Obesity who's fault?

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It's a retarded assumption that to not be obese you have to eat fruits and vegetables. Wtf? how many thin people eat plenty of fruits and vegetables everyday? you only need to eat less food (of whatever quality) and possibly move more to lose weight and keep it off. You don't have to eat "healthy" whatever the hell that means. Some foods are more filling but they're not necessarily "healthy" (again, w/e that means).

We aren't just talking about weight, we are also talking about health. Which is why I specified fruit and vegetables, which I think everyone should be making an effort to eat more of.

And I never said if you're overweight it is definitely from eating crisps or chocolate. I was clearly making a distinction between healthier and more nutritious options from those that are less so in terms of cost.

Fully aware in order to lose weight you simply need to eat less food (more specifically calories) but it's also pretty much common knowledge (or at least should be blindingly obvious) fruit vegetables generally have fewer calories per portion than for example chocolate and cake making them a wiser snack option for those trying to lose weight.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 21

caravaggio2

Sad fact but true is that a much higher proportion of working class and poor are obese than middle class and above.
For every Nicholas Soames there are many Onslows living on council estates.
If you look at pictures of the poor before mass production of food and the welfare state, being over weight or plump was a sign of wealth or prosperity.
Overweight working class or poor were like rocking horse ****. All but none existent.
Photographs show them as stick thin.
Yet today the signal biggest health issue with the poor in this country is obesity.
I was in Tescos the other day and they sell 6 doughnuts for 65p. That's at least 1200 calories for 65p.
There was an experiment done by an American academic who went see what he could get in a market for $1.00
He got 4x the calories in sugary fat foods as compared to fresh fruit and veg.
So who is to blame?
I would say the government and the food industry must take a fair portion ( no pun intended) but the individual obese people must take the most responsibility otherwise everyone in their income bracket would be the same as them and and they are clearly not. There are plenty of healthy poor around.
Just not as many.

Reply 22

MeYou2Night

People are fat. through their own irresponsible decisions to eat too much rubbish and fast food and do no excersie and only have themselves to blame.

People really need to start taking responsibility for themselves and stop blaming someone else or the government when it's the fault of only themselves.

I have zero sympathy.

Reply 23

Rakas21

I believe in individual responsibility so even as somebody became obese i put most of the blame on myself. Nobody forced me not to exercise, to eat huge portions or to order takeaways.

In my experience most people who claim it's not their fault have not accepted their gluttony.

Reply 24

ValerieKR

Most obese people are obese because of poor lifestyle choices - any of but not limited to: junk food, lack of exercise, too much alcohol.
But how much those things affect people is affected by metabolism - of two people making the same poor choices one may be slightly overweight and another morbidly obese.

The moral of the story is everybody should make an effort to stay healthy, if you don't then obesity is your fault, if you do then there's a continuous spectrum and it's a lot harder to decide where the line is. Don't sacrifice your health for short term satisfaction and remember you have a responsibility to yourself to look after yourself.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 25

maisieaa

I believe it is nearly completely down to the individual. Exercise is free, and it works out cheaper in the long run to cook from scratch rather than ready meals, s*** you add boiling water to and fast foods.
American's like to blame the obesity epidemic on McDonald's alone, but I believe it is down to individuals who do not have the self control, and do not enjoy it as part of a healthy lifestyle. People need to stop pointing their finger.

Reply 26

AfcFob

I used to be obese as a child and I can safely say it was my own fault because I would take food up to my room when I was bored and buy sweets after school all the time without my parents knowing. I would spend my pocket money on food whenever I could. Last year I was 218lb and morbidly obese, 14 months later and I'm now 160lb and still losing- for me it was about learning to say no and it completely an individual's responsibility

Reply 27

username2290305

obesity is the fault of the media quite simply.
1.) celebrities and people of power telling young generations that they look good, and they should be happy. however there is a line between happiness and death. 1 in 5 americans die from obesity and it is simply this idea that you can eat what u want, you can be who you want to be and really this is a way of saying be as lazy as you like. obese people probably won't agree with me, but you know who will. their doctors. we have feminista people saying that mannequins should be different sizes and shapes, but let me tell you something. the reason they don't have mannequins different shapes and sizes is because they are not interested in severely overweight people buying their clothes. in fact they are actually doing them a favour by saying, 'come back when you have lost weight' anyway, my point is, this crisis has been cause by ignorant fat celebrities and people of power

Reply 28

kimkarsd

it's society's fault. it's about the time we banned fatty foods.

