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Fun fact, I was over there for almost 2 months recently, and not my first trip.
I paid attention on purpose in shopping malls, walking around, went to a couple of concerts...sorry to burst your bubble, but I didn't see that many fat people.
What does bursting my bubble have to do with anything? I'm not here denying USA has an obesity problem, or chanting some nationalistic "no we aren't fat" mantra, I'm astounded at all the BS that is getting shoveled.
The stats I found put California and Ireland both at 25% obesity rate, both far below the US as a whole but something that makes me roll my eyes are your "observations". I don't care if you spent ten years there, you're just wrong.
I meant not processed or made with chemicals. They are more likely to eat real cheese than cheese whiz.
Everything is made with chemicals, because everything you see or touch around you is chemicals.
"Real food" is obviously open to interpretation but to me if something can be eaten to provide nutrition it is real food. That would include a Big Mac, and yes even Velveeta cheese which has some protein, carbs, etc. and provides a reasonable source of Vitamin A and Calcium.
What does bursting my bubble have to do with anything? I'm not here denying USA has an obesity problem, or chanting some nationalistic "no we aren't fat" mantra, I'm astounded at all the BS that is getting shoveled.
The stats I found put California and Ireland both at 25% obesity rate, both far below the US as a whole but something that makes me roll my eyes are your "observations". I don't care if you spent ten years there, you're just wrong.
OK, I guess my eyes were lying to me.
Met several people from France and Holland while in Ireland last trip, various ages, all were normal weight.
As another poster mentioned who visited France, every time they came across a very obese person it was an American tourist.
Maybe you need to take a trip out of the country, stats can be construed to say whatever they want to say.
I am going by actually making it a point to pay attention to this last trip because I noticed it before, it's very noticeable.
You can look at news footage from the 60s and 70s in America and you see very few fat people, can't say that anymore. Now it's the norm.
Like people here say, we were all slimmer 50 years ago. I know, because I was there...... A fat person was quite unusual. We ate lots of fattening type foods, like fish and chips regularly. But, as children, we played outside all the time. In school, during breaks, we ran around the playground. The results of that were almost all slim children.
Most adults also were slim, with some old people overweight, but not much. Today, the English are much fatter than back then, including some children. But, I have visited America many times, and what I have seen a lot of there, is morbid obesity. That is very unusual here.
It is a growing problem for all of us, especially with things like increasing diabetes. I have no doubt if something isn't done, we here in England will see much more morbid obesity. My government is taking action about foods and drinks and the amount of sugar, aimed especially at children. I have seen telly adverts boasting about reduced amounts of sugar in things like breakfast cereals, so a new sugar tax is having an effect with manufacturers. We all need to get a grip on this problem, and stop making excuses.
Schools are being encouraged to have much more exercise for children in the school day. I saw one on the local news showing children having a one mile run each school day before lessons start. Hopefully, a grip can be gotten on this problem, before it gets even worse.
Everything is made with chemicals, because everything you see or touch around you is chemicals.
"Real food" is obviously open to interpretation but to me if something can be eaten to provide nutrition it is real food. That would include a Big Mac, and yes even Velveeta cheese which has some protein, carbs, etc. and provides a reasonable source of Vitamin A and Calcium.
Everyone knows what she meant, and equating "whole foods" with "real foods" is pretty common.
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Like people here say, we were all slimmer 50 years ago. I know, because I was there...... A fat person was quite unusual. We ate lots of fattening type foods, like fish and chips regularly. But, as children, we played outside all the time. In school, during breaks, we ran around the playground. The results of that were almost all slim children.
Most adults also were slim, with some old people overweight, but not much. Today, the English are much fatter than back then, including some children. But, I have visited America many times, and what I have seen a lot of there, is morbid obesity. That is very unusual here.
It is a growing problem for all of us, especially with things like increasing diabetes. I have no doubt if something isn't done, we here in England will see much more morbid obesity. My government is taking action about foods and drinks and the amount of sugar, aimed especially at children. I have seen telly adverts boasting about reduced amounts of sugar in things like breakfast cereals, so a new sugar tax is having an effect with manufacturers. We all need to get a grip on this problem, and stop making excuses.
Schools are being encouraged to have much more exercise for children in the school day. I saw one on the local news showing children having a one mile run each school day before lessons start. Hopefully, a grip can be gotten on this problem, before it gets even worse.
Yes, I do think morbid obesity is pretty much our domain (along with those Samoans again, but I think they have a genetic makeup to be big as well). I think running around the school before class is a great idea, it would also help the kids to focus, but I have a feeling parents here would object to it. Our school physical fitness programs have been cut, gym is only once a week like art and music is, in some schools. Budgets have all been built around boosting test scores here, physical fitness takes a backseat. In a lot of schools, they don't even have recess anymore.
