Why is there such an obesity epidemic in this country?

[Bricealan]

Too much of the wrong food types and no enough exercise, I know. What I want to understand is WHY" do so many people accept that as the way to live?

Updates

+1 y

Thanks, you folks that replied.

[dynamicyandere]

As someone said before, unhealthy food is convenient.


Look at pizza prices, soda prices, bags of chips, candy, etc.


It’s easy, it’s cheap, it’s ready-to-eat.


Meanwhile, if you want to go to a restaurant that serves organic vegetables and grass-fed meat, that’s going to cost you DOUBLE what ordering a pizza at Little Caesar’s would.


If you want to save money and prepare food yourself, that’s going to take time to look for your food at affordable prices, and then preparing that food yourself.


So, it’s either going to cost more money or more time to eat healthy.


It’s less convenient.


Health needs to be a really high priority in your life if you’re going to go out of your way to buy and/or prepare healthy food.


Most people take the easy road, do what’s convenient, and make short-sighted decisions.

[Bricealan]

@dynamicyandere Thanks "dynamic" I always thought that was the best explanation, but so hard for me to get my head around.

[dynamicyandere]

You’re welcome! You can call me Dan. 🙂

And yeah, even though this explanation makes sense, it’s still a bit mind boggling that so many people don’t prioritize their health more.

When something really matters to someone, they find a way, they become resourceful.

But, I suppose like all addicts, food addicts will be resourceful when it comes to getting their next fix.

But if they prioritized health more than their cravings, they’d find a way to live a healthier lifestyle.

[Bricealan]

My MD told me that if most people would follow my "lead' in lifestyle and eating habits, our healthcare cost would plummet by a THIRD

[dynamicyandere]

I would not be surprised if that was the case. SO many health issues stem from simply poor day-to-day habits. A healthy diet alone, followed consistently, can prevent so many of the health problems we see today.

[Bricealan]

P. S. Thanks for the pleasure of calling you by first name. My name is Bruce. When I became a member and made the typo of 'Bricealan" and it SB BruceAlan

[dynamicyandere]

You’re welcome! Nice to meet you, Bruce. 🙂

[WindAtMyBack]

There are a lot of things involved.

Being a rich nation with cheap and widely available food
Being a rich nation where people have the money to eat out all the time
An ongoing shift away from labor intensive occupations toward more sedentary occupations
Price competition (which results in MUCH larger potions than in the past)
Feminism
Increases in population, and mass production and distribution of food.
Television, Internet, Video games

Probably genetics plays a roll. Cultural background probably plays a roll. There is a correlation between obese populations in the US and countries of their ancestry.

[Emiliamazing]

too much focus on the enjoyment of life and not enough focus on proper nutrition and exercise. Taking the easy road when providing snacks and meals for your family plays into it as well. If your kids grow up thinking chips and candy, and other processed food is what they should snack on, it will carry into adulthood.

people have forgotten how to get outside or get into an exercise routine.

[Anonymous]

1. Consuming food to excess

2. Eating too much fast food.

3. Consuming buckets of soft drinks like coca cola.

4. Consuming too much sugar.

5. Eating processed meat

6. Not consuming enough healthy foods, fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken,.

7. Not getting enough exercise

8. Denial of the problem (#fatacceptance #healthyatanysize #fatgenetics).

[Opinion Owner]

This is just what I observed living in America. Even kids cereal is loaded with sugar. Breakfast is covered in maple syrup or honey. Twinkies are a snack snack and frankly they are gross. I mean pancakes dripped in syrup in the morning at 8am, donuts at 10am, a 12 inch grilled cheese bacon sandwich for lunch washed down with coca cola, more donuts at work at 3pm, fast food or TV dinner for dinner, something sweet for supper and the constant consumption of sugary snacks all through the day. Its no wonder obesity is such a problem. You only need to eat maybe twice per day healthy meals as an adult espicially if you live a sedentary life.

[Bricealan]

@Irishgirl02 I completely understand WHAT the problem is with food, BUT do not understand WHY PEOPLE MAKE THAT CHOICE! I would rather be dead than weight 175Lbs at my height 5'8"
Having low back problems, and my MD said "you are away ahead of the game, with your weight and conditioning. If your peers were in your shape, our HEALTH CARE cost would drop in half"
I cannot make those awful choices. You should SEE the terrible foods I have been given over Christmas, If I ate them all the time I would be in a cardiac ward!
Thank you for your interest in replying to my inquiry.

[NamerOfStars]

Decades of low-level fearmongering. Do you know how many health problems being fat can cause? Three. Now, it's a risk factor for HUNDREDS, and an aggravating factor for thousands, but neither of those are CAUSES. But since it's something most people have a high level of control over, the medical industry decided to tell a Platonic "noble lie"- which was found out very quickly.

The American people do NOT take well to being lied to, unless they themselves also got caught up and parroted the lie themselves (as we saw in quite a few elections this year). Add in the Weberian nature of our culture's work ethic, and it's not to understand why a wolf-crier gets ignored, even when telling the truth.

[jshm2]

The shit you call "food" in the USA rarely is such

https://foodbabe.com/food-in-america-compared-to-the-u-k-why-is-it-so-different/

What you think is "freedom of choice" does not equate to choice of freedom. Rather you've got a very limited/no choice, and are fooled into thinking it's the right choice.

[DryGermanGuy]

That’s the result of freedom loving Americans making informed decisions.🙄
Pretty much as in many other aspect of American society (teenage pregnancy, STD numbers, opioid crisis…).

[Bricealan]

It is truly sad to see.

[LazerBean]

Because that is what's most convenient.