Reply 29

Nirvana1989-1994

I think that we need to get to the root cause of the problem, instead of exhibiting the current attitude of "Eww, fat people".

Reply 30

CatusStarbright

I believe there are 4 groups who can be assigned some blame for the 'obesity epidemic'.

The first are the parents. Simply put, they are the main influence in a child's formative years and usually dictate their diet until at least the age of fourteen. They lead by example and so if the household eats badly, exercises little, etc the child will follow the pattern and also raise their children in a similar way, creating a vicious cycle.

Secondly, it does come down to the individual. As adults they have control over their lives and if their parents were unhealthy in their habits, it does not mean that they have to continue in that way. They are not 'doomed' to live in the way their parents did, they have the choice and freewill to decide for themselves how they want their future to be.

I also point the finger at society in general. The western world has created a culture of obesity. One in four British adults are obese according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. In America, that figure is 35.7%. This means that is is becoming the norm to be overweight, a very worrying idea since most people compare themselves to others and if they are of a similar weight they may think 'I'm okay' whereas in reality, they are above what is considered a healthy weight.

Finally, I think the corporations are putting public health at risk for pushing people more and more to buy things that are not healthy and for providing food with a frankly ridiculous number of calories, salt, fat and sugar. When I say corporations, I don't just mean the fast-food companies, I am also including the supermarkets, where (as has already been mentioned) it's cheaper to buy chocolate than fruit!

It is my opinion that the sugar tax will help to dissuade people from purchasing foods (and drinks) that are high in sugar and therefore damaging to public health. The rise in obesity puts unecessary strain on our health services and frustratingly it is a problem that should not exist in the first place.

Reply 31

username1148663

Original post by Laomedeia

Dont kid yourself taxes are spent properly or efficiently. There is absolutely nothing our government can do properly. Well I suppose its pretty handy at pissing people off, but certainly things like NHS and immigration policy leave room for improvements to say the least.

It's a mixture of modern lifestyle, new types of jobs, disposable income, lack of clear guidance and the biggest one is the content of the food which could be easily modified to have a lot less salt sugar and fat

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Reply 32

That Bearded Man

Original post by Laomedeia

Please, I'd love to hear how the most efficient health service in the world could be run more efficiently.

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Reply 33

username937760

Let's be real. Blaming the media seems senseless here (do they really glamourise obesity?), effectively everyone has internet access to bypass education issues and I've never heard of parents forcing their children to overeat.

The sooner we stop blaming external factors and making excuses for ourselves, the sooner we can start moving down to a healthier weight. With certain obvious exceptions (such as medically diagnosed thyroid issues) the person to blame is ourselves.

Reply 34

kimkarsd

Original post by Rakas21

That's a bit simplistic.

Reply 35

RomeoSantos

Its the fault of the parents up until the age of 16 at which point a person can get a job and make their own decisions on the food they buy and eat.

Reply 36

Rakas21

Original post by kimkarsd

That's a bit simplistic.

How so? The only difficulty that i acknowledge is that its harder to create a new routine and stick with it than people think.

Reply 37

That Bearded Man

I've been in and around the healthy/overweight border for a while now, and it's definitely multi-faceted.

Parents need to be doing more to educate their children about healthy eating, this means parents need to have a stronger backbone and are prepared to say no to kids asking for sweets. I remember eating chocolate daily at school (long commute to school) and parents supported this (I'd just burn it off they'd say) but all this relied on me doing sport daily, which didn't materialise. On retrospect I wish my parents had have just forced me to eat fruit or something instead.

Breakfasting always was and still is a bit of an issue, one day I'll crack it.

Individuals are responsible for their weight, sure, but the government really should have done and be doing so much more. This laissez fair approach hasn't worked and the state needs to have a greater role, both with carrot and stick.

On the carrot side, every student should be taught how to cook cheaply and healthily, PE classes should be longer and more spread out, community sports at weekends need to be promoted more (not just for the best 11) Sports pitches should be free to use etc.

On the stick side, we need to do more a society to discourage obesity, don't abuse people for being obese, but make it apparent to everyone that obesity is neither desirable nor attractive. Paired with, say, free Gym memberships, benefits should be weight dependent (bar for health reasons) and we shouldn't be accomodating them with larger doors and seats. I support the Scandinavian model of high taxes on sugar, fatty foods, alcohol and cigarettes.

Solutions require strong government, the sell off of land, the expense of gyms means there are now financial reasons not to exercise. Sports should be free.