Fat Activists!

[iJon]

i was amazed when i went to europe. no fat guys or girls. i maybe saw 10 at the most during my whole 2 weeks i was there. i envy europe in so many ways, they just have their s*** together over their. hardly anyone is fat, biggest suv's are range rovers and grand cherokees, drinking age is lower, just so many things. i already miss it, can't wait till i go back this summer.

iJon

 

[jxyama]

i was amazed when i went to europe. no fat guys or girls. i maybe saw 10 at the most during my whole 2 weeks i was there. i envy europe in so many ways, they just have their s*** together over their. hardly anyone is fat, biggest suv's are range rovers and grand cherokees, drinking age is lower, just so many things. i already miss it, can't wait till i go back this summer.

iJon

my hypothesis is that europeans tend to smoke a lot more than americans.

i also like some socialist aspects of many european societies. i'm starting to feel that the U.S. is a bit too capitalistic to my liking... (or maybe because i was in europe for two years with no set work schedule, extra income and extra vacation time and traveled the heck out of the continent while pretending to be doing some PhD research, while having come back to the states, i now have to deal with finding a career and such... could that be it? )

 

[iJon]

my hypothesis is that europeans tend to smoke a lot more than americans.

i also like some socialist aspects of many european societies. i'm starting to feel that the U.S. is a bit too capitalistic to my liking... (or maybe because i was in europe for two years with no set work schedule, extra income and extra vacation time and traveled the heck out of the continent while pretending to be doing some PhD research, while having come back to the states, i now have to deal with finding a career and such... could that be it? )

true, i was over in amsterdam and your typcial sheltered america would probably think holland would end in chaos. low drinking age, marijuana, legal whores. i thought it was great but you can only imagine with some people from the US would think.

iJon

 

[rueyeet]

Agreed. No one wishes they were fat. Everyone wishes they could eat whatever they want and not worry about getting fat. But everyone also knows that is not the case. People know that the food they eat effects their body, their weight, etc. I guess it isn't like there is a plethora of health food cook books, stores, restaurants and movements going on. Oh, wait.

I didn't disagree with this. I'm just pointing out that it's a slippery slope, not a one-time choice. The article at the end of my post gives some interesting insights into the ways that slope might be steeper than we know.

Then you're taking your kids to the wrong restaurants.

It isn't a case of the wrong restaurants, it's a case of ANY restaurants with a healthy kid's menu. Actually, in my opinion, the problem is having a kid's menu at all, and allowing children to eat separately from the parents. If the parents eat healthy, and make their children eat the same food instead of "children's" food, then not only do kids learn to eat healthier, but they learn to eat with a lot more variety, which is also healthier.

If you can just say no to smoking, you can just say no to crap food.

There speaks a person without an addictive personality, or an eating disorder.

I am not advocating that everyone should have drugs available so they can stuff their faces forever, sit on their asses, and never gain a pound; nor am I advocating that morbid obesity be treated as a lifestyle choice instead of the health problem it absolutely is. Nor am I saying it isn't a case of personal responsibility. My post was more in the way of enumerating all the ways American society makes weight control harder than it needs to be.

About the European thing; I've noticed several things in trips to London and Madrid (besides traditional British cooking being pretty awful--sorry all you Brits out there ). First: Cities are cities, not deteriorated urban ruins with sprawling suburbs, and public transportation is awesome. Therefore you walk and ride everywhere instead of driving.

Second: Farms being closer in to the cities means that the food is fresher, and there is a lot less pre-processed junk, and a lot less chemical substitutes for real food. Much less instant and pre-made stuff too. So the food, in general, is healthier.

Third: Corporations and the almighty dollar don't have quite the sway they do in America, so people have more time off to relax, and aren't universally expected to give every second to their job, multitasking even when they aren't at work. My friend who lived in Spain for two years said the difference was incredible....you actually had time enough to walk home and have a good, leisurely lunch with family or friends instead of running out just long enough to grab fast food before rushing back to eat it at your desk while working. When he came back to this country he had trouble adjusting to the always-on American pace again.

 

[iJon]

but come on. when i was young the last thing i wanted to eat was a steak, baked potatoe and seasoned rice. sure its good now, but then i wanted mac and cheese, ice cream and a grilled cheese sandwhich. thats just my opinion though.

iJon

 

[Makosuke]

Corporations and the almighty dollar don't have quite the sway they do in America, so people have more time off to relax, and aren't universally expected to give every second to their job, multitasking even when they aren't at work.

This is likely true, but I don't buy it as an explanation for why we in America are so fat on average. Many older Japanese have an even more insane work ethic than those in the US--until recently, for most salaried employees your life IS your job, and the company is far more important than its employees--and although things have eased somewhat, the Japanese still work a lot and are also drastically skinnier than people in the US.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, the Japanese are skinny-obsessed, leading to a lot of unhealthily lean women, but the fact remains that Japan has far less obese people than any country in Europe (around 2% on the last graph I saw, versus around 6% for the best country in Europe, and over 30% in the US). And no, they don't just eat rice anymore, but they do make an effort to eat better instead of a diet composed largely of partially hydrogenated soybean oil, which is what would seem to make the difference.

Genetics may enter into it, but I don't think it's that big of a difference.

(Actually, I'll bet a lot of it has to do with the fact that in a large percentage of Japanese families the wife does not work full time, and is expected to do the cooking, where most US families now have two full-time wage earners and nobody with the time or talent to cook a proper meal. So despite the fact that a lot of Japanese men probably work way harder than their US counterparts, on average the family has more spare time to prepare food, and more importantly places a higher cultural priority on a proper meal. I'd prefer a less sexist solution, but the fact that somebody takes the time to cook healthy at least makes for a leaner populace.)

 

[scottwat]

(Actually, I'll bet a lot of it has to do with the fact that in a large percentage of Japanese families the wife does not work full time, and is expected to do the cooking, where most US families now have two full-time wage earners and nobody with the time or talent to cook a proper meal. So despite the fact that a lot of Japanese men probably work way harder than their US counterparts, on average the family has more spare time to prepare food, and more importantly places a higher cultural priority on a proper meal. I'd prefer a less sexist solution, but the fact that somebody takes the time to cook healthy at least makes for a leaner populace.)

I would agree, I think alot of the problems with everything boil down to the fact that everyone feels this great need to work instead of taking care of the family. When McDonalds or Pizza replaced good healthy home cooked meals most nights for most families, we have a problem.