Might be hard to believe glancing at the herds of lardos on a daily basis, but the obesity epidemic in America is actually a pretty recent thing, only dating back to the 1980s when obesity in America skyrocketed.

The specific thing which triggered this I'm not entirely certain, as fast food chains like McDonald's had been around for quite awhile before. My theory is that the mainstreaming of mass entertainment like cable television, and later home video game consoles and the internet led to it by giving people more excuses to pursue recreation while remaining inactive.

Regardless of all of the "fat apologetics" out there, the primary culprits are lack of exercise, and eating lots of processed food (which is high in calories but doesn't keep you full for very long, and is fairly cheap to buy). And there's nothing remotely "natural" or "normal" about obesity - for the majority of human history only the well off could afford to be overweight, while now it's the poor who are obese in droves.

(Militant fatties of course like to claim they are somehow "real women" out of spite, but historically this has never been the case, in fact in older eras women who were slightly plump were desired as a 'rare breed' because plumpness was a luxury only attainable by the well-born - skinny has has been the norm for 1000s of years, something which is only recently being undone due to societal laziness and apathy)

Anyone have any ideas as to how the solve the problem? I can't think of many short of govt intervention (which I'm not in favor of).

I'm saddened by how in just a few short decades Americans of all ages have succumbed to this, and how my eyes often get sore just from taking a leisurely stroll through the local Walmart.

This is way too big a topic. In my view it's three fold.

First, the US government needs to stop subsidizing corn. Right now farmers get paid by the government to grow corn, regardless of its market value. Corn can be used to make anything - bread, soda, beer, pop-tarts, Doritos, chalupas, you name it. The benefit to the populous is it makes food very cheap for both people and livestock. While in the past steak was considered a treat, now you can eat $5 baconators at 4am every single night of the week. This is due to corn subsidies.

There's a benefit, of course. Food is currently very cheap, so no one starves. That's a good thing. But the food being produced is also really bad for you. Soda, pop-tarts, potato chips, muffins, fast food, etc. Everything is available at every gas station in the country. You can't even walk into a Wal-Mart without being offered some form of corn based food, because shopping for XXXL clothes is physical exertion.

In addition, the surplus of corn leads to mass farming. We stuff pigs, cows, and chickens full of corn to make them fat so that we have enough meat for Slim-Jims, baconators, and Double Whoppers 24/7. We're not just stuffing ourselves, but we're stuffing the animals that we eat with it. Ironically, you know what's hard to get and expensive? Grass fed beef. Salads with organic produce. Chicken that doesn't come in the nugget form. Fresh caught fish. You know, real actual food that our ancestors evolved on?

Second, there is an issue with saturated fat at the policy level. Saturated fat is actually really good for human consumption, but the government has condemned it based on junk science. We're told that low fat muffin is better for you than a healthy piece of grass fed organic bacon. Horse shit. The war on saturated fat has done more to increase obesity than just about anything. We then manufacture more corn, which is low fat, to produce "healthy" foods like Snackwell cookies and low fat breaded chicken nuggets.

Third, then it comes to exercise. We're told that we should run and do cardio like 15 hours a day, when in reality, heavy weight lifting for men and walking solves most problems. Plus sunshine and regular sex. Men need to develop testosterone, not put on tutus and do aerobics. We should lift heavy weights, get sunshine, and bang women. MMA, crossfit, exercise that involves a level of competition.

The US needs to reevaluate its need for consumption, its views on saturate fat, and masculinity, basically.

Two simple steps.

1: Have all fast food outlets open and serve free food to whoever comes. No ££/$$, no limits, anything you want.




2: That day is also the day of The Purge. All crime is legal.


Nature vs Nurture.

I don't think it has much to do with a lack of exercise. Kids are definitely less active but that isn't the root cause. Anyone interested in fitness knows you can't outrun a bad diet. Cheap mass processed shitty food loaded with sugar is simply easier and less effort to find, prepare, and shovel in your mouth than home cooked natural organic food. And that's not to say I'm some organic food snob.

I do think there is some correlation to income (correlated, not caused) as poorer people seem to be particularly apt to eat poorly. And this forum is more aware than most that with the dramatic rise in two-parent-working or single-parent households, there is little time for a home cooked meal.

I think the obesity epidemic could be solved by increasing the cost so they bear the burden. Heart attack with an obesity risk factor? Surcharge. Hip or knee replacement? Surcharge. Gastric bypass surgery? Mega surcharge. Instead the cost of dealing with obesity has been socialized in the UK and will be completely in the US within 10 years.

Gyms become government regulated like libraries. I'm not saying - ALL gyms, but now there can be an option for those who can't afford it.

