Why are so many women in their early to mid 20s already so heavy? Is this mainly a USA phenomenon?

[Anonymous]

Starbucks. That and the open layout design family room/kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why Was It Easier to Be Skinny in the 1980s?

A new study finds that people today who eat and exercise the same amount as people 20 years ago are still fatter...

Something is definitely up with our food supply.

I watch my diet pretty stringently here in the States -- no grain, no starch, no sugar -- because otherwise I'd be thirty pounds heavier.

And then I go to Europe on holiday and eat ALLL the grains, starch, and sugar -- sometimes while on road trips, so no walking or real exercise -- and I come back a couple of pounds lighter.

I don't know what, exactly, but there's something very, very bad in our food supply.

Completely agree with this. When moving overseas (twice) each time I dropped 15 pounds (from an average frame) with zero effort or dieting.

[Anonymous]

Iced Lardacinos. Always see fat preteens walking around with those upscale milkshakes. Very often they are clearly wealthy kids accompanied by thin parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look I understand a little weight gain at 41, 42 or 43 or even at 31, 32 or 33.

But at 21? 22? 23?

Early to mid 20s are supposed to be one's one prime pencil thin swimsuit worthy years.

Let’s see you. Post a pic. Post 2. One at 22 and 1 now.

[Anonymous]

I was at the beach this weekend and it’s true. All young people are overweight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look I understand a little weight gain at 41, 42 or 43 or even at 31, 32 or 33.

But at 21? 22? 23?

Early to mid 20s are supposed to be one's one prime pencil thin swimsuit worthy years.

Let’s see you. Post a pic. Post 2. One at 22 and 1 now.

Are your eyes closed? Can you not see what this thread is about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at the beach this weekend and it’s true. All young people are overweight

Every last one of them?

[Anonymous]

Human physiology has not changed over the past fifty years. People didn't have iron discipline back in the 40s--we were addicted to cigarettes and alcohol. We had more physical jobs and fewer cars. Humans are pleasure seekers. Now we are also addicted to food and electronics.

I grew up in the 70s and we ate occasional junk food, but were too poor to eat out regularly and didn't have a TV. In the 80s we smoked, drank slimfast and diet coke for meals, and walked everywhere. We were skinny, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why Was It Easier to Be Skinny in the 1980s?

A new study finds that people today who eat and exercise the same amount as people 20 years ago are still fatter...

Something is definitely up with our food supply.

I watch my diet pretty stringently here in the States -- no grain, no starch, no sugar -- because otherwise I'd be thirty pounds heavier.

And then I go to Europe on holiday and eat ALLL the grains, starch, and sugar -- sometimes while on road trips, so no walking or real exercise -- and I come back a couple of pounds lighter.

I don't know what, exactly, but there's something very, very bad in our food supply.

Funny you mentioned that. But the British negotiations for Brexit alliances are ongoing and their farmers are raising a stink about accepting U.S. standards for food production.

Normally I'd tell them to suck it - but maybe its more than just 'chlorinated washes' that they're worried about.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9733299/britain-must-accept-chlorinated-chicken-us-trade-deal/

Obesity is skyrocketing in the UK and across much of the EU too. Britiah women are definitely on the heavier side. Its booming among Spanish and Greek kids. Obesity is also skyrocketing in Australia, in India, in the Middle East. So something other than American raised food is clearly at play here.

Perhaps but it is pretty clear that we lead the civilized world in obesity so whatever epidemic is spreading across the globe, it started here. I travel extensively outside of this country and nowhere (other than GB) do you see the tremendous amounts of obesity that you see in the US....it is actually quite startling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Human physiology has not changed over the past fifty years. People didn't have iron discipline back in the 40s--we were addicted to cigarettes and alcohol. We had more physical jobs and fewer cars. Humans are pleasure seekers. Now we are also addicted to food and electronics.

I grew up in the 70s and we ate occasional junk food, but were too poor to eat out regularly and didn't have a TV. In the 80s we smoked, drank slimfast and diet coke for meals, and walked everywhere. We were skinny, though.

This exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering just the opposite OP. I live in Georgetown, and I see so many fit young women going to Soul Cycle, yoga, etc. that I don't think girls/young ladies every looked this great. Maybe it's an urban vs. suburban thing.

I had the same experience at my neighborhood pool in NE DC this weekend. Most all of the younger people were slim/fit and attractive and every time I turned around more were coming! I'm usually with my kids and don't pay attention to what's happening on the adult side of the pool.

Give them a few years and see what happens.

Insert a tracking device on them and look them up 2-3 years from now.

This was my experience living in DC. We were in Logan Circle and everyone around us was very slender/fit. Moved to MoCo burbs a few years when we had kids and I'm BY FAR the thinnest person here. And I'm 5'3" and 115, not a stick. People aren't obese or anything, but most carry 15-20 extra lbs.

I think the weight gain happens in large part because people drive everywhere as opposed to walking. There's a nice playground within a 10 minute walk of our house. Everyone around us drives there instead of walking. I'm also out walking daily, pushing a stroller all over the neighborhood (two small kids) - rarely do I run into other moms doing the same. I am a runner and rarely see others out running in my neighborhood. In Logan Circle I never failed to see other runners even very early in the morning, in any weather.

