Meds. In addition to a lot of other factors that have already been mentioned, Americans are also frequently massively overmedicated. Many of those medications result in weight gain.

Americans eat too much. That is it. It isn’t round up, plastics, are any other excuse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re happier and less stressed. They have universal health care.

This. They have a much more robust social safety net plus universal health care, paid maternity leave, and usually a fiarly good vacation. So much less stress than in the US.
Plus more walking and more public transportation.

Paid for with ruinous taxes, including tax policies that discourage home ownership over rental and vehicle ownership (and the concomitant freedom that brings) over mass transit that frequently is unfriendly to the disabled and regularly shut down by strikes. Significantly lower socio-economic mobility, with students put on lifetime occupational tracks comparatively early. Typically a significant emphasis on social conformity. And there’s a reason for the smaller portions. Food is more expensive. Some of that expense results in overall higher quality but not all of it.

However, we tend to live 10 years longer than Americans, and I mean live, not confined in a bed with a feeding tube down our throats and in diapers, being used a Medicare/Medicaid cash machine. I'm European and it's a combination of being more physically active, better food quality, eating in season, no added sugars (this is huge) and smaller portions. Go pick up a loaf of bread in a normal supermarket in Europe and compare it with the ingredients from a similar product at Publix. American bread is 1/2 junk and fillers. We also have decent health insurance, including mental, so we don't need to OD on food as a proxy for meds. My H is a cardiologist and he's seeing heart disease in younger and younger people because of the metabolic disease syndrome. Europe has very little type 2 diabetes in children. Here, Americans are killing their young with the food.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the food supply in Europe. They don’t eat food doused in Round-Up and micro-plastics.

I think this is a huge part of it.

This.

Anonymous wrote:Im in the UK so semi European and travel a lot to actual Europe. What shocks me about Americans is this obsession with drinking water, always having a water bottle, some idea that being hydrated is the be all and end all.

My theory is that Europeans obsess less about health and food, and their portions are smaller. And yes, no body positivity really and a drive to accept everyone at all sizes.

Ha! I’m American and I do agree with you about water bottles. I get so dehydrated when traveling overseas. There’s also no bathrooms anywhere, which is why I think Europeans don’t drink much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re happier and less stressed. They have universal health care.

This.

Really? All off them? Croats do not have private medical clinics? Their state clinics suck, and they can't get anything done without a connection or a payment? I mean, sure, you can call it universal health care.

Really? "People in Europe." WOW!

Kinda dispute some of your statistics (esp since 'Europe' is huge and has lots of variation).

But the answer seems to be 'all of the above'

I mean the US is pretty much trending the wrong way in every statistic; we die more in car crashes, drug overdoses, lack of medical care, etc. We eat worse and stress more. We work more and relax less.

It all adds up.

Anonymous wrote:Im in the UK so semi European and travel a lot to actual Europe. What shocks me about Americans is this obsession with drinking water, always having a water bottle, some idea that being hydrated is the be all and end all.

My theory is that Europeans obsess less about health and food, and their portions are smaller. And yes, no body positivity really and a drive to accept everyone at all sizes.

What’s wrong with drinking WATER???

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:pp also a lot of eating disorders among women, I’ve noticed at least for French and Italian women (not Europe, but this is huge in Japan, China, and Korea as well). There is more social pressure to be thin and less of a body positivity movement, so people really hardcore diet. I’ve noticed less of this for Germans and Scandinavians, but very much so for French women.

*Oops... formatting
This is very true and I'm not sure European women look better. Granted I grew up in a large, slim city so not used to seeing 300 lb women walking around, that might be different, but when I see older women in their 50s in Europe, they are mostly pin thin, not any fat on them whatsoever, with very, very lined faces. They often chain smoke so that may contribute, but their faces look much older. American women tend to be softer, with a good 15-30 lbs on the European women, but they also look SO much younger. Between the two I think I'd choose the younger looking face. It's very interesting, the difference.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the food supply in Europe. They don’t eat food doused in Round-Up and micro-plastics.

I vote for this and the walking.

+1

It’s our food.

Im in the UK so semi European and travel a lot to actual Europe. What shocks me about Americans is this obsession with drinking water, always having a water bottle, some idea that being hydrated is the be all and end all.

My theory is that Europeans obsess less about health and food, and their portions are smaller. And yes, no body positivity really and a drive to accept everyone at all sizes.

Anonymous wrote:It’s the food supply in Europe. They don’t eat food doused in Round-Up and micro-plastics.

I tend to agree with this - or at least the premise of it. I just read an Atlantic article from 2015 the other day that has found that over time we'd have to eat less and exercise more to maintain the same weight as earlier generations. Something external has to account for some of it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/why-it-was-easier-to-be-skinny-in-the-1980s/407974/

I think there are other differences in the populations as a whole - more walking, less fast food available, genetics, but I firmly believe that within a generation we will have an environmental explanation as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the food supply in Europe. They don’t eat food doused in Round-Up and micro-plastics.

I think this is a huge part of it.

Except go to any restaurant in middle America and look at what people are eating and the portions sizes. It’s no wonder they are mostly overweight. People simply eat too much and too often here and don’t exercise enough because they get around via car.

Anonymous wrote:It’s the food supply in Europe. They don’t eat food doused in Round-Up and micro-plastics.

I think this is a huge part of it.