Fat and getting fatter: U.S. obesity rates to soar by 2030

The obesity rate is the reason why we can expect a polar shift.

Originally posted by pslr2301

Originally posted by daryllyn
But, you guys shouldn't listen to me because I ate two Reese's peanut butter Easter eggs as I typed this reply.

ROFL Love it! =P

I have lost almost half my body weight and and am STILL considered overweight I guess. I quit caring because I have *more* health problems after losing weight than I did at my highest. I am 5'6" 140lbs (down from 277lbs) and am munching on cheddar jalapeno cheetos and m&ms. Moderation is definitely important.

IMHO the government doesn't need to make laws to change what we are allowed to eat. I think the government needs to help protect us against corporations that would rather get us fat so they fill the shelves with cheap crap while hiking up the prices for the healthy stuff. But then again the government is in bed with big pharma and THEY wouldn't make money to kick back to the government. Not if we are all healthy and staying off the meds... sooooo.... yeah....

Wow! That is amazing. Good job on the weight loss!

I agree that moderation is definitely key to this problem, and it seems that far too many Americans, have completely lost touch with that concept.

I think if the government is going to legislate anything related to this topic, it needs to be aimed at the corporations, not the people. Maybe they could start by making the corporations pay for the health problems their foods/beverages have caused. I bet we would see some changes in the food on the store shelves if this were a policy.

Hey, guess what. I believe that they have deliberately caused the food to do this to us. And lookie lookie at this:

www.panarmenian.net...
Scientists design 'intelligent' microchip to suppress appetite

What a sure fire way to get people on board for microchipping eh?

And soon enough, maybe it will be considered negligence to not ensure your child is chipped!

2030?!

Do people actually fool their selves into believing the lights will be on by 2030

The obesity rate may climb for a few more years yet, but eventually we'll be dealing with the opposite.

Impoverishment is the new gluttony of our days to come.

Obesity and soar don't belong in the same sentence. Maybe waddle or slowly rise would be appropriate.

Originally posted by WeRpeons
The obesity rate is the reason why we can expect a polar shift.

That wouldn't be a problem if the elephant population in Africa was growing instead of decreasing.

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by Cabin

 

I guess if the government or states do not start promoting healthier attitude or making laws which would prevent obesity, the predicted future will become reality, as I doubt many people will change their attitude towards health and overally the behaviour and attitude by society will influence the attitude and behaviour of individuals.

Laws to prevent obesity??

Are you out of your mind? Have you heard of the constitution?

It’s unbelievable what some people think these days…and the complete lack of understanding of the process of lawmaking (and/or freedom).

How old are you? Under 21 I’d presume…

Wow! Obesity will cost taxpayers billions, it will kill lives too. It is therefore entirely right to think about "laws to prevent obesity", in the same way as there are laws which don't allow advertizing for tobacco etc. or laws that label certain products as harmful/dangerous.

Also..laws that give healthy people an incentive and tax and in some way punish people who rather go the other route. Again, pretty similar as to what happens already with tobacco.

Your outrage shows clearly WHERE the problem is. Obviously, you see 60% of obesity as not being a big problem and its entirely out of the question (for you) that it might be time for tough laws.

reply to post by seeker1963


the post i responded to and your signature tell me all i need to know.
you are a blamer.

Put an honest man in washington and THEY will make him a criminal. LOL

Originally posted by Cabin
A person is overweight when his/her´s BMI is over 25. 30+ means obese. I would have to gain over 60 pounds to reach the point where I could be considered obese.

BMI is about the most dip-# way of determining health and fitness ever.

According to this: nhlbisupport.com...

I am at a BMI of 30.3 - Obese... Oh Noes! I am a short dude 5'9" and I weigh in at 205 with a body fat measured using calipers at 18.5%.

I am 46, a retired Special Forces Officer and can do 100 push-ups in 2 minutes; 100 sit-ups in 2 minutes, followed by a 2 mile run in 14:00 minutes and a 6 mile ruck run with 55 lbs in just under an hour. I can bench press 310lbs. I'd have to weigh 165lbs or less to make less than 25 BMI (overweight) hell most MMA fighters don't make BMI either I bet. I have not weighed less than 165lbs since I was 16. I would pit my 46 year old "obese" self against my 16 year old "normal weight" self in a contest any day.

