I'm sorry to tell you this, but we Americans have gotten fatter yet again. We are our fattest yet! Not just fat -- OBESE. In every dang state of the union, at least 20 percent of the population is obese. That means at least two out of every 10 people. And that's just in Skinnyland Colorado. Hell, in our "fattest" state, Mississippi, it's nearly 35 percent. You guys. What is going on with us? Why are we getting fatter and fatter?!?
The Centers for Disease Control made us these handy-dandy color-coded maps to show us exactly where the fat be happening (Deep South, lawd have mercy!). And we get to compare maps to see how the fat just growed and growed and growed over the past several years. How in god's name did we win so many Olympic medals with a populace this pudgy? I ask you.
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Now I am all for fat acceptance and loving your body in whatever shape it's in and separating the idea of "weight" from "health." But when you notice a major trend like this, it kind of makes you wonder what the hell is going on.
Every year the CDC shows us these maps and America basically shrugs and says, "So?" and keeps eating their Funyuns and laughing at cats on YouTube. (Not that there's anything wrong with that per se.) Oh wait, no -- a few sanctimonious types say it's because we lack willpower. "If those fat people would just stop eating so dang much and exercise, bla bla bla."
But when you see a long-term trend this, er, BIG, I have to think it's not about willpower. This is about our whole way of life -- all of it, the fast food, the cars, the entertainment, the advertising, the politics. The whole tamale! It's so complex and yet we keep wanting to pull out one tiny thread to fix everything. But until we start looking at the whole system, we're just going to stay on the obesity escalator.
Why do you think Americans continue to gain weight every year?
Image via Centers for Disease Control
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Comments 16
The majority of obese people should NOT love their bodies, mainly due to the fact that in the long run, it will NOT love you back.
Well lets see, people aren't working, everything costs more and pay is staying the same (for those who still have jobs), people are generally more stressed (probably due to lack of funds!), fast (fat) food is twice as easy to procure as buying ingredients and actually cooking, people are making themselves too busy or they are too lazy to get out and get in healthy exercise. Some of it does have to do with laziness, most of it has to do with stress and people's general lack of knowledge on a healthy lifestyle.
It's an ongoing battle in my house. The cost of a well balanced helthy meal (such as fish fillets, salad, and fresh fruit) is a whole lot more expensive than say, ground beef, buns, chips, and canned fruit. We do not receive any kind of state aide, just live paycheck to paycheck. And when I go to the store with $20 for 2 days and 6 people, fat is affordable. I don't know who to blame but the money goes where it stretches the most. I wish healthy was more affordable. Dairy, beef, and corn are constantly on the rise. And I always need milk, bread, and meat. I can also say that no one in my house is obese though.
My hubby went to Italy a little while a go.. Portion controll is the key! Well that and lack of hormones in food!
I did hear on the news today that do to education about this problem kids obisity in on the decline! It's a start!
Overeating and laziness. I try to take atleast a 20 minute walk five days a week and I llimit my portions. In most cases anyone that did this would not be obese. You may not be skinny, but healthy.
I know why I'm obese and I'll make no excuses for it. I don't exercise enough. I try to buy and eat healthy though. I know my SN suggests that I'm wicked healthy, but I'm not. My SN just means that I like zumba a lot. Other than zumba, I find MOST exercise boring as hell.
Look at the ingredients in that whole wheat bread, high fructose corn syrup! It is in everything, even things that don't need sugar. I've changed a number of brands in my household to avoid it and lost weight just by making those simple changes.
I agree that some portion of it is willpower, and some portion of it is lack of education. But I feel like even those of us who are trying to educate ourselves about what we are eating often meet roadblocks when we try to research food. It should be simple - were extra hormones used, are there GMO ingredients and are there pesticides? I really don't get why it is sometimes so difficult to obtain such simple information. While research on pesticides has been going on for a while, the rest of it is too new to really know how our bodies are affected. Hormonal imbalance from food and other environmental factors could be playing a much bigger role than anyone gives it credit for. I don't know that for sure, but it's a theory.
Sometimes I feel like it is impossible to know what you are eating if you didn't grow/raise it yourself, and realistically, how many of us are in a position to do that?