S/o why are we so fat?

[Anonymous]

We are fat because food is cheap and tasty. If loaf of bread cost $200 nobody would be fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually think the opposite is true for my family.

My husband many moons ago had to made a decision about getting a job as a stock broker or something he was really interested in. He chose the later knowing the later would probably not support a family. I was on board to work and also knew I would take a flexible job - not a high paying one so I could raise a family.

I am home and able to cook for my family almost every night (the nights I can't are because of sports). My husband does not work crazy heart attack inducing hours and has time to work out and spend time with the kids. He volunteers for their sports teams and goes on field trips.

We instill good eating habits, exercise and not being totally stressed out all the time. I would rather my son get a B and be able to be engaged in sports, friends and family than study hours every night for an A.

We take life slow and easy and I think we are healthier for it.

People are "fat" - I really don't like the use of the words "fat", "obese", etc because I don't think that is actually our biggest problem.

The United States has to provide "safe" affordable food for a large population. In order to do that much food is processed. I hope our country can work towards getting everybody in the United States safe affordabel food that is all natural. We have a long way to go but I am glad that we are aware now.

Also I think the "healthy" life is something we preach about in the United States but then we don't actually show our kids what that means. Kids sit in a classroom for 6 hours a day, are served processed food for lunch, don't brush their teeth after meals at school, have recess taken away when they are misbehaving, tell them recess is cancelled because it is raining or snowing, give them so much homework they can't even exercise in the evening, expect 4.0 to be accepted to the local state school, tell them they are lazy if they don't want to do extra math and science - remind them we are behind in education than everybody else and then wonder why children are "obese" and depressed.

We do this to them for 23 years and this crazy, hectic, unhealthy lifestyle is ingrained for the rest of their lives.

So schools are supposed to prevent children from being fat, as well as educate them in academic subjects? Isn't anything the parents' job nowadays? You'd like the schools to serve as fat camps as well?

YES, schools should do this. It's not just an academic education. There really is waaaaay too much homework--my kids have very little time for sports team activity after school--in elementary and middle school, it is insane that children have their butts in a chair for 8 or 9 hours a day between the ages of 5 and 14. My kids are really starting to hate school already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I do not believe dual income parents are the root cause. I believe it is largely attributable to our sedentary lifestyles. My DH and I both work and we eat out about twice a month.

100% agree. My DH and I both work too, and are far from overweight. We both bring lunch and cook dinner. Eat out about 4x/month. We both do an hour of exercise daily, and instill the same in our kids (who are also not at all overweight).

[Anonymous]

(16:12 again)- I agree with the posters who mention cost- we are fortunate enough to be able to afford fresh fruit and vegetables daily. If we were in a different scenario, we'd probably rely on cheaper, processed foods. If you travel to countries closer to the equator, it's amazing how much cheaper fresh fruit is (even scaled to the relevant GDP). 5-10 cents for a piece of fruit is unheard of here.

[Anonymous]

So schools are supposed to prevent children from being fat, as well as educate them in academic subjects? Isn't anything the parents' job nowadays? You'd like the schools to serve as fat camps as well?

No it is not the job of the schools. But I am lucky I have a choice - I send my kids to a school that does not expect kids to sit for 6 hours. They have outdoor education everyday, 4 or more recesses, and gym everyday. A sport is a requirement and is done during the school day. When my oldest was having problems getting homework done I adjusted his schedule (which is not an option in the public school). I am also not poor so my kids can have homemade fresh meals for lunch - but I allow them to eat the crap at school 2 times a week.

I would like public schools to have more outside time, more recesses, better plans for discipling kids (like running laps instead of taking away recess), flexible schedules, allow kids to brush their teeth after lunch - you need a act of god to "allow" the kid to go to the bathroom when he does not need to "go to the bathroom".

I don't expect them to serve as a fat camp but I do expect them to practice what they preach.

[Anonymous]

There are a very, very small percentage of people who truly do have medical conditions that cause them to be overweight. But that number is insanely small.

