Anonymous wrote:This isn't necessarily a comment on obesity, so much as an observation of different body types among young and young-ish (let's say, people under 30 or women under 35 who haven't given birth) people in the USA versus Europe.

I am a normal weight, athletic American. Most people around here would describe me as on the thin side of normal, but with a booty. I usually wear a size 4.

I spent three years living in various countries abroad, and at the time (I was in my early 20s) I had to fight off some nagging body image issues due to how thin everyone was. Again, it's not the lack of obesity - there were plenty of overweight and obese people, especially older women and middle-aged men. Most young women were probably 50kg or less. They didn't work out like crazy like I do, they just ate less. Portions are smaller and having three square meals + snacks just isn't really a thing. This isn't to say they didn't indulge on occasions, especially parties and holidays, but if we were just having lunch during a normal day, usually a coffee and a piece of fruit would be enough. It wasn't even like there was a diet culture, other women just said they weren't hungry and were just used to eating less. They certainly walk more than most Americans, but weren't gym crazy or into running like me.

I tried to reassure myself that my body was probably healthier, being more active and athletic and getting sick less (a lot of these women would often fall ill with colds and need to stay home for several days), but it was hard not to envy how elegant and feminine their thin bodies were and I felt chunky and androgynous by comparison.

I wonder how much Americans are just predestined to be bigger - even those that eat healthy and exercise. Like if all the chemicals and toxins in our food have genetically altered Americans in some way.

Also worth mentioning is how there was not a single overweight child... I found it so remarkable how active European children are, like it was the good-old days or something before screen time. During school recess, for example, everyone was playing an active game of soccer. Children actively PLAYED whenever there was time outdoors, supervised or not. They were not just standing with snacks and talking or looking at their phones and tablets.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 22:05 poster.

One of my workers on the eastern shore of Maryland had a 19 year old son who had gastric bypass surgery at age 19 because he wanted to be normal. He died 30 days later from side effects of the surgery. This makes me very sad every time I think about it.

Another worker from lower Delaware lost her brother at age 32 to morbid obesity. He literally died from morbid obesity. She would tear up every time she talked about her brother.

The fat acceptance movement is doing no favors.

Anonymous wrote:I personally think the whole food chain in America is seriously broken. All of it, from the types of food we grow and how we grow it (e.g. corn-fed cows) to how it's manufactured (so much sugar, corn syrup) to how we market and sell/deliver it. I married a European and was really startled when we started visiting his family regularly and I got really see firsthand how families eat and WHAT they eat. There's so much more healthy food readily available to eat on the go (e.g. cheese sandwich on good dark bread instead of a cheeseburger at the airport or train station or park). Most European countries also have a significantly better work-life balance which provides more time and mental energy to cook at home.

It's systemic, at all levels, and yet we spend so much time in this country excoriating each other for not making "the right personal choices." Which of course plays right into the hands of the giant agribusinesses and food corporations as it prevents us not only from regulating food more rigorously here. (So, politics as usual, I suppose.)

I don't think this is the same at all as being predestined to be bigger, except in the sense that our food culture is "pre-destining" us I guess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The secret is that you are only looking at rich people in the most expensive cities, and you are thinking that those people represent a whole country. They don't!

If you went to the most expensive parts of NYC you'd also find a lot of very thin people, guys. Are you traveling to the European equivalent of Union, New Jersey, to see what people there are built like? I am going to guess not.

+1. I lived and worked in Germany for a few years, but in a small, rural community. We had lots of larger people. My village had its own bakery and butcher. I’d see the old woman walking in the morning to get bread and many were fat. My late 20s hair stylist was chubby. People eat at these festivals, and not a vegetable could be found. It was always some form of pork wrapped in bread.

I didn’t see many fat kids mostly because they don’t have many kids. My son was in a German hospital for two weeks. The place was big with 20-30 pediatric overnight rooms. We never saw more than 2 other kids there the entire time.

Men were definitely thinner, but they wear tighter pants and don’t generally lift weights.

I’m a bigger woman 5’5” 165lbs. HHI $350K. It is more acceptable and normal to be my size. People in the past seemed to have to apologize for their weight. I wear what I want and do what I want. My size doesn’t hold me back like it may have in the past.

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.

Anonymous wrote:First it was "Europe," but alas -- UK, AND Spain, AND Italy didn't play along with the preconception. Neither did Kuwait, on the other thread.

But I think you've got a winner with Japan! Can we agree to do what Japan does for children, and what has been shown in the research on their success to be key?

You all are up for higher taxes so we can get *good* meals into the schools with healthy ingredients for every kid? (Spoiler alert: Japan has had this model since the 1800s.)

Anonymous wrote:The secret is that you are only looking at rich people in the most expensive cities, and you are thinking that those people represent a whole country. They don't!

If you went to the most expensive parts of NYC you'd also find a lot of very thin people, guys. Are you traveling to the European equivalent of Union, New Jersey, to see what people there are built like? I am going to guess not.

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or have "OMG Americans are so FAT" threads replaced the "but really how do I look like old money?" threads?

I didn't think I'd miss the "sigh, I wish I'd been born a WASP but I'm determined to pass for one" yesteryears but here we are.

Overall the world is split in three parts, 22 countries have a prevalence of 15% or more, among them mostly developing countries, with the exception of developed and emerging economies like United States of America, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and UAE. The middle field – 5-15% is mixed, all EU states are here. Among those Greece has with 13.8 the highest prevalence, followed by Italy (12.5) and Hungary (11.1). The lowest prevalence among the EU countries was estimated for Estonia (6.3)

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, you are describing many parts of the US as well. I live in DC and I rarely see overweight children or people in their 20s or 30s. I lived in Denver, Northern California, Seattle, and Minneapolis for a time and it was similar. I guess the one thing that is different is that people in all of these places do work out, but if Americans were really pre-destined to be heavier, you would see more obese people.

In my observation, the biggest correlation with obesity in the US is poverty and education. I grew up in a small town and there is lots of obesity there, but especially among the poorest members of the community. This is also true in my dad's Midwestern hometown. There, you also see a lot of obesity among middle class and UMC people, but there are also much lower levels of education generally.

I do think some people have genetic predispositions for obesity. I also know that thinness really does not correlate perfectly with health -- I wonder how many of the countries you've lived in have much higher rates of smoking than in the US. Nicotine can suppress appetite but smoking, of course, is terrible for your health. No doctor would recommend trading off obesity for a smoking habit.

I think we tend to compare our image of certain segments of the US (more rural, less education, lower income) against people living in foreign capitals. That doesn't make sense. New York City, for instance, is full of thin people, just like Paris is. But have you spent much time outside these major cities in foreign countries, in areas where people have less access to education and disposable incomes? I don't know for sure, but I would anticipate that you'd also see higher rates of obesity. I know that obesity rates are rising in Western Europe and would expect them to follow similar patterns to those in the US in terms of geography and demographics.