Young people in other countries are remarkably thinner than Americans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Southern California and most kids are thin. Maybe it’s where you live.

it's definitely where you are in the US. Go to Appalachia or the South. They're all fat AF.

Appalachia checking in.
Holler!

Seriously, tho, I was at a pizza buffet yesterday and thinking the same thing. how sad it is to be young and fat. Especially kids. Like 70% of the kids are overweight in my town.

Simply drive to the eastern shore of Maryland. I'm 140 pound 5'6" female and feel positively svelte. The only ethnic group that regularly puts whole fruits and veggies from the produce department in their shopping carts are Haitian immigrants. White/Black/Hispanic people all have shopping carts filled with 2 liter sodas and processed foods.

I lived in Pikesville MD for a while And they had amazing and very cheap produced markets. It was mostly Eastern Europe immigrants/descendants in there shopping

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On your observations about children, I feel like I see what you’re saying about the US.

Comparing my gen in 80s/90s to now.

I have 27 nieces and nephews. And my kids.

A good handful of them are overweight. Many of them are not.

The divide?

“Who wants to come out to play at the park with us?” We do soccer, lacrosse, running on the fields, jumping off the park equipment, all sorts of gymnastics moves the kids are teaching each other. The ones who don’t want to come along are on a screen, sitting.

I am not judging them. But when they wonder why in future years the answer will be 8,000 hours of activity vs. 8,000 hours of sitting. I say this, as I am sitting.

Yeah I have an active kid in a sport and dance and she’s pudgy. The other one resistors exercise and is petite. The latter is a picky eater. It’s diet more than exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are much stricter food ingredient regulations in Europe, to the point that "American" brands don't even have the same ingredients there.

Higher quality food, plus socialized medicine, plus mass transportation and walking all led to less obesity.

The food thing is really important. US processed food is disgusting. Almost everything has sugar or some other gross additive to it. Now if you go to a playground and see what most parents are giving their kids to snack on, it's no wonder they are all overweight.

I agree with US processed food. I'm European, grew up in Europe, in a country. So we never, ever went to any fast food while living in Europe. My mom cooked every single day everything from scratch- chicken broth, home made marmalades, pickles, home made sauerkraut, home made sausage ( yes from sheep or game meat), etc . When I was in my 20s I left to USA and was amazed at all big people here. But I know exactly why- fast foods here are literally on every corner, they are rather cheap, people drink sodas, and of course corn syrup in everything. Bread is a joke, it literally taste like a sponge or cardboard. Pastries are disgusting- all those colorful cupcakes/donuts etc. I cook our meals from scratch and am a healthy 5'4" 108 lbs woman ( late 40s). People think, I'm skinny, but I am just a normal weight. I don't every go to Starbucks and drink those sugary shakes or whatever they are serving. Fast food meals are a rare treat, maybe once or twice a year, when we happen to drive somewhere far and stop along the way. It makes me sad to see kids already with their fatty bellies because they are destined for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart/cancer diseases.

[Anonymous]

When I first came to us as young adult I was surprised how sweet and syrupy the salad dressings were. There wasn't as much selection of bottles dressings when I grew up in central EU. Granted I'm middle aged now. People typically made their own basic vinaigrettes or just used olive oil, red wine vinegar. Hidden sugars are everywhere here. I cannot even have the salad dressings here. I'll take sugar in my very occasional dessert. But I don't want hidden sugars on foods where you don't expect it. Ditch factory made processed foods as much as possible. Make your own basic foods. Your waistline will thank you. It won't be a quick fix but slow and steady wins the race.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of it has to do with not moving-we spent SO much time in cars or on public transit with very little walking and exercise. It is one of the hardest things on return from abroad.

Also, combined with expensive healthier food and limited access across the US due to transportation and affordability issues it makes sense that the US is heavier. Then you can get into other things, like the ingredients that are not banned here that are elsewhere. It's an ugly cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are much stricter food ingredient regulations in Europe, to the point that "American" brands don't even have the same ingredients there.

Higher quality food, plus socialized medicine, plus mass transportation and walking all led to less obesity.

The food thing is really important. US processed food is disgusting. Almost everything has sugar or some other gross additive to it. Now if you go to a playground and see what most parents are giving their kids to snack on, it's no wonder they are all overweight.

