a weight scale and a body fat percentage machine. Costs about $30. Me personally, I'm not concerned with what I should be. I'm concerned with my health goals. Right now, I'm on a mass-building diet and training routine.

I think that's a healthy perspective on this issue, that most people sadly lack. I see way to many people counting calories, looking up numbers, pushing themselves too hard and generally missing the point; what matters in the end, is that you're getting some form of satisfaction from the health benefits of physical activity, routines and nutritional diets.

yes, its disgusting. Nothing but fat people everywhere i look. I dont understand why people wouldnt want at least a little bit of health in thier body.

@JasonR86 said:

I'm not sure why I'm even giving this thread this much attention. I'm not convinced this isn't a 'say something to start a ruckus and run' thread.

You were right @JasonR86 this was a 'star ruckus and run' thread. You are a smart fucking bastard.

Much of the obesity epidemic is due to bad land use planning and increasing suburbanization since the 1960s here in the U.S.

Basically, the government deferred to private interests (developers) who created an industry in building homes for white people fleeing increasingly diverse inner cities (see: 'white flight' in the 1950s and 60s). It became the norm for (predominantly white) people to live in suburbs that weren't built to be walkable. The suburbs were built to house people who would commute to the city for their jobs and then back home in the evenings. Thus, a car culture was created where people had no use for walking since the suburbs were designed to be low-density with large plots, cul-de-sacs, etc.

I think the advancement of technology didn't help...more entertainment means more distractions, which leads to a sedentary lifestyle (and yes, video games are a factor here, they're just do damn addicting sometimes). The perpetuation of white collar jobs where people sit at a computer for 8 hours per day (and then drive home and eat dinner with zero exercise) is yet another problem.

Luckily, young people are moving back into dense inner cities where walking to the supermarket, restaurants, and the workplace is actually doable. The trend is reversing, but it might be too little too late and land use policy has to keep up with the changes.

I need a dime that's top of the line: cute face, thin waist and a big behind.

And that about sums it up, thank you.

@Clonedzero said:

Europe and Australia are QUICKLY catching up in "fatitude"

I should add that the suburbanization I covered in my last post coupled with massive agriculture subsidies paved the way for the fast food industry to get a foothold in the U.S.

Since the suburbs grew so quickly, there really wasn't enough time for small, locally owned businesses to grow with them, so fast food companies bought up land near highways and suburban office parks to take the place of comparable small grocery stores and locally-owned restaurants that one would see in a city. Applebees and Outback Steakhouse became the new 'night out' for many Americans (and, of course, families drove to said 'restaurants').

Note: The ridiculous agriculture subsidies in this country are the fault of the fact that we have 2 Senators from every state. Thus, states with small populations but lots of space (see: Kansas, Iowa, Nebreska, Oklahoma, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Wisconsin, and many more) had representation equal to California but were able to organize and pass legislation favoring colossal food producers like ConAgra, DuPont, and Monsanto. Since the Senate is the most powerful lawmaking body in American government, the dozens of Senators from these small states created the existing food monopoly favoring the genetically modified corn, rice, wheat and soybeans that we put into just about all processed food these days.

I can't believe no one has posted this one yet... or am I dating myself here?

O yes everyone in my family is fat.

Not all Americans are fat and its not the norm. Noone in my family is over weight becuase of eating. The only one who is large is my grandmother becuase of diabetes. Intact my imdiate family is under weight.

@Iron_Tool said:

I can't believe no one has posted this one yet... or am I dating myself here?

oh yeaaah

It's not "normal" in the sense that it's accepted or encouraged. However, there are too many people here who are overweight and it mostly stems from an obsession with shitty processed "food". Maybe there is a difference in standard but I don't think it's as big as you make it out to be. I see a lot of "plump" people from the UK, namely England.

And as for the the derrière, I love a woman with a booty. Sir mix a lot and myself have that in common. At a certain point, it's fucking semantics. Is Kim Kardasian's ass fat, plump, juicy, big, round, ect? Whatever you call it, I'm into it. Maybe she's a bad example since her personality dwarfs the size of her ass, in my opinion. Either way, I've got to interest in a girl with a shovel butt. It's just not my style. I don't think it's an American thing, either. Have you seen Brazilian women? Good lord. Google search the watermelon woman if you don't believe me.

Fat people are people, too.

Stop hatin', start helpin'.

@imsh_pl said:

The major cause of the overweight epidemic in the US is the fact that the US government strongly subsidises corn and puts a lot of regulations on sugar which makes sweetening everything with high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar much cheaper. The corn syrup is really shitty for your health: it limits the amount of insulin your body can produce which decreases your metabolism and makes it hard to regulate appetite.

It's not like americans have 'bad genetics' for maintaining fitness or something.

The major cause is fat lazy fucks eating fast food and donuts and not working out.

No not really, for about every fat person, you have someone who finds them as a repulsive, fat bastard.

Unless you're talking about barely overweight (which, come on, is what you're talking about).

