34% of Americans are obese, 32% are overweight - 72 MILLION are obese

[ddeclue]

On the Cafferty File on CNN from the Dept of HHS.

[ecstatic]

1. LOL @ Wolf's response to the question of what does it mean

Something along the lines of "It means that people are eating too much and not exercising."

[Beaverhausen]

2. high fructose corn syrup is one reason

super-sizing is another.

[ecstatic]

5. I think food ingredients are playing a huge role. Has anyone noticed a difference in newborn babies

lately? My sister just had a boy. Within an hour of being born, he was staring all of us down in the hospital room and he even smiled. All the older people in the room said babies used to take a lot longer to become engaged that way. I think humans are changing.

[Lorien]

14. It's true, in the book "eat this, not that" the author states that

in 43 different garden crops 6 out of 13 nutrients showed major declines between 1950 and 1999, the average piece of chicken has 266 percent more fat and 2/3 less protein than it did in 1971, and we now consume 450 calories a day from beverages-twice as many as 30 years ago. Plus, high fructose corn syrup is in everything from bread to pasta sauce (due to it's subsidizing by our government). Making a quicker buck, big Ag, and slick marketing are all helping to make waistlines grow. Less nutrients in food means that you need to eat more to feel satisfied. And the excessive toxic wastes permitted in foods by our Monsanto guided FDA gums up or digestive systems to make us sicker at a younger age (google "master cleanse), which of course benefits big pharma. Once again we're working against nature for the benefit of our largest corporations, their stockholders and their CEOs.

[pipi_k]

16. Uh, oh!!!!.

If he was staring you all down within an hour of birth, did he jump up after two hours and threaten to kick everyone's ass?


:scared:

[ecstatic]

19. not yet but he is about to be a week old and is already pushing up

with his legs. :shrug:

[Skittles]

38. I did that

yes INDEED

[TheDoorbellRang]

18. Remember they used to dope moms up quite a bit during the birthing process

Not so much anymore. I didn't have any drugs with either of my kids (25-30 years ago) and they were both alert right away.

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. Video or it never happened

It's physiologically impossible.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

45. Google "Indigo Children"

[Hubert Flottz]

48. Jethro was born with a full set of teeth they say...

I think most kids eat like Jethro now days. Nonstop.

[DesertFlower]

7. i agree.

have you seen the size of bagels? i cut them in half.

[DJ13]

12. I agree, HFCS is likely to blame

The rise of obesity coincides with the increased use of HFCS in place of sugar in foods and drinks.

That stuff should be banned, its not needed when sugar could be used in its place.

[Hannah Bell]

46. not in japan, not in europe. the trend is the same in every developed

country, but not every developed country uses hfcs to the extent the us does.

it's more food, less exercise, & the epigenetic changes induced by same.

[AZBlue]

37. So are growth hormones.

If you can't grow up anymore, where do you grow? Out.
And have you noticed the size of kids lately? They're huge. And I don't mean just fat - they're really tall too.

[tsuki]

40. Have you been watching the HFCS commercials?

I :puke: every time I see one.

[Arugula Latte]

3. Holy crap.

That's just stunning. No words. :wow:

[leftstreet]

4. CNN is really doubling down on the weight issues

Oprah, Larry King, 'news' stories.

Is our new Surgeon General Gupta about to sell us some BigPharma weight loss products?

[Arugula Latte]

6. I look forward to Pfizer's "Wormex" -- a live tapeworm in a capsule

[leftstreet]

8. ...

:spray:

[Beacool]

28. Oprah can cry me a river!!!

She has more money than Midas, a personal trainer and a personal chef. What the hell is her excuse from going up and down in weight like a yo-yo???

x(

[mrreowwr_kittty]

42. I think it shows that even people with every advantage can struggle with weight

And Oprah was a big woman back in the late 70s when she was doing an early show in Baltimore. IMHO she has been fighting a losing battle against her natural state for all these years, hence the yo-yo-ing.

[Deja Q]

9. Unlike the church's proposed new year's resolution, I have kept mine so far...

My resolution: Exercise and increase frequency.

Their resolution: "To update this billboard once every week." (So far, it's been nearly 1.5 weeks... I suspect another 1.5 weeks will go by before it changes. They're late, but their collection plate is fat too, I suspect.)

[leftofthedial]

10. Who you calling fat!??!??

If I could get up, I'd kick your ass.

[nsd]

11. Probably a number of reasons for the increase.

Besides the ones other have named in this thread (portion size, high fructose corn syrup), I would suggest sleep deprivation as another. Lack of sleep, due to working too hard or stress, affects various physiological functions, including appetite.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

13. I think it's immune system stress.

From chemicals, stressful lives where people are too busy, etc.

