What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
Fast food? The virtual dissapearance of family dinner time? Stress? Lack of exercise? What's your opinion?
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19 Comments:
+ Lack of time to cook healthy food at home -- leading to too much McD's and fast food.
+ Sedentary lifestyles -- sitting in front of the computer (guilty as charged) and XBox.
Adam Kuban at 4:54PM on 01/29/07
Well, it's a combination of the above and people comforting themselves with food. We eat when we are sad, we eat when we are lonely, we eat when we are tired, we eat when we are depressed, we eat to celebrate, etc. We eat for reasons other than hunger. Besides, it is basic survival to eat everything we can, while we can. Our heads might know that there will always be enough food, but our instinct to eat everything because we *can* hasn't caught up.
Calichef at 7:32PM on 01/29/07
Portion size. Processed food.
Brett at 9:03PM on 01/29/07
less real food. more industrialized products.
jbeach at 9:36PM on 01/29/07
Let's face it, we all ate junk when we were kids and a lot of it! I think it has to do more with lack of activitiy than it does the amount of food. I remember eating non-stop as a kid and most of it wasn't all that healthy....but I also remember us kids being outside constantly playing baseball then hide-and-seek, then swimming until our mom's had to yell at us to come in cause we wanted to stay out as late as possible. I hardly ever see kids playing outside anymore. Seems kids just want to sit on myspace or play video games. Eating junk and no activity equals obesity for sure.
ThatGirl153 at 9:20AM on 01/30/07
i think it's a lack of education about "moderation". people don't understand that moderation is the key, then they see these wild fad diets that go to extremes and they either start, and crash, or don't even try because they think diets are nonsense.
Stacy at 10:21AM on 01/30/07
1. Parents eat garbage, teach their kids the same. Kids are smart - they'll eat salad if you do and don't make a big deal out of it.
2. Not enough Americans take the time to actually talk about food with their children, why this is bad and why this is better.
3. Our food culture is pretty much two-pronged: 'Fuel' and 'More.'
4. We're too bottom-line oriented. If we could make money selling say, coal to kids as 'food,' we'll do it, damn the consequences.
5. Bears repeating and it's the big difference between us and other cultures: Parents eat garbage, teach their kids the same.
Sandro at 10:23AM on 01/30/07
Portion size, the easy availability of processed foods, and sedentary lifestyle.
Lucia at 10:46AM on 01/30/07
Transfat. Urban sprawl. Subsidized sugar and corn (syrup.)
Tamarind at 3:20PM on 01/30/07
So many great recipes; so little time.
grampart at 3:45PM on 01/30/07
1.) scientists are worried about things like global warming instead of discovering cutting edge eating disorders and educating the public on how to implement them into their daily lives.
2.) everyone knows there aren't enough diet / diet fad books. i can only recall 1000 or so from the last five years and we need 1001! or how about books that combine ALL the different trends. something along the lines of "dr. atkins zones out on south beach"
just saying
the word yes at 6:16PM on 01/30/07
Cheap corn and the food industry's desire to increase portion size rather than decrease price.
Drhow at 10:43PM on 01/30/07
I agree with everything the other posters have said. But I also think there is the issue of how our meat supply is raised. The elements in beef, pork, and poultry feed that fattens them up for market eventually makes its way to our tables, and we consume it as well.
BreadBox at 12:46AM on 01/31/07
I think a huge part of it is the fact that television is babysitting our kids and mcdonalds is feeding them. People want to pacify their children so they give them whatever they want. And convienience foods are just that, so they are eaten far too frequently. And a total lack of physical activity. Moderation has gone the way of atari.
kneadfulth at 3:03AM on 01/31/07
Ah, my Atari 2600 ... good times.
Sandro at 3:02PM on 01/31/07
Processed cheese.
Myszka at 8:26PM on 01/31/07
Huge portions, eating too many refined carbs, snacking, in general eating way too much food! I travel overseas all the time, and the rest of the world eats normal portions, Americans eat MASSIVE! portions that could easily feed 2-3 people. Plus eating all the cheap but tasty (I absolutely LOVE properly made pomme frites!) stuff just isn't good for you.
The only way I keep my weight under control is by conciously understanding what I am eating and keeping portions reasonable. Trust me, eating for me is serious enjoyment, but I would die of a heart attack before I turned 50 if I didn't take it easy.
When all humans were hunters and gatherers, sure, eat at the buffet till there was nothing left because you didn't know when you would eat next. But we don't live like cavemen anymore.
fatbuddy at 9:15PM on 01/31/07
Let's just take my office as a case study. There's always unhealthy crap like doughnuts or cheetos or nasty processed cookies sitting on the "calorie counter," as we call it, and the fattest people in the office can always be seen clutching a fast-food bag around lunchtime, because they were "too busy" to make their own lunch.
The solution is not miracle pills...it's more exercise and healthier foods. As a former fast-food eater myself, I can attest that it is addictive, but once you make the switch to cooking for yourself, your body will start to reject that crap....come ON people! take some responsibility for yourselves!
bylime at 9:30PM on 01/31/07
All of the above, sedentary lifestyle, too much fast and processed food, and portions.
Being from Texas, where "everything is bigger", one only has to look at the most obese cities in America (at least two Texas cities in the top 10 for the last 6 years!) and say portion size definitely has something to do with it. Also urban sprawl and the lack of good public transportation systems here has left us totally dependent on our cars, so we don't walk enough.
And everywhere in general, the fad diets. Trying to convince us that low carb, low fat, low salt, low sugar, low whatever, is the answer. Look at the rest of the world and you'll see that you don't have to do without to be fit and healthy. It is: not too much of anything, everything in moderation. (Julia Child had it right, and she lived a long and healthy life!)
As far as the rising obesity in children, I think tv and video games. What happened to playing outside? I was always out bike riding or playing games with other kids in the neighborhood. You hardly see that anymore, and it's sad.
Jeana at 3:21PM on 02/05/07