As for military service I hardly ever met anyone (especially on an SF team) who ever met the Army's height/weight tables who was worth a # in combat.

Met a lot of skinny guys who could run a lot faster than I can; however, combat doesn't take place in tennis shoes and shorts. It is carrying 80+ pounds of gear.

Sorry, those tables are based on Justin Bieber as a "healthy man" - men can carry # and have some body mass not look like a wuss.

I mean if your ideal body type is Justin Bieber - have at it. Personally, I think he looks like a girl. I bet his body guards don't make their BMI either...

6 feet and 220lbs is 29.9 basically obese... No NFL athlete will meet the BMI I bet.

Originally posted by Cabin
The future seems not the brightest in that field either. I guess if the government or states do not start promoting healthier attitude or making laws which would prevent obesity, the predicted future will become reality, as I doubt many people will change their attitude towards health and overally the behaviour and attitude by society will influence the attitude and behaviour of individuals.

edit on 31-3-2013 by Cabin because: (no reason given)

BMI has zero to do with fitness level...and is some random table generated based on 1960's HT/WT tables.

The government has no business "promoting" or "endorsing" any lifestyle - not their role. Especially using BMI - marking kids as obese at a young age who are otherwise fit (football players, wrestlers etc.) is counterproductive.

Bring back the physical fitness testing (we did away with that because kids are lazy and feel bad when they score poorly so to spare their feelings we did away with it) who cares how much a person weighs - it's irrelevant.

I had to take my BMI for my physical my Dr. laughed as he read out that I was “obese”.

reply to post by Golf66

The government has no business "promoting" or "endorsing" any lifestyle - not their role. Especially using BMI - marking kids as obese at a young age who are otherwise fit (football players, wrestlers etc.) is counterproductive.

Not only is it counterproductive, Its going to open a whole new can of worms. Kids bodies, while developing are screaming for nutrients, especially highly active ones. The government meddling in their diet is the last thing we need, they are the root cause of the problem, by backing every new "scientifically" proven diet expert that has came along for the last 30 years.

reply to post by swimmer15


BMI...what a joke. The health food companies,pharma,USDA,AMA and all are in collusion. Also changing the way they class obesity is giving non americans ammunition to call US all fat when its not even true really.

Originally posted by swimmer15
reply to post by Golf66

 

Not only is it counterproductive, Its going to open a whole new can of worms. Kids bodies, while developing are screaming for nutrients, especially highly active ones. The government meddling in their diet is the last thing we need, they are the root cause of the problem, by backing every new "scientifically" proven diet expert that has came along for the last 30 years.

I know this 850 calorie lunch the kids are being "fed" at school is a failure. When I was a High School athlete I'd have a conditioning workout before school, along with a couple hours after for practice as well. I bet I was burning well over 3500k a day. So to maintain my weight I'd have to have at least that. I'd order a double lunch along with snack cakes and ice-cream... As a football player I was trying to gain weight and mass. I bet I ate more like 4-5k calories a day.

I know that while in any training school for SF we were fed upwards of 5k calories a day (unless it was intentionally a depravation type school like SERE or Ranger, etc.) .

My kid is starving when she comes home from school. Obesity is not a simple HT/WT calculation - physical fitness is a measure of something entirely different.

Like William "The Fridge" Perry who played for the Bears. Was he fat - sure he was; but he could also play professional football I saw him (in all 300+ pounds of his glory) do a standing vertical jump of 3' onto a platform for training. Not once but repetitively. Find me some 155lb High School kids who can do that?

I sometimes sub for Physical Education here at the local schools. I live rural so I'd say a lot of these kids do farm type chores daily.

I would expect them to be somewhat fit. However, with the exception of the athletes (many of whom would bust the 25 on their BMI) they can't even do one pull-up/push-up.

They "look" fine sure, they are skinny as the government wants them to be for some reason - yet they are weak and unfit.

