Posted on 05/11/2012 3:54:51 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Americans are fatter than ever, but it’s not their fault. That’s according to the latest effort to solve an obesity crisis in the only way liberals know how - with more government.
A study released this week from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Duke University and RTI International found obesity rates to be on course to rise from 34 to 42 percent of the U.S. population by 2030. The number of severely obese - defined as about 100 pounds overweight - will double to 11 percent.
Today, 68 percent of Americans are overweight and half of those are obese. According to the CDC, the average man is 5‘9” tall and weighs 195 pounds. That’s an inch taller but 30 pounds heavier than the average in 1960. The average woman has also grown an inch in 50 years to 5‘4”, but she spins the scales 25 pounds heavier at 165 pounds.
A new report from the highly influential Institute of Medicine this week blames society and business for this obesity epidemic. The organization, which was created by the National Academy of Sciences, wants the federal government to insert itself in the private market to force food and beverage companies to provide healthy options at “competitive prices everywhere that food is offered.” Fast-food and chain restaurants would have to change the children’s menu to comply with federal dietary guidelines without charging more for these options. Sugary sodas would be taxed.
The basic idea is that people can’t stop themselves from eating hot dogs at a baseball game or ordering a double-cheese pizza from the couch. Government-centric busybodies want to turn fat people into a class of victims so that Big Brother can come and take control of not just their lives, but everyone’s food choices.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
*burp*
In the meantime, here's one way to VOLUNTARILY end the battle of the bulge:
I've lost 18 pounds so far.
Nanny State PING!
"Even if we give parents all the information they need and we improve school meals and build brand new supermarkets on every corner, none of that matters if when families step into a restaurant, they can't make a healthy choice. " ~Michelle Obama
Please click the pic
Eliminating Wheat is a good idea. But also, anything with sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
Is personal responsibility now obsolete?
Are the overweight people tied down and force-fed?
Those fad diets are based on junk science.
The government forced the food pyramid onto the US and look what it got us. Low-fat diets were the nail in the coffin. Look into the shopping cart of obese people... lots of “low-fat” crackers, cookies, etc.
No one needs 6 to 11 servings of grains per day in addition to 7 servings of vegetables and fruits. That is far too many carbs; the American lifestyle does not allow our bodies to metabolize that much carbohydrate in a day.
In Feb.of 2011 I started eating a diet that contained half as many recommended carbs per day and increased my protein intake by about 2 oz. I have lost 60 pounds, and I am still eating a balanced diet that includes wheat.
People have a natural tendency to want to feel good. Eating is a feel good thing.
It’s Un-American to have constant pressure, anxiety, upon us every waking moment of ones life by government fiat.
People eat to excess to feel good, feel better about themselves, feel good to combat the pressure, the anxiety they feel constantly either physically, or mentally that is caused subtly, or not by government.
American citizens don’t even realize they are gaining weight as time goes by, and don’t realize they are doing so as they are under pressures NOT of their own making, but pressures they don’t want put upon them by government nanny staters.
Home, on the job, commuting, every activity is governed, and overgoverned, and folks are anxious. When folks are under pressure, anxious they look for release. They eat. They get fat.
Obesity Rate = f(EBT recipients)
Kids were never fat until the schools started over-feeding them. Ummmmm...pink slime!!
Oddly enough, there are some interesting scientific discoveries out there. Several possible “fat reductions in a pill” chemicals, along with “cleansers” of a sort to eliminate much of the toxic chemicals stored in fat, and perhaps oddest of all, a chemical that improves muscle tone.
While these are all “on the drawing board”, it presents a big opportunity to have some fun at the expense of the gullible nanny-types.
I call it “The Republican Pill”.
You can eat and drink as much as you want of *any* kind of food you want, while remaining slender and improving your muscle tone. With NO side effects.
The idea is to annoy the heck out of these annoying people.
People will no longer need to diet, eat insufficient amounts of bad tasting health food, or exercise, and yet they will be fit and trim and strong.
So go ahead, have that thick beef steak, slathered in butter, mushrooms and onions, with a big pile of salty french fries on the side, and top it off with a triple fudge sundae, with ice cream made from real cream.
And then take a pill. Just one, “Republican Pill”, and feel and look great.
Even the hypothetical existence of such a pill would drive them nuts. Nothing quite like pleasure without pain to make such people seethe.
So low-carbohydrate eating is junk science? What has caused the explosion of diabetes and obesity in this country?
Answer: Excessive consumption of sugar, bread, and high fructose corn syrup containing products. Along with lack of exercise.
There's lots of evidence that HFCS is worse than sugar. Americans use a lot more HFCS than other nations, including Canada. The reason: corn production is subsidized, and there are trade barriers on sugar. Sugar is a lot cheaper here in Canada, because we don't have special trade barriers to protect the sugar industry (yes, we have a sugar industry). Therefore, food processors use more of it here, than they do in the U.S. For instance, soft drinks in the U.S. are sweetened with HFCS, while the same brands use sugar in Canada.
IOW, government interference in the market has created conditions leading to more obesity. The liberal answer? More government interference. Irony? (No, just more wrinkles.)
Simple solution: Charge people by the pound. Insurance rates based upon body mass index. Same for airlines, buses and taxis. No food stamps for those 10% over. etc.
Low-carb is different than 'eliminating', which is the word you used.
What has caused the explosion of diabetes and obesity in this country?
Answer: Excessive consumption of sugar, bread, and high fructose corn syrup containing products.
Excessive calorie consuption leads to obesity, which is linked to type II diabetes. The body converts excessive calorie intake, whether they be from carbohydrate, lipids, or protein, into fat. But you're right that excessive carbohydrate consumption combined with a sedentary lifestyle is a main contributer to obesity for most people. I thought you meant people need to eliminate simple carbohydrate, which is what some of those fad diets recommend.
Why would people be fatter now, than in 1960? Hmmmm.
How about jobs and free time spent on computers, games and in front of the TV, the effect of an aging population (Baby Boomers)on the data, and the easy access to prepared food.
I don’t think it’s a mystery. Nor, a terrible thing either.
I wish those who just quote the number of servings would also post what the serving size is. I find for many foods the official serving size is much smaller than most people actually consume. I believe that many of these official charts use a serving size that causes a PB+J sandwich to have two servings of bread.
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.
