So I'm looking around at people who drive SUV's, and I'm thinking these people are just getting fatter and fatter, they are growing into their enviornment. You give a goldfish a big bowl and youre gonna have a big *** goldfish.

You notice fat people don't drive sports cars because you really feel that seat, every mile of it. If you wanna loose weight, were tight fitting pants, because everytime you sit down youre gonna feel that pinch and think, gee I have to loose weight.

Remember the 70's and 80's when girls wore spandex, and guys wore designer pants. You never saw any fatties dancing in the disco.

Airplane seats are getting bigger, so now people think its OK to be fat. Make the plane seats smaller than normal and it'll give motivation to people to loose weight.

I'm disgusted by a lot of the posts on here. I think obeisity is a huge issue and needs to be delt with. But it's not just solved by eating a little healthier and short runs. People always want to say that fat people have horrible eating habbits and shouldn't be eating all that junk food. Truth is we all eat the same crap! But we soon learn who has the slower metablisms, and when we do find out, they're the only people eating such junk.

How people can be fat mystifies me. Just eat a little less and go on a short run once a week, geez!

Playing video games isn't the problem. We feed our kinds candy, cakes, sodas, and fast food all day. We try and blame the media, but we need to blame parents. Why as a parent would you let your child eat a whole McDomanld hamburger at 3 just because they can? If we keep letting them put fast food resturants up on every corner we are to blame as well. Ther's nothing healthy about being overweight. Many people may say "I'm glad I'm a size 16 and not a 2 like Natalie Portman." Well being fat is not healthy. Just because you're thin doesn't mean you are sick. It doesn't make you anorexic or bullimic. We have to stop blaming other people for our problems. We need to teach our kids how to eat correctly. Not the media, celebrities or Burger King.

I agree, the obesity issue in America is getting worse.

All the reasons mentioned are part of the problem.... Kids play basketball video games, they don't go outside.

BUT other issues that people dismiss include emotional and compulsive eating.

Society is completely skewed...with its images and unattainable ideals... people (especially women) are being told they should become smaller and smaller, and some people (because of stress, emotional issues, pressure and feelings of unworthiness) are eating more to compensate.

If you are told you must be thin and that you can not eat ice cream, you are going to constantly think about ice cream. Want it... Binge eat. And afterwards, you only feel as if you have failed. Thus you start hating yourself... and you eat more.

Those who blame obesity only on laziness and gluttony are narrow-minded and ignorant.

The symptoms from our modern life in North America are manifesting themselves in more ways than people realize...

And it scares me.

I never said it was practical. I know few if anyone would ever live their lives that way.

I was just pointing out that it was possible. Many people in our "jump in the car and go" world seem to forget things like that.

Worth, that's fine for exercise (I frequently do so) but to carry out a daily routine or run errands that's totally impractical. It would take several hours to do anything.

quote:

Originally posted by DrStrangelove:
The nearest super-market or hardware store is 8 miles away in one direction, and that's not even the major town in the area. And I'm in a reasonably populated semi-suburban area.

It's entirely possible to walk, jog if you're fit, or ride a bike 8 miles.

Notice I didn't say easy. But it's possible.

also european women seem to be on the average taller. mayb it is in their genes, but even so taller people do not usually get fat as easily

basically europe is way sweeter he

quote:

Originally posted by WorthWaitingFor:
Nothing ever has to be driven to if you happen to have the time to walk.

The nearest super-market or hardware store is 8 miles away in one direction, and that's not even the major town in the area. And I'm in a reasonably populated semi-suburban area.

Nothing ever has to be driven to if you happen to have the time to walk.

You know, Americans used to walk everwhere too untill everything became concentrated in minimalls and Wal-Marts that were so far away they HAD to be driven to.

the reason europeans are skinny is because :


They all smoke

They eat 3 square meals a day

They all drink lots of coffee

They walk everywhere


European food is not any better than american food. Its just as bad for you.

Europeans just have a different lifestyle.

quote:

Originally posted by DrStrangelove:
Speak for yourself. You don't know the glory of a massive cheeseburger or burrito.

Amen.

quote:

We need to learn from healthy nations, whose surplas of wealth isn't spent on food but on a healthier and more enjoyable lifestyle...meditteraenean diets are much nicer anyway.

Speak for yourself. You don't know the glory of a massive cheeseburger or burrito.

It's not about "adopting a medditerrainian diet" or spending money on "a healtier life", it's about promoting good exercise programs and responsible eating. As nice as you think Spain, Greece, and Turkey are, they don't have nearly the same amount of convienence infrastructure or per-capita income of the US.

As you have said, it's happening in the UK, and I've read reports about it happening all over Europe. You'd probably blame it on an invasion of American culture. I say it's the expected result of human instinct combined with lots of food and money, regardless of culture.

quote:

Originally posted by EarthGoddess:
Mature. Very mature.

I thought it was pretty witty.

It is not just third world countries which are disgusted by the weight problems of nations like America, and unfortunatly, the UK (although our problem isn't quite at the stage of the US yet). Ive been all around Europe, Spain, Greece, Turkey...and i see a small amount of fat people, a very small amount, and they also enjoy better food, tastier, healthier food...its also to do with lifestyle, western nations spend a ridiculous amount of time watching TV, driving everywhere and generally being lazy-fat-arses.

I read a sickening story of the great Bill Bryson in his book about life in the USA, where a small town in his state of Maine had spent millions pedestrionising the town centre, and the people stopped coming, because they didn't want to walk about the town centre, they wanted to drive up to their store and get out...so they spent millions more converting it back.

Here in the UK there is no excuse for so many fatties, it is not only detremental to themselfes but to their kids who are likely to grow up with a similar lifestyle, and it is also bad for society, fat workers aren't as productive, and are likely to take more sick-leave and die younger, oh and here in the UK they are a MASSIVE (pun intended) drain on our free national health service, being treated for heart disease etc at the expense of the mainly healthy taxpayer who may have to wait for a bed for his cancer operation because of a selfish fatty who couldn't lay off the macdonalds and now needs heart surgery.

We need to learn from healthy nations, whose surplas of wealth isn't spent on food but on a healthier and more enjoyable lifestyle...meditteraenean diets are much nicer anyway.

quote:

Who cares what Turd World countries think.

Mature. Very mature.

quote:

Originally posted by luvabug22:
What percentage is that? It can't be that big of a number, most people are fat just because of their eating/exercise(or lack there of) habits.

I don't know the percentages and can't even form a prediction for the diseases or disorders but genetics have a lot to do with it. If both your parents were born heavy and have been heavy all their lives, then it's highly unlikely that you will be born a skinny skinny kid.

quote:

Fitting into clothes is healthy. It is very healthy.

But if all the clothes were made for thin people, it would not cause overwieght people to lose weight. I can't even tell you how many overweight people I see now wearing clothes that are too small for them or their body types and thinking they look good just because they are in small clothes. This tactic backfires.

And another point I would like to make: I would say that out of the number of overweight people you see every day, at least a 1/4 or maybe even 1/2 of them are trying to lose the weight and just haven't reached their goal yet. Now those aren't actual stats I pulled off a web-site, but just my inference from crowds I've been around before. If you saw me now, you would say I was overweight and probably assume a lot about me like I'm lazy or unhealthy or other common myths about overweight people (when applied to all of them). However, I am trying to lose the weight and you are just seeing me on a day that I haven't reached that goal yet. And a day that I am trying to get closer to it.

So are you saying we shouldn't have decent clothing to wear while we try to reach that goal???

All I said is that they must be disgusted with how we take our food for granted while they starve.