Quote: (04-17-2016 11:44 AM)kmhour Wrote:  

I don't think it has much to do with a lack of exercise. Kids are definitely less active but that isn't the root cause. Anyone interested in fitness knows you can't outrun a bad diet. Cheap mass processed shitty food loaded with sugar is simply easier and less effort to find, prepare, and shovel in your mouth than home cooked natural organic food. And that's not to say I'm some organic food snob.

I do think there is some correlation to income (correlated, not caused) as poorer people seem to be particularly apt to eat poorly. And this forum is more aware than most that with the dramatic rise in two-parent-working or single-parent households, there is little time for a home cooked meal.

I think the obesity epidemic could be solved by increasing the cost so they bear the burden. Heart attack with an obesity risk factor? Surcharge. Hip or knee replacement? Surcharge. Gastric bypass surgery? Mega surcharge. Instead the cost of dealing with obesity has been socialized in the UK and will be completely in the US within 10 years.

Sounds like an interesting idea.

Maybe just taxing the shit out of fast food and processed food like we do cigarettes would help with it, I honestly wouldn't feel to bad about that considering how much it racks up in healthcare costs anyway.

If a 12 oz soda costs as much as a 2 packs of Marlboro Reds then maybe people would think twice about buying it.

Definitely think we should also cut junk food purchases with EBT and welfare benefits.

Quote: (04-17-2016 11:34 AM)HankMoody Wrote:  

Second, there is an issue with saturated fat at the policy level. Saturated fat is actually really good for human consumption, but the government has condemned it based on junk science. We're told that low fat muffin is better for you than a healthy piece of grass fed organic bacon. Horse shit. The war on saturated fat has done more to increase obesity than just about anything. We then manufacture more corn, which is low fat, to produce "healthy" foods like Snackwell cookies and low fat breaded chicken nuggets.

I'm in agreement with your principles. But don't most people need more of the Unsaturated fats?

It's the Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats that are most healthy, but only found in certain fresh foods.

T-Nation explains that maybe saturated fats are not so bad, but for Obese America, they need a major overhaul of diet increasing the unsaturated fats and reducing the saturated varieties.

I'm thinking it's only people further advanced in their diet that can pinpoint their exact needs.

I know for me, Barleans Organic Cold Pressed Flax Seed Oil is the magic elixir of life.

This is a community that is generally against higher taxes and government regulation. I'm surprised at some of the responses suggesting it's the government's problem to correct. Most people will indulge in their vices, over eating included. We all have personsal respondibility in live and are responsible for our actions. Most Americans live a life devoid of physical activity and passion. Obesity is one of the by products which is deserved.

The obesity epidemic can be easily eliminated with one simple step.

Everyone eats a low glycemic load diet.

That's it.

No government intervention, no need for mass gym memberships or physical activity programs, or any other intricate scheme.

The reason obesity took off in the 80s was the massive disinformation campaign on fat and cholesterol which followed the results of the lipid hypothesis. As people were turned away from high fat content foods, high carbohydrate foods were encouraged to make up the caloric deficit.

Industrial agriculture companies benefited, as well as food product companies. Carbohydrate-laden meals are cheap to produce, have high shelf life, and high profit margins. Pharmaceutical companies benefited by the explosion of chronic diseases that resulted, requiring lifelong pharmaceutical intervention to treat.

The only people who lost out were the hundreds of millions of people who suffered, but their political influence is minimal. The FDA largely turned a blind eye, as executives could retire from federal service and go work for Monsanto or Nestle at 10x their former salary as long as they kept their mouth shut.

An annual ROK fat shaming week could be a good start.

Fat people need to be held accountable for the lazy, slobbish lifestyles they choose to lead.

Here's an example:

There should be BMI requirements if you want any sort of subsidized healthcare. I chose not to get health insurance for 2015 because the healthcare options for obamacare insurance are absolute shit where I live. The only providers who accept the plans are the ones who get 1 1/2 - 2 stars on practitioner review websites. As a result I got hit with a fee equaling 2% of my income while filing my taxes this year. My 'individual shared responsibility' obligation.

I guess that is what I get for being a young, healthy guy who lifts weights, runs sprints and sticks to a whole food, vegetable and protein heavy diet; the privilege of subsidizing the healthcare costs of fat lazy fucks who sit around watching TV and playing video games while going hog-wild on processed microwaveable foods and soda.

Sure, my fault for allowing myself to be uninformed with regards to this 'individual shared responsibility.' The point stands.

And food stamps, are there any restrictions as to what foods these hippopotamuses can get? Nope. I have to send part of my paycheck towards the frozen chimichangas and jimmy dean breakfast bowls that these welfare leeches gorge themselves on.

