And I will state again - it's because our kids are too inactive. When we were kids we were walking to school, playing outside until we were called in and were always on the move. Kids today sit in front of the TV and in front of the computer and if they have activities, they are driven to them, jump for an hour and then get driven home and sit some more. It's all about movement!
I respectfully disagree. No matter how much you move when you eat 4000 calories a day with most of it comming from saturated fat not even an olympic athlete can cope.
When we were kids we simply didn't have that much food.
One can not blame video games and tv as a major factor in weight gain when there are way too obvious "vilains" like sugar, saturated fats and high sodium intake to blame. We feed our kids hamburgers from age 3-5 and some even give that stuff to their toddlers. I ate my first burger when I was 11.
If you feed your kid fatty trash how on earth is it supposed to be active? It is like a stone in the stomach.
And I will state again - it's because our kids are too inactive. When we were kids we were walking to school, playing outside until we were called in and were always on the move. Kids today sit in front of the TV and in front of the computer and if they have activities, they are driven to them, jump for an hour and then get driven home and sit some more. It's all about movement!
I agree with this. I often see parents who drive their kids to and from the bus. We're talking a distance of 200 feet in some cases. Drives me insane (mostly for the environmental impact). Even the prevalence of technology cuts down on movement, with kids who will text their parent from their bedroom, instead of walking down the stairs to find said parent.
I also think the problem is related to the constant access to food and drink. I teach in a high school, and while my school has adopted a wellness program and tries provide a lot of healthy options (our school lunches are amazing), there are still vending machines stocked with chips, pop-tarts, etc. In the morning, kids will bring in XL flavored coffees, huge Monster (or other energy) drinks, sometimes even 2 liters of soda for breakfast. They eat/drink throughout every class, every day. I know that when I was in high school, while the meals that were provided were much worse in terms of calories and fat, lunch was the only time you could eat or drink. If you wanted a drink during class, you had to find a water fountain.
Add that to every other factor others mentioned, and I am surprised our youth obesity rate isn't higher. However, I don't necessarily think it is because they are uneducated. At least in our school (and from what I know talking with fellow educators), the health curriculum really stresses healthy eating and exercise. But as most of us here know (or why would we be here), knowing what to do and actually doing it, are two different things.
I respectfully disagree. No matter how much you move when you eat 4000 calories a day with most of it comming from saturated fat not even an olympic athlete can cope.
When we were kids we simply didn't have that much food.
One can not blame video games and tv as a major factor in weight gain when there are way too obvious "vilains" like sugar, saturated fats and high sodium intake to blame. We feed our kids hamburgers from age 3-5 and some even give that stuff to their toddlers. I ate my first burger when I was 11.
If you feed your kid fatty trash how on earth is it supposed to be active? It is like a stone in the stomach.
We didn't eat bad foods? I disagree. In the 50s and 60s and 70s was the wave of boxed/canned foods. we didn't eat lean meats, we ate meats with the fats left on, skin left on. We fried chicken and pork chops. We slathered butter on everything. We ate hotdogs and hamburgers. "What" we ate, if anything, was higher in fat than what we eat now. NOW we eat way more (as the poster above me said - all day, every hour). But it's not like we ate great quality food in the 70s and even 80s.
Actually, by eating lower fat I think we've made things worse. We eat more carbs now which make you hungrier for more carbs - which might be why we seem to need to eat like nonstop.
I would MUCH rather my kids eat a hamburger than a sugar filled low fat yogurt. That hamburger will keep him filled for hours. The yogurt, 30 minutes tops.
But lack of activity plus MORE food is the big culprit.
Last edited by berryblondeboys; 07-08-2011 at 10:05 AM.
I think it's a multitude of factors. As a Southerner, I think indiblue makes some very good points, and I completely agree with theox about car culture. Where I am, it is simple impossible to even survive without a car - a fact that is hard to fathom for those from the northeast part of the country, or from other countries.
To add some more anecdotal data to the mix: I teach English to international students who are in the States for anywhere from 8 weeks to years. They are all adults ranging in age from 18 to middle age, from a variety of countries and cultures. Almost all deal with some sort of weight gain on moving to the US. The women are more vocal about it but it affects the men as well. For some students, I can actually see the weight gain as the school term progresses. Those students who are here long-term generally learn how to adapt their lifestyle (ie, food choices) to lose the excess weight.
