Due to the influx of debate on issues of Obesity in the world in the North America's view on Nudity topic; I have created a thread just for that.

High fructose corn syrup and sedentary lifestyles.

Corn syrup really does play a big part in this, as Bill Maher has often pointed out.  I'm glad you brought up the syrup, Max.  :)

In a nutshell, a higher calorie intake than you use.

It also happens that most foods that taste really good are the worst for you.

Laziness and lack of exercise contribute a lot to it.

Convenient food (fast food, snacks, microwaveable items) are also not generally designed for the best nutritional needs.

IMO, lack of exercise is the worst factor. You can diet all you want, but if you sit behind a desk all day long, take the elevator from the second floor down to the first and watch TV for 5 hours a day, well, you're not going to be fit.

Diet does matter, but if I exercized like I did in boot camp, I could intake 6000+ calories a day and not gain weight.

Ant

Also restaurant portion sizes appear, in general to be bigger in the US.  Maybe this trend is happening everywhere?

Also restaurant portion sizes appear, in general to be bigger in the US.  Maybe this trend is happening everywhere?

This is true, especially in restaurants where working class people are more likely to go, such as Chili's or Applebee's.  You go to some chic uptown eatery and the menu tends to be more delicate and served in smaller portions. 

Now, McDonald's is the worst of both worlds: Hyper-fattening food in measly portions at a high price.  McDonald's is cheap?  That's a myth.  It's cheap compared to going to the Chez Hoity-Toity or something, but it's not cheap objectively.  Look at what you pay and look at what you get for what you pay!  I walk out of Mickey-D's feeling like a greaseball with the McBrick in my gut, and I think, "That wasn't worth no seven dollars!"

It is certainly ironic that we should have this "obesity" epidemic when we're more health conscious than ever.  Forty years ago we didn't have "health clubs" in every town.  There were "gyms" populated by body-building gorillas, but no aerobics classes, Pilates, and Nautilus machines.  Back then you could get a tofu salad at some hippy-dippy cafe in L.A.,* but ask for tofu at your podunk grocery and the clerk would ask, "Isn't that something Bruce Lee does?" 

Thus, the people who want to be "in shape" today are probably in better shape than health-conscious people were in the '50s, but overall we're much more out of shape than we were even  25 years ago.  And I'm not looking down on anybody.  If my metabolism was different, I'd be overweight too. 

That's where the high-fructose corn syrup comes in.  It's not just in sweets, it's in darn near everything.  In the old days sweets, soft drinks, and pastries were made with cane sugar.  While the stuff was not good for you, it burned off a lot quicker than corn syrup. 

I was not an athletic kid.  I was scrawny, uncoordinated, and had bad eyes; you know, always last pick for any team, thus I avoided "sports."  However, even if you didn't play sports, you walked or rode your bike everywhere.  You just did a lot more running, jumping, climbing, and bending than kids do nowadays.  It used to snow a lot more, so in the winter we went sledding, x-country skiiing, built snowforts, and waged snowball wars.  It might be 10 degrees, but you'd come in at twilight perspering, out of breath. 

Sure, we ate Twinkies and Mars Bars and stuff, but we expended those calories with activity.

And our parents used to say, "What are you doing out there running wild with your friends all day, sit down and read a book once in a while will ya!"
:D

* "I'll have the alfalfa sprouts and a plate of mashed yeast."
                                        --Alvy Singer

And our parents used to say, "What are you doing out there running wild with your friends all day, sit down and read a book once in a while will ya!"
:D


Yeah, but parents aren't telling their kids to sit down and read. They buy them $500 game consoles and let them park their asses in front of it for hours on end. I'd rather have my kid reading a book than playing a video game, but I'd rather have him balance the book reading with outdoor activities. This bull crap in the schools where PE is being outlawed because it's dangerous and recess being denied because kids get rough/get teased/play freakin' TAG is not helping at all. :P

Yeah, but parents aren't telling their kids to sit down and read. They buy them $500 game consoles and let them park their asses in front of it for hours on end. I'd rather have my kid reading a book than playing a video game, but I'd rather have him balance the book reading with outdoor activities. This bull crap in the schools where PE is being outlawed because it's dangerous and recess being denied because kids get rough/get teased/play freakin' TAG is not helping at all. :P


Oh, I didn't like dodgeball, so when we played it in gym, I got hit as soon as I could and hung out with my friends on the bleachers who did the same thing!  If you tell kids they're fragile, they're going to be fragile.  Competition gets toxic when winning is attached to your self-worth.  There used to be something called "sportsmanship."  Can't use that word anymore, 'coz it's gender-biased.  Anyway, the sportsmanship ethos was "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."  Thus, parents could watch their kid's little league team lose the game without screaming obscenities from the sidelines and beating the crap out of the coach!  Then pro-wrestling got popular with its anarchic brutality and college teams adopted slogans such as "It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you win."  Bunch of crap. 

