We told them so.......
Oh yes! And how!!!
Posted on 09/03/2006 5:56:04 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Obesity has reached pandemic proportions throughout the world and is now the greatest single contributor to chronic disease, an international conference was told here.
"This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world," Australia's Monash University professor Paul Zimmet, chair of the 10th International Congress on Obesity, said on the opening day of the conference.
The spread of the problem was "led by affluent western nations, whose physical activity and dietary habits are regrettably being adopted by developing nations," Zimmet told more than 2,000 delegates.
The world now has more fat people than hungry ones, according to World Health Organisation figures, with more than a billion overweight people compared to 800 million who are undernourished.
The congress on obesity is held every four years, with the last three staged in Toronto (1994), Paris (1998) and Sao Paulo (2002).
"The conference will treat obesity as the keystone of all health priorities because it is the single greatest contributor to chronic disease throughout the world," said University of Sydney professor Ian Caterson, the event co-chair.
"There are now more overweight people in the world than undernourished and we are seeing the double burden of the extremes of malnutrition -- undernutrition and overnutrition -- in many developing countries.
"We know this is not about gluttony -- it is the interaction of heredity and environment. We know that small changes can make a big difference in peoples weight and health."
Zimmet said the problem needed urgent solutions -- not just widespread changes to diet and exercise but the rethinking of national policies on urban and social planning, agriculture policy, education, transport and other areas.
He also warned in an opening address that the growth of obesity-related diabetes, or so-called "diabesity", was set to bankrupt health budgets all over the world.
Around 370 speakers and presenters at the six-day congress will discuss a range of issues, including scientific research on how the brain regulates energy and advances in the prevention and clinical management of obesity.
The conference is being attended by academics and health professionals from Australia, Japan, the United States, Britain, Canada, Sweden, Indonesia and New Zealand.
--Too many happy meals and definitely not enough exercise.
My mother was nutrition-challenged and I grew up eating the worst kind of foods but I was one of the skinniest guys in school I guess because I was out running around non-stop.
Oh yes! And how!!!
Quite. I've been there a few times myself, and it's almost amusing to watch what other people take. Well, it actually isn't, but you know what I mean. :)
Even the "baked fish" is sopping in butter, but that's by far the healthiest meat you'll ever find in that place. Everything else just reeks "80% fat per serving", and people take 4 servings and continue to ignore the green beans, lettuce salad, and broccoli florets. (fortunately, for the salads, they skimp on the dressing, so those are not bad...)
Here's your agenda. Get rid of gas burning cars and pile everyone into cities where they walk or bicycle to work, school, etc. Get rid of suburban shopping malls (aka WalMart), get rid of cattle/pig/poultry farms--everyone should be a vegetarian, and indoctrinate children (more than they already are) in schools against cars, meat eating and WalMart.
Clever angle by the environmental wackos--but not clever enough we can't see through it.
Me eating 3 meals a day plus midmorning & midday snack would put my daily food budget at $15/day plus about 45-60 minutes for going to the fast food place + waiting + returning. Grocery shopping and developing an efficient way of preparing healthy food has my daily food costs at about $7/day and less than 30 minutes of prep time.
Granted, I do only have to prepare for myself, but I believe (and of course this is just my opinion), that prep and costs are lower for "do it yourself" meals.
"who knows what we may end up being."
Jabba the Hut?
Obesity in the United States, which affects nearly one-third of adults -- costs $75 billion a year in medical expenses, half of it funded by taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid, a new study says.
Taxpayers saddled with obesity costs
Taxpayers foot the doctor’s bill for more than half of obesity-related medical costs, which reached a total of $75 billion in 2003, according to a new study.
Ho-hum. Latest invented Problem du Jour.
"Zimmet said the problem needed urgent solutions -- not just widespread changes to diet and exercise but the rethinking of national policies on urban and social planning, agriculture policy, education, transport and other areas."
Urgent solutions.... I wonder what they have in mind .....
I'm sure it will be another social-engineering debacle.
Take note: OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL! HEH!
Especially when nobody tells those feasting to slow down. Ultimately, if even only financially (health care costs), we're in this together.
And if we have to call people fat in order to get them to eat properly and exercise, why not do it? I'm myself fat, I've looked in the mirror, I don't like it, others don't like it, I see how fat looks on others and it's gross, so I'm working on fixing it, even if it hurts in the short term.
save
LOL. What about all those flies?
Leisure time is squandered by all social classes on things other than exercise. But in my rural area, the fat is well distributed. Wealthy and poor alike do a lot of work outside. As for diet, a pound of decent cheddar is $3 or 4 and cheaper than a pound of little debbie's oatmeal pies. The whole grain breads don't cost much more than the refined flour breads. The fruit is super cheap at the flea market where I and many non-wealthy people shop.
One way that government could solve this problem without raising taxes on fatty foods (like I would actually want such a thing) is for the U.S. and Europe to stop subsidizing their agriculture. Prices go up, plump people will hopefully eat less.
Oh, the Huge Manatee!
If the kids are fat,it is the parents' fault.If the adults are fat,it is the adults' fault. There are healthy choices even at the fast food places.Don't biggie-size everything,skip the extra cheese,buy the salad,skip the fries at least half the time,park in the far corner of the lot and walk a little more.
The counter lady who fixed my toast,scrambled eggs,and sausage yesterday is worried about her brother who is about 5'6" and weighs 400 pounds.But when he visits ,he insists on not one,but two or more samdwiches. He becomes angry if not given all the food he wants.
Ultimately it is personal responsibility.
Obesity is such an ugly term. Why can't we just call them "overnourished"?
Victory For Personal Responsibility Has Trial Lawyers In A Tizzy
11 March 2004
~resulted in Mr. Miller suggesting infamous trial lawyer John "Sue the Bastards" Banzhaf be banished from the country.
CCF: I'll tell you what's silly is suing somebody because you're too stupid to stop after the fourth Big Mac and then having the price of everybody else's food go up. And those lawsuits are never going to slim anybody down. All it's going to do is fatten the wallets of trial lawyers ... Mr. Banzhaf says, and I quote him -- he says, "We're going to sue them and sue them and sue them. And somewhere a jury's going to buy this, and then the floodgates are going to open." Well, hooray for Congress for locking the floodgates.
MILLER: I'll tell you what. Let's pass a statute. We'll protect you. We'll pass a statute saying that Mr. Banzhaf has to leave the country.
CCF: Well, OK.
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