When the topics of food/exercise/diet, etc. are discussed in or out of class, almost ALL of my students point out that they get much less built-in, daily physical activity here than in they do in their home countries. Most also note how big restaurant portions are (some love this, by the way) and many are surprised by how common eating in public is here. Before they come here, most of my students would never dream of eating anywhere but at home at a a designated meal time, or at a restaurant. Certainly never eating in class . . . but they quickly adapt.
There's some generalizing above, of course, and it's all personal observation, but it's not too far of a reach for me to say that the US has pretty different ways of eating/moving than a lot of the rest of the world.
As a Northerner, I feel I must jump in here to add my two cents. I live about 1 hour from the center of NYC and I feel TREMENDOUS pressure to stay in shape. Everywhere I go, I see women of all different ages, jogging, going to Yoga/Pilates classes, Zumba, weight lifting, etc. Granted, I'm at an age where I don't feel the need to follow the crowd but there's definitely a certain "fitness image" that's portrayed in my neck of the woods and I'd be naive to say there wasn't. That's not to say that there's not obese people in my community because there is but I find people in my state take health and wellness very seriously. They are educated about staying fit and take the necessary steps to get there. I would agree that geographics has something to do with the obesity epidemic in this country.
If you go to Europe it would be hard to find overweight people. In the US, you don't have to look far. I think it says a lot about Americans. We are lazier than most and prefer fast food over other healthier alternatives. We have such a food epidemic in our country, it's so sad!
If you go to Europe it would be hard to find overweight people. In the US, you don't have to look far. I think it says a lot about Americans. We are lazier than most and prefer fast food over other healthier alternatives. We have such a food epidemic in our country, it's so sad!
I live in England and have previously lived in two other European countries. It is easy to find overweight people. Granted, they are not as many in numbers, and not the same massive size as in America, but in the three European countries I've habited, they've been there. Heck, I'm one of them. When Americans say 'Oh, in Europe, it's so rare to be overweight' They are mistaken.
IsabellaOlivia, I think you are right about the speculation of more education in New England. No offense to anyone, but I think the rates are slightly higher the further north you get and I have also heard about that increased obesity rates among persons who did not graduate high school.
If you go to Europe it would be hard to find overweight people. In the US, you don't have to look far. I think it says a lot about Americans. We are lazier than most and prefer fast food over other healthier alternatives. We have such a food epidemic in our country, it's so sad!
Oooh, you've hit a bit of sore spot with me on that one. I absolutely do NOT think that Americans are lazier than those from other countries. In many countries, Americans are viewed as workaholics (when compared to local standards). I think Americans have a much more sedentary lifestyle than in other countries, but what's to blame for that? Yes, I agree, we could all get outside and be more active, but many, many Americans do not have jobs, lifestyles, or live in locations that promote daily, built-in activity. I'm just saying "sedentary" does not always equal "lazy."
As far as preferring fast food? Sure, fast food is yummy. But it's also cheap, ubiquitous, and advertised to heck and back. Processed food benefits from having ingredients that are heavily subsidized (corn and soy). I read it first on 3FC and it's always stayed with me: "Cheap, quick, healthy. Pick two."
I'm not saying we're not responsible for our own problems, but there are so many factors to consider. I really feel it's overly simplistic to ascribe the obesity issue in the US to laziness.
If you go to Europe it would be hard to find overweight people. In the US, you don't have to look far. I think it says a lot about Americans. We are lazier than most and prefer fast food over other healthier alternatives. We have such a food epidemic in our country, it's so sad!
I must disagree with the above. Americans are not lazy. They are simply not forced to be as physical as they used to be.
City-dwellers are notoriously in shape. Having a car is more of a hassle than simply using the well-provided public transportation. You walk to the subway or to the bus stop. You walk to work, or to the store. It's simply easier to walk a lot of places.
However, plenty of Americans don't live anywhere near their jobs. They have to drive an hour to get places... which means no "forced" walking. And then the job that they do is sedentary not lazy. There's a difference. Someone who is up at 5 each morning and gets home at 6 in the evening is not lazy. They're quite busy and probably even very productive, but they aren't forced to stand up to do their job or walk places.
