Obesity in other Countries?

[william rogers]

The Obesity figures are amazing in this country,and I think the full facts of the causes are yet to be explained. The all powerful insurance companies have got to be looking at this problem.

My question is to world travelers and members from other countries,is this such a problem in other countries?

William Rogers.........

[blackmercedes]

Canadians USED to be quite a healthy bunch, but that is changing. My daughter has swimming lessons once a week, and there is a junior high that uses one of the pools during the same time. I can't help but notice that at least half the teen boys and about a third of the girls are not "chubby" but just plain FAT. Cripes, when I was 13, there might be one "fat kid" in the class.

McDonald's, Nintendo and unhealthy parents are creating an entire generation of fat kids. If you're obsese as a child, it is almost a certainty that you'll struggle with it your entire life.

Supersize your fries and your waistline...

[Lebenz]

The epidemic of obesity is perhaps the strongest sign of the pervasive miss-direction of our country. Unwilling to solve the problems we face, we simply eat. Feeding a nation is one of the primary goals of nation building. Then making fatsos of the majority will aid in its destruction.

OMG, I'm beginning to sound like Noam Chomsky!

[yal]

In the US if you can't fit into your coffin don't worry we have companies that make bigger coffins. If your coffin can't fit into the ground, guess what? We've increased plot sizes too. If you're feeling a little to cramped in that car, buddy have we got some SUV's for you. On any building taller than 3 floors we'll even install elevators and you won't even have to use them, why?, because we'll deliver everything and anything to your door anyway The list goes on....


Obesity is starting to show up in certain European countries and the locals of course blame all the US fast food restaurants. France and the UK in particular are seeing an increase although its nowhere near the epidemic it is in the US. Sometimes I don't comment on things that kids do because I can't say for sure that my generation didn't do the same thing BUT I can't ever remember seeing so many outright fat kids in one class when I see a class of highschool kids on a field trip. Its disturbing

[DslBnz]

Its tough. Fast food tastes great. Being bulimic can be just as bad as drug addiction.

I was once "obese". I guess. 220 lbs and 5'9 inches. Now I am 150 lbs and 5'11 inches simply because I decided to eat healthier and workout every other day.

Will power is the most important tool.(D'uh) but it takes copious amounts of this to actually make the leaps and bounds for achieving a healthy lifestyle.

Hard as Hell I tell ya'.

But I'll tell you, look at it this way. If you're obese and you like to drive fast, know that weight is the enemy. Your car will be quicker and get better fuel economy if you are slim! If only slightly,..

[That Guy]

It may be partly due to our diet obsessed culture?

Low Fat this and Lite that. All of this serves to represent food as something you have to refrain from. The old adage of you only want what you can't have may apply here.

In college I lived with 5 girls in a house on summer. It was amazing! They'd eat a tortilla with salsa and a piece of cheese for lunch with a little pasta for dinner. Then go out at night get drunk and then come home and eat a whole batch of MY chocolate pudding and then proceed to order Pizza and breadsticks from "The Papa" (Papa John's). The next day it started all over again.

I think that most of us lack a HEALTHY attitude toward food and I think its cultural. I've started enjoying throwing away food. If I get a meal and then get full before half of its gone.... oh well it's in the trash. We're learning to cope as a people with a virtually unlimited food supply, something that is probably never happened until the past 50 years or so.

From "A Christmas Story":
"Eat your food Ralphie, there are starving children in China"
Never understood this. Like somehow Ralphie's nutritional value will be magically transported to another starving kid.

[Jim Anderson]

If everybody in the northern hemisphere is fatter it will result in unbalenced seasons leading to longer summers over the larger northern landmass and cause global warming.

[blackmercedes]

I agree with the comments about dieting. It's a way to lose weight and then gain it all and some more back within no time at all.

It's about lifestyle. I'm 6' tall and weigh 180lbs, which is on the high side of the BMI scale, but I have only 7% body fat. I eat a horrendous number of calories each day, but I am active and burn them off.

Here's my own plan:

1. Exercise, and as much as you can. Doesn't have to be the gym, but do something. Cross-country skiing and skating in the winter, soccer and hiking in the summer. Whatever turns your crank. Nike is about to sue me, but so what: just do it.