When I was a kid you had to walk to the video arcade and you could only keep playing until you ran out of quarters.  The kind of home video games that compelled a person to sit there all day didn't come about until the Sega-Genesis and stuff in the early '90s.  We had the Atari system.  I'd play Pac-Man with my kid brother and he'd beat me six times in a row---"Arrrghh!  Let's go do something else!"
:-[

Oh, I didn't like dodgeball, so when we played it in gym, I got hit as soon as I could and hung out with my friends on the bleachers who did the same thing!  If you tell kids they're fragile, they're going to be fragile.  Competition gets toxic when winning is attached to your self-worth.  There used to be something called "sportsmanship."  Can't use that word anymore, 'coz it's gender-biased.  Anyway, the sportsmanship ethos was "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."  Thus, parents could watch their kid's little league team lose the game without screaming obscenities from the sidelines and beating the crap out of the coach!  Then pro-wrestling got popular with its anarchic brutality and college teams adopted slogans such as "It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you win."  Bunch of crap. 

When I was a kid you had to walk to the video arcade and you could only keep playing until you ran out of quarters.  The kind of home video games that compelled a person to sit there all day didn't come about until the Sega-Genesis and stuff in the early '90s.  We had the Atari system.  I'd play Pac-Man with my kid brother and he'd beat me six times in a row---"Arrrghh!  Let's go do something else!"
:-[


I agree. I'm so tired of hearing stories in the news that show parents acting like a bunch of fools over a children's game. Hell, I've seen it firsthand in Indiana. We took our son to the park and the Little League was playing a game at the adjacent ballfield. Some mother was out there pissing and moaning about the ump making a crappy call or something. Just totally making an ass of herself. I think they finally had to call the cops to drag her out of there. ::)

It's unfortunate too, because before all this "play to win" bs and corporate sponsor bs, these were great things for kids to participate in. Now it's just all screwed up. There is no camaraderie, no "great game, see you next week", nothing. It's pretty sad.

As for video game systems, we have the Xbox 360. It gets played maybe once a week, if even that. Rice doesn't have much time to do it, I don't really play video games, and Jason is more interested in cars and trucks and driving me nuts than anything else. :D I'm sure as he gets older though, he'll show more interest in video games, but he'll get a time limit to play them.

I agree. I'm so tired of hearing stories in the news that show parents acting like a bunch of fools over a children's game. Hell, I've seen it firsthand in Indiana. We took our son to the park and the Little League was playing a game at the adjacent ballfield. Some mother was out there pissing and moaning about the ump making a crappy call or something. Just totally making an ass of herself. I think they finally had to call the cops to drag her out of there. ::)

It's unfortunate too, because before all this "play to win" bs and corporate sponsor bs, these were great things for kids to participate in. Now it's just all screwed up. There is no camaraderie, no "great game, see you next week", nothing. It's pretty sad.

As for video game systems, we have the Xbox 360. It gets played maybe once a week, if even that. Rice doesn't have much time to do it, I don't really play video games, and Jason is more interested in cars and trucks and driving me nuts than anything else. :D I'm sure as he gets older though, he'll show more interest in video games, but he'll get a time limit to play them.


Hmmmm...cars and trucks and driving mom crazy, I seem to remember something like that.
;)

Playing with a corporate sponsor is one thing, playing with the corporate ethos is another, which really is "It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you win."  In the '80s, the age of junk bonds and leveraged buy-outs, corporate aggression was lionized.  The attitude leeched into the culture at large. 

Kids always got overly aggressive and obsessed with winning.  The job of coaches and parents was to teach the kids to play fair and play well, and lose without getting all sore about it.  Maybe there were good-natured catcalls, such as, "Hey umpire, you blind?," but parents didn't get emotionally wrapped up in the game.  You had the occasional a-hole father trying to pump aggression into the kid, like Robert Duvall in the Great Santini saying "You get back out there and put him down, or you don't come home tonight!," but that was not cool.  Remember the hockey dad who got so p*ssed off he beat the other kid's father to death?  That was about eight years ago. 

