So Why Are Americans So Fat?
July 26th, 2007
I found this post on The Consumerist amusing, although it states something that should be fairly obvious to most of us out there – Americans are fat and getting fatter year after year. The comments are especially interesting for the suggested theories as to why.
No.No.Notorious
as a nation, we’re so rich that we were able to get the technology that makes what was previously expensive (like meats and sweet) cheap. even our poorest are living like kings compared to other countries.
Murph1908:
Thinking about it, I am ready to blame the advent of the 2-income family. When I was growing up, we would go out to eat at a (sit down) restaurant maybe once a month. This was a special occasion. Now, with the increased disposable income, people go out (made up statistic) at least once a week.
Acceptablerisk:
Is this a consumer blog or are we just going to bitch about fat everyone is getting and how companies are companies are releasing products people evidently want? It’s not McDonald’s job to keep your from fat ass from buying their shit.
Others deny the waistline expansion is even happening, claiming that the BMI measurement for obesity is inaccurate and unfairly labels a 5’2″ body builder as obese. True, but seriously – how many 5’2″ body builders do you see when you walk down the street vs. overweight people? And why do rates for Type 2 diabetes continue to rise if we’re all fit?
This is also compounded by coming back from a trip to Japan where I think I saw only a handful of overweight people, and they were all on television in the sumo matches. Meanwhile, entire subway stations were full of people with low BMIs and weren’t 5’2″ body builders.
Anyhow, enough ranting (I have about 10 pounds to lose myself). Here are some of my amateur theories why America is the land of the large:
- Suburbia. Suburban sprawl encourages people to drive everywhere, which is pretty much the only way to get around when you live in a house among other houses and the nearest retail place and mass transit stop is in a strip mall four miles away.
- Eating out more often and more food. Suburbia is filled with these “chain” restaurants (Chilis, Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory, Outback Steakhouse) where it seems abuse by food is the norm. Meaning, just a standard meal has portion size that could kill a small mammal. I’m talking about the 1/3 pound hamburger with cheese and fried onions piled on top, and a brownie the size of a small pizza drenched in hot fudge with a pan cookie, cheesecake, and three scoops of ice cream on top as a dessert. 14,293 calories, once a week, your brain thinks this is normal.
- Equating food with reward. This is cultural and psychological. We see food as a reward for good behavior – a customary indulgence. For every big event, food is inevitably involved – be it a birthday, graduation, family reunion, wedding, whatever – the most common response eating. The reward for a stressful day is a dish of ice cream, or if you’re “good” by hitting the gym you deserve a donut.
- Yo-yo dieting. I see many diets coming up with these really restrictive rules that seem to hamper long term success. Not being a food guru myself, it seems moderation is the problem. You can have a piece of cake, just a small one and not every week. It’s when people deny themselves cake for several months and then go bats one day with a cake orgy, gaining back all the weight that was lost.
- The prevalence of high fructose corn syrup and processed food. This mass produced chemical is pretty vile and is in pretty much all processed foods. There’s all kinds of distasteful politics in the government’s farm subsidies that makes corn sugar cheaper than sugar cane. What this means is in addition to eating more, it’s also not good quality, full of strange chemicals. Note the difference between “cheese” and “cheese food” and “meat” and “meat product“. There’s some inspiration to pick up the celery stick and go organic.
- Sedentary lifestyle. While in college I was thin as a rail but gained about twenty pounds with my first cubicle technology job. The reasons are endless – sitting in front of a glowing screen for hours on end, going out for lunch, the ubiquitous bowl of candy on everyone’s desk, free meals and sodas in the kitchen (this was 1999), birthday parties every week, and lastly, more disposable income to spend on food, and someone was always “stopping by Krispy Kreme” on the way to work and bringing in trays of donut action.
- Thinking there’s an easy fix. Another psychological or cultural aspect. I think there’s always the temptation of a shortcut – some magic pill – rather than confronting the hard, obvious truth: we all have to eat less and exercise more, and this is a long term lifestyle change. But it seems many of us don’t want to make this change – because it’s a long term project requiring discipline. We could just wait until someone develops the sugar-zapping nanobot or the pill that erases the weight-gain gene.
- We have a skewed idea of what is normal. I can always use the excuse, “well, I’m not as heavy as so-and-so” as a reason to eat another donut. This recent New York Times article also suggests that if a friend becomes large, you may become large, too. So as the whole nation gets heavier, it may be creating a snowball effect.
I have to lose some weight, too. I have been stuck around 170 all of this year. Right now I’m at 168 only because I was sick. I’d like to get down to 164 which won’t kill me. I really need to put my money where my mouth is – and not eat it.
So what are your theories on why America has a weight problem? Or am I totally off base with some of my thoughts above?
