The 'Obesity Epidemic'

The trouble with "eat it or starve" with me was that I could not eat for a day with no ill effects. I often skip lunch now if I'm doing something in the garden or out and don't fancy the overpriced fried rat's buttocks or whatever is on offer at the venue.

I'm putting on weight now I'm old and slowing up and I cant't go as long without eating as I used to, will get a bit headachey after twelve hours or so. I can go without drinking for hours as well, though I try not to as it isn't really good for you.
 
Stormkhan said:
Someone who regards crisps and chocolates as a major food, or really, someone who is bemoaning the marketing? Many people might join her with the complaint of reduced portions, but that doesn't argue that a small portion of crap is bad.
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It isn't reduced portions though. It's being told that, say, a tube of Pringles contains a day's worth of calories for one person, basically. So it should be shared between several people, otherwise you've eaten your calorie allowance just by shoving crisps in your face. What this woman is complaining about, seems to be having it pointed out that this kind of food should only be eaten in small portions.
 
Mythopoeika said:
It may have originated during the period after the war when there was rationing. It persisted longer in the UK because we had rationing much longer than in other nations. I heard it a lot from older people when I was a young child (after rationing had ceased).
Innocently, I quietly saved the crusts off my bread and when I had enough, I asked my Mum where I should send them, because I'd been told by so many people that 'children in the third world would appreciate them'.
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Fish and chips were never rationed though.
 
I'll tell what I did notice lately;

About two months ago I stopped eating cheese for about a month, maybe a bit longer.
(I'd had a particularly potent Camembert that warranted a break).

Now, I didn't weigh myself before or after, but after about two weeks I noticed that some shorts I have which couldn't be done up, now could.
I didn't feel any lighter, but there the proof was.
 
The obesity epidemic strikes chimps etc.

Go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and you’re unlikely to encounter chimps so plump they have trouble climbing trees or vervet monkeys so chubby they huff and puff as they swing from branch to branch. Humans are a different story. Walk down a typical U.S. street and almost half of the people you encounter are likely to have obesity.

Scientists have long blamed our status as the “fattest primate” on genes that help us store fat more efficiently or diets overloaded with sugars or fat. But a new study of 40 species of nonhuman primates, ranging from tiny mouse lemurs to hulking gorillas, finds many pack on the pounds just as easily as we do, regardless of diet, habitat, or genetic differences. All they need is extra food.

“Lots of primates put on too much weight, the same as humans,” says Herman Pontzer, a biological anthropologist at Duke University and author of the new study, published this week in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. “Humans are not special.”

https://www.science.org/content/article/humans-aren-t-only-fat-primate
 
ramonmercado said:
The obesity epidemic strikes chimps etc.

Go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and you’re unlikely to encounter chimps so plump they have trouble climbing trees or vervet monkeys so chubby they huff and puff as they swing from branch to branch. Humans are a different story. Walk down a typical U.S. street and almost half of the people you encounter are likely to have obesity.

Scientists have long blamed our status as the “fattest primate” on genes that help us store fat more efficiently or diets overloaded with sugars or fat. But a new study of 40 species of nonhuman primates, ranging from tiny mouse lemurs to hulking gorillas, finds many pack on the pounds just as easily as we do, regardless of diet, habitat, or genetic differences. All they need is extra food.

“Lots of primates put on too much weight, the same as humans,” says Herman Pontzer, a biological anthropologist at Duke University and author of the new study, published this week in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. “Humans are not special.”

https://www.science.org/content/article/humans-aren-t-only-fat-primate
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BTW, the article's author is Ann Gibbons!
 
ramonmercado said:
…almost half of the people you encounter are likely to have obesity.
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“Have obesity?” That implies that obesity is something that happens to one against one’s will, despite one’s best efforts, with no contribution by oneself.

We get fat because we eat too much and don’t do enough exercise.

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
We get fat because we eat too much and don’t do enough exercise.
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We get fat for a number of reasons - One of those reasons tallies with what you posted M.O., but some have a genetic predisposition , while others have a glandular/endocrine problem.

Not all of us sit on our arses and eat...or drink.
 
Just saw this elsewhere:

qc0r28bz13nb1.jpg
 
maximus otter said:
“Have obesity?” That implies that obesity is something that happens to one against one’s will, despite one’s best efforts, with no contribution by oneself.