@jdh5153 said:

@imsh_pl said:

The major cause of the overweight epidemic in the US is the fact that the US government strongly subsidises corn and puts a lot of regulations on sugar which makes sweetening everything with high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar much cheaper. The corn syrup is really shitty for your health: it limits the amount of insulin your body can produce which decreases your metabolism and makes it hard to regulate appetite.

It's not like americans have 'bad genetics' for maintaining fitness or something.

The major cause is fat lazy fucks eating fast food and donuts and not working out.

Listen to this man. HE WENT TO COLLEGE! Clearly there's no correlation here. What's the only difference between society today and society a hundred years ago? A hundred years ago, everyone spent more time on the treadmill at the gym!

@SL68 said:

@believer258 said:

@SL68

@Oldirtybearon said:

@SL68: I was willing to hear you out until you spoke of big booty in a derogatory manner.

Kill that noise, son.

And this is what I'm talking about. First off, a big booty is most likely the same as a plump and slightly fat booty. Note that I said "slightly fat" and not just "fat". Second, people like you seem to think that if the booty isn't big and plump, it has to be flat and boney. Do people really think women only have either big, plump behinds or small, flat ones? Just those two types? There are booties with shape without being big and without standing out like a shelf.

You're using the word "big" to hide the fact that the booty is plump and a little fat. Now don't misunderstand me. I know booties are made mostly of fat and muscle, but that's not exactly the point here. Just because a booty has some fat (like all booties do) doesn't mean it's plump and a little flabby.

Why is the booty big? It's because there's so much excess fat! That's the reason it's big! Look at Kim Kardashian and let's say she didn't inject silicone or whatever in her booty. Why do you think her butt is so big? It's mostly flab.

Kim Kardashian doesn't have a ton of excess fat. On the subject of fat being normal in America - it is but not because of preference. It's because of all the High Fructose Corn Syrup in a lot of cheap food. Having a diet completely absent of that shit is both difficult and somewhat expensive.

Not her body as a whole, no. But her ass.

You sound like you want to get through some kind of political message here... do you really think this is because of cheap food?

umm it is..... you come over here and you will see that in american money healthy food is really fucking expensive where as unhealthy food is cheap. Clearly you have never been to america so how can you criticize its people for being fat when you don't know why?

by the way whats wrong with women with bigger(or in your words fatter) butts? I've seen some people who naturally have bigger butts.

@TooWalrus: 100 years ago most people had to actually work. we didnt have computers that did it for us. people didnt have jobs where you sit at a desk for 9 hours. then lives where after those 9 hours at a desk you go home and sit 5 more at a desk or on the couch. then go to bed.

@TooWalrus said:

@jdh5153 said:

@imsh_pl said:

The major cause of the overweight epidemic in the US is the fact that the US government strongly subsidises corn and puts a lot of regulations on sugar which makes sweetening everything with high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar much cheaper. The corn syrup is really shitty for your health: it limits the amount of insulin your body can produce which decreases your metabolism and makes it hard to regulate appetite.

It's not like americans have 'bad genetics' for maintaining fitness or something.

The major cause is fat lazy fucks eating fast food and donuts and not working out.

Listen to this man. HE WENT TO COLLEGE! Clearly there's no correlation here. What's the only difference between society today and society a hundred years ago? A hundred years ago, everyone spent more time on the treadmill at the gym!

Why am I not fat then? Yeah, going to the gym and not eating like a fucking loser surely has nothing to do with it.

@Zlimness said:

@EpicSteve said:

@Zlimness said:

@NiKva said:

@EpicSteve said:

@thabigred said:

I workout 7 days a week, run a mile a day at least 4 days a week(taken a break during the holidays) and I am one of the one third of Americans considered overweight.

I'm not going to excuse my brethren eating cheezy poofs but I think the BMI scale is archaic and fucked.

It's totally your diet that's screwing you over. Not to mention your nervous system gets too wrecked with daily workouts. Try cutting two days out of the week. Actually run 1.5 or 2 miles, or run the mile fast. And look into some supplements like proteins and vitamins.

Can't tell if serious or not.

Physically fit people will be "heavy" compared to the standard BMI weight, even if their weight is mostly muscle.

Unless thabigred weights a lot because of his muscles rather than fat, everything EpicSteve wrote is dead on. Working out that much is not good for your overall health. The body need time to rest and recover. thabigred should also look into the possibility of running more than just a mile. Any reasonable young and healthy person can run 2 miles at mild pace. You can add at least 0.5 miles every week. I also think the diet is to blame if you're not losing body fat. Your diet plays a major role in losing body fat and building muscles.

BMI is not super useful for many other reasons, but for actual underweight or overweight people, it's a good indication how much off the scale they are from their ideal weight. If your BMI values says you're overweight and it's plainly obvious it's because of muscle mass and not fat, then your BMI values are not really that interesting and you probably look like The Rock.

I think BMI is a dumb way to gauge health. I just use a weight scale and a body fat percentage machine. Costs about $30. Me personally, I'm not concerned with what I should be. I'm concerned with my health goals. Right now, I'm on a mass-building diet and training routine.

