Moving to US can damage waistline

[T_i_B]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=ZD5ZVGNXTZVANQFIQMFSM5WAVCBQ0JVC?xml=/news/2004/12/16/wfat16.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/12/16/ixportal.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=82180

There is a flip side to the American dream, medical researchers have discovered. Moving to the United States can make you fat.

A study of immigrants' health shows that people born abroad are rarely obese until they have lived in America for 10 years or more, and succumbed to its car-driving, burger-guzzling culture.

Only eight per cent of immigrants who had lived in the country for less than a year were obese, but that jumped to 19 per cent after 15 years. The figure compared with 22 per cent of American-born residents surveyed.

The research, published in yesterday's Journal of the American Medical Association, found a link between obesity and US residency in white, Hispanic and Asian immigrant groups. It was not seen in foreign-born blacks but numbers in the study were too small to draw conclusions. More than 32,000 adults were surveyed.

[Dem2theMax]

1. Does this mean that if I move OUT of the US, I'll instantly lose weight?

:::rushing to pack bags::: ;)

Actually, I've been to a few countries in Europe and I did notice that very few people were overweight. And they don't exactly starve themselves. But they walk a lot. Or they ride bikes. They actually get exercise just by going about their daily activities.

:::dang, where IS that passport?:::

[demnan]

2. Yah that was the first thing that occured to me

Perhaps we should look at walking more in this country. Unfortunately, the way most suburbs are built, you need a car to go anywhere.

[Deja Q]

5. Maybe adopting the European way of life?

Of course, that'll impact the handful of families with the top 3% of the income, so they'd rather see everyone else rot and die than prosper, which I thought was their mantra. "prosper".

America is the epitome of sloppy thinking, let's face it. That's why Europe is far more likely to survive peak oil than the US. Unless the US elects somebody insane who'll ultimately launch nukes to protect what it needs most...

[Bono71]

37. I think this is the answer.

[SKKY]

3. You know D2TM, you just may...

...I vacation in Spain (I have family there) about once a year, and I always come back 5-7 pounds lighter. Our lifestyle is not very conducive to optimal health- bigger, served faster, and more of it. We don't understand moderation, and I've found Europeans do.

[flygal]

7. They also emphasize lunch over dinner

Most of my friends here fix "cold" dinner - bread and cheese, b/c they've had a big lunch. While I'm still used to fixing a caserole or something substantial, but we're switching slowly to smaller meals at dinner.

[maddezmom]

6. both times I've lived outside the US

lost 10 lbs. immediately....of course the trick is to keep it off. ;)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Exactly!

I've observed how people live in Japan on my last two trips.

Their diet isn't as low-fat as people would have you believe (Tempura and tonkatsu low fat? Never!), but they get a lot more exercise than Americans all their lives.

Kids mostly walk to school.

Stay-at-home mothers mostly walk or bike to do their errands.

People commuting to work in cities or suburbs usually walk or bike to the nearest train or subway station, and if they have to transfer between lines, they may have to walk almost a kilometer underground (I've seen signs that say "Transfer to the XX Line: 900 meters), and then walk some more to reach their actual office. If they go out for lunch, there's no drive-through window; they have to walk to the restaurant of their choice. Then they reverse the commuting process at the end of the work day.

A lot of American suburbanites don't get that much exercise in a week, much less a day.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. I lost 10 lbs when I spent two weeks in Europe

Basically I took public transit everywhere I went. As far as food went I drank a lot of beer and ate a lot of bratwurst. So it must be our car culture that causes one to gain weight.

[TahitiNut]

33. Same here.

I spent three and a half months working in Paris, ate three good meals each day (no snacks, except for weekend afternoon baguette, cheese, wine and occasional peanut butter), and lost weight. I've never eaten as well in my life. I'd start the day with a petit dejeuner (croissant, butter, preserves, cafe au lait), have a 90 minute 3-course lunch at the company cafeteria (including wine), and have dinner with friends in the evening for about two and a half hours. Dinner would always include dessert. Absolutely nothing was labeled "diet" or "Nutrasweet"; it was always butter, not margarine; and the cream was whole cream or creme fraiche. I lost weight and ate excellently.