Quote: (04-17-2016 12:10 PM)Dantes Wrote:  

This is a community that is generally against higher taxes and government regulation. I'm surprised at some of the responses suggesting it's the government's problem to correct. Most people will indulge in their vices, over eating included. We all have personsal respondibility in live and are responsible for our actions. Most Americans live a life devoid of physical activity and passion. Obesity is one of the by products which is deserved.

Seeing as how a lot of these guys are arguing that government subsidies caused a lot of the problem, then the government leaving well enough alone would probably correct it in some degree.

[quote] (04-17-2016 11:48 AM)EDantes Wrote:  

[quote='kmhour' pid='1279280' dateline='1460911492']

If a 12 oz soda costs as much as a 2 packs of Marlboro Reds then maybe people would think twice about buying it.[/quote]


This is such ridiculous horse shit. People are obese, fat people are lazy, and scoff at personal responsibility. So, because you do not want to fix the person, you tax the substance they are abusing. What this does is piss real men like me off. I want to drink a huge soda every once in a while. Sometimes I will eat Ben and Jerry’s for dinner. I have this right, because I am an individual. The moment you start to fuck with my food, because someone else is fat, is the moment I start fucking with your livelihood.

I refuse to pay more for something I want because you think some other people will benefit from the lack of it. You are actively calling in the government to get concerned with my personal eating, and you want to punish everybody because some of the people cannot control themselves.

You are actively promoting more regulation in my everyday life. You are advocating a restriction of civil liberties, SHAME ON YOU.

The only way to end it is to change the culture.

Its not just about food and whats available - good healthy whole food is available, and the industry would be forced to change if people changed what they consumed.

Our culture actively promotes obesity. We applaud women who are overweight and tell them to "own it." Body positive and fat acceptance and all that bullshit.

Our culture promotes "foodies" and dining out on quirky and creative garbage.

Our culture promotes doing "fun and exciting" shit like going to bars everynight and slamming down booze and craft beer.

We don't feed our kids well because we give them whatever they ask for instead of forcing them to eat what we want them to. This is due to spineless parenting and "special snowflake" coddling.

People think being fat is okay and healthy when it's not. They'd rather listen to a bullshit feel-good meme on FB than a doctor.

If fat shaming were to become acceptable in place of fat acceptance, people would start to slim down. It's that simple.

The reason lard-asses are content to keep being lard-asses is because they look in the mirror at their bloated bellies and feel no discernible pressure to change it. Their culture hasn't sufficiently beaten into them that "this is disgusting, the way I look is unacceptable" and so they don't FEEL that.

The means to eat well and exercise are easily available. People just don't feel the need to do it because "REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES" or whatever the fuck else they're being told to feel good about any and all life choices they make.

Quote: (04-17-2016 12:31 PM)General Stalin Wrote:  

The only way to end it is to change the culture.

Its not just about food and whats available - good healthy whole food is available, and the industry would be forced to change if people changed what they consumed.

Our culture actively promotes obesity. We applaud women who are overweight and tell them to "own it." Body positive and fat acceptance and all that bullshit.

Our culture promotes "foodies" and dining out on quirky and creative garbage.

Our culture promotes doing "fun and exciting" shit like going to bars everynight and slamming down booze and craft beer.

We don't feed our kids well because we give them whatever they ask for instead of forcing them to eat what we want them to. This is due to spineless parenting and "special snowflake" coddling.

People think being fat is okay and healthy when it's not. They'd rather listen to a bullshit feel-good meme on FB than a doctor.

Quote: (04-17-2016 12:24 PM)Hades Wrote:  

Quote: (04-17-2016 12:10 PM)Dantes Wrote:  

This is a community that is generally against higher taxes and government regulation. I'm surprised at some of the responses suggesting it's the government's problem to correct. Most people will indulge in their vices, over eating included. We all have personsal respondibility in live and are responsible for our actions. Most Americans live a life devoid of physical activity and passion. Obesity is one of the by products which is deserved.

Seeing as how a lot of these guys are arguing that government subsidies caused a lot of the problem, then the government leaving well enough alone would probably correct it in some degree.

Agreed. Well enough alone is fine.

I don't like the idea of higher taxes and more government restrictions to control the behavior of people. Like I said, personal responsibility...

As for overweight women, they should be nonexistent sexually to every man. In living a sexless life, they would think twice about their next Dunkin Donuts stop.

I get absolutely livid when anybody argues there should be more government involement especially in regards to food! One of the posters mentioned that the government started it, so they can fix it. Why would you want to double down and give the cause of the problem more responsibility? They have already failed!

