Donna asks…
Should fast food restaurants be held acountable for the obesity epedemic?
A while ago I saw the movie super size me, and was horrified at the state which Morgan spurlock was in by the end of that movie. Not to mention the insight which you got, into the kind of stuff that goes into fast food. However at the same time I was a little bewildered as to how guys such as the man who went temporarely blind, on account of drinking seven 2 liter pitchers of soda per day; felt that the fast food companies were to blame for this. I think that it is people’s responsibility to take care of themselves, and that the guy has himself to blame as he was extremely greedy.
And the obesity epidemic is not limited to the USA, in fact I read this article in a newspaper this morning, about this woman from down the road from me, who had to be removed from her home with a crane where she was subsequently taken to hospital to be treated. In fact obesity levels in Britain are getting so high; that we now have US style fat camps. Unfortunately right now Britain is run by liberals, who seem to think that fast food companies should be held accountable for the rising levels of obesity, apparently people are now even suing the fast food companies in both Britain and the US. Fortunately the Conservatives are likely to win the next election in Britain, nonetheless it seems that allot of people still feel that the fast food companies are to blame as opposed to people who are not taking care of themselves well enough.
Although apparently fast food is made from a cocktail of addictive substances, which release endamorphine’s in the body; which causes people to unwittingly become addicted to fast food. What are your thoughts on this?
I am a little bit overweight, however i am a very long way from being obese. Sounds like you did not read the question.
I take good care of myself and am only carrying about 6ibs. As opposed to 300ibs
admin answers:
For one….you eat vegan food every day and suddenly switch it up to McDonalds every meal, of course your body’s going to go to hell in hand basket quickly. Not only are you going from healthy to unhealthy, you are also going from no animal fats to big fat greasy cow burgers.
What you eat and drink is a personal responsibility. You can blame the food chains when they start physically forcing you to eat unhealthy and avoid excersize.
Apparently chocolate releases endorphines in to your system. Should we sue Hershey’s if we get cavities?
James asks…
Are parents to be blamed for the child obesity epidemic?
Self-explanatory, but the reason why I’m asking this is because when I was young, my parents would of fed me 2 trays of doner kebab and chips when I was just 8; let me over-indulge chocolate and snacks; and would of fed more than a portion at dinnerlunch time. I was 14 stone at the age of 10 as far as I can remember. I am 18 now and have lost weight due to my strict lacto-vegetarian diet that burned most of my weight off (I was 22st. before) and I now weigh 14.5 stone. My mum, however, still wants to feed me over portions and she’s just so ignorant to the fact I tell her that she was the reason I’m type 2 diabetic now. It’s also put a few social problems on me as a young teen aswell (name calling, times of bullying etc etc). Ofcourse, I love ma parents; just not their dietary habits that they’ve passed on. I know, I’m answering my own question but what do you all think about the question and the “detail” I just wrote? Is childhood obesity a product of the bias of parents; lack of care and education; or too much care and love?
Thanks for your time to reply,
Peace to you =)
admin answers:
I think you can’t fault parents for teaching what they know, and not teaching what they don’t know.
I think you can’t fault parents for having jobs and not enforcing after school exercise, especially since many parents are still under the assumption that schools have exercise times (many don’t.)
I think you can’t fault parents for not being aware of what a portion size is unless they’ve been taught that.
Basically, I don’t think you can blame parents on one hand. On another, a child learns what they’re around, so you can’t blame THEM for not knowing either.
I think you can blame it on a lot of things. When I was a little kid, my mom took us to McDonalds and would buy a hamburger and fries and drink water. She would cut the burger in 4 pieces and give my sister and I 1/4 of a burger, and the fries, she would eat the other 1/2. Today, if you asked someone what a portion size is for a McDonald’s meal like that they’d say probably a burger and fries and a soft-drink… And that’s more than one portion. McDonalds publishes the info of course, but how many people read it? So lack of education of portion sizes is a part of it.
Or how about 20-30 years ago girls took home-ec classes in school and learned things like how to make a meal, and how to nutritionally balance a meal? How many people today know how to make a home-cooked, 30 minute, nutritionally dense and healthy meal? Parents at home assumed their kids would take or be given this info, schools had for centuries, but now… Well… My sister was running low on food for her fiance’ so she had us pick up a bunch of hot-pockets for him to make. Meanwhile my husband makes a sandwich, or takes the makings of cereal, etc for lunch… Quick and convenient and cheap is beating out “it takes 5 minutes of my time.”
Or how about corn glucose and sugar being added to EVERYTHING? It’s hard to find anything with no added sweeteners.
Or parents having to work and wanting something simple the kids can make or eat on until they get home?
Or the old height/weight charts being slightly overweight (not joking.)
Or kids having longer school days and not being able to go out and play after school anymore?
Or computers and televisions that encourage sedentary behavior (and of course kids not being taught active behavior in school.)
Or the constant diet industry that encourages kids and teens to start dieting, which starts the yo-yo-ing, and causes a lot of problems there?
Or the fact that a mother who isn’t eating healthy while pregnant and having hormone problems while pregnant may be causing the unborn baby to set themselves up to gain weight more?
And on and on and on. In the end, the only one that should be blamed is the person, the individual. The person has the power to make the choices and to work to get healthy, even in a home where the portions aren’t controlled and the foods aren’t healthy they can still choose to educate themselves and make changes that will help them be healthy even if their weight is higher. Your parents did what they felt was best, and blaming them is just not healthy or accurate.
Oh, for the record, type 2 diabetes is a correlation with higher weight, and a higher risk if you are a higher weight, however there is yet to be proven a direct link that if you are overweight you will develop type 2 diabetes. So even there, blaming your parents for that isn’t right.
