Most Obese U.S. Cities - SA at 3rd (San Antonio: earthquake, income)

[Guerilla]

America's Most Obese Cities - AOL Money & Finance

I was very surprised.

[Insomniac]

LOL. This ranking is just as silly as Mens Health. Yes, use the same BMI formula that lists someone like Brad Pitt as "overweight." It's such an outdated and flawed methodology. Oh look, Forbes has a "Most Sinful Cities" more excellent reading.

But I won't deny that SA does have some good food.

[Bohemian Enigma]

The ramifications are not evident only in the USA. The destructive force of blubber can be seen throughout the four corners of the globe. We see it in the starving and diseased masses of Africa, in the forced executions of orphans in China, in the child slave labor and prostitution of Southeast Asia, and in the outright obesity of the American population. And it is in the American population where this destructive tide originates. For it is the disgusting craving for yet another Whopper with Cheese by the American fatty which has caused the conversion of one of the earth’s greatest treasures, the rain forest, into mere grazing land for cattle. Millions of acres of land, formerly producing vitally needed oxygen, are now left besotted with tons and tons of cattle feces. Rising from this gargantuan new dung heap is a vast poisonous cloud of methane gas which drifts into the upper atmosphere and disrupts the normal equatorial currents – the result of which has left vast portions of Africa in continual drought.

The consequences of the USA's blubber epidemic are vast indeed.

[Drzy]

Originally Posted by Insomniac

LOL. This ranking is just as silly as Mens Health. Yes, use the same BMI formula that lists someone like Brad Pitt as "overweight." It's such an outdated and flawed methodology. Oh look, Forbes has a "Most Sinful Cities" more excellent reading.

I definitely agree BMI is a poor measure of an individual's obesity, but as a collective measure of the city, it's not that bad. All the effects that make it so poor for individuals (height, bone structure, muscularity, etc.) get averaged out over the population of the city, so if the average person in each city is close to the same (a decent but admittedly not perfect assumption), all that's left is the fatness.

Meaning, I think we actually are a pretty fat city. I wish I could say I was doing my part to push our numbers down.

[Insomniac]

Penn and Teller's Bull****! did a good job of exposing the "obesity epidemic."

[jules07]

I usually don't post into these threads/debates, but I gotta agree. SA is one of "fattest", probably the fattest, city I've ever been in (and I've traveled coast to coast several times, as well as many of the other "big cities" throughout the country). My kids are relatively thin. In SoCal they'd be considered normal. But here, we're often stopped by "well meaning" folks who'll pitifully say, "Oh mama! Doesn't mommy ever feed you???" And a doctor even suggested putting my youngest two on growth hormone drugs! Yeah, like I'd want to set them up for a weight problem latter on in life!

That said, I do also believe there is a weight epidemic nation wide. You can tell by the "vanity sizing" in the clothing industry. In many of the "finer" ladies clothing lines, what used to fit a size 6 is now considered a size 4. And I have the hardest time finding pants for my little girls. Have to get slim fit, adjustable waist, and then they're still too short! Yet, plus sizes abound!!

But explain this to me ~ why is it that it seems everyone wants to show off their.......uuuuummmmmm......"volumptous figures"? Tight, thin clothes over all those "curves". I just don't get it. There are lots of well fitting blouses, pants, etc. available that can be flattering to a larger figure. Yet it seems that so many of especially the younger women wear these very tight t-shirts and overly tight jeans. Do you guys find that attractive???

[Bohemian Enigma]

As you know, it is now fashionable for the American to register discontent with his government over the excessive size of the Federal deficit. Too much pork in the budget, Joe Citizen charges. And, after all, what is pork? Nothing but blubber. Joe Citizen angrily demands that the government trim the fat and return to him, via tax reductions, greater control of his own income. The American believes that he can spend his money more wisely than his government. This is nonsense – nothing but a spurious political homily served up by politicians to an endlessly hungry American populace. For while the immense Federal deficit is a matter of open record and subject to much scrutiny - particularly in election years – there is an even faster growing deficit that almost nobody is aware of. And that is of the American citizen himself. Yes, in supreme irony, the angry citizen who huffs and puffs that he could do a better job of handling money than his government is, in reality, even deeper in debt! Little publicized government statistics show the average U.S. household to be $58,000 in debt! The plain truth is, the collective debt of the private sector far outweighs that of the Federal government. The American cannot, in fact, spend his money more wisely than his government. This is a cold, hard, statistical truth, ladies and gentlemen. In fact, for the nation’s well-being, it behooves Washington to raise taxes immediately. The American cannot be trusted with his money.

