[freepatriot32]

this issue has gotton so far out of hand its ridiculous. If this author thinks the government should get involved in peoples weight and food choices he can perhaps point to even one thing the governments of england or america have got involved in where the problem was better afterwords and not 1000 times worse.

[philled]

So when they make the next remake of "Oliver Twist" I trust they will make sure that all in the ilk of Oliver and the Artful Dodger will weigh at least 17 stone. No more gruel, they will be given only french fries and milkshakes and are forced into servitude at Walmart. Being poor and thin is so Victorian...

[Irish_Thatcherite]

It's strange how they don't seem to be anywhere near as worried about anorexia and bulimia - psychological disorders as compared to just mere overeating.

[Gingersnap]

Fast food, processed food, and microwavable snacks taste good. End of story. It might not be as good as good home cooking but none of these people have tasted good home cooking. They have tasted fat-free, baked, fake-meat alternatives with plenty of steamed veggies (but no salt or butter). They've tasted it and it can't compare with a cheeseburger and fries.

We don't eat a lot of processed food because I'm a good cook and I'm thrifty but half the people in the country have never even had a homemade soup.

The other part of the problem is fat acceptance. Higher income, well educated people are less likely to be fat because fatness screams "lazy pig" and these people are anything but. It's just not socially acceptable to look out-of-control in some circles.

[Aquinasfan]

Fatness and obesity are directly related to lower education and lower incomes.

Generally true, because a box of Twinkies is a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment.

[Bonaparte]

"Rich, educated people are not fat..."

Hasn't this writer ever heard of those "fat cats" who pull the levers of commerce?

Besides, shouldn't the government at least set an example before presuming to offer impertinent advice to America?

Hey, where's my bucket of fried chicken?

[Verloona Ti]

Obese means not just podgy, but dangerously, disablingly, distastefully fat, as in American fat

Awhile back, I made a point of really looking at people here in my small Missouri town (22,000 pop.) while I was out running . I don't know if I just happened to be out when only thinner people were out or what, but what I noticed was how everyone I saw was slim to average or slightly plump, and at worst maybe 20-30 pounds too heavy to be fashionably slim. I didn't see anyone who appeared morbidly obese or much more than 40 pounds overweight-men and women alike. A few weeks later, I had to pick someone up at the KCI airport, and again-only slim to average sized people in the waiuting area, with the pudgier people only 20-30 lbs too heavy, and only 2 or 3 people (all women) I'd call fat. That was with about 40 minutes of sitting there 'people-watching'.(Bear in mind that I am 5'4" and 113 lbs, so it's not like my view of what's fat is skewed too low or too high -I don't consider Callista Flockhart or Lionel Ritchie's daughter 'fat chicks', or Roseanne 'slightly chubby'.) Now, anecdotes don't equal scientific data, I know...but it really seems to me like I'm seeing fewer and fewer really gigantic people when I'm out, and the ones that are fat are "1970s fat" : 50 pounds overweight, tops, not 300-400-500+ lbs, as was all too common here only a few years ago. Is it possible that headway is slowly being made here in the US? What have other freepers noticed in your towns/cities?

[Redcloak]

Does this mean that Fat Momma will win on "Who Wants To Be A Superhero"?

[RichInOC]

Obesity? This is a job for Supernanny

No offense, but has this person actually seen what Jo Frost looks like?

[weegee]

"Rich, educated people are not fat"

How about the rich and stupid? (miserable failure)

[MikeHu]

Health and fitness is the bottom line in any life.

If one isn't as healthy and fit as one can be, they're doing something wrong -- and need to find out what it is.

"Liberal" excuses and justifications should not be tolerated.

[monkfan]

This is quite apart from the increased risk among the obese of heart disease and other serious illness. More young people are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, something previously seen only in people over 40. In these circumstances even the most swivel-eyed libertarian would probably agree, for once, that something must be done and even perhaps by the government.

Ha! Don't hold your breath. No self-respecting Libertarian, swivel-eyed or otherwise, is going to invite the government to solve this problem.

[RipSawyer]

I was born in South Carolina in 1944, the typical diet went something like this,

Breakfast, fried eggs, salt cured ham or pork sausage, biscuits cooked with milk and lard, sometimes large helpings of homemade molasses, grits with gravy made with the fat out of the ham, etc.

Dinner, (the big meal at noon) more pork, more biscuits, vegetables cooked with pork fat in them, potatoes etc.

Supper, (usually a smaller meal in the evening) leftover vegetables from the noon meal, corn bread, milk.

Most people think this diet would make everyone fat but there were very few fat people around back then. Most young people were rail thin. Of course most people got more exercise in a day than many people do in a month now.

[Twinkie]

Poor people in past centuries looked emaciated and thin because of the lack of food. They were living in the wrong century to be in style, I guess. The rich back then could afford roasted ducks and piglets, pate' and petit fours, and it was all the rage to not LOOK LIKE POOR PEOPLE. So, fat was all the fashion. FAT = IN STYLE

This day and age, the poor can afford generally pretty good food and plenty of it. Big Macs and fries, pizza and fried chicken, and they aren't too proud to enjoy it.

In this society, the rich, as usual not wanting to look like the modern poor, can afford the fat farms, exclusive spas, personal trainers, special gourmet diet foods low in fat and carbs, live-in chefs and so forth - so they can appear the way the poor used to back in the old days.
SKINNY = IN STYLE WHATEVER THE POOR CAN'T AFFORD TO BE = IN STYLE in other words.

All in all, I think the poor today have the right idea for the most part - enjoy yer vittles!

[familyop]

"Fatness and obesity are directly related to lower education and lower incomes."

It's not ignorance or too little income. They are too lazy to cook with basic, less expensive food ingredients and too lazy to exercise.

[Psycho_Bunny]

 

 

I've got to give the author credit:  the second sentence is one of the stupidest sentences I've ever read.

Bar none.

[beckysueb]

they are either too poor or too ignorant (or both) to prepare healthy food

Maybe too lazy?

[phoenix0468]

Obese means not just podgy, but dangerously, disablingly, distastefully fat, as in American fat.

[Trillian]

Maybe they're following Dr Nick's plan..
Dr. Nick Riviera walks into the room. Dr. Nick: Hi everybody! Homer+Bart: Hi Doctor Nick! Nick: Now there are many options available for dangerously underweighted individuals like yourself. I recommend a slow steady gorging process combined with assal horizontology. Homer: [pensive] Of course. Nick: [points to a chart] You'll want to focus on the neglected food groups such as the whipped group, the congealed group and the chocotastic! Homer: What can I do to speed the whole thing up, Doctor? Nick: Well...be creative. Instead of making sandwiches with bread, use poptarts. Instead of chewing gum, chew bacon, heh... Bart: You could brush your teeth with milkshakes! Dr. Nick: Hey, did you go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College too? And remember, if you're not sure about something, rub it against a piece of paper. If the paper turns clear, it's your window to weight gain. Bye bye, everybody!