Americans getting fatter

No surprise I guess. Nearly two-thirds of American adults are overweight.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9048817/

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Wow...that's insane.

 

Blame the corps.

People eat sugar sugar sugar. And not even good sugar, either.

Because of the sugar cartel jacking up the price here, people use high fructose corn syrup in everything and that plays MAD HAVOC with your biochemistry. Find your local mercado latino and buy Mexican coca cola hecho en mexico. That's made with SUGAR and has a lighter taste and less impact on your pancreas.

The wheat people would like you to eat pasta, bread and more wheat. YAY. Why don't we just eat table sugar instead?

 

It's not just sugar though...European diets are just as unhealthy as American diets, yet Europeans don't have an obesity epidimic on the scale of North America's. The main problem, IMO, is the QUANTITY of poison we consume. Food in Europe is generally served in much smaller portions than in North America. Perhaps they're on to something...

 

They do NOT consume food like we do.

They consume WAY less breads and pastas and they sweeten with sugar not corn syrup.

 

That's my point. There are still McDonald's and Burger King all over Europe, but Europeans don't order supersized stuff for every meal of every day, unlike Americans.

I think it might vary from one country to another. It's been my experience that there's lots of corn syrup usage in England, Ireland, and France.

 

umm..25% of european children are obese..i'd say thats an epidemic.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4190313.stm


It is european snobbery to believe that Europe doesnt have an obesity problem on the scale of the US....obesity is a western problem, not an american one.


And i think it has more to do with our lack of activity than completely with our eating habits.

 

I'm an American, not a European snob.

25% is bad...but it's probably almost twice that in America. The point isn't to criticize America as being the only country in the world with this problem; the point is that other countries with similar diets don't have this problem on nearly the scale that America does, and my explanation is simply the AMOUNT of food that we eat.

As for the lack of activity, I'm sure it contributes to the problem, but I still think it's mostly the food: I don't think there's really any other way to explain the fact that Southern states (with their high-fat diets) also have the biggest obesity problem.

 

That's insane , it is predicted that this generation will a have a shorter life than the others ... Anyway, there is an excellent about that in the yh forum . I'll post a link
http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113504

 

Americans on the whole are over-consumptive on many levels. We also don't exercise enough because we're too busy working our asses off to earn enough to pay for all the crap we consume.

I've spent a few years in Europe and other foreign countries, and they're more balanced, they own less, they eat less, they spend more time with their families, and they spend more time outdoors getting exercise. Furthermore, they spend less time in front of the TV or the computer because there's more of a sense of community, so they tend to be happier, and depression leads to over-eating.

I'm glad I don't fit the statistic, I'm pretty fit for an old man, still got the "six pack" abs, though you wouldn't believe it if you saw how much beer I drink. I work out every day, run in the woods, and camp out on weekends, though from nine to five weekdays I'm confined to this cubicle, I guess you can't have it all...

 

wow i just got back from the hospital(out patient) but they weighd me id better start eating more pasta sugar or something because i weigh 12 poubs less than i did when i graduated highschool and i did everything i could to gain weight then i geuss i have to eat for two even though im barley one then i had to take in 3000 calories a day just to maintain now ill have to get 5000 to get it back or startsitting on my arse or somthing arrrrr!

 

Sugar is dirt cheap and plentiful in the U.S. It also has an infinite shelf life. That's why businesses push it so much on people, especially on kids.

Breakfast cereals are still loaded with sugar and corn syrup. The industry is sneakier today, however. They took sugar off the front label and replaced it with nice natural sounding names, such as 'golden' and 'honey'.

Sugar Frosted Flakes is now Frosted Flakes. Super Sugar Crisp is now Super Golden Crisp. Sugar Smacks is now Smacks. Many others have changed their names too.

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There's been arguments over whether or not to consider high fructose corn syrup as a natural ingredient. I think in the U.S. corn syrup is still considered natural.

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I don't see Americans getting any thinner over the years. I mean sure now McDonalds added a shitty ass salad to their menu cause of the movie Supersize Me but I mean if people are consuming and willing to spend their money, then companies are going to keep producing, its an endless vicious cycle of demand-supply-collect profit.

 

Whatever happened to the salad craze? Back in the 80s every restaurant went absolutely berserk with salad bars.

Even salads are bad for you if you load them with cheese and dressings. Take a look at how many calories are in a tablespoon of salad dressing. You'll be shocked. Take a look at the list of chemicals on the back of a salad bottle and you'll be even more shocked.

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I think it was Ponderosa that had that goofy salad bar commercial in the 80s. They showed these two swinging doors at the restaurant then all of the sudden this gigantic salad bar on wheel came smashing through the doors.

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People just gotta exercise more and eat more natural healthy foods. I think a problem is people are fooled into thinking that certain foods are healthy when their not.

 

There was a time when people in the U.S. ate natural foods out of the earth. After WWII much of it became processed food.

People don't realize how much hidden fat there is in some foods. Just putting some of these dressings on a salad can add hundreds of calories. Butter, salad dressing, and mayonaise can be terrible in terms of calories. I know people close to 300 lbs who really load these extras on their food and refuse to give it up or cut back. They just love the taste of those extras too much.

I have a friend about 300 lbs who weighs her meat portions with a scale and says 'now I can't have any more than this.' Then she loads everything up with mayonaise and sauces which together have far more calories than the meat alone.

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I have an explaination for why americans spend less time outdoors -- it's in big part to how much more dangerous it is on american streets ie. high crime/homocide rates, parents feel safer if their kids are inside watching TV than playing outside, I know, I SEEN IT.

Some of the danger is perceived tho... for instance my obese american cousin pointed out this one street we're driving along and says "see this street, I could never take a bike along this". Let me tell you that this "high-traffic" road was a very spread out, wide suburban, flat road with light traffic that I consider very easy to traverse compared to what I usu. take in downtown Toronto. My cousin got into a very painful skating accident when she was young and I think that plays a big part in her fears.

Inactive people also have developed less coordination which makes them more klutzy, which makes them more accident-prone which in turn makes them more fearful and less likely to get exercise -- it's a viscious cycle but I've witnessed it.

 

This is, to some extent, true, particularly if you live in some urban areas (Toronto's an awesome place from what I've heard BTW), but I believe a lot of it is perception--many Americans live in a state of fear, now more than ever, and the media and the government seem to promote this as a means to manipulate the American public, but I digress, that subject belongs in a different thread.

A big factor is our lifestyle, and the proliferation of fast food restaurants, which make it convenient to consume high fat, processed foods while on the go. The food is also cheap because it contains GMOs, growth hormones, and other crap, which makes it inexpensive to produce.

I don't think fat and sugar are the culprits per se, it's the form they're in that's the problem. High fructose corn syrup and refined sugars are far worse than more natural forms like honey. And you can't really compare the saturated fat found in McDonalds' burgers to that found in organically grown avacados or fish. I consume a lot of fats and sugars, mostly in natural organic forms like honey, "raw" sugar, olive oil, fish, etc., I never count my calories, and I'm healthy. Fat and sugar are good for you when consumed in the right form in reasonable proportions.