What happened with video games is they got much more complex with dozens of levels, and the systems allowed you to save the game.  There was no "game over."  The last time I got hooked on a video game it was '94 when "Doom" came out.  It became an obsession with me.  At the upper levels it might take all day to figure out how to kill a single monster. 
::)

Now I just surf then net looking up info, hanging out on messageboards, and so forth.

Now I just surf then net looking up info, hanging out on messageboards, and so forth.


Nothing wrong with that. ;)

Now, McDonald's is the worst of both worlds: Hyper-fattening food in measly portions at a high price.  McDonald's is cheap?  That's a myth.  It's cheap compared to going to the Chez Hoity-Toity or something, but it's not cheap objectively.  Look at what you pay and look at what you get for what you pay!  I walk out of Mickey-D's feeling like a greaseball with the McBrick in my gut, and I think, "That wasn't worth no seven dollars!"

$7?  Wow...  Things really are expensive in Massachusetts.  A typical McDonald's meal here is like $4.  A good portion of the menu consists of $1 items here.

High fructose corn syrup and sedentary lifestyles.


High fructose corn syrup, Trans fat and sedentary lifestyles.

High fructose corn syrup messes with appetite control, something that refined sugar(although still not good for you) doesn't do.

Re: video games, I'm thinking about getting a Wii soon. I've played one before, and you can wear yourself out on it.

Ant

I was not an athletic kid.  I was scrawny, uncoordinated, and had bad eyes; you know, always last pick for any team, thus I avoided "sports."  However, even if you didn't play sports, you walked or rode your bike everywhere.  You just did a lot more running, jumping, climbing, and bending than kids do nowadays.  It used to snow a lot more, so in the winter we went sledding, x-country skiiing, built snowforts, and waged snowball wars.  It might be 10 degrees, but you'd come in at twilight perspering, out of breath. 

Sure, we ate Twinkies and Mars Bars and stuff, but we expended those calories with activity.




This seems to be more a problem to us now we've moved to the US.  In England my children had outdoor recess twice a day (20 minutes mid-morning 30 minutes around lunch) and P.E. three times a week or more.  Plus we had swimming lessons once a week.

Here they have P.E. once a week (and the school boasted to us about this so I gather some places have less  :o ), 15 minute outdoor recess once a day if they are lucky and no swimming lessons.

$7?  Wow...  Things really are expensive in Massachusetts.  A typical McDonald's meal here is like $4.  A good portion of the menu consists of $1 items here.



Yeah, Rotten Ronnies can run you up here.  $7 is a little steep but it happens.  They push a lot of $1 items here too. 

I didn't know corn syrup affected appetite. 

I used to be told tales of how people would use lard on their bread instead of oleo or even butter.  Meat and potatoes for two out of three meals.  Trans-fat galore.  The difference is not the diet, but the lack of activity. 

I used to be told tales of how people would use lard on their bread instead of oleo or even butter.  Meat and potatoes for two out of three meals.  Trans-fat galore.  The difference is not the diet, but the lack of activity. 

Definitely.  That's what I was saying in so many words.  However, the "morbid obesity" we see so commonly here seems to by caused by lack of activity from the start. In the old days people got less and less active the older they got while consuming the same or greater calories, which tends to make a person plump, but not twice their ideal body weight. 

Definitely.  That's what I was saying in so many words.  However, the "morbid obesity" we see so commonly here seems to by caused by lack of activity from the start. In the old days people got less and less active the older they got while consuming the same or greater calories, which tends to make a person plump, but not twice their ideal body weight. 



Kid TV started back in the 50's, I think it kind of went down hill from there.  Plus that activities back then were much more vigorous.  You also have to blame some of it on the artificial ingredients in foods.

Kid TV started back in the 50's, I think it kind of went down hill from there.  Plus that activities back then were much more vigorous.  You also have to blame some of it on the artificial ingredients in foods.