Add: For the record, thin children typically watch as much TV as fat children. My favorite is the sleep conundrum.
See, the first little while you go to sleep, human growth hormone is released and this helps you in losing weight. But if you don’t get the amount of sleep you need, then the cortisol you accumulate during the day doesn’t go down. Plus if you are tired you have a chemical released to encourage you to eat, whether you’re hungry or not. And once you hit teen years, melatonin (released in children and adults when it’s dark) isn’t released until 90 minutes after being exposed to the dark (so a teen goes to bed for 90 minutes before they’ll fall asleep.) So they’ve found that kids and adults who are overweight are often sleep-deprived (less than 10 hours a night… 8 hours for adults past 26 about, but even then 9-10 seems to be the real best amount of time for sleep and never less than 9 hours for teens.) But for how many years were people told 8 hours was what you needed? And how many kids were told “you sleep too much” and were gotten up earlier to exercise with parents when they would have benefited from sleeping longer in the morning and exercising at night during that 90 minutes? I can’t blame parents for that one.
There’s too many things, and I just can’t blame parents for doing what they were told to or believed was best.
Betty asks…
Would stronger restrictions on the use of Food Stamps help reduce the obesity epidemic in America? Simple?
observation indicates that many people just must spend money as if money “burns a hole in their pocket”. Additionally, food volume is used as a pacifier by some people. Then there is the fact that cheap junk food is loaded with all sorts of bad fats, sugar, refined starches, etc. and is not good food. It is not good for your health or for weight control and is rather addictive.
Would restricting purchases with food stamps to real whole foods that require preparation in the home, no junk foods permitted, help reduce future health care costs?
admin answers:
Yes. I worked at a grocery store when I was younger and the people on food stamps bought mostly junk food. Then pulled out a load of cash to buy Colt 45 and Kool cigarettes.
Mary asks…
Is “Big is Beautiful” mentality in America helping to cause the obesity epidemic?
I live in Oklahoma, 9th fattest state in the nation, and I was noticing that being highly overweight seems to have lost some of it’s social stigma…Most people just consider it normal to pack on the pounds after they turn 20….
While fast food is mostly to blame, I’m starting to think the glorification of being slightly overweight is also to blame, heading people off down the slippery slope of weight gain.
Everywhere I look I see “big is Beautiful” way of life, a women having a large rear is in fact more desired by Men.
Being overweight is not healthy for you, I liken this accepting attitude toward it as being the same as the “smoking is cool” attitude of a few years ago…
So I ask you all, should we not treat people that are gaining weight, the same as people who are starting smoking?
admin answers:
This is very good point.
In my personal opinion, the trends over the past view years have been “who can find the most successful diet” or calorie counting, fat free everything. I think it really was the IN thing at the time, but just like every other fad, it slowly disappeared. Many obese men and women see these misleading ads glorifying their product as a miracle and the ability to slim down using just that product. Most of them dont read the fine print at the bottom of the screen admitting that it only really works with diet and excerise. America’s attitude is “get it, and get it now”. These people get that mentality thinking im going to get slim in 2 weeks, no biggie. Millions of people do not find the success they want, therefore, the tables are turned and theyre trying to convince themselves that being thick and accepting really is the thing. It rediculous to think that this would ever be attractive, but we all know the “fad followers” out there.
Give it time, the next IN thing is going to be staying fit and active again. This country is so unpredictable it can be outrageous at times.
John asks…
How can you praise & glorify someone who is proud of their obesity?
I answered a question earlier today in a very honest and forthright manner by someone who is obviously obese and now claims he is PROUD of that fact. I got 6 thumbs down while everyone who was telling him “BRAVO!” “Good for you to have a positive body image” is getting all thumbs up. Am I the only one who realizes the very real dangers and consequences of being obese? Why should I jump on the politically correct bandwagon & say, “Oh, that’s ok. Go ahead and kill yourself with food.” Would that make me a better person?
Here is the link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApzZnXToe1Q4nFvl4dqcI93sy6IX?qid=20061205211022AAiIn69&show=7#profile-info-2f4b59cf57f85752db7308abe9129579aa
Do you think what I said was incorrect or mean?
Are we really so dumb now as a society to think this obesity epidemic is OK?
The Grit….since you don’t allow email it’s hard to respond. If you wish to email me I would be happy to tell you my story and it’s far from the picture you paint of me in this answer. As for thumbs down, I have never cared one flip about that. I am more concerned with telling the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts. Just because I didn’t condone your behavior or offer the “that’s ok” pat on the back to your previous question you saw it as a need to attack me. I wasn’t attacking you I was simply telling the truth. As I said, if you wish to know more I would welcome an email from you.
One more thing…obesity is not a part of “who” somebody is. Obesity is a result of one’s poor choices. Size 0 supermodels are not “who” they are. It’s a result of their poor choices as well. Would you be so cold as to say “it’s ok, let them have anorexia, it’s who they are” or would you try to save them? It’s double standards. Starving oneself is suicide the same as over-feeding oneself. Both need help.
admin answers:
Praising obesity is never okay. Being proud to be obese is never okay.
Your answer was not mean or incorrect. It really is upsetting that people think obesity is a disease. Personally, I think we should place taxes on all fast food and junk food, because obesity causes health problems, problems which put a great burden on the healthcare system. It is preventable and reversable, but people think otherwise, and get upset if we don’t accept obesity as being normal/okay.
My mother and stepfather have been obese most of their lives, and have adopted two girls in recent years. I love everyone in my family equally, but I don’t think people should go adopting when they have health problems. It’s selfish.
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