Posted on 09/17/2019 9:25:17 PM PDT by familyop
IN his fascinating book Unnatural Causes, forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd observes how, over the years, the dead bodies he examines have changed.
One of the most noticeable is the rapid increase in body fat.
He says: “Unless a patient is homeless or has died of cancer or is so old or poor they could not eat, few are the same shape as the dead of the 1980s when I started practising.
“Looking back at forensic photos from that era I am astonished at how thinness was then the norm.”
Fast-forward just three decades and obesity levels are now rising at such a rate that one expert says the “timebomb has exploded” for our health services.
Consequently, the NHS is reportedly bracing itself for soaring levels of cancer, Type 2 diabetes and heart and liver disease.
'FAT SHAMING COMEBACK'
For a taster of what’s potentially to come, let’s cross the Pond to America, where talk-show host Bill Maher had this to say: “In August, 53 Americans died from mass shootings. Terrible, right? Do you know how many died from obesity? Forty-thousand.”
A shocking statistic indeed and it’s indisputable that it should be highlighted and widely debated.
But he then said this: “Fat shaming doesn’t need to end. It needs to make a comeback. Some amount of shame is good.
“We shamed people out of smoking and into wearing seat belts . . . shame is the first step in reform.”
Meaning that, fuelled by Brit James Corden’s robust response on his chat show, Maher’s call to “fat-shame” became the debate and smothered the real issue of how supposedly developed nations can tackle this spiralling health crisis.
"We shamed people out of smoking and into wearing seat belts . . . shame is the first step in reform." --Bill Maher
Fat shaming isn’t the solution, although in the 2015 case of a mother ordering takeaways for her hospitalised 13-year-old, I could possibly make an exception.
The Manchester-based mother, whose child later died from “a heart condition . . . exacerbated by their morbid obesity”, had persistently ignored healthy eating advice and failed to bring the child to various health appointments.
Shame on her.
But in the majority of cases, finger- pointing and name-calling gets us nowhere.
However, equally, we shouldn’t attempt to normalise obesity for fear of causing offence.
If a four-year-old child is already clinically obese by the time they start school, then — medical issues aside — it’s because, at home, they’re being fed the wrong food and not getting enough exercise.
HEALTH TIME-BOMB
Those in positions of authority — teachers, doctors etc — must be allowed to tackle it with impunity and, hopefully, support the child’s family to implement a change in lifestyle that will benefit all concerned.
As Corden says: “We get it. We know being overweight isn’t good for us and I’ve struggled my entire life with trying to manage my weight and I suck at it.”
Because it’s not just about what people eat, it’s about why they overeat.
So support and encouragement has to be the answer, together with a collective, open and ongoing conversation about how society as a whole can help.
Interestingly, the tiny South Pacific island of Naura is currently classed as the most obese nation in the world, with 61 per cent of its 10,756 population having a BMI higher than 30.
"It’s not just about what people eat, it’s about why they overeat."
According to one report, this is “possibly attributed to Western settlers who taught them to fry their food and import less healthy food, abandoning their tradition cultivation, preparation and preserving skills”.
In short, the human body is designed to live off the land and move around without the aid of transport, but “modern life” means we’re eating far too much processed food and being more sedentary as we’re ferried from A to B.
But even though the food industry must take its fair share of blame, it’s also the case that certain healthier alternatives introduced by KFC, among others, failed due to lack of interest from customers.
So, contrary to Maher’s claim about smoking and seat belts, it wasn’t shame that prompted change, it was the slow drip of education and a change in laws — and, ultimately, that’s the route we should take in tackling this health crisis too.
In the meantime, we shouldn’t demonise obesity, but nor should we normalise it either.
I’m all for “body positivity” but not if it’s masking an underlying health time-bomb.
What we should be normalising, and indeed celebrating, is that everyone — whatever their body shape — should eat healthily and get fitter.
People don’t have to buy that junk. Where I am it seems that, despite what lovely people they all are, they are addicted to this terrible stuff. You cannot talk them out of this junk because they don’t know how to cook or choose decent food. I’ve tried to help new friends who can’t tell the difference between real mashed potatoes and the kind out of a box. They like this stuff and they claim they have no time to shop or prepare dinner. Education is the key not some government dictate about “poison” in which we drag the CEO of Coca-Cola in front of Eric Swallwell.
Yes, but the obese are only described that way in comparison to thin people. Many more thin people die annually than fat people,.....so there.../s
Don’t use garlic powder unless you are coating a piece of meat for bbq. Crush fresh garlic in the bottom of the salad bowl, then add the dressing. Fresh garlic is extremely good for you.
Soy fed babies with malfunctioning endocrine systems? I keep looking at these young girls and trying to imagine what they will weigh when walking down the cake mix aisle adds 8 pounds... at age 45 or 50.
They drink more calories in a day than i consmsume in 2 or 3 days.
So right you are and in more ways than you may know.
hmmm... doesn’t garlic powder have the same properties as fresh garlic? I don’t know - I just used the powder for convenience.
Certainly the flavor is very different. I only use it when I make a dry rub.
When they weigh me, I always seem to forget to take my sidearm off.
Heh! That Beretta 92 adds a few.
Enough with the fat shaming. Gain 30 pounds over what “they” say is optimal and you’re obese. There are worse things you can be than obese. A murderer, a drunk driver, an abusive spouse, down right evil, a child molester, a drunk, a druggie, a liar, a cheat, and a thief. But none of those hit people’s jolly button more than fat shaming.
A culture of beached whales says a lot about that society.
Americans are gluttonous pigs for the most part.
And still the chorus from our “betters” is “guns are bad” and “big is beautiful”
They really are trying to kill us all.
‘Fat chance’
I was hoping to chime in with that somewhere, but oh well...
‘We gotta ban sugary, processed assault food.’
don’t forget the tripledecker bacon cheeseburgers that television hawks every five minutes...
You can thank Big Food and Big Pharma for that.
The Keto Diet and Intermittent Fasting have worked wonders for me.
Not only am I losing weight, I feel better than I have in years.
I highly recommend watching the document “The Magic Pill”, it’s on YouTube, it will change how you look at eating.
I was about 50 pounds overweight at the time, hiding it due to being 5'9". I was scared and decided I could do one thing to try to ward off an early death, loose weight. I lost 40 pounds over a two year period, losing, gaining and found a set weight. I exercise a lot in the spring in my garden and yard and loose weight all summer, then the harvest comes, in September and October and lots of very good food and I gain, mostly because I have to have some of the fruit in pies and crisps and we make 100 jars of salsa, so chips and salsa is the order of the day in September!
My husband and I always end up on a low carb diet in January!
In the form of Heart Disease, Diabetes... ect ect
EWWWWWWW
It ultimately goes back to Insulin Resistance, the Obesity, Diabetes and Heart problems are all symptoms of IR.
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