Most people are overweight because they are lazy. It hurts to hear it, but it's true. We have remote control televisions, iphones, internet, delivery of just about any food, people to mow our lawns, microwaves, bread makers, dishwashers, ......I could go on and on. Really, you could control your entire life without ever leaving the couch.

People were not as overweight 50 years ago because they actually performed physical work. Walking from the metro to your office is not the same as mowing your lawn or tending to a garden. My grandparents ate pretty much everything that we consider horrible for you. Fried chicken, fried okra, fried eggs, fried bacon, ...fried everything! Life revolved around food. They also worked really hard. They didn't have to continue working after retirement. But they did. They tended their gardens. They took care of their homes. They had beautiful lawns. They volunteered at charities. They helped take care of their church. They helped their friends who were sick by taking care of their lawns and cooking their food.

When I was a kid, that trend pretty much continued. My mother fried everything. That's how she was raised in the deep south. We drank Kool-Aid and ate Twinkies all day long during the summer. School parties were nothing but candy, cakes, and juice. And I can't think of a single friend who was overweight. I'm sure there were fat kids, but there weren't many. Why? We played outside all day long. And not on those newer playgrounds that don't allow even the chance of injury. We played on real playgrounds. We had the run of the neighborhood. During the summer, we played outside all day long. If we complained about being hot, my mother turned on the sprinkler. We had P.E. in school every single day. And our P.E. teachers actually made you work. They weren't concerned about self-esteem issues. If you didn't pass the P.E. test, there was no reward for "participation".

The same is true for adults. At work, folks send an email rather than walk the 10 feet or so to actually speak to a colleague. At home, we can't even be bothered to get off our asses to change the channels on the television. Our dishes are washed in a machine. Our clothes are washed and dried in a machine. Our food is quick and easy to obtain. We simply do not have to perform very many physical tasks during the day. Those of us who value our health find ways to stay active. But it takes effort. And that goes back to my main point. People are overweight because they are lazy. They lack the inner drive necessary to really exercise. Power walking doesn't count. Gentle Yoga doesn't count. Swimming a few laps in the pool doesn't count. Walking on a treadmill doesn't help. If you are not uncomfortable while you are exercising, you're wasting your time. It hurts like hell to run 26.3 miles. But you push through the pain every single day while training and you give everything you've got (and then a little more) on race day. The same can be said for any endurance sport. If you're going to work out, it's going to hurt. You are going to be exhausted. You are going to sweat. You might throw up. You either want it or you don't. Half assing your way through a zumba class just doesn't cut it. There is no magic diet. You have to work for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So schools are supposed to prevent children from being fat, as well as educate them in academic subjects? Isn't anything the parents' job nowadays? You'd like the schools to serve as fat camps as well?

No it is not the job of the schools. But I am lucky I have a choice - I send my kids to a school that does not expect kids to sit for 6 hours. They have outdoor education everyday, 4 or more recesses, and gym everyday. A sport is a requirement and is done during the school day. When my oldest was having problems getting homework done I adjusted his schedule (which is not an option in the public school). I am also not poor so my kids can have homemade fresh meals for lunch - but I allow them to eat the crap at school 2 times a week.

I would like public schools to have more outside time, more recesses, better plans for discipling kids (like running laps instead of taking away recess), flexible schedules, allow kids to brush their teeth after lunch - you need a act of god to "allow" the kid to go to the bathroom when he does not need to "go to the bathroom".

I don't expect them to serve as a fat camp but I do expect them to practice what they preach.

Your kids' school sounds awesome - where is it??

[Anonymous]

I am going out on a limb here - I am overweight because I binge eat. Rather than dealing with my problems and emotions, I eat fatty foods and sweets. It doesn't have to be that often to add up to significant weight gain over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So schools are supposed to prevent children from being fat, as well as educate them in academic subjects? Isn't anything the parents' job nowadays? You'd like the schools to serve as fat camps as well?

