Americans Are Fat

[Anonymous]

There are about 196 countries in the world and out of that 196, the United States of America is ranked as the 11th most obese country in the world. Eleventh. Let that sink in. When other countries talk about 'the fat American,' there is the tendency to throw up our hands and get all defensive about it, or deny it, but the statistics are there. The BMI rates are there. The mortality rates are...there.

Oh, and before you start thinking, well, at least we're not top ten, many of the frontrunners on the list are frontrunners because Western food companies have set up shop in urban areas throughout the world bringing with them unhealthy food items not previously readily or cheaply available. It's not surprising they aren't setting up your local Whole Foods, but those yellow arches and the Colonel and his chickens.

If you haven't seen one of the many many documentaries and movies made in recent years about the truths about the food industry, know that they literally spend billions of dollars a year to keep you nice and chunky. Like some sort of Syfy movie, they pay food techs a lot of money to engineer...not bake, and slow cook, but engineer food that is hardly natural for you to eat at all. I mean, your bread for example, should not be able to last 3 weeks out of a counter. There is nothing natural about that.

We're our own worst enemies. We cut gym programming in schools, we offer students cut rate unhealthy food in school breakfast and lunches, impoverished neighborhoods have little to no access to fresh fruits/vegetables or stores other than conveience stores, we don't teach kids about proper nutrition, parents are working longer and harder and more kids are latch key with free reign access to the fridge, you'd be hard pressed to find people who regularly garden, parents make far fewer wholesome lunches for their kids that don't come in some pre-packaged box, the weekends are spent indoors on video games, FB, and watching Netflix for hours on end, no one is really cooking as often or enough, and when they do, its out of a box with those same unnatural ingredients. We are killing ourselves and then failing to take personal responsibility for what we're doing to ourselves and our family members.

Honestly, we need to take 'Fat American,' and use it as a challenge to get better. We're only hurting ourselves by not saying or doing anything other than deny it's truth. We're number 11/196. You can't get much more true than that. Why huff and puff about it? Well, getting healthy takes real effort. Making better choices for yourself and your family, takes dedication and an understanding that your health is more important than some clown taking your pocket change every other day. Food is the drug that will ulimately be our undoing if we continue on ignoring truths and blaming everything but ourselves for what is happening. For 90% of people, maybe even more, copious weight gain is a series of continous bad choices, but you can change. It starts with you...

[DarkHumorRUs]

You know what's best about being American? We literally don't have to care about whatever trivial things other countries think about us.

[myTake Owner]

Well you can not care all you want about obesity until it kills you or your loved ones. My great aunt died from a heart attack. The excessive weight and her not caring didn't help her out of an early grave and it certainly didn't help her kids not have to live a life without their mother. I mean the smugness about this global problem and the ignorance surrounding it needs to really stop because real people, with real names, and real families, are dying, and they will continue dying until we say, enough is enough.

[DarkHumorRUs]

You think fat people wanna be fat?
What we should really do is have schools teach kids that working out is an every day activity, and start having them do whatever fitness activities they can from a young age. It would have to be more structured than PE classes are now, and it's the only thing that could be truly standardized that wouldn't make kids dumber.

ALSO, proper nutrition and diet should be taught from preschool.

By the time kids reach middle school they should be doing cardio and a little strength training, and PE class should be scheduled to match a workout routine. This type of class should continue throughout high school and be required for every student who is physically capable.

It just has to be more dedicated than PE classes are now. I think it's entirely possible. And yes I think teaching sports and playing sports is a waste of time when students could be straight up working out.

[myTake Owner]

See, apparently you do care...

[DarkHumorRUs]

I don't care that other countries call us fat, no.

[CHARismatic110]

So, if we're ranked 11th on the list, why aren't you talking about the 10 that are ranked above us?

[RainbowFanGirl]

I hear about America being fat all the time. There's countried that rank above us? :o

[RainbowFanGirl]

countries*

[CHARismatic110]

@RainbowFanGirl...