We get fat because we eat too much and don’t do enough exercise.

maximus otter
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Because Mr. R has been in a hospital / physical therapy facility for 4 months now, I have gotten a first hand look at the medical field.
When I see employees in the dining area eating huge plates of greasy poison, I want to ask them if a nice green salad wouldn't be a better option. And these are young women working as aides to the nursing staff and should know better. Obesity is rampant there, very surprising for the medical field.
Perhaps because my parents were European I was raised differently, my Mum always cooked and I do see that American eating habits are not healthy.
And there are all the food additives as well - 'Corn syrup' is listed as an ingredient on almost everything, I avoid it completely.
 
Ronnie Jersey said:
Because Mr. R has been in a hospital / physical therapy facility for 4 months now, I have gotten a first hand look at the medical field.
When I see employees in the dining area eating huge plates of greasy poison, I want to ask them if a nice green salad wouldn't be a better option. And these are young women working as aides to the nursing staff and should know better. Obesity is rampant there, very surprising for the medical field.
Perhaps because my parents were European I was raised differently, my Mum always cooked and I do see that American eating habits are not healthy.
And there are all the food additives as well - 'Corn syrup' is listed as an ingredient on almost everything, I avoid it completely.
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Yes... high fructose corn syrup might be what is doing all the damage in the US.
 
Ronnie Jersey said:
Because Mr. R has been in a hospital / physical therapy facility for 4 months now, I have gotten a first hand look at the medical field.
When I see employees in the dining area eating huge plates of greasy poison, I want to ask them if a nice green salad wouldn't be a better option. And these are young women working as aides to the nursing staff and should know better. Obesity is rampant there, very surprising for the medical field.
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"Of the 1.2 million staff in the NHS, it is likely that around 300,000 would be classified as obese and a further 400,000 as overweight."

https://fullfact.org/health/are-half-nhs-workers-obese/

maximus otter
 
Firstly, this claim is not sourced.
Secondly, it's based on BMI.
I agree that I wouldn't be inclined to take health advice from an apparently unhealthy person, but I'd also take into account their level of training in the field. Also, it comes back to why they look overweight/unhealthy. For instance, if I had a tiny window of opportunity to eat while performing high stress and physical tasks, I'd load up on quick to prepare/consume foods.
I gave up smoking for health reasons. I didn't give up because a health professional told me to. I made my own decisions.
However, seeing the snoutcasts outside hospital entrances - uniformed staff, visitors, blokes in wheelchairs connected to oxygen cylinders - I'd be wary of the same person telling me to quit. Thing is, most smokers are addicted to cigarettes/nicotine because they find it a stress relief.
 
Stormkhan said:
Firstly, this claim is not sourced.
Secondly, it's based on BMI.
I agree that I wouldn't be inclined to take health advice from an apparently unhealthy person, but I'd also take into account their level of training in the field. Also, it comes back to why they look overweight/unhealthy. For instance, if I had a tiny window of opportunity to eat while performing high stress and physical tasks, I'd load up on quick to prepare/consume foods.
I gave up smoking for health reasons. I didn't give up because a health professional told me to. I made my own decisions.
However, seeing the snoutcasts outside hospital entrances - uniformed staff, visitors, blokes in wheelchairs connected to oxygen cylinders - I'd be wary of the same person telling me to quit. Thing is, most smokers are addicted to cigarettes/nicotine because they find it a stress relief.
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From the link in my post:

“When we contacted the Royal College of Physicians, they pointed us to a Department of Health (DoH) report called "Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: One Year On" which does indeed mention the statistic.”

maximus otter
 
You notice that the obesity map shows the worst is in the southern states.

We are always the worst for everything like diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes.

If it is not fried or floating in butter, or rich barbecue with brown sugar sauce, or sausage and stacked high pancakes, then it’s not food.
 
charliebrown said:
You notice that the obesity map shows the worst is in the southern states.

We are always the worst for everything like diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes.

If it is not fried or floating in butter, or rich barbecue with brown sugar sauce, or sausage and stacked high pancakes, then it’s not food.
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Sounds like Scotland!
 
I hesitate to set foot in this complex area. There are shedloads of theories. There is one related to consumption of fructose and sucrose, the virus one, the consumption of large amounts of carbohydrates, the processed food one ,and lots more. it’s obvious that it in the past it was an evolutionary advantage to be able to lay down fat in the good times ready for the bad times. It’s also obvious that overeating in the good times would be a good thing too. Aren’t we just continuing to do these things in societies where food is available and affordable, in fact difficult to avoid? And to NOT do them is quite a lot of effort? There do not seem to be a lot of obese people in North Korea, say, where food is not so available and affordable. We are hard-wired to dive head first into a chocolate fountain if we get the opportunity. Not surprising we keep doing it (metaphorically). It’s easy to blame people about their food choices or their willpower and it can get caught up in class issues (but i suppose in the UK everything does) but I don’t think it’s straightforward at all.
 
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