Becoming Obese...

[SpeedoGuy]

i was amazed when i visited the states.

people get into cars to cross the road! some areas seemed almost to be designed to be hostile to pedestrians.
here i walk everywhere but there it wasn't realistic.

You're right about people climbing into their cars for even short jaunts. Its dismaying but understandable.

I really do believe urban planning is deliberately hostile to pedestrians and bicyclists. That can't help but contribute to the obesity problem. Lots of Americans have been conditioned to just jump in their cars regardless, but those who really do want to walk and bicycle are taking a serious risk by being on crowded roadways near automobiles.

My neighbors think I'm an oddball every time I walk the mile to the nearest grocery store.

 

[SteveHd]

Dolfette, it's worse than you saw!

My condo site is ~1900ft on it's longest dimension. The exercise room is roughly in the middle. Some of the residents drive their friggin cars to said exercise room!

"Houston ... We've had a problem!":biggrin:

 

[D_golden parachute]

Britian is starting to get fat, it makes me sad, we are getting more American by the day.

time to move to Sweden...

 

[Pumblechook]

Study predicts 75 percent overweight in U.S. by 2015
Thoughts?

150% obese by 2030
300% obese by 2060

Ahhhhh! Run away, run away!

 

[dong20]

150% obese by 2030
300% obese by 2060

Ahhhhh! Run away, run away!

Learn some maths while running....:tongue:

 

[snoozan]

Heyyyy! Lighten up! :smile:

My entire original point was to draw a parllel between (a) ENdogenus factors present in mammal milks and tissues and (b) obesity in populations that consume mass quantities of mammal products. The link that I gave you in my more recent post was merely one that was to hand. There is a lot more written about the subject elsewhere in biology texts and on the Internet.

On the EFAs, yes, there ARE chemical differences; otherwise they wouldn't get the "essential" label. Books are written about these fatty acids, and I can give you the title of my favorite book if you are interested.

I am not trying to fight with you here, and I'm sorry if I'm posting information in too sketchy a fashion and if that's annoying to you. I am truly not trying to be air-headed or a pompous bore, and I don't seem to know where/how to strike the right balance between quick-comment and substantiated-research in order to make what I thought was an interesting observation in need of further research.:wink:

Interesting side note to the discussion we were having...

I was hanging out with The Fam today and we were discussing diet and exercise since we're all to one extent or another trying to bulk up, slim down, tone up, etc. and we somehow ended up discussing the Inuit. Their diet relates well to what you and I have been discussing.

And here it is--

The Inuit eat a protein-rich diet where the proteins are mostly from fish. They are overweight, generally, which serves them well in the climate they live in, but they have very low incidence of cardiovascular disease when compared to the American diet. Specifically, it's thought that the EFAs make blood clot more slowly (among other things) which prevents cardiovascular disease. The fish isn't causing them to be thinner, but it is keeping their cadivascular system healthier than those of us who consume protein from other animal sources. Like I said, I'm not arguing the benefits of a balanced, healthy diet, but this statement:

My solution to the Great American Weight problem is to not eat flesh or dairy from any animal that can become obese. The only flesh I eat (other than fellatio) (smile) is fish because fish don't get fat. Other than that, I am a vegetarian (no dairy).

I don't agree with.

 

[Not_Punny]

I respect your opinion, and have no desire to pick fishbones about it. :wink:

 

[whatireallywant]

It seems to me that both genetics and lifestyle are factors.

For example, I went to a family reunion last year and there were about sixty people there. It was mostly my parents, my siblings, their spouses and children. There were two people who would be considered to be overweight and they were not obese by any means. Having been adopted, I can't lay claims to the gene pool but can say that in my extended family that there has never been a death due to cancer, no diabetics, and I can only think of one somewhat premature death (72) death due to heart disease. People in my family routinely live to be ninety and eventually just wear out. That suggests favorable genetics.

However, among these people there were no smokers, no people with drinking problems, and most pursue regular exercise, generally through sports. Then there is the matter of diet. Growing up overseas, we ate almost no processed foods, my mother always had lots of fresh fruit in the house for snacks, and desert, when we had it, was usually made with fresh fruit. My nieces and nephews seem to have been raised to eat similarly.

Personally, I try to stick with what I call my "fisherman's diet" of fish, vegetables and fruit. I indulge in eating crackers, chips and cheese but the bulk of my diet is those three things. I don't go hungry and my BMI is 22. I weigh every day and take small corrective actions when needed.

It's my impression that a lot of peole who live an unhealthy lifestyle tend to think of health and fitness as something that passively happens to one, rather than something that one actively does.

I needed a different family! My parents are both slim, strangely enough (I outweigh both of my parents! ), but most of the rest of the family (extended family) are overweight. I seem to take after the extended family rather than my parents, unfortunately. I was very slim as a child and teen, but so were many of my cousins who are also now overweight.

I know I don't eat well. I don't like to cook, so I eat out a lot or eat stuff I can just heat up in the microwave. I like to exercise, but don't get out and do that as often as I should. I prefer to exercise with a group of people rather than alone, for one thing.

I don't know how my cousins eat, really. I do know they eat differently from me, because I am the only person in my family who likes spicy ethnic cuisines. I don't think any of them exercise, although the boys in school might play sports (the girls are very traditionally "girly" - I am the only tomboy of my family...) I rarely talk to my family other than my parents. Too many of them are into fundamentalist religion, or are bigots, or both.

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

And the stuff from the little green grocers or the market stalls is fresher than the stuff from a certain well known store beginning with s and rhyming with fainsburys.

 

[D_golden parachute]

We don't even have a Sainsbury's the fruit at the local market is amazing though, puts the supermarket stuff to shame

 

[Lex]

i'm saying there's a difference between being aware & careful and obsessing.

clearly our views differ and i've no intention of quibbling over this.
there are experts who follow both opinions.
i follow the school of thought that says a healthy diet for life is better than a weight loss diet for the duration.

I understand that there is a difference and I do not like the term diet as it has come to mean short term. I am a believer that being healthy requires an overall change in behavior (what you eat and what you do). I think we agree more than we disagree.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

The Inuit eat a protein-rich diet where the proteins are mostly from fish. They are overweight, generally, which serves them well in the climate they live in, but they have very low incidence of cardiovascular disease when compared to the American diet.

What you say is true about the traditional diet, snoozan. There's lots of supporting research. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer are eating that way.

CBC News: Traditional Inuit diet cuts heart disease risk: study

 

[chico8]

What you say is true about the traditional diet, snoozan. There's lots of supporting research. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer are eating that way.

CBC News: Traditional Inuit diet cuts heart disease risk: study

Few people adhere to a traditional diet anymore and the traditional diet isn't a panacea anyway. What's most worrying is the proliferation of junk food in tribal areas.

Eating too much fish in this day and age isn't exactly a good idea anyway what with all the chemicals in seafood.