[RainbowFanGirl]

Wasn't trying to be offensive. Genuinely curious. I'm sorry if I came off as offensive. 😢

[Phoenix98]

It also depends a lot on where you live as well, not all states are the same some are way more healthier then others. But I do agree that we as a country need to get our act together same for a lot of other countries as well.

But you know what I find really humorous is that the Middle East and Africa in general are some of the fattest places on earth, despite being some of the poorest and most war torn and malnourished places.

[myTake Owner]

It is ironic. But think of it this way. You take a poor village which has to say hunt for its food, gather firewood, cook the food and then plant a KFC next to it, and what would you or they do. Probably go to that KFC. Not only that, the KFC beings to employee the villagers so that they can better afford KFC. Suddenly KFC is the savior, but the side affect is now kids are now eating grease laden food formerly not apart of their diet, exercising far far less, and then on top of that, essentially working for the enemy. Obesity sets in after the initial rise in health from perhaps lack of food. Then that KFC is joined by other stores, and the complete urbanization of the area sets in.

[Phoenix98]

Except in this case it's McDonald's.

[TripleAce]

America is the epitome of everything thats wrong clumped up in one large country. Capitalism, the gap between poor and rich is so large, worst quality of food around, obese people everywhere eating fried chicken and have no shame, every joe shmoe has a gun and thinks its cool, segregation between ethnicities is at its largest.

What else?

[Joc4Position]

America is into capitalism but not as much as you think. Even Canada is higher.

Worst quality of food? Ehhh I don't know. Maybe.

Obese people everywhere? Go to Mexico then.. oh wait... they rank much higher :/. USA isn't even in the top 10.

When you get shot because you don't have a gun then say that statement again.

Segregation between ethnic groups? I've never been segregated. Lived around different races all my life.

[TripleAce]

@Joc4Position Canada Is higher on the scale of capitalism? Not even close... everything USA spells profits. The bankers rub the whoe country that the govt gad to bail them out even though they sucked america dry during the morgage crisis. Health care is outrageous, educational systems cost waaaay too much... why? Profits... Canada is nothing kike that

Quality of meat is lower than Canadian standards, way too many fast food restos and too much emphasis on greasy fried food.

Obesity is ranked by percentage - meaning its a ratio of population vs obese people. USA is 66%, sure other countries rank higher but thats also because the population is smaller. Take 66% of 320 million people, its a lot for a first world country thats suppose to be a world leader.

I wouldn't get shot if guns werent so available

Segregation, meaning all black hoods, or all white hoods, people can barely cross over to different parts.

USA has its ups and its a great country but it has its dark side too

[Joc4Position]

Yes they are. "Not even close" is that facts or your opinion? I think the later. Again I didn't say the USA isn't a bunch of capitalists. They are. However, they are no where near the highest. Not even top 10.

Health care also isn't as bad as you think. I mean at least the USA has health care. Most countries probably don't.

Well by the numbers Canada is higher when it comes to supply and demand importance. Doesn't matter what you think.

Well duh that's the point. USA is as high as it is due to higher population and wealth. You have high population and wealth then you have higher chance of obesity... and yet still they aren't in the top 10. Isn't that funny? I think so. It doesn't matter if the population is small you can't take away from the fact that they are much poorer, which means less food resources which in turn you'd think means skinnier people.

Sorry but the USA isn't as shitty as you think it is.

Guns will always be available be it legally or illegally.

[Joc4Position]

That has more to do with your capitalism than racism. Poor people are going to live in poor areas. Minorities are more at risk at being poor.

[ClassicRocker]

NO WAY... I refuse to believe this is a problem.
I offer as a solution instead that we start a movement that embraces morbid obesity and encourages people to accept it as a normative, beautiful, and healthy way to live your life.
That way we can just make everyone fat, because when everyone is fat no one will be!!!
What a great Idea.