How many kids today could pitch hay all morning and shovel manure all afternoon.  I couldn't do that without some conditioning first!
:-[

And don't forget all the hormones in dairy products making the sixth grade girls look like Sophia Loren!
:D

How many kids today could pitch hay all morning and shovel manure all afternoon.  I couldn't do that without some conditioning first!
:-[

And don't forget all the hormones in dairy products making the sixth grade girls look like Sophia Loren!
:D


Yeah, those farm kids have computers and modern farm equipment now.  My Dad said he had quite a bit of muscle at age 12. 

As for those hormones, you can only give a person so much growth hormone before getting a result that should only happen in nature.

I used to be told tales of how people would use lard on their bread instead of oleo or even butter.  Meat and potatoes for two out of three meals.  Trans-fat galore.  The difference is not the diet, but the lack of activity. 


Back in the early 20th century, they didn't have partially hydrogenated oils(if they did, it wasn't widely available), so the only Trans fats that were consumed were the natural type.

There are two types of Trans fats, the type from Partially hydrogynated oil(which is man made) and the type that comes from beef, whole milk and lamb. The Trans fat that comes from animal products is naturally occuring and far lower in levels(in most cases it doesn't even register at 1/10 of a gram per serving).

The naturally occuring Trans fat hasn't been found to cause any problems with cholesterol, although it's unknown whether or not it's due to the extremely low amounts of it.

The man made type, which comes from Partially hydrogynated vegetable oils, is a whole other story... Due to how it's made and the fact that it goes through a cleaning process(which involves bleaching it) makes it really bad on cholesterol levels, dropping the good and raising the bad severely. Man made Trans fats can't be easily burned off through exercise... so even if you start to work out, it will still affect your cholesterol levels after digestion... Although Trans fats in general aren't the only problem when it comes to weight gain, it has been found that the man made type contributes to weight gain more than any other type of fat itself.

Back in the early 20th century, they didn't have partially hydrogenated oils(if they did, it wasn't widely available), so the only Trans fats that were consumed were the natural type.

There are two types of Trans fats, the type from Partially hydrogynated oil(which is man made) and the type that comes from beef, whole milk and lamb. The Trans fat that comes from animal products is naturally occuring and far lower in levels(in most cases it doesn't even register at 1/10 of a gram per serving).

The naturally occuring Trans fat hasn't been found to cause any problems with cholesterol, although it's unknown whether or not it's due to the extremely low amounts of it.

The man made type, which comes from Partially hydrogynated vegetable oils, is a whole other story... Due to how it's made and the fact that it goes through a cleaning process(which involves bleaching it) makes it really bad on cholesterol levels, dropping the good and raising the bad severely. Man made Trans fats can't be easily burned off through exercise... so even if you start to work out, it will still affect your cholesterol levels after digestion... Although Trans fats in general aren't the only problem when it comes to weight gain, it has been found that the man made type contributes to weight gain more than any other type of fat itself.



See, didn't I mention the food additives.

Lately, I see more and more kids who are obese and for someone so young to be so obese, it's quite scary. 

Lately, I see more and more kids who are obese and for someone so young to be so obese, it's quite scary. 


Perhaps the words "go outside and play" would help?  Taking away the twinkies couldn't hurt either.

See, didn't I mention the food additives.


I just saw that now. I know most other countries buy very little food from the U.S. because of all that .

I just saw that now. I know most other countries buy very little food from the U.S. because of all that .


It makes some people really sick and bloated.  No wonder other countries don't want our stuff.  Can't say I blame them. :-\\

It makes some people really sick and bloated.  No wonder other countries don't want our stuff.  Can't say I blame them. :-\\


I wouldn't blame them either.

Yeah, those farm kids have computers and modern farm equipment now.  My Dad said he had quite a bit of muscle at age 12. 



Farm work makes a boy husky, but it's got its hazards.  One of the saddest sights I've ever seen is a 17-year-old young man driving a tractor with two prosthetic arms; his arms got torn off in a thresher accident five years earlier!

What kind of a dingbat farmer sends a 12-year-old to run a thresher beats me!
>:(

Farm work makes a boy husky, but it's got its hazards.  One of the saddest sights I've ever seen is a 17-year-old young man driving a tractor with two prosthetic arms; his arms got torn off in a thresher accident five years earlier!

What kind of a dingbat farmer sends a 12-year-old to run a thresher beats me!
>:(


Amish dingbat farmers do it all the time.  One kid that was nine was buried alive in a silo.  I agree it does make them husky but at the cost of putting them in danger.  Not worth it.

