First of all, everyone is obsessed with driving everywhere, so right there, no one is bothering walking anywhere anymore - one of the simplest forms of exercise that pretty much is responsible for why so many Europeans can eat what they like because we're constantly walking or biking it off.
Secondly, the *need* to drive everywhere in many US cities makes it almost impossible to be a ped or cyclist. People live in these suburbs away from everything that they really have no choice but to drive to work and the store.
Third, the choice of foods is all about doing something quick. So many Americans are just not cooking anymore, and many more will cook only part of the week, loading their bodies up with garbage because of "busy lifestyles" that are really just excuses for being busy online or staying in bed. I have seen it myself many times in the US, the Americans go to work for no more than a few hours a day and come home and crash out. Europeans work from morning til night taking a long eating break in the middle of the day, plus we love our breakfasts. Having the meals spaced out stops the need to snack. Americans have one big meal at dinner and pig out on chips and chocolate the rest of the time. They'll even have two dinners: one at dinner time and another at night before bed. Then they go to bed with undigested food in their stomachs which take forever to go anywhere because during sleep you can't metabolize.
Fat or old people get scooters (usually because they're fat), but make excuses it's because they can't walk. WTF? So instead of actually getting off the big trike and doing something about it, or even admitting the weight is the problem, the ridiculous excuses of "I can't walk" (yeah, wonder why?) are supposed to also make us feel sorry for the person and not question why they don't just move around and eat better so they don't rely on the scooter.
Stockiness is being tricked as being muscle. Big guys with big bellies, walking around like tough guys with tattoos and bad attitudes talk a big talk about fighting or people better not mess with them, as if they are all muscle and athletic enough to actually fight. This makes people think being big is a strength. It's not. Sure a big guy could probably pound someone's face in, but to actually act like they have a physical advantage the same way an athletic guy does means they are just dreaming, and making one more excuse why the weight isn't in a hurry to come off.
Most Helpful Opinions
1) Terrible unnecesary additives to food
2) Lack of exercise
3) HUGE portions and
4) Lack of control
5) Laziness (easier to go to McDonald's than make a salad at home)
6) Lack of education when it comes to proper nutrition
7) Pop and other sugary drinks in lieu of water
There are several different reasons. The obesity epidemic really got started when the government released the food pyramid and told people to stay away from fat. Food manufactures then took out the fat and added sugar to pretty much everything. They even have over twenty names for sugar so people often don't see sugar in the list of ingredients. This is also about the same time the government started subsidizing the corn industry.
The recommendation of grain also meant people started eating more breads. Few things are as fattening as bread. Yet bread is treated as health food.
There is such a focus on the storage life of produce that are shipped in from all over the world, that often horrible tasting varieties are the only ones that make it to market so people don't want to eat them. Whereas countries that can't afford to ship food in from all over the world eat more locally grown fresh produce, that have far more choice in the varieties, but are limited to seasonal foods. When our produce is already so bad we can barely choke it down, and can't even add salt or fat to add flavor because we were told those things will kill us, then most Americans just stopped eating it.
The dishonest marketing of junk food being sold as health food is also a huge part of the problem. Breakfast cereals made for kids is basically candy, but sold as "part of a balanced breakfast" that is also "low fat", and in many cases even has the American heart association logo on the box.
They also add message to nearly everything. In order to do studies on obesity in rats they first need a fat rat. All researchers do is add message to the rats food, and the rat starts to get fat. message effects human's very similarly. When people stopped buying foods with message companies lobbied the government to let them include message under spices. The term spices can be many different types of spices so we can't tell what has message and what doesn't anymore.
The news also frightens parents, to the point laws are sometimes changed so that kids aren't even allowed to walk home from school. The bus ride can take so long the kid spends almost all day sitting on the bus, in school, or doing homework until dark. Then parents still don't want their kids going out and playing because a stranger might grab the kid. So kids get very little exercise, and turn into unhealthy adults, with unhealthy eating and exercise habits.
I love that so many of these answers are like a) actual sincere answers and b) like wtf cares and such. No one's mad and as an American I love that. It's actually true, what everyone else has said for the most part--healthy food is very expensive here, and the majority of american's a) can't afford it and b) don't have time to because in most families both parents work.
Again, yeah, not everyone here is overweight but our society makes it easy to go down that road and hard to not.
What Girls & Guys Said
Opinion
17Opinion
Healthy food can be expensive and take time to prepare, which can be difficult for American families where both parents have to work and can't spend much time at home. Fast food is a much cheaper, easier and faster solution, so they can end up eating a lot of it.
Because the commercial centres serve them unhealthy food. I once gained 3-4 pounds in 1 day from eating a subway sandwich. Another time I gained 2 -3 pounds in one day from drinking canned soup that contained fructose corn syrup. American food is very unhealthy - completely processed.
The same reason why people in any country get overweight.
1. Poor Diet
2. Lack of exercise
3. Overeating.
4. Eating at the wrong times (Eating just before you go to sleep is bad).
5. An attitude of I just can't be bothered caring about it.
6. An addiction to food.Because our food supply is tainted with all sorts of chemicals and "artificial ingredients" etc. and we drive everywhere and eat huge portions.
Widely accessible fast food. Poor portion control, portions are at least twice what they should be. GMO's and all that bullshit. Almost zero physical activity. Most of the food is processed, it's just disgusting all together.
Probably the overabundance and available of certain foods that aren't as healthy. Like fast food (McDonald's, Wendy's, KFC, Taco Bell, etc). The portion size is also quite large; I always have to ask for a to-go box. Some things are ok in moderation, but maybe if the person has the means, the can go over board.
Non-food related: genetics. Some people have medical issues like thyroid or gland problems or PCOS. It is not their fault, even if they try to maintain a healthy diet and exercise.I can tell you that the island of Nauru has a 95% obesity rate and a 31% diabetes rate. This is owed to how in 1968 following their independence from the United Kingdom they discovered untapped mining resources and began to export. As Nauru has only 10% arable land this resulted on reliance on imports from the west. This led to what the Japanese newspaper Abahi Shimbun called "the worst health disaster in the Pacific Region."
All the gmo and Monsanto bs as well as oversized portions being served at restaurants. message is a problem too because it makes you keep eating.
High fructose corn syrup. That shit is in everything, and it makes you the kind of fat that you can't shed (seriously; they feed it to beef cattle to fatten them; look it up!)
1.) Government subsidies on corn
2.) Fucked up school diets
3.) Overabundance of fucking delicious food options.Because our country is loaded with resources. The excess food would go to waste if we didn't eat it 😛
I'm not. ^_^ Although I do consider myself lucky to live in a country where the majority of its people are overweight, because I love and am only attracted to fat guys. <3 Hehe.
We're told by our society that expressing yourself by being unhealthy and ugly is a good thing.
The same reasons why anyone is fat, bad eating habits.
1) GMOs and Flouridated Water
2) Our diet
3) Lack of ExcerciseWe just can't help it.
Not all of them are. Every country has fat people...
I don't know why is the rest of the world so skinny?
It's not about just eating. Yes they are are eating fast food with big menus. But i think they are not doing sports.
They are always using their cars and dont walk.I think portions are too big in the US
Learn more
We're glad to see you liked this post.
You can also add your opinion below!
Most Helpful Opinions