Researcher Links Obesity, Food Portions

[Sun Baked]

We're Number ONE...

Jan 5, 2004
Study Says U.S. Teens Are Fattest
By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- Teenagers in the United States have higher rates of obesity than those in 14 other industrialized countries, including France and Germany, a study of nearly 30,000 youngsters ages 13 and 15 found.

Among American 15-year-olds, 15 percent of girls and nearly 14 percent of boys were obese, and 31 percent of girls and 28 percent of boys were more modestly overweight.

The findings are based on school questionnaires given to youngsters in the 15 countries in 1997 and 1998. The study was led by Inge Lissau, a researcher at the National Institute of Public Health in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was published in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The heaviest countries, based on data from 15-year-olds, also included Greece, Portugal, Israel, Ireland and Denmark.

U.S. teens were more likely than those in other countries to eat fast food, snacks and sugary sodas and were more likely to be driven to school and other activities, contributing to a more sedentary lifestyle, said co-author Mary Overpeck of the U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau...

 

[rainman::|:|]

Originally posted by big
we do need to remember, to each their own...

I completely agree. people should be able to do whatever they want, even if it's not healthy-- i'm a pack a day smoker, and will not quit just because someone tells me i should. BUT, i don't go around bitching to people about how i want to quit smoking, yet i do hear a lot of people complaining about their weight. If you want to be fat (yes, i'll say it, i'm not using a PC term here), more power to you, just don't bother explaining how it's not your fault, and how excersizing doesn't work, and how you've tried dieting, and how being fat makes you desperately unhappy. i'm not buying it. just like you really shouldn't be buying that third bacon-mayo-lard-shake.

paul

 

[SharksFan22]

Glad to see there's some hard evidence that today's American kids are as fat and overweight as they appear. Maybe I'm just turning into my parents, but I remember when I was a kid (late 70s-mid 80s) that we played baseball in the summer and football all winter. Rarely did an afternoon go by that we weren't out doing some kind of activity -- even if it *was* the ever popular BB gun wars in the creek. Could you imagine the lawsuits if that happened today?

Maybe it's the result of the video games, the Internet and a zillion TV channels available at any moment.

 

[SharksFan22]

Paulwhaneel -

I completely agree. My rant my seem like I'm looking down at a group of people, but in fact, I too believe that it's a personal choice to go to McDonalds and eat that double cheeseburger and Super Size fries with a 32oz. Coke. Just like it's a personal choice to be a vegetarian. The trick here is that some groups would rather regulate the behavior of others that has no negative impact on their lives.

Reminds me of a girl I used to date that thought drinking a Diet Coke while eating a Snickers bar was a zero-sum calorie meal. Needless to say, things other than her brain were her best a$$et.

 

[big]

for lunch, when I am out and about, a PB&J sandwich is fine, for dinner too. Sure I love to splurg, but how much money can one person spend on eating out? Even once a day, at McD's is what $5?

thats easliy $150 a month.... that has always kept me from eating out all the time....