Amish dingbat farmers do it all the time.  One kid that was nine was buried alive in a silo.  I agree it does make them husky but at the cost of putting them in danger.  Not worth it.

Yeesh, just like that scene in "Witness."  At least the Amish don't use quite so much dangerous machinery.  My father was a part-time farmer.  We had 15 acres with some gardens and some livestock.  Even on a small scale operation like that there were dozens of ways I almost got mangled and mauled, like the time I almost backed into an exposed sawmill blade or the time a pig dragged me down the field almost into the big rocks!  Don't ever tell me about pigs, I hate 'em!  I eat bacon with joy!  I remember the PETA clowns were up in arms about hog farmers whacking the animals on the head with shovels.  If those suburban crybabies ever dealt with a pig, they'd understand.  A pig is not a nice animal!  BTW, I was never anything approaching "husky," but even if I was I'd still be no match for that damn pig!
::)

Yeesh, just like that scene in "Witness."  At least the Amish don't use quite so much dangerous machinery.  My father was a part-time farmer.  We had 15 acres with some gardens and some livestock.  Even on a small scale operation like that there were dozens of ways I almost got mangled and mauled, like the time I almost backed into an exposed sawmill blade or the time a pig dragged me down the field almost into the big rocks!  Don't ever tell me about pigs, I hate 'em!  I eat bacon with joy!  I remember the PETA clowns were up in arms about hog farmers whacking the animals on the head with shovels.  If those suburban crybabies ever dealt with a pig, they'd understand.  A pig is not a nice animal!  BTW, I was never anything approaching "husky," but even if I was I'd still be no match for that damn pig!
::)


They rent the dangerous machinery from nearby English farmers.  Pigs do have a nasty streak about them.  PETA whines over what mousetrap a person can and can't use.  Should they really be telling farmers what to do?  BTW keep enjoying that bacon, it may be the only justice you'll ever get. :)

Bush and global warming are clearly to blame for world obesity. Come on. The science people, the science!


Nah, I'm just joshing. Bush DOES suck and climate change IS real.

Bush and global warming are clearly to blame for world obesity. Come on. The science people, the science!


Nah, I'm just joshing. Bush DOES suck and climate change IS real.


Well, since a calorie is the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius, maybe the obese are helping fight global warming by storing them for us!
:D

Well, since a calorie is the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius, maybe the obese are helping fight global warming by storing them for us!
:D


You can be assured that the "fat-rights" people would oppose that.  You're clearly a skinny hate-mongrel.

You can be assured that the "fat-rights" people would oppose that.  You're clearly a skinny hate-mongrel.

I believe you mean "hate-monger," but I like "hate-mongrel" better. 
What up, dawg?

I believe you mean "hate-monger," but I like "hate-mongrel" better. 
What up, dawg?



Nope, the "mongrel" adds a bit more salt to the wound. ;D

High fructose corn syrup and sedentary lifestyles.
and trans fats

and trans fats


Don't forget Minnesota Fats!

http://www.nndb.com/people/712/000062526/fats4-sized.jpg

Well, I have beat the life expectancy of the Middle Ages, so im good.

Well, I have beat the life expectancy of the Middle Ages, so im good.


The way life expectancy is calculated takes into account deaths at all ages.  The high infant mortality rate in times gone by skews the result towards a lower life expectancy than is currently the case.  It doesn't mean that in the Middle Ages everyone was dead by the time they were 43.

The way life expectancy is calculated takes into account deaths at all ages.  The high infant mortality rate in times gone by skews the result towards a lower life expectancy than is currently the case.  It doesn't mean that in the Middle Ages everyone was dead by the time they were 43.

Indeed, that is a common misconception about life expectancy. 
Dying in one's forties was quite commonplace, however, and would remain so right up until the 20th century.  It's been a recent phenomenon for people to expect to live into their late seventies.  Infections, illnesses, injuries--there just wasn't enough biological understanding or medical know-how to see a person through.  If you recovered it was a gift from God.  I was talking to a friend of mine last week whose mother died of brain cancer.  "And she was so young," he said.  She was 64.  In spite of what the earthy-crunchy people say, it is a testament to Western medicine that 64 is considered young to die.  Then again, I'm one of those weird people who is skeptical about the benefits of longevity!

Thanks, I didn't know that about life expectancy. 


However, it was meant as a joke. 

There are not many people are obese in my country. But a lot of people in Latvia are anorexic. :\'(