[VegasWolf]

41. Damn, that brings back memories. Paris is my favorite city in the

world. Paris on a warm night, all lit up like a white Christmas
tree.

[eleonora]

4. Next time you go to the mall...

From someone who comes from abroad:

Don't drive around for an hour to find the closest parking spot possible....that always makes me laugh!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

13. That makes me crack up also

These people spend more time trying to find a closer parking spot than they would walking if they took the first available spot.

[TahitiNut]

35. It's not the mall that's the most ridiculous.

Watch the people find a parking space in the lot outside their health club. They invariably obsess about getting the closest spot. It's insane!

[alexisfree]

8. well when you start to eat genetic engineer food what do you think you wil

[AndyTiedye]

9. I Lost that much Moving from the East Coast to California

...into prime mountain-biking country:-)
...and dancing all night under the stars country:bounce::-):party::-):bounce::-):party::-)

[Barkley]

11. I guess we can expect someone to sue the US gov't for making them fat

I think this is tied to economics.

Thinness in the US is a normal good, which means that people purchase more of it as their income rises.

Leisure time, the time needed to exercise to acquire thinness is also a normal good.

These are part of the reason poorer people tend to be fatter in America.

[Laughing Mirror]

28. Fattening them up for the slaughter, the American way

Bread and circuses, grist for the mills, cannon fodder. Somebody's got to pay for this American dream for a few at the top, and junk-fed poor people are currently the most expendable.

[NickB79]

14. But, but, its genetic!

There is no proof whatsoever that my diet of 3 Whoppers, an apple pie and two boxes of Krispy Kremes a day has anything whatsoever to do with my needing a mirror to see my feet, and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise! I was just born this way, a bouncing 22-lb baby boy with two chins and a silver ladle in his mouth.

[really annoyed]

17. You Really Don't Get It

x(

Please explain to me anybody you have met who would eat that much and say it's "genetic." I'm sorry, that is completely silly.

But be a fat-phobe if you must.

[VegasWolf]

21. Don't worry, some of us got it.n/t

[eridani]

15. What is this 'ten pounds' shit, anyway?

That is, the 10 pounds of weight people lose when living in Europe. Ten pounds is not the difference between normal weight and obesity.

[TahitiNut]

38. The difference between losing 10 and gaining 10 is 20 pounds.

Twenty pounds on a 5'4" frame can indeed be the difference between high normal and obese.

[eridani]

50. For a pretty small number of people

That amount of poundage will flat out not make most people of normal weight obese. And there is no functional difference whatsoever between 320 and 300 lb. For that matter, 220 is still obese.

[eridani]

51. Another difference between Europe and the US

We get less sleep.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041206210355.htm

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found that partial sleep deprivation alters the circulating levels of the hormones that regulate hunger, causing an increase in appetite and a preference for calorie-dense, high-carbohydrate foods. The study, published in the 7 Dec. 2004 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, provides a mechanism linking sleep loss to the epidemic of obesity.

In the last 40 years, American adults have cut their average sleep time by nearly two hours. In 1960, U.S. adults slept an average of 8.5 hours a night. By 2002, that had fallen to less than seven hours a night. Over the same period, the proportion of young adults sleeping less than seven hours increased from 15.6 percent to 37.1 percent. Now, only 23.5 percent, or less than one out of four young adults, sleeps at least eight hours a night.

[IronLionZion]

16. our food is way worse than anyone's

yes, several people have said it's the car culture and that's a valid point...but what about city people? There are some really fat people in Philly, NYC, and Chicago who don't use cars.