I think that's a healthy perspective on this issue, that most people sadly lack. I see way to many people counting calories, looking up numbers, pushing themselves too hard and generally missing the point; what matters in the end, is that you're getting some form of satisfaction from the health benefits of physical activity, routines and nutritional diets.

1. Since I'm the person that you guys original started this string of discussion on. I do workout too much, when I stopped working out more I gained about 20 pounds of just muscle, and didn't gain any waist size. The thing is that I just like being exhausting myself working out because I have so much more energy in the rest of the day. I know it's unhealthy.

2. We should replace BMI with muslce to fat %. That would be a much more accurate gauge of the overweight epidemic, because many as the /fit/ community would call them 'Skinny fats' are actually fat but they look skinny. These people come up fine on a BMI scale but are actually worse off health wise than some people overweight on the current BMI scale.

I think the Japanese just switched to muscle fat% so it's not unheard of. At least I thought I remembered reading about them doing so in the NYT.

@tunaburn said:

@TooWalrus: 100 years ago most people had to actually work. we didnt have computers that did it for us. people didnt have jobs where you sit at a desk for 9 hours. then lives where after those 9 hours at a desk you go home and sit 5 more at a desk or on the couch. then go to bed.

@jdh5153: It's like he says here, the sole reason for our obesity problem can't be attributed to laziness alone. As with almost every issue, the reason is somewhere in the middle. Of course there are a ton of lazy fuckers out there, but there are also a lot of parents working long hours who don't have time to devote to working out, or cooking homecooked meals every night of the week. For an individual, the issue may be as simple as "get your ass on the treadmill and eat some salad", but for an entire nation... the issue is much more complicated than you make it out to be.

@TooWalrus said:

@tunaburn said:

@TooWalrus: 100 years ago most people had to actually work. we didnt have computers that did it for us. people didnt have jobs where you sit at a desk for 9 hours. then lives where after those 9 hours at a desk you go home and sit 5 more at a desk or on the couch. then go to bed.

@jdh5153: It's like he says here, the sole reason for our obesity problem can't be attributed to laziness alone. As with almost every issue, the reason is somewhere in the middle. Of course there are a ton of lazy fuckers out there, but there are also a lot of parents working long hours who don't have time to devote to working out, or cooking homecooked meals every night of the week. For an individual, the issue may be as simple as "get your ass on the treadmill and eat some salad", but for an entire nation... the issue is much more complicated than you make it out to be.

That 'don't have time to work out' is bullshit. In the military and we work long fucking hours and still work out.

@TooWalrus: its a very complicated issue. the truth is people could maintain a healthy weight. we know how to do it. the hard part is finding the energy and time to do it. also the money. its expensive to eat healthy compared to fatty food generally speaking. im 5 foot 6 inches tall and i weight 135 pounds. i did MMA fighting and jiu jitsu and try to get my excercise on now that im done fighting. but it can be brutally tough. and some people just dont have that energy after working 8 hours, spending a few hours with thier family, and trying to get in a little relaxing time.

PEOPLE ARE NOT MEANT TO WORK THE KINDS OF HOURS WE WORK AS A NATION. 8-10 HOUR DAYS ARE NORMAL NOW? THAT IS SOME BULLSHIT.

What is overweight in America is obese to the rest of the world.

I mean... is 220 lbs. obese? BMI charts say so.

In my state, Illinois, all schools are required to have PE. That's around a half-hour or more of exercise everyday for schoolchildren. Usually enough to compensate for the shitty meals the schools serve em. We can force our kids to exercise, we can force our children to pledge allegiance to the flag, but we wouldn't dare force adults to get healthy. Adults can vote and corporations can shovel money down a politician's pocket. No one would dare upset either.

You can choose what meals to eat, no one is forcing hamburgers down your throat. Most people are disciplined enough to refuse a piece of cake, it's the lack of exercise that kills. Nobody walks anymore and nobody wants a job that requires manual labor. We're fucking lazy bastards. Instead, exercise is now a recreational activity only done by the few who enjoy it. It's not a required activity in our culture, it's entirely optional. America culture revolves around the car, not the body. Obesity is not an accepted part of our culture, but it damn well is a product of it.

@jdh5153 said:

@imsh_pl said:

The major cause of the overweight epidemic in the US is the fact that the US government strongly subsidises corn and puts a lot of regulations on sugar which makes sweetening everything with high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar much cheaper. The corn syrup is really shitty for your health: it limits the amount of insulin your body can produce which decreases your metabolism and makes it hard to regulate appetite.

It's not like americans have 'bad genetics' for maintaining fitness or something.

The major cause is fat lazy fucks eating fast food and donuts and not working out.

Again, I'd like to mention that your avatar image so perfectly fits your online persona. Well done sir.

@Tru3_Blu3 said:

What is overweight in America is obese to the rest of the world.

I mean... is 220 lbs. obese? BMI charts say so.

This man is obese then (he weighs 230 lbs)