Lots of autoimmune diseases mess with your metabolism and therefore, your weight.

Ex: Diabetes, Hashimoto's thyroiditis (the most common form of hypothyroid), inflammation in general.

A lot of people have no immune system left to fight infections and inflammation. Their adrenals are shot.

When a person has adrenal fatigue, they think, "I can't cope anymore. I can't handle it."

[sniffa]

15. We're a country of lazy, fat fucks

Now I'm sure someone will explain how some people are poor so they have to eat junk food and they can't even afford to stand up and stretch their legs

[AlCzervik]

17. former lazy fat fuck checking in.

i was overweight because i ate way more calories then i expended---and that's that.

[sniffa]

20. I actually feel like I'm overweight

but pictures usually prove me wrong.

You look fabulous by the way. :loveya:

[AlCzervik]

21. Thanks and you look great, you don't look like you've put any weight on all.

you may feel that way because you're wearing layers and sweaters and all that.

[treestar]

32. We're not lazy - we work very hard

But the jobs are sedentary and doing them and using the car to get there uses up time to a point where there's none left for exercise.

[Skittles]

39. yet there's always time to watch crap on TV

go figure

[zalinda]

22. And these are many of the reasons

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/13-things-you-never-knew-about-your-weight/article108186.html

Add to this http://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutrition/12817/dont-cut-nutrition-from-your-grocery-budget/ as the more people have to chose between heating and eating, and you have a recipe for a health disaster.

As you get poorer, you realize that fat meat stays in your stomach longer than lean meat, so you eat fat meat. White bread is cheaper than whole wheat bread. And potatoes and pasta are cheaper than lettuce and other green vegetables. Spend $1 for an orange or $1 for 4 boxes of mac and cheese.........a no brainer, mac and cheese wins every time. Being poor means making choices that aren't always good for your health, but keeps the hunger pangs away.

zalinda

[JNelson6563]

26. In addition, many pantries who distribute food

often do not have perishables. I've volunteered at local pantries and it tends to be the less expensive stuff that gets donated, and things that keep longer than a few days or so.

Lot of pasta, cereal, canned stuff, sometimes laundry soap or toilet paper. What we gave out from week to week depended entirely on what people had donated, of course, but it wasn't usually stuff that would be your top preference. Naturally, we were all grateful for anything that came in. I often found myself wishing I had more resources so I could buy this or that for the pantry.

Julie - world's poorest philanthropist

[KittyWampus]

44. Sorry, but a bag of lentils or dried peas or kidney beans cost LESS than a buck

and you get multiple meals from them.

The issue is that Americans have forgotten what real food is and how to cook it.

When I lived hand to mouth, I ate VERY well for cheap.

[Abq_Sarah]

23. We eat too much of the wrong kinds of food

The average American eats over 140lbs of refined sugar alone, not counting the sugar eaten in the form of carbohydrates. Sugar is either used immediately or stored as fat.

[gblady]

30. I agree with....

you that we eat the wrong foods....
I believe that probably 80-90% of what is called food...
is unhealthy for human consumption.

[SoCalDem]

25. If SIXTY-SIX percent of the population is "overweight" at the least and obese at the worst,

then that makes them the "norm"....no?

:evilgrin:

[Beacool]

27. Ewes not fat, ewes fluffy..........

Written on a plaque in an ice cream store in Hyannis, MA. I always loved that plaque, it had fluffy sheep on it. It made me laugh as I ate my ice cream with even more gusto.

:7

[janx]

29. !!!

That's what we like to say about our youngest adopted dog, but the truth is that she needs less food and more exercise. :rofl:

[NeedleCast]

31. What Standard Were They Using?

[Art_from_Ark]

43. Really

Based on the standard they use here in Japan, I am "overweight". Yet when I am in the US, I look like Gilligan.

[Occam Bandage]

33. On edit: Trolling is bad for your health, Occam.

[Avalux]

34. If Americans don't change their eating habits - ALL will be obese in 50 years.

That's where we're headed. Most of our healthcare dollars go towards treatment of diseases that can be prevented through diet and exercise. Just sayin'.

[lonestarnot]

35. A nation on the brink must have eaten itself out of reality.

[NeedleCast]

36. And yet life expectancy continues to rise

huh

[Jennicut]

41. I have type 2 diabetes. The American diet is horrifying and the crap allowed in the food

makes my head spin. I got the diabetes at 29 after I had gestational diabetes with my daughter. It never went away. Considering I was not obese or even overweight and had no history of health problems my doctors were shaking their heads. No good explanations except some are more susceptible to the corn syrup crap then others. We are going to have a nation of not just obese people but people of normal BMI's with health problems.

[Missy Vixen]

47. YAAAAAAY!

We haven't had a fat thread for at least a week!

:popcorn:
Julie