American food is full of artificial stuff. They process it to death and put hormones in our meat and genetically engineer our vegetables. It's so convenient to grab some pre-packaged food instead of cooking something from scratch right?


psst...it's not carbs, alcohol, or portion size since people in Southern Europe and Latin America drink and eat way more than we do and they love pasta, rice, and bread. If it's meat, then why do ze Germans, Polish, and Irish eat so much and are still fitter than us?

I'm tellin you, it's the crap they put in our food. It's killing us. The guy in Supersize Me didn't almost die from too much fat; he almost died from pickling his god damn liver with chemical poison!

put that in your mouth and chew on it.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

18. I don't know about Latin America being thin

I know Mexico has as many obese people as us, maybe more. The other countries I'm not so sure about.

[IronLionZion]

19. go more South

to like South America and stuff. They're leaner than us.

I bet Canada and Mexico have been tainted by our food.

[daleo]

20. There is less obesity in Canada than the U.S.

The percentage of obese people is about half, as far as I recall. But the trend is upward here too, for similar reasons - too much food and too little exercise. I won't own a car for this very reason. A nice long walk to and from work is also good for the mental health - a sort of hour of Zen every day.

[Kellanved]

25. I think you're right

However in meat consumption per capita, the US(141 kg) is far, far ahead of Germany (82.5 Kg), Poland (73.3 Kg) and the Irish (93.5 Kg).


http://apps.fao.org/

[IronLionZion]

32. OK

I totally just made that up since when I've been to those countries they ate more meat than I do. I'm by no means a typical american.

[DavidFL]

27. I agree...but I think it's a combination of both...

the additives in processed foods and sedintary lifestyles. I think as you said, some of it is the ready availability of "convenience" foods. I talked some time ago with a man who moved here from Trinidad and he commented how much weight he had put on since coming to the U.S. He blamed it on all the processed foods we have here and said in Trinidad, they don't have as much of it there, so it's not a staple in their diet like it has become here. And it's so true when you really read package labels and lists of ingredients; you realize how much sodium and preservatives and other things are put in many foods and drinks.

I'm also laughing about the two posters who mentioned people driving around an hour looking for a close parking spot; I never understood that myself. I especially love when people get in arguments over close spots. :eyes: But I don't completely blame everyone for having a sedintary lifestyle. Granted, I have some friends who have the time and they go join athletic clubs, or buy home gym equipment, but give up for any number of lame reasons. But some people have so many things to do -- between work, children, etc. -- I can understand that the last thing they'd want to do at the end of the day is spend an hour exercising. I'm troubled sometimes when I hear some people feel that the answer to stress is to work more, or when people are forced to work harder and longer hours, or skip vacations, for fear of losing their jobs. I think if we had less work time and more leisure time -- in other words, a culture that valued the importance of leisure time as much as work -- some of us would probably have the time to cook better and have the energy to do things like start and stick with an exercise program.

[Chico Man]

46. The main course should be vegetable

The meat should be a "treat".

Unfortunately, in the US, since the meat supposedly "tastes better", it becomes 3/4 of the meal (sometimes 100% of the meal), and the vegetables are fried to shit in fat so they will "taste better".

Americans need to learn that the taste of steamed broccoli, unsalted and unbuttered, is FAR BETTER than the taste of a Big Mac.

[hughee99]

47. How does someone learn

that the "taste of steamed broccoli, unsalted and unbuttered, is FAR BETTER than the taste of a Big Mac."? Isn't the taste of something a matter of personal preference? Americans need to learn that the health value of steamed broccoli, unsalted and unbuttered, is FAR BETTER than that of a Big Mac. They need to be willing to sacrifice the taste of some things in order to help their overall health.

[Chico Man]

49. Define taste...

To me, steamed broccoli tastes better because I know it is good for me. That actually makes it taste great.

The taste of a big mac will make me puke, personally, because my body treats it as a poison.

[Dora]

34. Hallelujah! Amen! eom

[VegasWolf]

22. Moving to the US can also dangerously lower your IQ too. n/t

[0007]

31. Folks in the U.S. wear a smaller hat size! Size 3 is the most common

Here on DU I'd say the average is 7 1/8 -

[TahitiNut]

39. Since mine is 7 7/8 ...

... everyone else is a pin head. :silly:

[VegasWolf]

40. mine is a 9 incher. have large feet too.