Note in Thailand it's cheaper to eat street food than to cook. Street food is cheap and healthy and won't make you fat. Ingredients are fresh and consist of noodles, vegetables, chicken and pork. Try to buy Thai food in UK and it's £7+ for a dish. Frozen pizza is £1.50-2

How do you make cooked healthy food cheaper and more effortless than preprocessed high calorie frozen food? This is a key plank in attacking obesity which Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Philippines have already won.

Next offensive move, get millionaires to bankroll think tanks to attack corporate food lobbyists and steamroll fast food and unhealthy food providers. Win the propaganda war

Quote: (04-17-2016 12:37 PM)iamdegaussed Wrote:  

If fat shaming were to become acceptable in place of fat acceptance, people would start to slim down. It's that simple.

The reason lard-asses are content to keep being lard-asses is because they look in the mirror at their bloated bellies and feel no discernible pressure to change it. Their culture hasn't sufficiently beaten into them that "this is disgusting, the way I look is unacceptable" and so they don't FEEL that.

The means to eat well and exercise are easily available. People just don't feel the need to do it because "REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES" or whatever the fuck else they're being told to feel good about any and all life choices they make.

I agree with the last two paragraphs, but disagree that "shaming" is what would put the pressure on people (women in particular) to get in shape. For women, the overweight-ness epidemic is a positive feedback loop. The reason they don't feel pressure to be slim is because nobody else is slim. The more fatties you have, the less pressure women feel to avoid being fat to compete in the dating market, which in turn means more fatties, which then means less pressure, in a never-ending loop. If we could just break this cycle and give things a little nudge in the other direction (which may currently be happening according to some statistics I've seen), the process will reverse itself as women start needing to be in shape to get the men they desire.

By the way, I know it's just semantic, but there's good reason I referred to it as the "overweight-ness" epidemic instead of the obesity epidemic. Among younger women (i.e. the ones potentially worth pursuing), there really aren't that many obese ones, and those tend to be so delusional and fucked in the head that you wouldn't want them even if they were slim. The real epidemic among this demographic is mildly to moderately overweight girls who would be laughed out of Asia for their size, but due to the thirst levels here in the US are treated like goddesses for having a body shape vaguely resembling that of a human being. These girls may even look somewhat attractive if dressed well, but once their shirt comes off, you see their rolls of boner-deflating stomach fat turning their belly button into a horizontal line. This is extremely prevalent; I would say a slight majority of young American women fit this description. By using the term "obesity epidemic," you're implying to these women that there's doing fine because they're not obese. We need to send the message that being a little overweight is also a problem worth addressing; if not for our own benefit in finding attractive girls to fuck, then for the future health of the nation, because what do you think these young, "thick" girls will be like in their 40's when their metabolism has slowed?

I grew up in Los Angeles in an upper middle class family and I believe I had one obese classmate in high school. A few stocky girls, sure, some were kind of chubby, and a few husky guys, but only around three fat ones. I attribute this to the warmer weather and general attitude that if the weather permits it, one should play outside.
When I visited NYC, I noticed how few playgrounds there were and how kids' social currency depended heavily on their "kicks" and music taste. Fitness wasn't really held as a value.
I think it's important to teach kids that their health is their wealth. It's a cliche for a reason. Nothing has gotten me further ahead, at least after high school, than my build, brain and knowledge I've acquired. It should be taught from the first day of Kindergarden, when kids are still sponge like, that nothing will ever beat out health in terms of values. You can't really shame fat people because most are grossly unfamiliar with the ramifications of what they are doing to their bodies, just as the kid who drinks orange juice, soda and coke because his shitty mom gives it to him is blameless.

Obesity is view in medicine as multifactorial problem,there are numerous factors that can lead to person gaining weight. For some people its just one cause, but majority its one or more cause together that will make a person a tub of lard. As Hank said, its broad subject to talk about. I'm just going to give my opinion from my experience in the medical field couple of factors that make someone a fat lard.

1.) Diet: As Hank Mention earlier:

Quote: (04-17-2016 11:34 AM)HankMoody Wrote:  

Second, there is an issue with saturated fat at the policy level. Saturated fat is actually really good for human consumption, but the government has condemned it based on junk science. We're told that low fat muffin is better for you than a healthy piece of grass fed organic bacon. Horse shit. The war on saturated fat has done more to increase obesity than just about anything. We then manufacture more corn, which is low fat, to produce "healthy" foods like Snackwell cookies and low fat breaded chicken nuggets.