I can outrun most of them (all but the track kids; who do for the most part meet BMI) and I am at least 2X their age. It is sad really to see an 18 year old man who looks otherwise normal not be able to even pull-up his own body weight one time.

We have an epidemic - with that I agree. An epidemic of laziness. Perhaps if we spent less time on social indoctrination in schools and more on physical fitness we'd be better off. My kid goes to school for 2 periods so that she can compete in sports and participate in FFA - the rest of the time we home school. They waste their time on PC indoctrination - when I was in school we had 1 hour of PT every day, period. You participated or else. Now if a fat ass or even a fit appearing kid claims to be "trying" but is clearly slacking off I have to give them "participation points".

Mostly in my assessment they are sitting there being lazy because there are no negative consequences for not pushing themselves. Grades are based on "personal goals" not standards - wouldn't want to introduce kids the harsh reality that in the real world if you don't work hard I say you won't have a job.

When I explain that to kids they say - I don't want a job that is physical anyway. Sure, I say but what about cutting your lawn or chopping some firewood? Oh, I'll pay someone to do that...(riding lawnmowers etc.) Yeah, well I've seen your academic grades too - that might not be one of your options... These kids are delusional.

All that said - BMI is not the be all end all of a person's measure of fitness nor is a HT/WT table. We are making a generation of kids who think if they meet the target tables they are "fit" - they might appear so on paper but in practice they simply are not.

Food that's supposed to be good for you is that dear people can't afford to buy it all the time so they go for the cheap stuff which has more fat in it just so there kids don't go hungry.

All you have to do is look how much fruit is these days I used to have loads of fruit for my kids years ago but I'm glad they have all left home cos there's no way I could afford it now and bread has gone up as well, its just mad the way prices are at the minute.

I feel sorry for mammy's these days who have big families I think I would have to go for the cheaper foods if my kiddies where still at home it just means instead of walking the dogs twice around the park they would have to go around it 6 times

Originally posted by Golf66

Originally posted by Cabin
A person is overweight when his/her´s BMI is over 25. 30+ means obese. I would have to gain over 60 pounds to reach the point where I could be considered obese.

BMI is about the most dip-# way of determining health and fitness ever.

According to this: nhlbisupport.com...

I am at a BMI of 30.3 - Obese... Oh Noes! I am a short dude 5'9" and I weigh in at 205 with a body fat measured using calipers at 18.5%.

I am 46, a retired Special Forces Officer and can do 100 push-ups in 2 minutes; 100 sit-ups in 2 minutes, followed by a 2 mile run in 14:00 minutes and a 6 mile ruck run with 55 lbs in just under an hour. I can bench press 310lbs. I'd have to weigh 165lbs or less to make less than 25 BMI (overweight) hell most MMA fighters don't make BMI either I bet. I have not weighed less than 165lbs since I was 16. I would pit my 46 year old "obese" self against my 16 year old "normal weight" self in a contest any day.

As for military service I hardly ever met anyone (especially on an SF team) who ever met the Army's height/weight tables who was worth a # in combat.

Met a lot of skinny guys who could run a lot faster than I can; however, combat doesn't take place in tennis shoes and shorts. It is carrying 80+ pounds of gear.

Sorry, those tables are based on Justin Bieber as a "healthy man" - men can carry # and have some body mass not look like a wuss.

I mean if your ideal body type is Justin Bieber - have at it. Personally, I think he looks like a girl. I bet his body guards don't make their BMI either...

6 feet and 220lbs is 29.9 basically obese... No NFL athlete will meet the BMI I bet.

Originally posted by Cabin
The future seems not the brightest in that field either. I guess if the government or states do not start promoting healthier attitude or making laws which would prevent obesity, the predicted future will become reality, as I doubt many people will change their attitude towards health and overally the behaviour and attitude by society will influence the attitude and behaviour of individuals.

edit on 31-3-2013 by Cabin because: (no reason given)

BMI has zero to do with fitness level...and is some random table generated based on 1960's HT/WT tables.

The government has no business "promoting" or "endorsing" any lifestyle - not their role. Especially using BMI - marking kids as obese at a young age who are otherwise fit (football players, wrestlers etc.) is counterproductive.