[0007]

45. I'm not talking about rodneys. Hat size man, hat size!!

[rooboy]

23. I'd heard the rest of the world was busting a gut to get in to the US. n/t

[Cori Cycle]

24. The Problem is that

1) Over blown sense of what constitute a serving of food
2) People mostly eat high energy density foods
3) People don't know how much kcal they are consuming in a day

Japanese in rural area is heavily depended on car. It's a lot like living in L.A. (no traffic jams though).

[u4ic]

42. Driving to the gym

isn't that hilarious?

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[R Hickey]

26. Like others here have said, we don't walk anywhere anymore.

Europeans get their exercise by walking to and from public transportation. Those people walk several blocks everyday.

Over the past twenty years, I've taken vacations to various European cities and seen the identical situation everytime.

Here in Northern Wisconsin, I make a special effort to walk as much as I can. Its hard to take walks in the winter, but usually possible. I drive two miles to my private walking path, (an abandoned railroad, beside a river) and walk about two miles, then I get in my car and drive home again.

I do it to keep my heart healthy, I have no weight problem.

I also mix up a monthy batch of healthy powdered ingredients for a couple of daily glasses of a healthy drink of "good foods."

The healthy powdered ingredients to my "good foods" drink include soy protein, lethisin, fructose, egg white powder, rice flower, and coral calcium. I mix a couple of heaping tea spoons of this into a glass of skim milk, flavored with a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast, and it seems to counteract the worthless junk food I eat the rest of the time.

[area51]

29. Damage health

Moving to the U.S. can damage your health, since w/o universal healthcare, getting treated for medical problems is extremely expensive here.

[Paleocon]

30. Another good reason to tighten up immigration....

It's a shame we are hurting these poor helpless immigrants!

[VegasWolf]

36. Jay Leno say's it's a problem because they can't sneak back thru

the hole in the fence to see their family because they
are just too fat.

[parkenyc]

43. Poor quality food.

High calorie, low nutrition.

[llmart]

44. After reading all the posts on this thread so far......

I have to say that I'm sure every suggestion is somewhat correct, but the most valid one as I see it is the post that said "we are a culture of excess" pure and simple. We are brainwashed to believe that more is better in anything and everything. We are never satisfied with what we have because what we have/eat is usually mediocre at best so we keep eating or wanting more and more to try to find satisfaction, but we never will. It's why the French are thin but eat amazingly wonderful meals.

We have so much of everything in this country that we wouldn't recognize satisfaction if it hit us in the face. We brag amount how much we have here and flaunt it instead of looking deeper and understanding that quality of life is not related to more of everything.

I know personally if I make a delicious meal from scratch and plan for it throughout the day by eating very small meals I thoroughly enjoy that dinner without going overboard. I eat slowly and savor the meal whereas if I eat cheap, processed, ready-to-eat meals during the day my enjoyment of any of it is next to nothing.

[dhinojosa]

48. AFTER READING THIS ARTICLE.....

I put myself to the test....since I am a fatass. I just decided that I would go to the local grocery store and get some food for tonight. I walked and goddamn that was tough! No gym fees required!

1) Wearing a heavy coat, makes the walk tough
2) Getting a basket (not a cart) and carrying around food is tough. Who knew a six pack of beer weighed so much.
3) I had to get stopped by the local news channel cause they wanted some questions answered (I'll be on TV!)
4) Walking back....super tough.

I have to agree with this article now. WOW! I am going to do this all the time! Thanks Europe!

[T_i_B]

52. WOW! Brilliant post!

Who needs to pay £80 a year to join a gym, and drive there in a Range Rover to walk on a treadmill when you can walk or jog there and back for free and get a bit of a view other then other sweaty people in a Gym!

Love your post dhinojosa. :yourock: