So what is making people from the USA so fat?

[Darknacht]

Which really brings up an interesting question. A few people in this thread have stated that Americans live miles away from places. Why not just walk those miles? Or walk to a bus stop? Or bike? It doesn't take years to take on a few miles, only minutes. By that logic, you'd think that everyone would be thinner.

Public transit is underfunded across most of the U.S. due to the large amounts of automobiles. It's generally restricted for major cities, and commuting to them. As a New Jersey resident, the only way I know of getting anywhere by bus is to take some variation of bus to/from New York City.

Speaking of New York City. Where do you people think you can find a supermarket in poor urban areas like say, Harlem?

Here, let me Google that for you.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=shoprite+nyc&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1920&bih=913&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

I don't know it looks like they have plenty of grocery stores in Harlem to me try googling something intelligent such as: groceries Harlem, New York, NY or supermarket Harlem, New York, NY.
There are no shoprite stores will I live but that does not mean that I can't buy decent food.

 

[Biosophilogical]

Overeating and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. You guys drive everywhere and your portions are huge[footnote]At fast food joints and the like. Also, food seemed cheaper when I went so you could get a lot of it[/footnote]

And not only is it their lifestyle (as in, their recreational choices), but their careers. White collar jobs are becoming much more prevalent in first world countries, so physically demanding jobs (manual labour) are becoming less common.

Also, unhealthy food is normally inexpensive, making it easier to get than healthier alternatives that haven't been quadruple-fried in pure animal fat.

Though I should add that this is a problem in other countries as well, it's just that America is the more powerful/populated country, so it tends to get a lot of media attention.

EDIT: Oh, and to add to my second paragraph, I'd imagine that given the seemingly poor concern for social welfare in America compared to other places, unhealthy foods may be the ONLY food that poor people can reasonably afford with any consistency, and it sure sounds like there are a lot of poor people in America.

 

[guitarsniper]

The issue is our government subsidies of the wrong sorts of agriculture--corn and soy, often used as feed for Beef and Chicken. These meats, and high-fructose corn syrup, are major ingredients in most of fast food, and we can therefore get unhealthy food at far lower prices than economics would normally dictate.

 

[Yan007]

Also, unhealthy food is normally inexpensive, making it easier to get than healthier alternatives that haven't been quadruple-fried in pure animal fat.

Sorry, but I have to call humbug on this one. Healthy food is as cheap or even cheaper than unhealthy food, especially if you take into account nutrition. I eat 6-8 meals a day (started bodybuilding a while ago)and always eat fresh food that is a close as nature as possible. What's expensive about vegetable and fruits? Or even raw meat for that matter? Also, the average person could live very well with at most 100g of good carbs a day and by eating the remaining calories as meat and saturated fat. Yes, I am saying eating that steak, its fat and cooking it in butter is great for your health.

As a side note, yes I do eat at McDonalds from time to time (once or twice a month) and when I do I get many sandwiches and get rid of the buns to eat the meat, cheese and the fat. I had blood tests done because I was curious and ever since I started eating that way my blood levels have never been this good!

 

[Launcelot111]

This is why. This place has a popular option for your meal where they dip the beef sandwich into MORE beef juice. Seriously.

...

It's not half bad.

YES. I love Al's so much. Not that I've tried too hard, but I haven't found an Italian beef that beats Al's. Though if we're having a discussion about Americans and unhealthy eating, then Italian beefs are nothing against a 3 inch thick pizza, or better yet, a pizza puff, which for the unawares is a piece of pizza folded up and deep fried, usually served with french fries on the side. Alongside half pound burgers and fried chicken, Italian beefs really aren't that bad at all.

Back on topic, unless you live in a very urban environment, then driving in America is a necessity. Zoning boards are pretty strict in prohibiting mixed use space (ie combined residential and retail), so the traditional living above a bakery model that you might find in Europe is very rare in the US as neighborhoods are built as distinct entities away from the stores and services necessary to support them. When I'm at home, literally any errand that must be run requires at least 30 minutes of driving due to a combination of strange zoning in my county and the general effects of urban sprawl. Extrapolate the same mindset across America and you've got a monument of necessary inactivity that is pretty much permanently entrenched.

Another thought about BMI ratings though- I have a friend who is in fantastic shape- he lifts weights, runs, swims, mountain bikes, and plays on a couple teams outside of plenty of other physical activity. He has very little fat but tons of muscle, and a BMI analysis of him (5'10", 180 lbs) would say he's overweight. I see that there are a lot of large people in America, but I also see a lot of people embracing fitness, and specifically weight training. Not to downplay concern for American health issues, but I wonder if changing body types and a more muscular population skew the BMI ratings and overestimate actual health problems

 

[Biosophilogical]

Also, unhealthy food is normally inexpensive, making it easier to get than healthier alternatives that haven't been quadruple-fried in pure animal fat.

