|
U.S & obesity (pg. 8)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Chimney |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dykes_on_Jay
What is the worst thing that has ever happened in your life? |
Really would wish to avoid this discussion publicly, however if you point towards the fact that I'm some privileged pink shirt-Ray-Ban-Starbucks-sipping guy, smirking on others that have had worse living conditions than me, well, it's not really like that. I'm not doubting that mental factors can lead to obesity, but if that was the primary cause, obesity would not be a global problem. |
|
|
| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lews
Can you read what I've ing written or are you too ing retarded to understand simple ing English?
America is too big to think you can explain the whole thing from certain areas. It is too ing diverse. Yes, a lot of it is fat and stupid, but the parts that aren't are bigger than every civilised European state - so have fun explaining that.
Don't refer to the whole thing as one in these threads, unless you want to look like a ing idiot. |
Then Lews, what the are you trying to get at because right now you're just spouting bollocks as the stats simply don't match what you said earlier and you can't back down.
It was you who posted that the states as a whole is fat.
Here, I'll remind you:
| quote: | Originally posted by Lews
330 million citizens, 65% are overweight, that leaves 100,000,000 people at a normal weight level.
|
So let's get this straight.
TWO THIRDS of of America is overweight. 200 million people are clinically overweight.
Now lets add the stats I posted earlier, and frankly your point is just dumb;
You;re trying to say the whole USA is "not like that" because 36% of it is normal weight?
51% would be a majority and then I'd agree with you.
65% isn't just a majority, it's virtually twice the number of people who aren't overweight.
So what the are you going on about?
Oh, that some states are so big (pun intended) that you can't compare them to each other or other countries?
hmm, I wonder why is called the UNITED STATES. It's not a group of different countries.
But hey, that aside, lets' play along with with your mindless and pointless argument about population/country size vs a US state.
How about population? Name one state with a bigger population than say the UK.
Oh snap. Even California, the biggest state by far only has about half the population of the UK.
Bugger, ok geographical size? Sure it's massive compared to most European countries, but A) huge swathes of california is rural farmlland, desert or mountains and B) what the does land size have to do with Obesity?
Do you think it has an effect like it does on goldfish where they grow to fit their aquarium? :stongue:
We've already all agreed you can find localized places that are fit and healthy in the USA but on the whole, as not just a statistical majority, but as a overwhelming proportion, this country is Obese and unfit.
However you look at it; more states are Obese than are not. More cities are Obese than are not. More people are obese than are not. And it's not some weird single city or state where every person there is Obese and therefore somehow skewing the figures for all the other Seattle-like places - it's endemic whether you look at it geographically or based on population.
Which bit of this can't you grasp? |
|
|
| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
Then Lews, what the are you trying to get at because right now you're just spouting bollocks as the stats simply don't match what you said earlier and you can't back down. |
It really isn't difficult. What he's saying is the equivalent of a Londoner asking for perspective when people talk about "English culture" using statistics mainly comprised of people (for example) living in the North. America is a nation of huge contrasts and it's important to keep that in mind when explaining it to someone like Chimney who's a foreigner from a different continent and has never visited, otherwise they'll get a misleading impression of what American culture is like.
You've completed missed that fairly simple and benign point and seem to be misconstruing his posts as some kind of denial that obesity is such a problem. This could go on for pages and pages with you two arguing right past each other. |
|
|
| Mr.Mystery |
| quote: | Originally posted by Chimney
I'm not doubting that mental factors can lead to obesity, but if that was the primary cause, obesity would not be a global problem. |
Definitely not the primary cause, but certainly a major cause. Pretty much every single fattie-wants-to-be-slim TV show I've ever seen has eventually revealed some sort of childhood trauma. It doesn't necessarily have to be a major trauma either, just something that acts as a trigger.
Needless to say, that's quite firmly a first world problem. |
|
|
| Innocence Lost |
| i love this place. |
|
|
| Jon_Snow |
| I'm going to need more popcorn. Stat! |
|
|
| Chimney |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mr.Mystery
Definitely not the primary cause, but certainly a major cause. Pretty much every single fattie-wants-to-be-slim TV show I've ever seen has eventually revealed some sort of childhood trauma. It doesn't necessarily have to be a major trauma either, just something that acts as a trigger.
Needless to say, that's quite firmly a first world problem. |
It might be a cultural difference, so I'm not denying the possibility, however, the overweight girls I know are simply lazy, avoiding all types of exercise and eat at McDonalds. It seems it has become a deluded impression that taking care of oneself consists only of manicure, pedicure and waxing while the body is simply something that can be overlooked.
ps: out of curiosity, what does a Big Mac menu (large) cost in the US? |
|
|
| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Big Worm
Rann, I generally agree with you on just about 99% of the stuff you post. And yes, Seattle and Portland are outliers with regards to health consciousness... hell Portland is so anti-chemical it's got a service called "Lice knowing you" where rather than using chemicals to remove lice, there are actual nit pickers that comb through your hair. I digress.
At any rate, been working here at a clinic in Portland over the summer. I see a number of bariatric surgery candidates. So, these people are morbidly obese but wanting to have bariatric surgery. In order for them to have the surgery, they have to hit a certain weight bench mark, and be able to maintain that weight for 6 months.
