Why are Americans getting so fat these days

It's not difficult to work out.

Fat is caused by:

1. Sedentary lifestyle.
2. Poor diet and / or too much of the wrong food.
3. Poor education and public awareness of the risks of being overweight.

The cure is easy.

Get out and about and make your own food. The crap in "ready-meals" is amazing. Make your own, enjoy the making and the eating.

At the end of the day... You are what you eat. If you eat fat then you will be fat.

There is a correlation between fat parents and fat kids in my experience.

Anyway, just to add that the Americans are not the fattest! America is the 8th fattest.

Ten fattest counties - the Independent

10. Trinidad and Tobago: 30% of population
9. Venezuela: 30.8% of population
8. United States: 31.8% of population
7. Mexico: 32.8% of population
6. South Africa: 33.5% of population
5. United Arab Emirates: 33.7% of population
4. Jordan: 34.3% of population
3. Egypt: 34.6% of population
2. Saudi Arabia: 35.2% of population
1. Kuwait: 42.8% of population

a reply to: paraphi

For the arabic countries, you have to consider that being slim, is thought of being poor. That plays a big role, too.
It wasn´t all too long, where Europeans thought the same way. The same with getting a tan from the sun... It was considered being poor, because having a tan ment that you probably belong to the worker class.

In many cultures, thick women were/are a sign of fertility.

originally posted by: paraphi
If you eat fat then you will be fat.

Fat doesn't make you fat, sugar and carbs do. Stay away from corn syrup, processed sugar and packaged bread.

a reply to: musicismagic

I do not have this problem you speak of, in fact, in spite of eating what I want, I have been losing weight.

a reply to: BiffWellington

source

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Agustus be right. Animal fat doesnt make you fat. Wrecking your insulin sensitivity makes you fat.

Animal fat is chock full of nutrients and men in particular need a lot of it for testosterone production.

My hubby & I have had this discussion,
in a good way.
In the 80's most people were still mostly normal.
What all changed?

1.) Sugar was in short supply & expensive.
Food companies started substituting
all or part of the sugar with corn syrup!
What do they use to fatten cattle up
before going to market...corn!
Corn syrup is so concentrated,
10x sweeter than sugar & it used to be in
almost every processed food!

2.) Microwaves...became available for the masses. They kill the micronutrients in food.
You are losing valuable, necessary nutrients.

3.) Both parents now had to work, in order to be able to afford what one used to be able to provide. So women were usually only home with their newborns for six weeks. Out of necessity they turned to formula...processed food.

4.) Both parents now had to work...no one home all day with time to cook healthy & from scratch.
To be fair here...it has taken awhile for people to grasp the notion that hey, processed stuff isn't good for you! I know people who said, "If it was bad for you they wouldn't make it/sell it!"
Uhhmmm, right! But that's another thread!

5.) Transfats! Remember when oleo margarine first appeared & was touted as healthier than butter? That was earlier than the 80's, but that's about when the whole, 'fat is bad fo you' scenario really took off. I remember a heart specialist telling my Dad, no more bacon, whole milk, or such things. If he had an occasional burger,
he was supposed to squeeze it
between 2 paper towels to get more fat out!
Margarine back then, was artery goo in stick form!

6.) Hormones in meat & milk.
Not sure when this became the norm exactly?
But growth hormones to get animals bigger,
faster, meant a quicker profit.
And to increase milk production.
Of course, then they get into the meat
& milk that we are consuming.

7.) Antibiotics, so animals that are raised in cages
or overcrowded conditions, don't get sick.
Which then we get in our meat & milk, which
messes with the good bacteria in our gut!

8.) Chemicals & preservatives.
No one even knows ALL of the ramifications
of these goodies yet!

9.) GMO's...ditto!

10.) Irradiated foods that kill good & bad bacteria! Some meats, spices...
who knows what else!

These are the main ones.
We have to get back to the basics,
if we even can!
The deck is stacked against us...
We're screwed big time!!!



WOQ

being poor as an excuse for being fat is absolute BS, I literally spend 100$ a month on groceries, that's right 100 a month. we eat well.

the thing is I hand make everything from dinners to potato chips for snacks, breads to sauces everything is made in my kitchen and it doesn't take that much time. how do I spend so little and not be "fat poor people" isn't so much what we eat but how much we eat, one chicken breast and two potatoes will make enough chicken fingers and fries for the two of us, pricing it out is 2 dollars for two people to have dinner. a loaf of bread ingredients per loaf is 17 cents. vegetables are dirt cheap to buy, carrots 2 bucks for 2 pounds, celery is 1.70 per stalk 5 bucks get you a ten pound bag of potatoes.

I agree it's the premade prepakaged crap that is expanding the waistlines, but it is definitely NOT being poor.

a reply to: wasobservingquietly

Wow. Excellent post!

a reply to: wasobservingquietly

I will have to disagree with some of your points.

4. both parents working so no time to prepare meals.
Many soups, chillis, pulled pork, even roasts can be put in a crock pot in the morning and be ready when you get home. there are a plethora of websites for quick easy meals made in 30 minutes ( Rachel Ray comes to mind)

6. hormones in meat and milk.
I cannot speak for the US but in canada all meat and dairy is tested by federal law to be hormone free before being sold to the public. the animals cannot be slaughtered if blood tests come out positive for hormones, how do I know this? I've worked in and live around farms and abattoirs all my life.

7 Antibiotics
So you would prefer the animal suffer it's entire life and take the gamble that your meat contains viruses such as H1N1, avian flu, brain worms? again in canada federal law prohibits the sale of meat if traces of antibiotics are still found in blood samples.

yes we have to get back to basics and it is easy. Don't believe everything is gonna kill you, that's just corps suckering you into buying a 10 bag of organic bullsnip that has zero difference nutritionally than the regular stuff.

a reply to: angeldoll

Thanks!

a reply to: Daavin

As was previously mentioned, try finding a "grocery store" in or near the poorest neighborhoods. Imagine how one who can't afford a car would travel back and forth to a grocery that provides healthy and fresh foods. Not as simple as some would like to believe.

a reply to: zosimov

all the public transit has broke down? cuz where I come from busses go everywhere even grocery stores. and if you don't live in the city you have a car or access to one.

originally posted by: Daavin
a reply to: zosimov

all the public transit has broke down?

Again, all this takes time. Lots of it. If one had a job during the week, how much time is there to take busses, cart groceries, and then fix healthy foods for one's family? Imagine also the wear of everyday life/ working paycheck to paycheck on ones morale. How much extra energy do you think one would have to put into finding healthy alternatives to the corner store?

a reply to: zosimov

Combine it on the way home from your work would be one example.

Why are Americans getting so fat these days

Patriotism ? and netflix ?

could you post a picture of yourself
for my judge-o-meter ?

originally posted by: verschickter
a reply to: zosimov

Combine it on the way home from your work would be one example.

That's a fine example but most people living in poverty work service jobs or physically exhausting jobs that the more educated people avoid.

a reply to: zosimov

you do one shop for the week on a day you don't work, many things can be prepped ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer.
or you can keep making excuses, eat your pizza pops but then don't complain that you have no choices, there are always choices.
I am poor, very poor and I can do it. so can you.

a reply to: musicismagic

Everyone is getting fat. Not just Americans.

I'd write more but I think I just ate my computer mouse by mistake.