Sorry, but I have to call humbug on this one. Healthy food is as cheap or even cheaper than unhealthy food, especially if you take into account nutrition. I eat 6-8 meals a day (started bodybuilding a while ago)and always eat fresh food that is a close as nature as possible. What's expensive about vegetable and fruits? Or even raw meat for that matter? Also, the average person could live very well with at most 100g of good carbs a day and by eating the remaining calories as meat and saturated fat. Yes, I am saying eating that steak, its fat and cooking it in butter is great for your health.

As a side note, yes I do eat at McDonalds from time to time (once or twice a month) and when I do I get many sandwiches and get rid of the buns to eat the meat, cheese and the fat. I had blood tests done because I was curious and ever since I started eating that way my blood levels have never been this good!

Yes, but once you take into account the time and effort it takes to prepare healthy meals compared to buying fast food[footnote]And the low income of people in this situation could be due to a) them being lazy, or b) them being unable to find proper work and needing to have two jobs to keep a roof over their heads, or c) other)[/footnote], as well as having the disposable income to pay for things like pots, pans, plates, dish-washing needs, the extra bill for using the stove/oven/microwave every meal (if you even have them), and the non-immediate extras such as sauces/herbs/bags of frozen vegetable/anything you won't use immediately, I'd imagine the cost for someone living paycheque to paycheque is a bit much. If you only have enough money to buy the bare essentials every time you get paid, having the income to pay for things which, while probably cheaper in the long run[footnote]Like a better value (because it's larger) bag of vegetables[/footnote] is not possible at the time.

So provided you have the time, and the immediate disposable income for long-term food investments, and the money for the required cooking utensils (unless you have them already), and the energy after possibly working 2 jobs (and maybe you also have kids, which from what I've seen can be quite exhausting in and of themselves), then it is normally less expensive to get unhealthy food than healthy food.

Also, just something I hear (no evidence except the rumour-mill), things like Macca's and Burger King are less expensive in America than in places like Australia (where I live), so that would probably just add to the problem. On top of which, being poor is essentially a sub-culture; if everyone is eating fast food frequently, and not making healthy meals, it would probably be more difficult than usual to 'break the mold', so to speak, simply because there would be less available knowledge-resources to draw from.

Side Note: What do you mean body-building? (just getting fit, or actually getting body-builder big?)

 

[spartan231490]

It's less about what we eat and more about what we do. We do nothing. Absolutely nothing. We drive everywhere, sit all day, and the most active adult hobby is golf. It really is as simple as that. American's are lazy, plain and simple(myself no exception). I have some ideas about the cause of this, but they are philosophical and baseless, mere conjecture, and as such have no place in a serious conversation.

 

[Cpu46]

This is why. This place has a popular option for your meal where they dip the beef sandwich into MORE beef juice. Seriously.

...

It's not half bad.

I went to a place where they just dipped the bread in the beef juice and served it like that. No sandwich, just soggy bread. Once you get used to the god awful texture it actually is incredibly good.

Also can we stop with all the "hur dur dur, all they eat is deathfood!" (please ignore any hypocracy that statement may cary due to the previous food description) Seriously. Yes we have a Mcdonalds pretty much every few miles. But it is not the main source of food intake. The people that eat at fast food joints more than twice a week are actually not all that representative of the average american. Hell, most of the people I know don't even eat fast food once every month. Most people eat a home cooked or home prepared meal, if they cant they usually eat at a legitimate restaurant that serves decent food. (Not like the above establishment or described dish, those are guilty pleasures that are lucky to be ordered more than once every 2-3 months by the average american).

 

[Dags90]

I don't know it looks like they have plenty of grocery stores in Harlem to me try googling something intelligent such as: groceries Harlem, New York, NY or supermarket Harlem, New York, NY.
There are no shoprite stores will I live but that does not mean that I can't buy decent food.

If you look at them on street view, a lot of them look like glorified convenience stores. I.e. Bravo Supermarkets or C-Town Supermarkets. That's why I tried avoiding just searching for supermarket. Any bodega with delusions of grandeur can call itself a supermarket, that doesn't make it an actual supermarket.

To borrow your tone, it might help to actually look at the "supermarkets".

The City of New York admits this is a problem, and lists Central and East Harlem as *gasp* a "highest need" area. [footnote]http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/supermarket/index.shtml[/footnote] Just saying.

 

[HardRockSamurai]

As an American who has lived overseas for many years, I'd have to blame our ridiculous food proportions.

---

Let me illustrate my point: during a visit to Taiwan I took a few years ago, some friends and I went to a Burger King and, since we were all feeling particularly hungry, we all ordered an extra-large burger. They were actually quite delicious, and we all finished them easily (a few of us even went back for seconds).

