Current Events > Obesity: Whoose fault is it?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Waistlines are expanding across the globe.
More and more fat children are around than their used to be.
Ditto, adults.

What is the general consensus on the cause of such expanded body types?
Diet? Exercise?
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Parents who are uninformed/don't give a fuck
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Diet.
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diet has a bigger impact than exercise. eating a few extra cookies is equivalent to spending an hour or two at the gym. you could have just not eaten those extra cookies
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Fast food given to lazy people.

I don't think people realize how many calories you're supposed to have in a day.
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Diet, genetics, life style
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Diet.
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McDonalds they put nicotine in the frys!
https://static.infowars.com/alex-jones.jpg
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a combination of parents and also the companies that put nasty shit in everything

A combination of things. The sugar/food industry, parents not setting boundaries, misinformation, etc.
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Sedentary lifestyle
Fast food
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Diet, mostly lack of exercise
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nutrient low food padded by synthetic ingredients, in part caused by depleted soils - the brain craves nutrients with caloric intake being not what it prioritizes - double the food as before to make up the nutrient levels = fatter people. then there's the deliberate addictive chemicals added to western foods that boosts sales for the industry >_>
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Do people think the somewhat normalisation of enlarged body types is part of the problem?

As in, a certain amount of so called 'fat shaming' could be a form of tough love.

That said, lazy sedentary lifestyles combined with poorly varied meals is a key cause imo.
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unpleasant_milk posted...

Do people think the somewhat normalisation of enlarged body types is part of the problem?

As in, a certain amount of so called 'fat shaming' could be a form of tough love.

That said, lazy sedentary lifestyles combined with poorly varied meals is a key cause imo.

that's certainly a contributing factor. if it's normalized people aren't going to feel the need to change their ways until they're weighing down our government budget.

Most people are accustomed to a diet of fast/processed foods. These are incredibly calorie dense with very little in the way of nutrition. They don't even really fill you up or provide you with anything your body needs.

Someone above used the "few extra cookies" example. Yeah, every tiny cookie might be 100+ calories in itself which is insane. Most of us have probably polished off an entire box of cookies or nearly an entire box at least once in our lives.

Combine that with the fact that most of our jobs (office work, sitting in front of a computer) and hobbies (watching TV or again, sitting in front of a computer) are completely sedentary and you have a recipe for disaster.
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unpleasant_milk posted...

Do people think the somewhat normalisation of enlarged body types is part of the problem?

As in, a certain amount of so called 'fat shaming' could be a form of tough love.

No, that's a very, very minor factor.
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unpleasant_milk posted...

Do people think the somewhat normalisation of enlarged body types is part of the problem?

As in, a certain amount of so called 'fat shaming' could be a form of tough love.

That said, lazy sedentary lifestyles combined with poorly varied meals is a key cause imo.

Well a bunch of fat people are not going to make fun of themselves.

I think really heavy set people are shameful, but the damage is already done. It's much harder to lose it than to gain. It's also hard to completely change your lifestyle to include a diet and exercise.
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Know what I don't get though? Why people ever let it get so far.

I get being incredibly busy, especially if you have kids and find it hard to make time to prepare proper meals, etc.

What I don't get is seemingly not noticing or at least not caring that you're ballooning up at an alarming rate. I know if I've let myself go for a while and end up putting on 5-10 pounds I can immediately see it and enter "Holy shit, I'd better do something about this before it's too late" mode.

Is it related to depression or something similar? To me that's like if you don't bother brushing your teeth or something. Keeping yourself at a healthy weight should be one of those things you just do. Not because it's fun but because you care about yourself and your long-term health.
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Diet and increased sedentary lifestyles
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Ultima Dragon posted...

Know what I don't get though? Why people ever let it get so far.

My weight gain was due to getting married and my son being born. It's kinda hard to prioritize maintaining your weight when you're focused on your family.
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hyperpowder posted...

Ultima Dragon posted...

Know what I don't get though? Why people ever let it get so far.

My weight gain was due to getting married and my son being born. It's kinda hard to prioritize maintaining your weight when you're focused on your family.

Classic cop out dude. I got married, I had 2 kids. You don't have to hide behind your family when it comes to your weight. They don't prevent you from eating smaller portions or healthier food and they sure as hell are not telling you to not exercise.
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Lack of physical labor coupled with high caloric diets. It's exacerbated by promotion of fat is beautiful messages and never my fault mentalities.
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bad diet - causes of bad diet are gluttony, ignorance, lack of time, tons of depressed people and other issues which cause them to eat their feelings

exercise - much much much smaller impact than the bad diet but it is a contributing factor as well. reasons basically the same as above but slothfulness instead of gluttony

lack of real adversity so people give up - the world is peaceful for the most part and there is enough food. people have lost the fighting for survival so the aspect of having to eat healthy for your entire life is just overwhelming for a lot of people.
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Obesity is a complex issue. Pretending to boil it down to one cause, particularly to feel better about making fun of fat people, is stupid.
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It's not complex at all.
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wickdawg01 posted...

hyperpowder posted...

Ultima Dragon posted...

Know what I don't get though? Why people ever let it get so far.

My weight gain was due to getting married and my son being born. It's kinda hard to prioritize maintaining your weight when you're focused on your family.

Classic cop out dude. I got married, I had 2 kids. You don't have to hide behind your family when it comes to your weight. They don't prevent you from eating smaller portions or healthier food and they sure as hell are not telling you to not exercise.

Of course it's a cop out, but it's perfectly reasonable cop out to put your family's needs above your own.