The food pyramid that doctors and nutritional expects have taught patients for the good 20 years is based on bad research. The low fat craze has done more harm than good. It doesn't help that it hard to go against group think in medicine on a popular opinion takes hold. Add in low quality food and problems with lack of micro nutrients from soil depletion, makes it worse. Lets not get into the whole HFCS.

2.) Lifestyle: We have more sedentary and excessive lifestyle since the 1980s to now. As computers, video games, and Internet has made people less active than before. Add in a mix the advent of helicopter parenting, with increase delusion that parents have, that has cause kids to be less active to leave the house and play outside. A meal of meatloaf and mash potatoes is unhealthy if you sit on your ass all day, but okay meal if you decide to chop wood and hit the gym to do the holy trinity (squats, bench press, deadlift)

3.)Culture: The increase of individualism has become toxic that we get overweight slobs that say her body is healthy, while guy in the white coat is pumping enough stains, beta blockers, and Ace inhibitors to keep her from having heart attack at 30. In general young boys and girls have distort view of human body put upon them by the media. On one extreme end is Fat acceptance movement and other end is the 'supermodel' physique. We live in the world of extremes now, as person has images of being overweight/obese or underweight/frail human being as the ideal. If I want a young male you be healthy, I pick a Roosh as good model of physical physique.

I can list more, but I don't have the time. Right now we fight to change the current toxic culture we have and promote a change of diet as thoughtgypsy said:

Quote: (04-17-2016 12:20 PM)thoughtgypsy Wrote:  

The obesity epidemic can be easily eliminated with one simple step.

Everyone eats a low glycemic load diet.

That's it.

Remove the roadblocks to that path and we may seen improvement.

The main culprit is the massive overconsumption of sugar and other high glycemic foods. Period. Do you know how difficult it would be to get morbidly obese without eating sugar? Has anyone ever seen a fat person gorging themselves on chicken breasts and broccoli? Anyone who's ever tried to do a clean bulk while bodybuilding knows how difficult it is to stuff your face with multiple servings of real, healthy food on a daily basis.

The problem is that sugary junk food is really, really tasty and addicting. It's literally scientifically engineered to be that way. A large percentage of people are simply never going to be able to refrain from eating it. It takes tremendous willpower to cut it out entirely and a large degree of willpower to simply avoid it on a regular basis. It's everywhere in society. It's the most socially acceptable and least expensive drug available. The situation cannot be resolved by wishful thinking or telling people to take more responsibility for their health. You would need to have some combination of efforts that would result in: 1) A massive reduction in the quantity of sugar in foods and/or a commensurate reduction in the quantity of these foods being consumed on a per capita basis (a sugar tax or something along those lines), 2) An enormous, sustained media campaign to promote fat shaming and equate obesity with stupidity, sloth, reduced sexual function, and all other manner of negative associations, and 3) The elimination of government and insurance financed treatment for obesity-related diseases and health problems.

Quote: (04-17-2016 11:45 AM)CH-Toronto Wrote:  

Gyms become government regulated like libraries. I'm not saying - ALL gyms, but now there can be an option for those who can't afford it.

Gyms are more available now than ever in human history, yet people are fatter, weaker and more out of shape than ever. Poor people the world over have been doing bodyweight exercise (like chins, dips, etc) and picking up heavy, awkward shit since forever and it gets you strong all the same. Your priorities and what you do for fun are different there's no Netflix to keep you entertained and you might have to fight once in a while to survive.

Public school is free and we have the internet. As a result, most people are loaded up with facts they don't question (or understand) while lacking actual wisdom. The problem isn't that we don't have places to exercise, the problem is that we have too many labor saving appliances (cars are the number one offender), too much processed food that's 19747239292 different iterations of corn, and too much other shit to do with our free time that doesn't involve going outside. Our lives are too easy and the average physique shows this.

We need incentives for people to, at the very least, control their ever expanding waistlines. Most "I can't afford to eat healthy" idiots don't know this, but eating healthy can be done cheaply if you don't weight 300 lbs and you have a garden.

Smokers finance a formidable amount of government spending, why shouldn't fatties (who are more common) also pay a larger share? At the very least, it might make for fewer fat chicks.

Not to mention the hilarious crusade against smoking has turned smokers into social pariahs, which has also in turn made fewer smokers. It's not out of line to say "Smoking is disgusting" but it's out of line to say "Eating six plates of food at a Chinese Buffet is disgusting" or "Not being able to shower properly is disgusting when you show up to work and I have to sit in the same elevator as you. I'm taking the stairs next time."

Given the whole "tolerance for minorities" gambit the social justice warriors like to parade around, the anti smoking brigade is a good example of how they're just illiterate mouthpieces for the propaganda of the times.