Eventually, I left Taiwan and landed in an airport in America. I was waiting for a connecting flight, so I decided to get something to eat. I went to a Burger King and ordered the exact same burger I'd had in Taiwan, only this time, the burger was enormous. I ended up throwing away most of it.

---

It's not just restricted to fast food either; almost every restaurant in America seems to serve such ridiculously sized proportions.

 

[Nemesis729]

I'm not sure what makes us so fat honestly, When I was 17 I weighed 265lb. Morbidly obese as my doctor called it, she said I was going to die before I turned 30 if I didn't make a change.

It's now a little less than one year later and I'm now 228lb.(And still losing) and a lot of that is muscle, pretty cool.

For me I'm pretty sure it was depression that made me so heavy, After working out for I while I realized that it made me happier, so I stuck with it.

I dunno, that's just my experience with the matter.

 

[42]

They eat lots of Food. thats all the answer you need.Or it could be Slow Metabolism and very fast chip eating hands.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

If any of you have seen what I currently do for a living, you'll know that I'm a personal trainer.

And as such, I think the vast majority of the people who say 'Americans do nothing' are speaking about what they see. And if they, themselves, are doing nothing... well, that's that.

I work at a gym where people are training to do 5Ks and the like just because they want to. I go running at a dam Plaza which is filled with people just walking around or running. The gym I work out at is never empty. None of the gyms I ever went to are ever empty. I go to Central Park and it is FULL of people running just for the sake of running. One of the malls I go to has a Rock Climbing wall that always has kids trying it. If you are sedentary, more likely than not your friends are going to be sedentary. And you'll mistake the world for following suit.

As I am active, I am out and I see lots of other people active. That's how it goes.

Portion size? Yes and no. Personally with how much I need to do, I need a higher caloric intake (read: proper foods balancing carbs and fiber with a good amount of protein and little refined sugars) to function and feed my muscles or they will wither or not even grow. Food choices? Very much so. I look at people with their bellies spilling out their shirts and I wonder how much cheese went into that.

But more over, I think it's the food itself. I mean, our leaner parents were raised on steak and potatoes, Burgers and fries, hot dogs and the like. But when growth hormones got put into the food, we got bigger and then pointed our disapproving finger towards these foods of old. These are unhealthy practices and are of the devil and the like. Seriously, we put hormones to make chicken breast bigger and cows fatter. This is usually ingested, so it's still in the body when killed. And we're surprised that after we eat this hormone laded meat, we're getting bigger?

 

[Forgetitnow344]

How come you can make a thread like this and get away with it (I noticed your health bar), but everything I say gets shit on? Grumble grumble grumble...

OT: It depends on where you are, really. I'm in Southern California and you don't see too many fat people. The ones you do see are typically poor. I know I'm gaining weight because I don't have the money/time to buy/prepare nice food. To make a decent dinner for myself, I have to spend like $15 on ingredients and 15 minutes to an hour on prep time... or I can just stop at Taco Bell on the way home from school and mack it down before I have to go to work. There's a filling meal for $5.

Now if you go to places like... Ohio or something... Jesus, I don't know how those people fucking live with themselves. I'm 6'10 and weigh 210, but I'm kind of a stocky dude by default. My doctor says 190 is the perfect weight for me, so I'm not even that overweight. If I ever got to the point where I had to lift any part of my abdominal or pectoral area in order to clean, I would get a fucking gym membership and start eating nothing but celery and water forever. I went to Ohio once and could NOT find the thin people. Or even the healthy-ish people. It was just a population of large, lardy people getting winded as they enter and exit their cars and/or rascals.

 

[BaronUberstein]

Last I checked Finland has a scary-high diabetes rate.

I think we just hear about the US more because...we're big and as much as people may dislike it, important in modern politics.

 

[Dags90]

But more over, I think it's the food itself. I mean, our leaner parents were raised on steak and potatoes, Burgers and fries, hot dogs and the like. But when growth hormones got put into the food, we got bigger and then pointed our disapproving finger towards these foods of old. These are unhealthy practices and are of the devil and the like. Seriously, we put hormones to make chicken breast bigger and cows fatter. This is usually ingested, so it's still in the body when killed. And we're surprised that after we eat this hormone laded meat, we're getting bigger?

This isn't really born out by the data. They didn't start injecting cows with hormones for milk production until the early 90's. And they've been giving hormones to beef cattle since the early 50's.[footnote]http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ProductSafetyInformation/ucm055436.htm[/footnote] I don't know about you, but my parents were born in the late 50's, almost a decade after they started juicing up delicious cattle.

As a side note, my father's family was too big for steak and potatoes. They were a spaghetti with watered-down sauce family.