 “Canadian” American |
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As you become a First World economy and you get all these labor-saving devices and low-cost, easily accessible foods, people are going to eat more and exercise less,” health economist Eric Finkelstein told AFP. In “The Fattening of America”, published this month, Finkelstein says that adult obesity more than doubled in the United States between 1960 and 2004, rising from 13 percent to around 33 percent.
Globally, only Saudi Arabia fares worse than the United States in terms of the percentage of adults with a severe weight problem — 35 percent of people in the oil-rich desert kingdom are classified as obese, the book says, citing data from the World Health Organization and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. “But the nasty side-effects of obesity aren’t as nasty as they used to be,” Finkelstein said. “When you have a first-rate medical system that can cure the diseases that obesity promotes, you no longer need to worry so much about being obese,” he told AFP.
So if its true that “Obesity is a natural extension of an advancing economy”, then our own weight should be tanking to record lows, and the Chinese should be showing signs of exploding girth. Also, where is this first-rate medical system the author mentions? I have to call bullshit on this so called “expert”.
Good for them. Maybe there’s a business opportunity in manufacturing XL caskets.
Looking forward to their Pride parade.
on TV…. Triple bacon cheeseburgers!
Steak and bacon pizza!
“the Baconator!”
The 4 B’s!!! Beer Butter Bacon and! Better not forget the Cheese!!!
I wish I hadn’t had a heart attack and could eat something besides chipped wood toast and no fat everything…
hmm, if obesity is the sign of an advancing economy, howcome the poorest people tend to be the fattest? that’s because processed and fast foods are the cheapest sources of calories.
healthy food is also not as easily-accessible as the crap. you can sell ding-dongs out of vending machines, but not fruits and vegetables.
#4 No. That’s because poor people cannot afford the Gym or Personal trainer…And also poor people are lazier and laid back (that’s a gross generalization, but here you go…)
#5. It is complicated. I would not say poor people are lazier than those living off their trust funds. they do have to spend more time keeping body and soul together, which cuts into time that would otherwise be used for healthy eating habits and exercise.
healthy food is more time-consuming to obtain. you can’t just buy fruit or vegetables once every few weeks, since they go bad. it requires time and effort. not so heavily preserved processed foods, loaded with fat and corn syrup. if you are working two minimum wage jobs, the odds of you eating at least one meal at the drive-thru goes up.
the mass of well-off people (especially those in professions) have to be concerned about things like their weight, because it impacts their image which impacts their livelihood. not so if you are working a cash register at Wal-Mart.
but in any event – obesity is not a sign that things are going well. nobody gets to weigh 400 pounds by eating healthy foods and exercising.
#6 Don’t get too cranked up… I was just winking at the rationale of meritocracy…
(you know…the prevalent American social model, the one that says you are if you are rich that’s because you somehow work better or are smarter than average)
#7. the interesting bit is that the entertainment headlines (Britney, Paris, OJ, etc) are daily affirmations that wealth /= smarts or virtue, yet some people continue to believe it …
It took decades for the fat lazy lifestyle to catch up with America. It will simply take a couple of generations for the Chinese to blimp out. But blimp out they will as their standard of living increases.
We have the best health care system in the world, if you have insurance or money. If not, you simply get mediocre care from the government managed system. I used to work at a large county hospital, so I know. I have insurance, so I get great care. If the government takes over, I will have to wait in line to get mediocre care along with everyone else. I will probably die earlier since I do not have the patience to wait very long in lines.
Don
The report’s author came to that conclusion after asking people their opinion. Opinions are not facts.
A study in which Finkelstein and colleagues at the RTI International, an independent research institute in North Carolina that works on social and scientific problems, asked overweight, obese and normal weight people to predict their life expectancy came up with a total difference of four years
While many people are in denial, it is usually hard to predict a health outcome 10 or 20 years down the road. Often, obesity degrades a person’s health to the point that an operation or potential life saving drug can not be used.
But hey, when you survive by selling information tailor made for the buyer’s interest then what do you expect. I don’t necessarily put much veracity in this report.
Obesity is “a lifestyle choice”????
Come on!!!
Next you will be telling me that homosexuality is a “lifestyle choice”!
Pffft
Keep on rolling in the free world…
Mmmm… Chubby chasers.
When you get on an elevator, is it rude to ask the other passengers how much they weigh? I try to ask politely, but some people act as if it’s none of my business 😉
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=15270
Bacon Cheese Baconburger
#14 – Gary
They shouldn’t be offended, because the risk of elevator accidents due to exceeded capacity is real.
NOBODY chooses obesity as a life style or otherwise. Obesity is one of several consequences of mutiple actual choices made.
So, yes, our if our society had a goal of organizing itself for securing the greatest good while avoiding the greatest bad, schools would offer if not emphasize more sports and physical exericise–for health and to clear out the cobwebs to make scholastic achievement just that much more enjoyable and consequential.
#16 Thanks, Jägermeister. I’m going to print out copies of that article and pass them out whenever I board an elevator, strictly as a public service 😉
I love fat guys. More lovin’ for me!
#18 – Gary
Sounds good. I’m sure you’ll make some people aware and piss off others. 😉
It should be mandatory for all elevators to have a warning signal when is the maximum capacity is exceeded. My former office building had such a system (it would just beep and go nowhere).
fact check:
60 million Chinese overweight while 24 million are hungry – “An increasing number of Chinese are eating more fat and junk food but less grains and vegetables, leading to a high number of cases of high blood pressure and diabetes,” Pan said.
#21 – cc
More rough facts:
60 million… that’s about 4.5% of the population
24 million hungry… the US had 36.5 million people who lived below the official poverty thresholds in 2006.
#17…bobbo…your wrong. Sumo wrestlers and defensive linemen choose obesity. 🙂
Fat chicks are like Mopeds, they are fun to ride until your friends catch you.
#16 Jägermeister – Elevators in China indicate far more person capacity and less weight than in the US!
My wife and I noticed that when we were in the US recently.
Cheers
#21 cc – Even more rough fact check:
You must first consider what Chinese consider obese! LOL! In China 5-10kg overweight is considered obese while in the US that would be only cute ‘love handles’ – want fries with that?
Right Jägermeister?
Cheers
Oh yeah…check out the D/E cup ‘moobs’ on Fat Bastard!
Isn’t that a double standard? You can show a fat guy’s moobs on US TV but no girl boobs. What if a woman is completely flat chested even less than mosquito bumps can she be topless on TV in the US?
Cheers
To paraphrase Clint Eastwood in The Unforgiven, “dyin’ ain’t much of a lifestyle choice”.
#25 – TIHZ_HO
And there was a non-smoking sign in the elevator… didn’t stop the men from smoking there… 😉
#26 – TIHZ_HO – In China 5-10kg overweight is considered obese while in the US that would be only cute ‘love handles’ – want fries with that?
I can’t confirm this… none of my wife’s friends are fat.
#28 – Cinaedh – “dyin’ ain’t much of a lifestyle choice”
😀
The idea that “a first-rate medical system…can cure the diseases that obesity promotes” is totally hogwash. There is NO regimen of treatments that can undo the damage obesity does to your body. The best you can hope for is liposuction to trim off the blubber and a bypass to get past those cholesterol-choked arteries. Step away from the table and go for a walk! This is not rocket science.