Which means we have to get inventive about incorporating activities in sedentary jobs. Like standing or moving around when we can.
It is not hard to find overweight people in ANY country, but the fact that obesity is on the rise in the US is a concern. We all know that. That's why we're doing something about it.
I'm not fat, because I'm lazy. I'm fat because I was eating more calories than I was expending. Now I'm fixing that.
Wow there is a lot of agreeing and disagreeing here isn't there?
To be honest I am pretty sure EVERYONE is right!
So many reasons depending on income, education, opportunity, desires, family traditions, genes, weaknesses......that we gain weight.
I am 57 years old. As I look back...with faded memories ....of my youth I can remember "some" kids being "fat"....they really stood out....
today, when I visit my wife at the middle school she teaches at or drive by local schools of all grades as they exit I see a lot of overweight kids
A lot....
When I grew up we ate food cooked in crisco....but we didn't have near the portion sizes we do now...
If we were "rich" enough that week to go for burgers and fries (there were not that many fast food places around in my youth) we got a hamburger and small fries.... was an extra .05 and no way dad was gonna pay $.20 extra for us 4 kids to have burgers....we felt very "rich" if we could order a coke (which was not refillable by the way ) and OMG!! if dad said we could have a milkshake we knew he had hit the motherlode on a side job
A normal meal was a serving of meat, veggies out of a can, or later frozen veggies and usually some potato and bread....white with butter.
But I have to say the servings were smaller than the ones we dish up today...we just didn't have the $$$.
Desert was a scoop...small...of ice cream or sherbet.
Mom would get a 6 pack or 2 of sodas at the store for 4 kids to share for the week.
We were never hungry but we sure didn't drive down to Dairy Queen for desert every night...
I think what I have seen that things that were "special" treats in my day have become the normal EVERY day treats of today....
YES we had TV I actually had a color one when I was 9!!
But we didn't have a bazillion channels or dvds.....when summer came there was re-runs....what kid wants that?
We ran around outside playing tag or hide and seek after dark.
At school we played at recess and lunch...then played outside when we got home or got a group of guys together and went to the park to play whatever game was in season.
As the 70's came and we had more money when we went out to dinner we didn't add that extra taco or burrito onto the order...we never super-sized anything!!!
A snack was the single size of potato chips...not the 20oz. bag with dip!!
seriously, we have always had overweight people...genes, incomes, etc....
but overall I feel our biggest problem here in the good 'ol USA is that we have made our portions much bigger on an every day...every meal...basis and I really feel that video games and TV in general has seriously cut into children's times of being able to get out and run around.....
We had boxed food when I was growing up and TV dinners....but they were not an EVERY day thing....we had them on back to school nights....
we ate at the ballpark during Little League season.....
a hot dog and a coke.....then a scoop of ice cream....then when we got home...we took off the uniform and cleats then headed outside to run and play and enjoy the summer...
and...if we got real
we snuck a kiss on the 11 yr. old neighbor girl.....
I know this is silly, but my SIL and her hubby moved to NC a few years ago. One of their points of boasting is that they can exercise outside more and that everything doesn't revolve around food like it does up north in NY. Funnily enough, their percentage is higher than NY's! HA! That made my day. I know it is silly but that's funny! LOL
anyway, this is a serious topic that should be of concern to people in the states. In the end, it is up to the individual person, most of the time. It usually comes down to what you eat and how active you are. I think though at the same time that there are so many chemicals in foods whether they are presented as "all natural" or not, I think those mess people up. There are so many people around who struggled with weight for years and then start to give up processed foods and low-and-behold, they lose weight.
In the end though, I think it would take more than just the government to change this. I think it will take a HUGE change in order to fix this issue. Something that most people aren't going to be able to do. I think this is the case because there are so many underlying causes to the obesity rate. There isn't just one simple thing to fix.
You're welcome. LOL It's sometimes difficult for me to tell when I'm making good points and when I'm just being cranky, so I was happy to read that you thought it was good.
was an extra .05 and no way dad was gonna pay $.20 extra for us 4 kids to have 
kiss on the 11 yr. old neighbor girl.....