No it is not the job of the schools. But I am lucky I have a choice - I send my kids to a school that does not expect kids to sit for 6 hours. They have outdoor education everyday, 4 or more recesses, and gym everyday. A sport is a requirement and is done during the school day. When my oldest was having problems getting homework done I adjusted his schedule (which is not an option in the public school). I am also not poor so my kids can have homemade fresh meals for lunch - but I allow them to eat the crap at school 2 times a week.

I would like public schools to have more outside time, more recesses, better plans for discipling kids (like running laps instead of taking away recess), flexible schedules, allow kids to brush their teeth after lunch - you need a act of god to "allow" the kid to go to the bathroom when he does not need to "go to the bathroom".

I don't expect them to serve as a fat camp but I do expect them to practice what they preach.

Your kids' school sounds awesome - where is it??

I'd rather not say the name. It's in Potomac, MD - Most all boy privates are like this. My son was climbing the walls in 3rd grade and we had to make the switch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am going out on a limb here - I am overweight because I binge eat. Rather than dealing with my problems and emotions, I eat fatty foods and sweets. It doesn't have to be that often to add up to significant weight gain over time.

But I would be willing to wager your binge eating is all processed junk (or primarily). Maybe you're eating the leftovers you cooked yourself for dinner, but 50 years ago, with fewer preservatives, you cooked what you bought that day and did not plan to cook more than your family needed for dinner. So you wouldn't be able to raid the fridge at 10 pm for seconds.

Sure, you could binge, but not to the degree that today's lifestyle makes possible.

[Anonymous]

"So schools are supposed to prevent children from being fat, as well as educate them in academic subjects? Isn't anything the parents' job nowadays? You'd like the schools to serve as fat camps as well?

No it is not the job of the schools."

Of course it is. Why do you think we adopted universal free education in this country? It wasn't just to educate people in academic subjects; it was to form good citizens to benefit our society and shore up our democracy.

In any event, I'll throw in another culprit, which is how our food is grown and processed in this country. It isn't easy to eat really clean food - food that hasn't been genetically modified, hasn't been processed with chemicals. Think about cooking oil - the molecular structure changes when it is made through a warm pressed vs. cold pressed method, which is the cheapest and most common way to do it. So even people cooking from scratch made be using oil that has been processed in a way that our bodies are not used to. Same with so many other ingredients. Grain fed vs. grass fed beef differ nutritionally. My theory is that we're not getting the nutrients we need, which makes us crave more/eat more food in general. Couple that with the wide-scale availability of foods that we know are not good for us but we want anyway, and it is really hard to maintain a normal weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a very, very small percentage of people who truly do have medical conditions that cause them to be overweight. But that number is insanely small.

Most people are overweight because they are lazy. It hurts to hear it, but it's true. We have remote control televisions, iphones, internet, delivery of just about any food, people to mow our lawns, microwaves, bread makers, dishwashers, ......I could go on and on. Really, you could control your entire life without ever leaving the couch.

People were not as overweight 50 years ago because they actually performed physical work. Walking from the metro to your office is not the same as mowing your lawn or tending to a garden. My grandparents ate pretty much everything that we consider horrible for you. Fried chicken, fried okra, fried eggs, fried bacon, ...fried everything! Life revolved around food. They also worked really hard. They didn't have to continue working after retirement. But they did. They tended their gardens. They took care of their homes. They had beautiful lawns. They volunteered at charities. They helped take care of their church. They helped their friends who were sick by taking care of their lawns and cooking their food.

When I was a kid, that trend pretty much continued. My mother fried everything. That's how she was raised in the deep south. We drank Kool-Aid and ate Twinkies all day long during the summer. School parties were nothing but candy, cakes, and juice. And I can't think of a single friend who was overweight. I'm sure there were fat kids, but there weren't many. Why? We played outside all day long. And not on those newer playgrounds that don't allow even the chance of injury. We played on real playgrounds. We had the run of the neighborhood. During the summer, we played outside all day long. If we complained about being hot, my mother turned on the sprinkler. We had P.E. in school every single day. And our P.E. teachers actually made you work. They weren't concerned about self-esteem issues. If you didn't pass the P.E. test, there was no reward for "participation".