Bring back the physical fitness testing (we did away with that because kids are lazy and feel bad when they score poorly so to spare their feelings we did away with it) who cares how much a person weighs - it's irrelevant.

I had to take my BMI for my physical my Dr. laughed as he read out that I was “obese”.

Are you saying that there are no obese people, only fit people?

Considering how people can be actually considered as fit you are, BMI is a good way for measuring the average person and 30+ BMI is already quite significant result to achieve, even for a person who is muscular. On 90%+ of people 30+ BMI means they are simply overweight.

I have played different sports all my life, also on quite high level basketball and soccer.I can consider myself much more psycally capable than more than 90% of people, yet my BMI is 21-23 depending on the time of the year. Also I am not lean,naturally wider and weigh more due to larger build and stronger bones, and can bench press than most people out there.

I am not saying BMI is the best way to measure, although it is an easy way to determine whether a person is overweight or not, if the person is not very athletic. For considering absolutely everybody in also fat % and other factors have to be dealt in, but for the average person BMI is enough.

Hmmm...I have been reading posts here while snacking and didn't even realize I ate the entire brownie because I was distracted.

There are many factors that come in play:


No sidewalks for people to walk on here in Dallas

Fast food restaurants on every corner

No one sits down for dinner anymore, which means there's no meaningful conversation to slow down our eating (It takes abot 20 minutes for our brain to process that we're full)

We eat on the go

We are addicted to our technology (I admit it; I am addicted to this site) Playing games on computers instead of going outside for exercise

Portions are three times as large

Crappy food is cheaper and more easily available

People are stressed about the current job situation and eat for comfort (emotional eating)

We are getting less sleep, which in turn contributes to weight gain (and other health issues)


There are other factors, too. The gist of it is we need to take better care of ourselves and look into the reason why we're eating more. More laws will only make it worse and doesn't address the problem.

Originally posted by generik
i think we are being GREATLY MISLED, in a lot of the "facts" we are told about obesity. the question is is it just ignorance on the part of those telling us what is making us "fat " or is it intentional?

for example SUGAR supposedly makes us fat. yet it only seems to happen in North America? ...........

........no i think the problem is much deeper and more hidden than what they try to foist off on us is the issue.

to be cont.

If what we eat and lack of exercise are not the real causes, then why did all those people starve to death in Prison camps in WW2? There were no overweight people there. It's a matter of calories in and calories out.

And all the people saying BMI is inaccurate - it's meant to be an indicator of health worked out by using averages, if you are a man with 11 or even 18 percent body fat and an athlete's amount of muscle mass, then you are not average.
Realistically, most people who do 0 - 30 mins of exercise per day and therefore have average amounts of muscle can use BMI to to gauge if they are obese or not. Personally I think there is alot of denial going on in the US and Europe because people are getting fatter, it is seen as 'normal'. A kind of 'Why should I change if everyone else looks like me' type of attitude. If people want to ignore it, they will deal with the consequences later.

The future is now.

The lack of exercise is apparent. It used to be incorporated with human work.

reply to post by texasgirl


obesity is identical to alcoholism.

all the search for causes will come to no avail until
the obese person admits that they are the problem.

blaming lack of sidewalks....really you are smarter than that, at least in my experience.

I find it really interesting that our food has been hijacked to poison us and harm our liver, our organs, and make weight gain and a host of other conditions, and then they have a microchip developed to curb appetite and promise weight loss.

THINK ABOUT IT.

Originally posted by texasgirl
Hmmm...I have been reading posts here while snacking and didn't even realize I ate the entire brownie because I was distracted.

There are many factors that come in play:


No sidewalks for people to walk on here in Dallas

Fast food restaurants on every corner

[...]

The biggest factor is that we are a culture now where people do not so any "physical work" anymore as part of their daily lives, but spending 99% of a day sitting. And the time we are not sitting in frotn of a computer..we sit in the car to get there.

Combine this with unhealthy foods and then our "activities" (lol) we do after work, which is again, SITTING either on the PC at home or SITTING watching a movie....

I think its funny that the majority of people incl. the media make it a big deal to count calories in meals, like it would be a major thing...rather than looking at the root of the problem.