I agree with US processed food. I'm European, grew up in Europe, in a country. So we never, ever went to any fast food while living in Europe. My mom cooked every single day everything from scratch- chicken broth, home made marmalades, pickles, home made sauerkraut, home made sausage ( yes from sheep or game meat), etc . When I was in my 20s I left to USA and was amazed at all big people here. But I know exactly why- fast foods here are literally on every corner, they are rather cheap, people drink sodas, and of course corn syrup in everything. Bread is a joke, it literally taste like a sponge or cardboard. Pastries are disgusting- all those colorful cupcakes/donuts etc. I cook our meals from scratch and am a healthy 5'4" 108 lbs woman ( late 40s). People think, I'm skinny, but I am just a normal weight. I don't every go to Starbucks and drink those sugary shakes or whatever they are serving. Fast food meals are a rare treat, maybe once or twice a year, when we happen to drive somewhere far and stop along the way. It makes me sad to see kids already with their fatty bellies because they are destined for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart/cancer diseases.

Same, also grew up in Europe. I find Europeans do spend a lot more of our discretionary funds on healthy foods and our food bills are generally higher as a percentage of overall income than those of American friends, even the highly educated ones. Walking a lot is also a way of life.

However even Europe is getting heavier each decade. I don't know what the answer is...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I first came to us as young adult I was surprised how sweet and syrupy the salad dressings were. There wasn't as much selection of bottles dressings when I grew up in central EU. Granted I'm middle aged now. People typically made their own basic vinaigrettes or just used olive oil, red wine vinegar. Hidden sugars are everywhere here. I cannot even have the salad dressings here. I'll take sugar in my very occasional dessert. But I don't want hidden sugars on foods where you don't expect it. Ditch factory made processed foods as much as possible. Make your own basic foods. Your waistline will thank you. It won't be a quick fix but slow and steady wins the race.

Yes! Sugar is in everything here. It's stunning when you start to realize it.

[Anonymous]

I have lived in two other countries due to my spouses occupation. With the first country, it was almost a cultural shock because there were no overweight people to be found there. What seemed to me to make the most difference was that people walked to wherever they needed to go and on top of that it was so common to see people out for a walk or run.

The second country had less people out and about than the first country but still more than you'd probably find in the US. I had kids by that point and they were always brining home an absurd amount of sweets from school parties. But still I think most kids were not at home on ipads and instead attended hours of soccer (or another sport) practice each week.

Another difference was the eating schedule. It usually went something like breakfast around 10, lunch around 2 and dinner around 8 or 9. Having dinner so late, I'm not sure how they ever got enough sleep to function.

[Anonymous]

If you cut out processed foods that have hidden sugar in them, you’ll see a weight drop almost immediately. Just check and see what you are eating.

[Anonymous]

https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/

USA is listed at #14 so hey not the worst!

[/url] https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/

USA is listed at #14 so hey not the worst!

[/url] https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/

And #30 for females only

We are a convenience culture though - we want foods to be fast and on the go, we want to get places quickly. In Denmark every 20 something I knew baked their own bread bc that to them was more convenient than buying (it’s easy to do and saves money and tastes better was their perspective) I of course viewed that as “work” and bought my bread

[Anonymous]

An Italian relative was here over Christmas. I took her to the Italian Store in Arlington, to see if any of her favorite food items were there. She was very excited until she picked up one of the jars of pasta sauce and saw it had added sugar. Then she looked at another food item - tomato-something - it, too, had added sugar.

Do we add sugar to products to extend the shelf life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An Italian relative was here over Christmas. I took her to the Italian Store in Arlington, to see if any of her favorite food items were there. She was very excited until she picked up one of the jars of pasta sauce and saw it had added sugar. Then she looked at another food item - tomato-something - it, too, had added sugar.

Do we add sugar to products to extend the shelf life?

Jarred pasta sauce? I am Italian American and make my red sauce from canned tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic, olive oil, and yes, I typically add a little sugar to the sauce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An Italian relative was here over Christmas. I took her to the Italian Store in Arlington, to see if any of her favorite food items were there. She was very excited until she picked up one of the jars of pasta sauce and saw it had added sugar. Then she looked at another food item - tomato-something - it, too, had added sugar.

Do we add sugar to products to extend the shelf life?

Jarred pasta sauce? I am Italian American and make my red sauce from canned tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic, olive oil, and yes, I typically add a little sugar to the sauce.

No, American manufacturers just add sugar or corn syrup to almost everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree that this doesn't hit higher educated, wealthier places here in America. I live in a wealthy educated suburb in DC. I would say at least 50% of the high school students (especially girls, sorry to say) would have been considered chubby or fat when I was in high school. They may not technically be overweight yet, but probably have a BMI approaching overweight range. And it's very rare that people get thinner post-high school, so I worry these kids are destined for a lifetime of weight struggles.

THIS!!! This is something I've noticed as well.

I too, notice more so the girls as well because women and girls are judged more on their looks.

The whole "more money, less likely to be overweight" needs to die.

People in general are simply bigger than 25+ years ago.