How do you feel that Georgia is the 12th fattest state? (Atlanta: 2009, live)

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by cityrover

i see a lot of fat kids.. not so many fat adults.. im sure we will be in the top 5 when these chubby kids grow up in 5 years

Yeah, that's what makes me shake my head, when I see a teen or young adult who is obese. Unless you have an actual medical problem (which is rare), there is no excuse for being that fat when you're that age. I'm in my mid-40s and probably in better shape than some teens and 20-somethings, which is a crying shame.

[King_X]

Things can always be looked at from different angles.
I am a part of those "overweight" statistics.

Is there an "underweight" listing as well??

I used to be very boney, skinny, and fragile as ever.

Right now, I'm overweight. Not as in sloppy fat, but I'm more than the "average" weight for my height, with a nice, solid frame that I'll take any day over my "bird chest" days.

So I'm proud to be in there

(I like a little meat on my women anyway )

[Georgia]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Yeah, that's what makes me shake my head, when I see a teen or young adult who is obese. Unless you have an actual medical problem (which is rare), there is no excuse for being that fat when you're that age. I'm in my mid-40s and probably in better shape than some teens and 20-somethings, which is a crying shame.

True Neil, but not to sound like one of those "well when I went to school types" but here goes
When I went to school you had lunch, in a tray, what was given to you by the lunch lady, period.
We did not have choice, our meals were balanced. We did not have soda machines, chip and candy machines, etc., We did not suck down Mountain Dew at lunch or 250 calorie Cokes. We had a carton of Milk, 8 ounces. In high school you could splurge and get 2 cartons for a dime extra.
There was "zero" government mandated breakfast. You ate your breakfast at home.

Bus stop, my county school was 18 miles from my home. Got up early, had my Corn Flakes or Pop Tart and went to the Bus stop with the other kids. A whopping 8/10th's of a mile from my home. I was lucky, my buddy had to walk the 1.2 miles being the furthest. Today, at least here in Gwinnett the darn bus stops at every darn house! Start, Stop, Start, Stop, and so on. And most of the time, mostly with teenagers, here they come waddling out of the house moving like an ant on a qualude, meandering to the bus. As I drive to work I see kids driving to high school lined up at Starbucks drinking the cold coffee lattes' with about a 400 calorie punch, not to mention the caffine, which of course has nothing to do with kids today and the awful ADD does it.

Heck, it's nothing to see a kid anymore about 13 pushing my weight of 230! The only difference is I'm pushing 50 and 6 and a half foot tall. Not 5'4".

[marysm1th]

It is not surprising that GA is ranked this high. High rates of obesity seem to be a problem in a lot of areas in the South.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Colddiamond102

Georgians dont skinny dip, they chunky dunk...

Hey, I think cannonballs rock! Ker-splooosh!!!

And yeah, I'm rather overweight, but I was also overweight in college when I was not overeating and relatively active (walked everywhere, played a lot of flag football, etc.).

That said, it's amazing what even a small change in diet can do. I've removed bread from my diet, and my wife and I have also subtracted starchy veggies like potatoes, and that by itself has made a rather large difference. Now I need to make a conscious effort to become more physically active. I guess using a computer keyboard all day isn't enough exercise.

[newkid01]

Originally Posted by Georgia

Crazy suggestion, but it could also be that most folks in the South are not as vain as those in California and New York as you like to focus on.

You know? I see these anorexic super models (who normally live in NY or California) and I hardly ever see them smile (except when they are paid a ton of money to smile to the camera, that is...). And I have to wonder, is it the fact that they live on salad, water and coke (not cola...) that gives them this hollow and unsatisfied stare?

Jokes aside - Yes, I blame this on junk food. These days, it seems like even if you are making an effort to buy quality food product, it becomes harder and harder to find it at the shop. Everything is processed, full of chemicals and s*&t like that. And when you finally find it, it costs a furtune because it's labeled "bio" or something along these lines...

I do my best with my kids (I have the opposite problem - I cannot put on weight...), but it's a struggle...

[MovedfromFL]

It would be great if all of the overweight folks here were really "not our problem" but the fact is we are all paying for these folks.

If you are a member of a group insurance policy, you pay higher rates due to the higher claims of your overweight and obese co-workers. If you pay state and federal taxes, you are paying for the costs of all overweight folks on medicaid and medicare. So we are all paying for those people who sit home all day, eat nothing but junk food (with food stamps) and watch TV. Medicaid pays for their pills, scooters, emergency room visits, etc. The costs are staggering and only getting higher. (diabetes epidemic in children for example)

This cannot continue. We simply can't afford it. It is NOT ok to be obese. I have a friend who was morbidly obese for years. Her gallbladder gave out and she had to have it removed. She recenly lost a lot of weight and is doing much better. My husband tells me a lot of stories from his workplace here. Co-workers are very sick and overweight and they are only in their early 30's. So and so's husband went to the hospital again with chest pains (obese, age 35). One woman is so large she can barely walk. She brings in a fast-food breakfast every day. She also has a daughter who is obese and the girl is only 5 years old. I can't tell you how many people here literally have rear ends that are 3+ feet wide. People hobble around with canes and roam the grocery store isles on their motorized carts. I have definately noticed a lot more obese people here than in FL where I used to live. The situation for minority groups is even worse. Many of the Mexican children in my town are obese. I see them all the time. Kids also have their teeth rotted out and start drinking soft-drinks as early as infancy. (again, I've seen it first hand in my line of work). I was behind a woman the other day in the grocery store line and her purchases consisted of: ice cream, white bread, soft drinks, and pork chops. Culture and food preferences are a major problem here.

As for my family, we are "freaks" because our two boys, ages 3 and 1 are not allowed to eat sugar and junk. No juice, no ice cream, cakes, cookies, etc. They love shredded wheat, pasta, peas, and all the good stuff. They don't miss what they don't know. Of course, I realize this is an uphill battle, but at least we are starting them out right. What they choose later on will be up to them.

[xlabel]

The short answer to it is the mass migration of Northerners to the South. I swear whoever is conducting these polls hasn't spent much time in the Midwest becuase I have never seen so many fatsos in my life. It's like the U.S. Mint could have taken Ohio,Indiana,Michigan, Illinois and made one state quarter for all of them depicting two tub-o-lards in a minivan and it would have been far more accurate.

Seriously, I'm from FL and can't remember ever seeing a McDonalds with double drive-thrus. Up here in MI most of the Mcd's have 2 drive thrus, and they are always full of mini vans backed up out into the highway and there are like 2 cars in the parking spots (probably employee's cars)......the locals are to damn lazy to park, walk 30 feet and go inside and order which contributes to even more fattness.

[lilmusket]

The reason Southern states rank the highest on these obesity indexes is because we have the largest proportion of African American residents.. and that one demographic group has the highest rate of obesity above all others.

[johnnyboy2008]

Interesting to note that the top 25 fattest states are all republican. LOL