Obesity In America

Health & Diet Health & Diet: Chat / Discussions
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Thanks for the reply PAULIN3

Yes, money. I’ve forgotten the details, but it means that the US Government is subsidising the production of junk food whilst, at best, being indifferent to, and at worst, restricting the growing & distributing of fresh & healthier food
I also read a comment that it is noticeable that the executives and senior managers of the manufacturers of this type of food go out of their way to avoid the food they make

And as for the portion sizes, there are several references to that in the videos, and one of them mentions that the typical portion size is now three times what it was in the 1950s

I have an HNC in Applied Biology and have worked for most of my life on the scientific side of food manufacture, including 20 years on product development for a large American food company
I have always taken an interest in food, diet, and nutrition, and to some extent this is the result of a strange fascination to how bad things can be

Here’s a start -

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Excellent, thanks for posting ZD…will have a good look at that, get back to you with any questions,:+1::+1:

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As I mentioned, and depending on how keen you are, Search YouTube for ‘Why Americans are obese’ - there are several videos as many Americans are increasingly concerned about the situation

And as for Brits being accused of commenting adversely on American matters you will see that I am just reporting from these sort of videos, made by Americans

One of the best accounts of the situation is by an American author; his book is a bit long, but worth reading if you’re interested -

‘Salt, Sugar, Fat - How The Food Giants Hooked Us’ by Michael Moss

This is a summary of the book

Salt Sugar Fat: Book Summary & Review | Michael Moss (fourminutebooks.com)

The video I have Posted refers to Ancel Keys; he was financed & supported by the American sugar industry to slant his research away from sugar & flour, and against fat & cholesterol
They did a similar hatchet job on John Yudkin when he published his book against sugar - ‘Pure, White, and Deadly’

In fact there is an opinion that fat & cholesterol are not the devils we thought they were, and that it is excessive sugar consumption, especially HFCS that is the real culprit
Unfortunately the subject is very involved and confusing, and it’s hard work to pick your way through it
That’s where we need an serious, independent authority to advise us - and where are we going to find one of those!?

Yes, there’s a lot of money involved - when did you hast see an advert for carrots, lettuce, or even an avocado - it’s all for manufactured, processed & junk food, takeaways, sweet fizzy drinks, and all the rest of it

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I can’t speak for America, but I think obesity in the UK is partly down to the fact that money is not as valuable as it used to be.
Back in the fifties around 50% of earnings went on food, the rest on rent, clothes etc. it was a struggle for mum and dad to put food on the table and treats like a mars bar, bounty or bag of crisps was rare, perhaps once a week if I was lucky…
Fast forward to today, we buy lottery tickets, spend money on mobile phones, buy contracts for viewing films etc, give spare cash to charities, wide screen TV’s, dishwashers, microwaves, new kitchens, new bathrooms, cars, central heating, the list is endless and all high priority, because we can provide cheap food at the drop of a hat it probably doesn’t even feature on our high priority list. Not for the obese anyway…

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I don’t see everybody who has a mobile phone being obese , Ditto central heating ( who doesn’t have central heating ) in the good old fugal days we had to buy coal pay rent the same people did the pools
Perhaps we do more sitting and one shop to the supermarket . Also grabbing everything off the shelves ourselves doesn’t help .
Probably the major reason is lack of exercise in days of yore people still are unhealthy food ,jam butties sweet tea and buns but people moved more .
Walked to school cycled to work and did more manual tasks .

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Back in the fifties, I don’t believe there was as vast amount of fast food, than we have now, we used to have a weekly delivery from the butcher ,we had not much choice other than to cook fresh, we used to grow all our own veg in those days and potatoes,thank God I was brought up in those days, today it seems to be the norm to eat crap, just been shopping, can’t believe the unhealthy items that were in customers trolleys,.mostly fast food, that you just put straight in the oven, cakes, crisps,etc, I’m not judging them,I have a terrible addiction to sugar as well…I can’t believe I let it get this far, so am trying to do something about it…I would rather go without my food, than my lattes, I’m trying to get my mind back to healthy food, not flipping lattes…see how a hold sugar can have over you…it seems to have wrangled its way in again…or maybe that’s my way of justifying why I do it…which ain’t right.

I also find sugary stuff a great comfort…why,knowing it’s so unhealthy…anyway at least I woke up to it, so many don’t, before it gets out of hand…we’re talking youngsters here as well.

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Wow, staying off the Brit/USA barricades here! :flushed:

But I think the problem is portion size.

When you got out to eat in the US the meals can be ginormous.

Same here, what’s with all the double quarter pounders, mega buckets and eat as much as you like (can!) buffets and carveries?

I dunno if it’s to do with the war and rationing here but serving huge portions seems to bring in the punters in restaurants here. People like to get their money’s worth

Same in the US, the selling point is often how big your meals are

And same with eating at home, we all just seem to have got used to serving bigger amounts of food somewhere along the line

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Mortica, also made a valid point about emotions being involved…she’s certainly spot on in my case.

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Yes; I hope I haven’t given the impression that I am some king of super fit health freak, living off wholemeal sandals
I like biscuits & crisps as much as anyone else, but I try to keep them to the absolute minimum, as a treat, and not as a constant part of my food
But it’s not easy, that’s where the manufacturers are good at their job; and knowing what to do is not the same as actually doing it

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I think a lot of it has to with the prices of junk food being vastly cheaper than healthy food - all over the world really, not just America. Even here in the UK, I was well over £7 buying a punnet of blueberries,a punnet of raspberries, 5 banana’s and 4 oranges. Now if I were a single parent and struggling to feed my kids, no way on earth would I spend that kind of money just on fruit.

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A town near us has planted apple and pear trees on land owned by the town each tree being
Sponsored by local business . The fruit is free for everyone .The small town nearest to us is planting an orchard for the Queens Jubilee .
I think all local councils should consider buying apple trees and planting them around the towns ,
So the fruit may be available for all

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This is a brilliant idea! Well done - I hope it catches on!

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Yes, Todmorden has done something like that; I only live a few miles away, I’ve been meaning to have a look at that for ages, must get my finger out!

Incredible Edible Todmorden (theecologist.org)

There are also YT videos about this

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Just a suggestion so that certain valued members don’t feel affronted…couldn’t a clever mod take the America out of the title and reword it “Obesity ~ what can we do about it?”
In the end it’s all about 2 things in my humble opinion; cost and education

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No…this topic is specifically talking about morbid obese in America.

How on earth can anyone take offence over a truth, for heavens sake…don’t make it more than it is, ruthio…

We aren’t all that sensitive, that we should take offence over this…treading on egg shells…

I’ve taken enough flack over my religion…how about that then…grow up for heavens sake…

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Just attempting to suggest a smidgen of tact, that is all

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I’ve put up with far worse regarding my faith…Fair is fair…I’m an adult not a child.

If admin decides to take that action, then it’s up to him, his site his rules.

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Your faith has nothing to do with the price of eggs

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I’m a bit lost over this suggestion.
It could be interpreted as censorship or dumbing down threads so as not to offend Americans. It could set a precedence. Very ‘wokeish’ like ALM …American Lives Matter.

Or do you mean more like … creating a special tag for American topics and having that auto-bot pop up reminding us all to be more considerate?

That one could work I suppose … and folk could engage in chat or not as they fancy.

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@Harbal … I wouldn’t dare.