Especially a newborn. Now that my son is 2 it's easier for others to take care of him.Thus I've been able to exercise and diet for 9 months.
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Xelltrix posted...

It's not complex at all.

Perhaps you should have a PhD then. Also replace the dozens of staff scientists at the NIH studying it.
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COVxy posted...

Xelltrix posted...

It's not complex at all.

Perhaps you should have a PhD then.

It doesn't require a PhD's level of knowledge to understand that a less physically demanding world with greater access to food leads to more fat people.
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In most cases it's the fault of the person that is obese.

The exception would be children and actual genetic disorders. The latter is undoubtably much less frequent than it is actually blamed.
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Xelltrix posted...

COVxy posted...

Xelltrix posted...

It's not complex at all.

Perhaps you should have a PhD then.

It doesn't require a PhD's level of knowledge to understand that a less physically demanding world with greater access to food leads to more fat people.

Again, great, pitch your great insight to all the scientists who study this for a living. You want to to be simple because you enjoy having a punching bag. What's simple is your motivation.
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People being taught that fat in food is the worst for your waistline, when actually it is sugar.
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COVxy posted...

Xelltrix posted...

COVxy posted...

Xelltrix posted...

It's not complex at all.

Perhaps you should have a PhD then.

It doesn't require a PhD's level of knowledge to understand that a less physically demanding world with greater access to food leads to more fat people.

Again, great, pitch your great insight to all the scientists who study this for a living. You want to to be simple because you enjoy having a punching bag. What's simple is your motivation.

Way to assume. I don't trash talk fat people ir hate them like a lot of people on here or that I associate with do. That doesn't mean I'm going to accept their excuses, though. And scientist determined the cause ages ago when we found out how weight gain works. There isn't a secret; there isn't a trick... it's common knowledge.
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Wouldn't be the first time we've had multimillion dollar studies that prove the obvious

diet
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I'd definitely say diet. A lot of people have zero clue about nutrition, and a lot of older generation grew up with the fat = ultimate evil mindset. A lot of people also have zero clue how much nutrition impacts obesity as well compared to just exercise. I used to know this one guy who would bike several miles to and from work everyday, then come home, literally consume an entire bag of Oreos (among other things) and had no clue why he wasn't losing weight. Quite a few people seem to have that mindset, of "oh, I just did physical thing for awhile, I can treat myself to 2000 calories of junk food now!" and get pissed that they're still fat.

Xelltrix posted...

There isn't a secret; there isn't a trick... it's common knowledge.

https://www.obesityresearch.nih.gov/about/StrategicPlanforNIH_Obesity_Research_Full-Report_2011.pdf

Seems like a pretty intense research initiative for something that's been solved for so long that it's become common knowledge in the public domain.
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There are studies on why men look at boobs or if cheerleaders look better in a group. So, okay? You can study basic obvious stuff that everyone already knows the answer to.
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SageHarpuia posted...

Parents who are uninformed/don't give a fuck

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SageHarpuia posted...

Parents who are uninformed/don't give a fuck

For kids yes. For adults it's your own fault.
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The spoons
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It's parents' fault. I can't understand how you can let your kid get fat. You have almost complete control over their calorie intake and what they eat. And by the time they're responsible for their weight, they're just continuing habits or coping skills that were formed early on and will become incredibly difficult to break
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Xelltrix posted...

There are studies on why men look at boobs or if cheerleaders look better in a group. So, okay? You can study basic obvious stuff that everyone already knows the answer to.

You're right, these scientists have been studying this shit for their entire career, and are really just twiddling their thumbs researching things that you already know the answers to. Government committees have all approved of the expenditure this entirely useless endeavor.
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LittleRoyal posted...

For kids yes. For adults it's your own fault.

i mean, your life is pretty path dependent based on what happens to you as a kid
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Balrog0 posted...

LittleRoyal posted...

For kids yes. For adults it's your own fault.

i mean, your life is pretty path dependent based on what happens to you as a kid

I mean, it turns out that being born from a parent that is unhealthy, just in terms of the basic biology, not the relating to any learned behavior, drastically increases your weight gain. Turns out that some aspects of metabolism are prenatally programmed, or at least, this is what the evidence suggests.
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COVxy posted...

Xelltrix posted...

There are studies on why men look at boobs or if cheerleaders look better in a group. So, okay? You can study basic obvious stuff that everyone already knows the answer to.

You're right, these scientists have been studying this shit for their entire career, and are really just twiddling their thumbs researching things that you already know the answers to. Government committees have all approved of the expenditure this entirely useless endeavor.

I agree. Government wastes money on pointless studies literally all the time. There is absolutely no magic trick involved with weight gain and obesity.
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Xelltrix posted...

I agree. Government wastes money on pointless studies literally all the time. There is absolutely no magic trick involved with weight gain and obesity.

You're right, kids born to obese parents should have willed their physiology and the neural feedback systems in particular, to not be so damned maladaptively developed. Silly kids, stupid really. Just a lack of intelligence causes this shit. Stop shoving so much shit down your gullet, problem solved!
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When you're talking about global obesity as a statistic and not simply a single person, there's obviously no one factor. I'd say its:

- more sedentary lifestyles
- mass production food techniques introducing more calorie dense meals into people's regular diets
- lower cultural standards for fitness/change in cultural attitude towards being overweight
- bad parenting/lack of education
- availability of cheap grains

Surprise surprise, go to rural Japan or something where everyone has a physical job and eats rice and fresh fish and obesity is basically zero.
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