We also seem to fight measures aimed at reducing sugars and fats and carbs. Some mayors have tried to tax them, and been beaten back with sticks. It seems like people almost see sugar and fat and fast food as "American" in a way, and any talk of healthy food and exercise is the work of socialists, lol.
It always makes me upset when I see the KFC $5.00 deals commercial. Every single one of the items is a heart attack on a plate, yet that is what is affordable to low income people, in which as a community, there is rampant morbid obesity. I think if people really had a clue how much we pay for obesity in this country, heads would roll. People here get so angry at smokers, people who abuse drugs, etc, say they should be punished, we shouldn't be footing the bill for their stupid choices, but when it comes to obesity people don't include them in their rage against other self-abusers, but I'm not sure why. The rate of children who are on blood pressure medication, cholesterol lowering drugs, insulin, has grown by leaps and bounds. It used to be unheard of.
Vegetable consumption per capita data is here: https://www.helgilibrary.com/indicat...-capita/world/
USA: 113
United Kingdom: 94
Germany: 94
France: 104
Italy: 145
Spain: 124
Greece: 232
Norway: 77
Finland: 88
Sweden: 94
Russia: 110
Ukraine: 28
Poland: 129
Netherlands: 84
Belgium: 128
Czech Republic: 74
Portugal: 166
Looks like it's a mix, some countries in Europe eat more veggies than Americans and some do not. Definitely a trend towards healthier eating of vegetables in the South. Interestingly of the top five most populous European countries only Italy eats more veggies per capita than USA.
I do puzzle over the obesity crisis here in England. I hear all the same things Americans do about fast foods, and too much sugar in our diets.
But, the English diet when I was a kid was pretty appalling, looking back. Breakfast tended to be cereal, or say some toasted bread, which was ok. But lunch at school was always things like meat pies, and lots of french fries........ that sort of thing. Dinner at home was often something like lamb chops, and mash potatoes. But many times it would be things like meat puddings, made with suet pastry. We drank lots of full sugar pop, and ate plenty of candy also. Yet, we were all slim.
We didn't have fast food outlets like McDonald's. But, we had plenty of take out fish and chips shops, which always had lines of people waiting to be served. The main difference I see between then and now, is that children played in the streets all the time. We walked everywhere........ few parents had cars when I was a kid. Plus of course, many adults had much more physical jobs than today. But, we had plenty of folks working behind desks back then, but they were almost all slim. It is puzzling in some ways.
Nowadays, the streets are deserted in the evenings. No children to be seen playing at all. Fat children, tend to become fat adults. I think exercise at school is essential. We have to try and do anything possible to stop this problem becoming worse. When I was a kid at school in the 60s, exercise was a high priority. We were made to do things like cross country runs, in all weathers. I know attitudes among parents have changed, and many feel their little darlings shouldn't be forced to do such things. But, this needs explaining to parents that exercise is essential for young people, and it really is good for their long term health.
Many fast food takeaways in the UK are now open at the time children are coming out of school. Not surprising that some will be tempted to buy something to eat while walking home or waiting for a bus. If councils passed bye-laws restricting opening hours for takeaways - lunchtime and after 5 p.m.? - that would help a little in fighting child obesity.
Too many schools have sold off land that was used for sports. That should never be allowed to happen.
Met several people from France and Holland while in Ireland last trip, various ages, all were normal weight.
As another poster mentioned who visited France, every time they came across a very obese person it was an American tourist.
Again I don't doubt what you saw, I doubt your conclusions. One person's anecdotal experiences aren't something that is useful for doubting obesity statistics. America has higher obesity rates, but California obesity rates are similar to Ireland.
As for for your experiences with people in different countries = come on man, think about what you're saying here and how that would work statistically. France's obesity rate is 24%, Holland, 19%, USA 34%. Yes, that makes USA fatter. Does that make it a situation where you are likely to only encounter thin people from Holland and obese people from United States? Nope. Makes no sense mathematically from a combinatorics perspective.
Quote:
Originally Posted by seain dublin
Maybe you need to take a trip out of the country, stats can be construed to say whatever they want to say.
I don't live in the United States and it's quite likely that I've seen far more of the world than you ever will so please don't try the appeal to authority thing.
Stats can be misconstrued but how is that logically impacting this discussion? Are you thinking the researchers from an international organization that used BMI to calculate obesity rates intentionally under represented USA and over represented countries in Europe? To what end? What was their motivation? I think your only reasoning for thinking the data was skewed is it doesn't align with your preconceptions so must be wrong.
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A fat person was quite unusual. We ate lots of fattening type foods, like fish and chips regularly. But, as children, we played outside all the time. In school, during breaks, we ran around the playground. The results of that were almost all slim children.
