You're very welcome!! I've lurked here for years and I've noticed that people aren't as talkative as they used to be. So maybe I'll just pop in to stir you guys up every once in a while.

Please do!

So true! There's no sidewalks around my neighborhood so to walk my dogs for more than ten minutes I have to walk along the side of a four lane road. I've got two huge huskies on a leash with their backpacks strapped on and some guy stopped me and asked if I needed a ride. Uh, no... just walking my dogs.

Wow... what an image. I half expected the cars in my neighborhoods to come rolling out of their garages al on their own today. Briefcase in tow.

Hi maintainers,

Relating to the topic of if the obesity epidemic is an American thing...I think it is much more common in the US to be very overweight than around here. I am dutch, and although obesity is on the rise here I notice when I am in the US that much more people are overweight compared to here.

I agree with wdranne that the way the towns are built definitely differs also. Our country is small and crowded and has bad traffic problems, so the goverment encourages people to use a bike. There is a special tax incentive for employers to pay part of a bike for home-work traffic for their employees.. the place is flat so that works reasonably well. We have sidewalks on all streets, and bike-lanes, and school children and students usually go by bike. I would say that for distances up to 3-4 miles, biking would be the norm for school children and for a lot of office workers. In the US the place is very big so the use of a car is much more the norm.

Another difference is about the food. It seems like a much larger portion of supermarkets in the US are devoted to food items that would be scary to a lot of consumers here: too much preservatives, artificial colouring etc. I think that if bread and coockies stay fresh very long, than probably they are loaded with chemicals to prevent the moulds and bacteria from growing. And if it is no good for them, why would it be good for people?? I think consumers here are much more scared of additives in foods.

Still, the number of overweight people is on the rise, and scaring, the number of overweight children as well! The outdoor play opportunities are dissolving, which means they spen more time indoors at the Tv or the computer. I find that very scary indeed.

Interesting thread Ginny,thanks for bringing it up.

Rabbit

/Other than that, most of my friends and family are either careful or fat/

Doesn't that just about sum it up? Tons of wisdom packed in that statement.

If overweight is becoming "normal" then I DON'T want to be normal... thank you very much!

I'm from Guatemala and I'd say obesity is a problem to a certain extent. It's more evident in the city. The natives (mayan descendants) who live in the country side are pretty fit. They have a diet of mostly corn, beans, and veggies, with the occasional meat here and there, nothing processed that's for sure. And they also "work" for their food. Most of them still work the land with very little help from machinery, they lug around huge bundles of produce, wood, etc. Kids still run around all over the place on the streets. Not in the city, the city is more like it is here. A lot of fast food, lots of office hours sitting at a desk, lots of tv at home, video games for kids, etc, etc. My goddaughter came to visit this past holiday season, she's only 10 and already has a weight problem, her doctor already put her on a diet and she has been seeing a nutrionist, but her mom (my best friend) has a hard time keeping her on the plan. She's a kid and she sees other kids stuffing themselves with junk and she wants that. I bought a lot of clean food when she was here and tried to cook healthful stuff, but she was always asking her mom for junk and would get really upset when we would say no to her. I think she's too young to understand the pain and problems excess weight can cause.

I came to the US almost 13 yrs ago and the 1st time I walked into a supermarket I was amazed at the amount of processed food there is here. We have our share in Guatemala, but it's even more here. I guess convenience is the primary focus for some these days. My best friend laughs at me b/c I spend the wknds cooking. But I rather do that than buy processed foods. I do buy them, but I try to limit them as much as I can.

Sheesh, let me get off the box!

I always find great threads in the maintainers forum!

No, most people I know don't necessarily eat "clean", though they tend to eat a lot less processed food than people in the US. Working people in the big cities here usually have lunch at a self-service restaurant near their office, and they'll usually eat something like rice, beans, meat and salad. That'd be a typical Brazilian lunch, though of course we eat other things, too (Mc Donald's is pretty popular around here). But I think the main difference is that people eat A LOT less than Americans. Serving sizes in the US are unbelievably big. But I think most people here are just as sedentary as Americans.