This economic malady is not without its physical manifestations. For just as the American’s budget contains blubber, so does the American himself. Department of Health statistics reveal that close to 70% of Americans are overweight, with 33% being so overweight that they are categorized as obese. Obese is the polite word for “pig.” One out of every three Americans is a pig. Too much blubber, ladies and gentlemen, too much blubber. Americans eat more than they need, plain and simple. And, astonishingly, the consequences are now being felt literally throughout the planet – for the collective blubber of the American people is at a weight that is now causing stress upon the earth’s crust. The surface land mass of the continental United State is actually sagging into the earth’s lithosphere, thereby causing severe convergences of tectonic plates. Not only is this responsible for the rise of earthquakes in the United States in the past decade, but also of those worldwide. This is because the slippage of the faults under the U.S. surface area is so great that the effects extend to the continental plates under all of North America. This, in turn, puts pressure on the plates of South America, which, in turn, put pressure on the plates under Australia, and so on. In short, the blubber of America has caused an earthquake domino effect that has reordered the tectonic plates of the entire planet. Thus we see an unprecedented rise in earthquakes worldwide. Every mouthful of food that the American pig shovels into his or her mouth pushes the entire world closer to the catastrophe of a magnitude 10 quake. Millions will die as the result of the one American pig eating the one potato chip that will actually break the continental plate’s back.

[SnappyBob]

Originally Posted by Bohemian Enigma

As you know, it is now fashionable for the American to register discontent with his government over the excessive size of the Federal deficit. Too much pork in the budget, Joe Citizen charges. And, after all, what is pork? Nothing but blubber. Joe Citizen angrily demands that the government trim the fat and return to him, via tax reductions, greater control of his own income. The American believes that he can spend his money more wisely than his government. This is nonsense – nothing but a spurious political homily served up by politicians to an endlessly hungry American populace. For while the immense Federal deficit is a matter of open record and subject to much scrutiny - particularly in election years – there is an even faster growing deficit that almost nobody is aware of. And that is of the American citizen himself. Yes, in supreme irony, the angry citizen who huffs and puffs that he could do a better job of handling money than his government is, in reality, even deeper in debt! Little publicized government statistics show the average U.S. household to be $58,000 in debt! The plain truth is, the collective debt of the private sector far outweighs that of the Federal government. The American cannot, in fact, spend his money more wisely than his government. This is a cold, hard, statistical truth, ladies and gentlemen. In fact, for the nation’s well-being, it behooves Washington to raise taxes immediately. The American cannot be trusted with his money.

This economic malady is not without its physical manifestations. For just as the American’s budget contains blubber, so does the American himself. Department of Health statistics reveal that close to 70% of Americans are overweight, with 33% being so overweight that they are categorized as obese. Obese is the polite word for “pig.” One out of every three Americans is a pig. Too much blubber, ladies and gentlemen, too much blubber. Americans eat more than they need, plain and simple. And, astonishingly, the consequences are now being felt literally throughout the planet – for the collective blubber of the American people is at a weight that is now causing stress upon the earth’s crust. The surface land mass of the continental United State is actually sagging into the earth’s lithosphere, thereby causing severe convergences of tectonic plates. Not only is this responsible for the rise of earthquakes in the United States in the past decade, but also of those worldwide. This is because the slippage of the faults under the U.S. surface area is so great that the effects extend to the continental plates under all of North America. This, in turn, puts pressure on the plates of South America, which, in turn, put pressure on the plates under Australia, and so on. In short, the blubber of America has caused an earthquake domino effect that has reordered the tectonic plates of the entire planet. Thus we see an unprecedented rise in earthquakes worldwide. Every mouthful of food that the American pig shovels into his or her mouth pushes the entire world closer to the catastrophe of a magnitude 10 quake. Millions will die as the result of the one American pig eating the one potato chip that will actually break the continental plate’s back.

WOW! I did not know that.

[Hyun-Soo]

.....And the 3rd fattest city in the world.

We need a citywide campaign to fight obesity.

[motown mary]

The AOL article says there IS a city-wide campaign to fight obesity going on. News to you in San Antonio?

I agree that everything is blown up to accommodate our "growing" problem. Ever seen the "percentile" charts for kids at the pediatrician? My healthy kids always score below the median for weight because all of our obese children take the curve up, defining a new "normal." This is so sad!

I am relocating to San Antonio from the Midwest & wonder if may be it is tough to get out & exercise in San Antonio because it is too darn hot???