Rant about weight, fat acceptance, obesity and health

[SteelCurtain]

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Please stop stripping the User ID from the quote function. It is misleading and may lead to people misunderstanding who you are quoting.

I think you're drawing a little bit of a causal relationship between people getting fatter in America and people believing that being fat is healthy. Americans are getting fatter because there is a Burger King on every corner, we work 51 weeks a year, and we have screens in every room of our house. Believe me, I live in Tennessee. There are more morbidly overweight people here than you can possibly imagine. Yet I still hear them tell me they want to lost weight, their doctor told them they were going to lose their foot to necrosis from diabetes. Not one person has tried to convince me that they were healthy while riding a scooter in WalMart.

I think this is misleading - Saying that Americans (or for the matter any other people) are getting fatter because there's a burger king or a fast food restaurant every corner is like saying the cause of gun shootings and killing sprees is the fact guns are sold in many stores - While I live in Europe and it is mostly illegal for civilians to own guns here, I think the cause of shooting sprees is not the fact guns are legal in America because, as you probably know, killing sprees are not that uncommon in scandinavia and people still acquire guns there. I think the availability of food influences how fat people get, but I don't think you can blame more weight on it - I'm pretty sure (and correct me if I'm wrong) that despite the fact America has so much processed food and junk food, it's more than possible to find healthy or otherwise normal food for decent prices - I also don't want to assume how many Burger Kings are out there, but in Europe fast food restaurants have existed and spread their availability for a long time, but I still don't see many of my friends going to MacDonalds every single day - In fact, I have a MacDonalds right next to me and I haven't gone there in 3 months because when I go out to dinner or lunch I prefer some traditional dish (mostly meat because I don't like fish much) since it's more worth the money.

I think you stopped reading after the first item in my list. The list, as it was, was supposed to show that I don't think there's any reason to believe that the reason people are getting fatter is that some people believe that being fat is healthy. Rather there are a lot of reasons. There is an abundance of convenient, cheap, sugary, savory, pre-packaged and processed foods. Walk down any supermarket aisle in America, and you'll find "whole" meals in a box or pouch, where all you have to do is add water and heat, or add chicken breasts and fry. We are being flooded with quick meals. You can drive through a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins/Dairy Queen combo drive through and get a burger, and Caramel Coolata, and an ice cream with jelly beans and sprinkles and chocolate syrup in literally the same stop. Combine this with the ridiculous amount of sedentary time we allow ourselves (TV, video games, AtheistForums.org ) and the fact that poor Americans work longer hours with less pay and less vacation than ever before---you have a self tightening screw.

Yes--it is possible to get healthy food. It is much easier---and cheaper---to get unhealthy food. And this effects poor people more. When you work two jobs, and it is quicker, easier, and cheaper to feed your family by ordering a pizza and a 2L pop than making chicken breasts, broccoli, and white rice---overwhelmingly you are going to choose the former.

Also, I seriously doubt that factors are anything more than social since 50 years ago people were much thinner - I mean, my country itself is much fatter now, but when people were poor and couldn't eat much everybody was very thin, and I believe America before the 2000's was thin as well, so I don't think there's a genetic reason behind the increase in obesity. It's basic reasoning here.

First of all, America has a LONG history of being obese. We weren't thin as a nation anytime near the 2000's.

Again, the food choices have changed. 50 years ago, packaged, processed, sugar-intensive foods were luxuries rather than staples. You can actually thank the US military for that. Powdered cheese for your Mac-n-Cheese? Thanks US Army. Retort pouches for your Capri Sun and Campbells skillet meals? Thanks US Army. The list goes on and on. Processed foods are ubiquitous in the American supermarket. They are much cheaper and quicker and easier than roasting a chicken and preparing vegetables and a salad. And---they taste great, a lot of times better than a prepared meal.

This disproportionately affects poor people.

Your first post included something about going for traditional food. You have to remember, America's traditional foods are BBQ, Hamburgers, sundry items deep fried in fat, and anything slathered in butter. We glorify savory, spicy, sweet, and filling. Our medium soda at McDonalds is nearly a Litre. Seriously---it's 32 oz. A litre is 33.8 oz. A medium. The Large is 44 oz. Of syrupy, sweet, oh-so-good pop. It is possible to get a 96 oz Super Big Gulp at the corner convenience store. for like $1.99. We drink an entire healthy meal in calories as liquid lubricant for sliding 20 processed chicken nuggets down our gullets which are also slathered in buttermilk ranch sauce (more lube).

Obesity is a food choice problem, an education problem, an immediate gratification problem, and an American reliance on convenience problem. It is also a problem that is made more difficult by being poor. You have to actively choose to spend more money to get healthier food, to spend more time you don't have preparing it, to convince your mewling spawn that even though it doesn't taste as good, it'll be better for you, and to give a shit about this all in the now---because weight gain complications happen later.