"I don't know what they're talking about...just bring me TWO KFC buckets, pronto."
Posted on 08/23/2005 5:38:17 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
AMERICANS are getting fatter in every state, with the exception of Oregon, and those living in the southeast are the most likely to be obese, according to a report issued today.
Mississippi had the highest rate of obesity, with 29.5 per cent of adults classified as obese in 2004. In Colorado, the slimmest state, just 16 per cent of adults are obese, the Trust for America's Health found.
Oregon's rate of 21 per cent was unchanged.
"We have a crisis of poor nutrition and physical inactivity in the US and it's time we dealt with it," said Shelley Hearne, executive director of the group.
An estimated 119 million Americans, or 64.5 per cent, of adults are either overweight or obese and the rate has been rising steadily every year. The percentage of obese adults rose from 23.7 per cent in 2003 to 24.5 per cent in 2004.
More than 25 per cent of adults in 10 states are obese, including in Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and South Carolina, the survey found.
Experts agree the problem is difficult to solve.
Americans are surrounded by rich and tasty food, do not need to exercise as part of daily life and have many sedentary pursuits such as watching television and using the computer.
The nonprofit group's report said federal obesity programs are not yet extensive enough and found there are not enough local policies addressing community design issues, like sidewalks and suburban sprawl.
And school meal programs focus on getting the maximum calories into children, as opposed to balanced nutrition, the report found.
Another report released today offered one possible reason why more Americans are obese.
Dr Bryn Austin of the Children's Hospital Boston and colleagues found that fast-food restaurants in Chicago cluster themselves within a short walking distance of schools.
Writing in the American Journal of Public Health, the researchers found the nearest fast-food restaurant was half a kilometre away from half the city's schools, or just over a 5 minute walk.
Seventy-eight per cent of schools had at least one fast-food restaurant within just under one kilometre.
"Our cities are saturated with fast-food purveyors. Now we are finding that the concentration of fast food is even worse in school neighbourhoods," Dr Austin said in a statement.
"This means that five days a week, we are sending our schoolchildren into environments where there is an abundance of high-calorie, low-nutritional-quality, inexpensive food."
In the same journal, Kristen Harrison of the University of Illinois and colleagues reported that convenience or fast foods and sweets made up 83 per cent of foods advertised during children's television programming.
I'm convinced those scales at the drs. offices are fixed. My scale at home changes and yet every single stinkin' times I'm at the dr. it's always the same high number. Maybe they check your weight before you go in and fix the scale. I dunno.
America is in a crisis-
There is too much good food, too many places to buy it in, and too much money in people's pockets to buy it with.
Get real. . .
We're not rich, but our fridge, freezer and cupboards are always full of high quality food. We have so much food in the USA that farm prices are in the toilet and we subsidize farmers so they don't all go under!
Perhaps the author of the article would rather live in Africa- not many fat people there. A week's wages for a week's food- sounds like the best of socialism to me.
Oh dear, I saw this while chowing down on Ben and Jerrys Phish Food!
I found that cutting out wheat products works for me. I can eat anything else and my appetite is much easier to control and the weight just falls off. But boy is it a killer.
Do a little checking and you can find out that these "studies" were funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (a "philanthropic" subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson). They were also major players on Hillary's Health Care Task Force, and ponied up the entire half mil to buy the airtime to broadcast her Health Care Town Hall Meetings uninterrupted.
The way these goof balls think, we are all stupid morons.
That's fantastic!
I figured out long ago that most diet advice is best ignored. One especially irritating piece of advice I often see is to eat several small meals each day, so you won't feel hungry. What's that all about? If you never feel hungry, how can you tell when you really need to eat? A lot of obesity can be blamed on the fact that people don't listen to their bodies, and they get into the habit of eating whenever they feel like it, instead of when they're genuinely hungry.
Sorry for the mini-rant. My weight is a tad higher than I would like, but still over 60 pounds less than it once was. Weigh yourself every day, that will help keep you motivated.
"other than the fat pig that cannot stop eating..."
I eat one *small* meal a day and continue to gain.
"I don't know what they're talking about...just bring me TWO KFC buckets, pronto."
I wonder if this has anything to do with the food pyramid being heavy on the grain. After all how do you fatten cattle? Feed them more grain. We didn't have this problem when it was the four food groups. YOU CANNOT DENY THIS!!!
I often wonder why they blame this strictly on food and not too much television watching and other sedentary activities. I guess America just needs its daily dose of MTV and brainless sitcoms like Will and Grace.
Uh, yeah, and...
"We didn't have this problem when it was the four food groups."
When I was a kid it was three.
Hanging the size 10 dress you haven't worn in a few years on the closet door works too. Although, not as fast as it used to since the metabolism tanked.
Thank goodness the government started issuing food stamps for free grub in the sixties. Isn't is odd that by the eighties we started reading stories about how fat Americans were getting? Hmmmm....Diabetes and other fat related diseases are killing more people now than ever.
Is there ANY problem that the government has "solved" that hasn't turned out to be worse than before they "helped"?
You are probably eating too little, and your metabolism has adjusted by slowing way down. Eat more - avoid carbohydrates and go for protein-based foods. No sugar. Drink a lot of water. Try to walk as much as you can. You'll see results.
"Although, not as fast as it used to since the metabolism tanked."
I don't have a metabolism any more. I just have a meh...
Three years ago I got fed up and started working on my body. I lost a total of 90 pounds and have kept it off for 2 years. I went from 225 to 135 and I feel great. I was heavy for a long time and hated it. If anyone is trying to get thin I would highly suggest taking a look at swimming laps. It is really hard at first but it gets easier. The fat burns off like crazy and it builds muscle very fast.
As far as the diet part goes try to turn the channel during food commercials. Sounds strange but I promise it makes you hungry when you really aren't. It must be some kind of primal urge or something.
Does anyone have a link to the story Boortz referred to today regarding the MD in New Hampshire who had a complaint filed against him for telling a patient they were obese?
Not only that, but look how many servings of everything the food pyramid recommends. Six to eleven servings of fruits and vegetables? Despite what many people think, most fruits and vegetables are not all that low-cal. Add to that all of the other foods that must be eaten according to the pyramid--if I ate like that, I could easily gain back every pound I ever lost!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.