[Joc4Position]

11th is out the top 10 despite being the 3rd largest country in the world and the highest GDP. In other words why the hell are the top 10 much poorer than the USA and yet still so high in obesity rates? Hmmm.

[myTake Owner]

That's one of the biggest ironies. There are a few countries on the list one tends to think of as being poverty stricken, but in the larger urban centers (read: where the rich or richer people live and McDonald's, etc also live) the obesity rates have just skyrocketed. It's part of the "Science of Cool." It's cool to eat a burger and not your traditional food. It's what's being marketed on television to the youth that they can be like an American (little do they know, they mean that literally) by drinking your Starbucks and eating your hot fries.

[Joc4Position]

But what place gets marketed with American fast food commercials the most? Don't we get marketed too? Most of these places are in America. Sorry, but I have a hard time believing there are more McDonald's in South Africa than America. I haven't researched though. That said there are a variety of healthy options for us too. In any case nobody is bombarded with unhealthy food from America than America itself.

[myTake Owner]

If you care to read about it: www.theguardian.com/.../obesity-africas-new-crisis but to some it up, in America we've grown up with urban culture, and fast food, and with the increase in number of restaurants/marketing, obesity has risen. It's simple math. If we were to say eliminate all the Mcdonald's etc., in your city, the likelihood that obesity rates will continue to rise will drop because of lack of access to part of the problem, which is terrible food. We have slower rising rates because again, we're used to urban culture. Consider South Africa, which a much smaller populous then the whole of the US. You plant 200 McDonald's, which they have, there, to people used to hunting, cooking, killing, and looking for firewood, and due to crime, up the amount of cars and people not walking long distances, you have the perfect recipe for obesity to rise. These companies build up the fever pitch for fast food and how easy and cheap it is for you to buy, and bam, you and your friends are there, then your family, then your grandparents.

[myTake Owner]

It's convenience that's being sold to us here and to them there. Which is easier for a mom or dad to do at the end of a long day... stop by some fast food place, or spend an hour cooking? This is how the US marketed can goods long ago. No longer do you have to go to the market and buy the tomatoes, and smash them up and make your own sauce, now it comes from a can. You've saved a half hour. Then microwave meals. Your whole meal is done in 5 minutes and you have more time with the family. This same concept is what's being given to the South Africans. Sure you can walk 4 miles for firewood, or you an walk two blocks and have a burger. You have to remember, these companies know the model, and how to infiltrate these regions due to aggressive market research. For example in India, your burger king offers nice wonderful vegetarian burgers because the locals don't eat meat... of course these are fried and breaded and loaded with calories and sauces... you start to see the problem building.

[Joc4Position]

Alright that makes sense.

... buuuut Americans are fat does not given the numbers.

[COCOCHANEL]

i love the colonel and his chickens !
i never watch what i eat and i've never been chunky thank you very much.

[BertMacklinFBI]

Japan has that healthy lifestlye goin

[COCOCHANEL]

@BertMacklinFBI
i spent my first decade+ in america where i ate fast food & junk food everyday.

[BertMacklinFBI]

But it was good wasn't it! 😏

[COCOCHANEL]

@BertMacklinFBI
it shore was ! i miss the food !

[Maxemeister]

Why r countries that are poor fatter than us? Cuz logic.

Deal with those ten countries then talk to us. There are fat people everywhere and it's not America's fault.

[normalice]

it's the high fructose corn syrup. That would be my guess..

[RainbowFanGirl]

Woo, glad I don't fit that stereotype anymore. 😰

[Outofthegrey]

It's "Americans", not "American's".

[myTake Owner]

Thanks for the correction.

[Outofthegrey]

img.memecdn.com/...hey-see-your-posts_o_334445.gif

Yep.

[BertMacklinFBI]

true that change starts with the individual.

[apple24]

Eh whatever man! I am Fat!

[Anonymous]

I think you are beating a dead horse

[Anonymous]

Stereotype. BIG FAT STEREOTYPE

[Prettygurl12]

I'm not fat.

[takumii]

Op is a fattie