The same is true for adults. At work, folks send an email rather than walk the 10 feet or so to actually speak to a colleague. At home, we can't even be bothered to get off our asses to change the channels on the television. Our dishes are washed in a machine. Our clothes are washed and dried in a machine. Our food is quick and easy to obtain. We simply do not have to perform very many physical tasks during the day. Those of us who value our health find ways to stay active. But it takes effort. And that goes back to my main point. People are overweight because they are lazy. They lack the inner drive necessary to really exercise. Power walking doesn't count. Gentle Yoga doesn't count. Swimming a few laps in the pool doesn't count. Walking on a treadmill doesn't help. If you are not uncomfortable while you are exercising, you're wasting your time. It hurts like hell to run 26.3 miles. But you push through the pain every single day while training and you give everything you've got (and then a little more) on race day. The same can be said for any endurance sport. If you're going to work out, it's going to hurt. You are going to be exhausted. You are going to sweat. You might throw up. You either want it or you don't. Half assing your way through a zumba class just doesn't cut it. There is no magic diet. You have to work for it.

I get what you're saying but how do you account for people who don't exercise, eat whatever they want, and are still slim? You can't just brand "lazy" on the foreheads of fat people and "not lazy" on those of skinny people. There is a genetic component.

[Anonymous]

New poster here. I am adding my 2 cents about what makes people fat. There seems to be an idea that poorer people can't afford as much fresh food and so eat processed crap. This may be true at the more extreme end of poverty.

My family is reducing to one income very soon, so we've cut way back on on food spending. Almost all food is now home cooked. We're feeding our family of 4 for around $450/mo. And we buy a fair amount of organic food. Since we cut back on spending, I've been steadily losing weight. We buy almost no processed crap, as its more expensive than buying simple ingredients and having wholesome but simple meals.

Breakfast is usually oatmeal or barley porridge with dried fruit cooked in and butter on top. Dinner might be beans and rice with a green veg or whole wheat pasta with tom sauce and sausage. We love the food we're eating, but its not the kind of stuff you feel compelled to gorge yourself on.

Even the most expensive organic pasture raised eggs are a very economical source of protein. Peanuts are good too.

When we were spending more money, we had too many tempting options! We could order a pizza or keep a bag of cookies (out of sight from the kids - ha!) on top of the fridge.

I think there is a bit of a lost art to frugal healthy eating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"So schools are supposed to prevent children from being fat, as well as educate them in academic subjects? Isn't anything the parents' job nowadays? You'd like the schools to serve as fat camps as well?

No it is not the job of the schools."

Of course it is. Why do you think we adopted universal free education in this country? It wasn't just to educate people in academic subjects; it was to form good citizens to benefit our society and shore up our democracy.

In any event, I'll throw in another culprit, which is how our food is grown and processed in this country. It isn't easy to eat really clean food - food that hasn't been genetically modified, hasn't been processed with chemicals. Think about cooking oil - the molecular structure changes when it is made through a warm pressed vs. cold pressed method, which is the cheapest and most common way to do it. So even people cooking from scratch made be using oil that has been processed in a way that our bodies are not used to. Same with so many other ingredients. Grain fed vs. grass fed beef differ nutritionally. My theory is that we're not getting the nutrients we need, which makes us crave more/eat more food in general. Couple that with the wide-scale availability of foods that we know are not good for us but we want anyway, and it is really hard to maintain a normal weight.

Schools can serve healthy food, talk about nutrition, and run kids for hours, but when the kid comes to school with a Coke in one hand a bag of Cheetos in the other (bought by a parent at the hot dog stand down the street), the whole "healthy food" message is diluted.

[Anonymous]

OP, given that there is a significant correlation between income level and weight (at least in white and black women, not so much so for men), I'm not sure your theory is correct.