If they can demonstrate the psychological discipline to keep their diets in check, then the surgery is performed.
When ever I see these patients, my clinical instructor always reminds me that these people usually have had some serious trauma in childhood.... abuse, etc. She says that obesity is one of the last acceptable prejudices. I know I'm probably going to get killed on here for saying that, but it does hold some water at least with the patients I've had to see, and understanding their past. |
I understand what you're saying - I don't believe morbidly obese people enjoy being morbidly obese and make it a goal to get there.
Nearly all eating disorders have a psychological root but it's naive to say that everyone obese is suffering from acute trauma or psychological damage which makes them eat to a point that threatens their lives.
I will say some just don't give a about gaining weight and it just gets out of control over many years, and some people truly love food.
I was speaking to someone senior in the diabetes center at Cedars Sinaii medical center (largest hospital on the west coast) and they said you wouldn't believe the number of people of say "I've got a genetic problem" to explain their obesity. She makes them write a diary for a week and record everything they eat and she says it's staggering that what get's written in the diaries would feed a family for a month (albeit with ty/junk food).
Now sure, some people do comfort eat, some were badly taught by their parents that obesity or being fat is normal (and were fed that way growing up) but everyone has had some horrible/traumatic/disturbing event(s) in their life but don't all end up Obese. previous generations whose general populations had to fight in horrific wars didn't all just suddenly chub out due to PTSD (which were actually much higher in number than today and without any real treatment being available).
I would probably say it's not hard postulate that in areas (such as portland) where the population is generally fitter and healthier (and therefore the cases of obesity not being the norm as it in in many places in the USA) , that the obesity you do see comes more from acute psychological issues or trauma, than a general trend of being lazy and fat.
Again, portland sounds much more progressive on this than other places - the fact they place conditions for the treatment and ask for changes in lifestyle I think are the only way things like the lapband and gastric bypass should be offered.
Just look at George Best. They gave him a liver transplant and within 2 years he'd killed himself with drink - that liver could have gone to someone that was actually going to prosper for a lot longer. |
|
|
| Mr.Mystery |
| quote: | Originally posted by Innocence Lost
i love this place. |
You would, you fat .
| quote: | Originally posted by Chimney
It might be a cultural difference, so I'm not denying the possibility, however, the overweight girls I know are simply lazy, avoiding all types of exercise and eat at McDonalds. It seems it has become a deluded impression that taking care of oneself consists only of manicure, pedicure and waxing while the body is simply something that can be overlooked. |
Oh I'm not denying that at all. I would say the majority just comes down to not giving a , but the morbidly obese might actually have reason for being sperm whales instead of just narwhals (edit: I don't know how big the size difference between those two actually is.) |
|
|
| Innocence Lost |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mr.Mystery
You would, you fat .
|
calm down loser.
:stongue: |
|
|
| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
It really isn't difficult. What he's saying is the equivalent of a Londoner asking for perspective when people talk about "English culture" using statistics mainly comprised of people (for example) living in the North. America is a nation of huge contrasts and it's important to keep that in mind when explaining it to someone like Chimney who's a foreigner from a different continent and has never visited, otherwise they'll get a misleading impression of what American culture is like.
You've completed missed that fairly simple and benign point and seem to be misconstruing his posts as some kind of denial that obesity is such a problem. This could go on for pages and pages with you two arguing right past each other. |
But that's the problem; I'm not talking about localized cultural differences, I'm talking about a widespread cultural issue that is present in every single state, in virtually every single city.
If you go in to a walmart in New Jersey, you're going to see exactly the same scary weigh issues en masse as you do in Walmart down in inglewood, south central LA.
Now realize that walmart is the single biggest private employer in the USA with more shop square footage than anyone else by a long margin.
Trust me, I don't want to be uniformly tainted with the brush but the USA as a whole is fat.
I actually live in an area that has an incredibly low proportion of weight issues, but I'm not blind to the plainly obvious fact that the states (and I mean plural and inclusive of all of them) have serious weight issues.
So "maybe we are arguing past each other" but that's because I don't agree that "not all the states are like that" as lews is trying to assert, because they clearly ing are.
It's like Europe where food products and even culinary cultures are completely diverse - Kraft mac and cheese is available in every ing store you walk in to. When I go in to buy meat, even in my local whole foods, I have trouble finding ground meat that is leaner than 85%.
In Europe, you have to be going really cheap on your ground meat to find 85% or lower.
That's a massive food culture difference, not "Seattle has hardy any fat people".
Another example to ut this in to persepective.
The UK is (according to the NHS) "the fat man of Europe" with 24% Obesity as a country.
The USA? nearly 36%. So that means the USA has over a 10% larger proportion of obesity than the fattest country in the whole of Europe.
So Scotland has higher obesity that the South. they're still within 5% of each other, and if you were just to take the south, it would still tally up as the fattest country in Europe, so who gives on this specific point of the south being "mispresented" by the north?
Again, the only thing I will repeat is that you can certainly find places that don't seem to have a problem with obesity but the more places you travel in the US, the more you'll see it. the "States" is not NYC, LA and a couple of wealthy, progressive blue states or cities. |
|
|
|
|