My relative was one of those slender/fit women that you saw running around DC.

Then guess what happened?

She got married, left DC, moved to the suburbs and had 3 kids.

She is now quite heavy.

Her parents are wealthy and her husband is too.

The thing is, I totally get it. In DC I really didn't have to make a huge effort to be fit. We were an almost 20 minute walk from the Red Line (my work commute), and in general I walked everywhere - grocery store, meeting friends, etc. And I had plenty of time for the gym or a leisurely 3-5 mile run apart from that. Now I'm in the suburbs, I have kids and a commute. I have to wake up at 5:30 AM in order to get a short run in a few times a week. After work I rush to get the kids fed and then, unless it's freezing or pouring, we head outside for a walk. I'm slender but I'm always tired. (What I'm not is wealthy...)

Logan Circle resident and runner here. I swear its a mafia. If you go running anytime around lunchtime or on the weekends, the rush hour traffic on the sidewalks is insane.

That's why I love it. Being surrounded by a community of people who exercise normalizes it.

Stop generalizing.

People exercise in the suburbs too.

Of course. But they typically aren’t exercising simply by daily living. That’s the point. I also believe that by having to run errands on foot you have to stay fit. Being overweight in a city is harder than in the suburbs. You can’t just drive from point A to point B and hide in your car.

But suburbanites have more time and opportunity to enjoy the outdoors once they are home. more.cooking at home and fresher air. Their kids are outside playing and so are they.

Also, mental health in the burbs is much better than in urban areas.

LOL that's actually the opposite of what happens. Most suburbanites are commuting 45 minutes - 1.5 hours in this area to get home. That's 2-3 hours of your day you don't get back and you certainly can't use to workout, walk, go outdoors etc.

Most people are desperate to move closer in BECAUSE they get that time back. I know walking to work in under 10 minutes makes me the envy of my co-workers who take a train in from Springfield, VA every morning (especially post-DST when they have to get up before dawn to trek in).

Those of us out in the suburbs have a ton more yard work than you do. I do my own house and yard work and, believe me, it is a much more grueling workout than a 10 minute walk down a sidewalk....and I also take a daily walk but that's beside the point.

[Anonymous]

I have noticed this to when taking the bus in my Midwest city. I’m shocked by not just overweight but obese some young people are already, making them handicapped and having to use the handicapped seats. One girl could not get up for an elderly woman with a cane because of her weight . I

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why Was It Easier to Be Skinny in the 1980s?

A new study finds that people today who eat and exercise the same amount as people 20 years ago are still fatter...

Something is definitely up with our food supply.

I watch my diet pretty stringently here in the States -- no grain, no starch, no sugar -- because otherwise I'd be thirty pounds heavier.

And then I go to Europe on holiday and eat ALLL the grains, starch, and sugar -- sometimes while on road trips, so no walking or real exercise -- and I come back a couple of pounds lighter.

I don't know what, exactly, but there's something very, very bad in our food supply.

Funny you mentioned that. But the British negotiations for Brexit alliances are ongoing and their farmers are raising a stink about accepting U.S. standards for food production.

Normally I'd tell them to suck it - but maybe its more than just 'chlorinated washes' that they're worried about.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9733299/britain-must-accept-chlorinated-chicken-us-trade-deal/

Obesity is skyrocketing in the UK and across much of the EU too. Britiah women are definitely on the heavier side. Its booming among Spanish and Greek kids. Obesity is also skyrocketing in Australia, in India, in the Middle East. So something other than American raised food is clearly at play here.

Perhaps but it is pretty clear that we lead the civilized world in obesity so whatever epidemic is spreading across the globe, it started here. I travel extensively outside of this country and nowhere (other than GB) do you see the tremendous amounts of obesity that you see in the US....it is actually quite startling.

Mexicans are actually the fattest. You also need to spend time in the Gulf states (UAE, Qatar, Saudi, Kuwait) to see the prevalence of obesity. It's mushrooming among well off Indians. So it's just a question of people catching up to the Americans.

As an experienced traveler I've noticed that where we go in a specific country distorts our perspectives of that country. An European coming solely to NYC and San Francisco will have a very different impression of America than someone who travelled to the midwest and suburban Texas. Most American travelers aren't going to suburban England or suburban Germany, which have plenty of heavy people, they are mostly going to urban areas, select small towns and mountains/beaches, which, when you get down to it, is not that different from comparable places in the United States.

Having said that, Americans on the whole are definitely heavier. But the point remains that other countries are also getting heavy too.

[Anonymous]

Too much sugar in our diet, and we are addicted to it without even knowing. All of the holidays seem to revolve around candies- valentines, easter, halloween, winter holidays? Candies are cheap and it's easily accessible, it's even considered as movie snacks! Snickers is marketing their candy as a filling snack. Cereals are full of sugar, so are the pancake syrups, juices, coffee, smoothies, ice creams and cookie/ cracker snacks that are always available. Think about it, these type of food started around the 50s(?), we are now in the 2nd or 3rd generation consumer of these types of food, it has become normal, these used to be treats.

[Anonymous]

What is bad is the young skinny chicks in their 20s with pot bellies