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I think we’re getting fatter and fatter because:
1. Unhealthy foods tend to be cheaper than healthy ones
2. Most people don’t understand nutrition. Most chefs don’t understand nutrition
3. We’re exercise-phobic. Not just sedentary, phobic. People are afraid they’re going to die if they go for a hike or a swim in the ocean.
4. Too big portion sizes
The causes are many and I agree with what you have stated above. Right on target with the Suburban Sprawl, goodies setting around at work.I will add a few IMO comments:
1. Pop (Soda) machines at work places and schools. 16oz. & 22oz. vs. 8oz.in ’50′s
2. AUTOMOBILES ! In suburbia your car is parked in your in-house garage, 10ft. from your kitchen and family room, no walking to a bus-stop!
3. Candy and chips machines at work, school, service stations…everywhere!
4. General acceptance of “fat” or fat people, no social pressure to not be fat
5. Loneliness…food as a “comfort”
6. Refined Carb-foods such as Bread, pasta, crackers and cookies in our diet
7. ( Maybe…?) In women…Birth-Control Pills and patches
8.( DRUM-roll, please…!) ELASTIC waistlines in pants, slacks, jeans, shorts and skirts and dresses. Therefore you are not wearing ‘accountable clothing’ that holds you in and lets you know when you are eating too much at a meal and when you need to lose a “few pounds” to get zipped up!Too casual dressing in sweats and t-shirts, loose, baggy-cover-up clothing and ELASTIC!!!
I have also noticed that the populations of Christians who attend liturgical Churches ( Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian ) seem to be slimmer than the general populations at the shopping malls or all-you -can-eat-buffets!?
Heh – Bobbi those are good reasons too. I think 8 is really pretty sneaky. It’s easy to just buy bigger clothes and then the ironic thing is by getting another size up it’s like your body can grow a bit more to fill ‘em out.
Social acceptance of larger people – well it’s politically correct, but at the same time the more we get used to seeing heavy individuals, there can always be that excuse of ‘well, I’m not as large as so-and-so’.
if your fat, excercise. why would you wanna be fat? thats disgusting.
That's true, the delicious chocolates adds more calorie, but its very tasty also. No one can deny this statement.
When given any chance for pleasure first, they will choose it.
Discipline is balance between eating and excersise.
As a family e owe it to our bros and sisters to be brutally honest.
I spent half my life trying to not drink alcohol, it was always ugly
and unacceptable. Thank God. Had it not been, I would be dead.
I'm running in my first marathon 12/07/08
Jay B
You know, rhwy have found that there is something that each American is drinking or did drink that contains a substance that causes the stem cells in the body to create more fat cells. Interestingly, eac of the “new” fat cells contain insulin. No one knows for sure what is going on, but it looks like somebody's stem-cell project, and it's not good!
This is a great drug for anybody that has gastrointestinal issues when taking metformin. It is a mix of metformin and avandia. For some reason the avandia lessens those side effects. For me the side effects disappeared completely. For my wife the side effects were only lessened.
Glucophage (metformin) for Diabetes, Type 2: I have been taking Glucophage for 11 years. I have never had any side effects at all and my blood sugar level is always good.
I agree with the person who said that there's too much food right in front of our faces — in restaurants, on TV, and in super markets, especially WalMart, where you're hit in the face with sweet rolls, huge cookies, and cupcakes the minute you walk in the door. Many of today's cookies and muffins are big enough for four people. Whoever thought up the term Supersize should be shot.
I'm an older person, so I remember when going out to eat was a rarity, and there were only two brands of potato chips on the shelves — Wise and Dan-Dee. Nobody had ever heard of a Dorito.
Stuffing our faces is a sure-fire way to have a feel-good feeling. It's quick and easy. We're addicted to food. I could stand to lose a few pounds myself (5'6″ – 155) — but I'm sorry to say that I'm contemptuous of all the slobs I see walking around, with their slob children, and I wonder what they think of themselves!
If you've never done this, Google the calorie chart of some of your favorite restaurants. You'd me AMAZED by the numer of calories in some of the foods — even salads. Here's a link to, e.g., Houlihan's: http://www.houlihans.com/menus/nutrition.pdf.
I’d say one thing to factor is in the typical after-work routine of most Americans: three hours of comedy, one hour of drama, some news and maybe late night TV. Four to five hours of sitting and staring EVERY DAY. That’s easily time to be used for exercise.
It always amuses me when people say they just can’t find the time. But yet they can find time for Survivor, The Bachelor, American Idol or some dumb sports event.
Drink lots of water throughout the day, and one glass before any meals. Throw in an apple or two during the week. Stop drinking pop and avoid the sweets. It’s really not rocket science. Exercise + lots of water + sugar avoidance will go a long way.
The math is easy;
Consume less, exercise more.
Regardless of what is being offered to our self-indulgent appetites, we do have the ability to choose.