2. Eat smart. Forget junk food. Learn which foods are good and which are not. You'd be shocked at how ignorant people areabout what is good for them and what is not.

3. Eat often. I eat six or seven meals a day, and that way I'm never hungry. My body never shuts down, wondering whent he next meal is coming. It knows it'll get a good supply of calories for burning all day. Just don't eat seven meals of 1000 calories each unless you're running a marathon every morning!

4. Stop being a couch potato!! I can't sit and watch TV in the evening anymore. I start to pace the house like a caged lion. Heck, going to the garage and checking all the vital fluids, etc. on the cars beats sitting in front of the tube with a bag of chips.

SET A GOOD EXAMPLE for your kids. And don't be afraid to be "different." My daughter goes to playschool, and on the occasional day a bunch of the "Moms" go to Burger King afterward for lunch so the kids can play in the play-place while the parents socialize. I brown bag it for my daughter, just buying her a milk. I get my fix of a diet Coke and a Veggie burger with no mayo. Then I go home and eat a bunch of real food. My munchkin knows that BK food is not good for kids, and she suffers no embarrasment that she doesn't get the crap. Heck, most of the Moms have started doing it too, after seeing me.

The big problem stems from lifestyle. With most families having to have both parents at work, there is less time for shopping and cooking. Also, many people have been asked to work longer and longer hours, putting the squeeze on even more. Also, fast food has become CHEAP, often costing less than buying real food. Coke is now a fraction of the price of milk or juice.

[Jim Anderson]

My next theory does include gasses...

[blackmercedes]

Originally posted by w126
The rise in popularity of "competitive eating" is proof postive that this world is getting fatter.

What is this? Are you serious?

[blackmercedes]

Originally posted by DslBnz
Hey blackmercedes,

how many WPM can you type. Sitting in front of the computer all day isn't healthy either you know!

I can type pretty fast for being slef-taught, thanks the course work I have to do! I spend too much time with the Pentium-Slave-Driver, but it's just life.

However, I get plenty of exercise. I am at the gym a minimum of five days a week, usually six. And not just hanging out at the juice bar ogling the girls, either. I run 20 minutes (7mph at 11% grade) then do about 45 minutes of weights, then back on the treadmill for 25 minutes. That's Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday, Friday and Sunday I do 10 minutes warm-up on the ellipitcal trainer, then 20 minutes grade running on the treadmill, then 10 minutes on the stepper on a high level, then jump back on the treadmill for another 20 minute run. Thursdays is off, and the occasional Saturday.

Some weekends I skip the gym to hike and climb. But that's okay since it's harder anyway.

Summers too is time off from the gym, and this comming summer I'll be basking in the luxury of some fine hotels like this one...



Another pic...



Here's more info...

http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/facility/abbot.html

[DslBnz]

I wish I had your stamina and endurance blackmercedes. I struggle everyday to excercise.

Got a long way to go before I become as good as Son Goku from the Anime series Dragon Ball (Z - GT). Time to train at 100 times earth's gravity to become a Super Saiyan.:p

[DslBnz]

Hey blackmercedes,

how many WPM can you type. Sitting in front of the computer all day isn't healthy either you know!

That's really how I maintain my weight. I am a VERY heavy eater. But I excercise. I read that you should workout every other day for 20 minutes at a time to keep fit. The extra 24 hour cycle is needed to recuperate muscles and to allow your metabolism to work at a faster rate.

When you can stare into the looking glass and can really say to yourself that you look like Hollywood material, then your self-esteem is pumped up, your outlook is great, and you have a much better chance of living a longer, healthier life.

[3star]

I notice a big difference between Europe and North America.
During my business travels to our head office in Europe compared to my regional offices in North America, I notice that in Europe, very few people appear to be over-weight.

I read a stat recently that said 1 out of 6 people in the U.S. are more than 100 lbs. over-weight.

[95benzman]

BlackMercedes

Good job. 7% body fat? Send us some pics to help us get motivated. My Rocky movie is wearing out. I'm off to the frig for some cold KFC and some ice cream. Happy driving.

joe moon