More than 73% of Americans are overweight or obese.

The only policy change we need is to have people pay for their own healthcare costs so that society isn't subsidizing their poor choices. I shouldn't have to care if other people are fat. I should be able to do my thing and let them do as they please. If that means that I stay in shape while my neighbor eats and drinks his way to 350 lbs and an early grave, well, it's a free country. This is really only a problem in our current system because my neighbor is able to make other people pay for his choices.

Dave37 wrote:

The only policy change we need is to have people pay for their own healthcare costs so that society isn't subsidizing their poor choices. I shouldn't have to care if other people are fat. I should be able to do my thing and let them do as they please. If that means that I stay in shape while my neighbor eats and drinks his way to 350 lbs and an early grave, well, it's a free country. This is really only a problem in our current system because my neighbor is able to make other people pay for his choices.

Agree.

Also: shaming. While I morally disagree with this approach as it has been used with masks, you have to admit that it worked. The media went all-in on mask shaming, and people changed behavior dramatically in a matter of months.

Let’s try the same thing for fatties. Instead of telling them how beautiful they are, tell them they are an ugly disgrace that is bankrupting the health care system to everyone’s detriment. Put the same energy into fat-shaming as we have into mask-shaming and things will change.

Simple: people consume too many damn calories

I don't want to hear about "omg corn syrup" or "low quality food". There was crappy food before this obesity epidemic with abundant lard, trans fats, shady oils, sugary drinks, etc. The difference is we ate less of it and were more active.

In every office I've ever worked at least half the people were total lards, and they were literally always eating. McDonald's breakfast at 8:30am, coffee with lots of cream, 10:30am snack, large lunch, 3pm snack, soda throughout the day, candy in their desk, and then who knows what they ate when they got home. At one place we had a large jar of fun size chocolates, after filling it, the damn thing would be cleaned out in a few days.

When I worked in Hong Kong, most people would eat a small bowl of noodles for breakfast (some skipped breakfast entirely), a reasonably-sized lunch, and then they just drink green tea or water throughout the day. And a lot more walking. None of the food was particularly healthy, people just simply ate less.

LOL @ BMI wrote:

Americans are definitely fat, but BMI is a really poor metric for determining individual health. I am 5'11", and I was 185 lbs at my fittest. I was "overweight" and could run a sub 2 800m. Plenty of similarly "overweight" guys are playing wide receiver and defensive back in the NFL.

Good argument. BMI is a poor

Metric because so many Americans have a body type like an NFL player...not.

Givetallugot wrote:

LOL @ BMI wrote:

Americans are definitely fat, but BMI is a really poor metric for determining individual health. I am 5'11", and I was 185 lbs at my fittest. I was "overweight" and could run a sub 2 800m. Plenty of similarly "overweight" guys are playing wide receiver and defensive back in the NFL.

Good argument. BMI is a poor

Metric because so many Americans have a body type like an NFL player...not.

As I said earlier, it is sensitive, but nonspecific, making it a good screening tool, but a poor diagnostic tool. Do you disagree?

If you take the population of people with a BMI above 30, what % of those people have a BMI of >30 because they are jacked af? I'd guess probably less than 1%. Seriously, at my height of 5'10", a BMI of >30 is at least 210lbs. That's a lot of weight, even for someone that's ripped. A screening tool that has less than 1% false positives is quite good.

ClaytonHammer wrote:

If you take the population of people with a BMI above 30, what % of those people have a BMI of >30 because they are jacked af? I'd guess probably less than 1%. Seriously, at my height of 5'10", a BMI of >30 is at least 210lbs. That's a lot of weight, even for someone that's ripped. A screening tool that has less than 1% false positives is quite good.

The number stated in the thread title is overweight + obese, so it counts everyone with a BMI over 25.0. I agree that few people with a BMI over 30 are going to be healthy, but plenty of people in the 25.0-29.9 range are going to be perfectly healthy people. A 5'11" 185 lb person being fit isn't some outlier. It is half the dudes you run into in your college gym.

I’m older than 55 and I’ve never seen a time in my life when food was so relatively inexpensive and varied. I can go to Trader Joe’s buy an entree that’s two servings from any ethnic group, for less than $6

I am actually surprised the percentage is not higher, check out the drive through lane if any fast food restaurant, we are a lazy everything now society.

jonathon wrote:

What the heck is going on people.

Technology, laziness and fatty foods = a culture gone soft. It really is unbelievable how people have collectively and individually let themselves go.

Ca$hclay wrote:

jonathon wrote:

What the heck is going on people.

Technology, laziness and fatty foods = a culture gone soft. It really is unbelievable how people have collectively and individually let themselves go.

Exactly, and now we celebrate it with nonsense like "body positivity" and "healthy at every size". Both of which celebrate bodies that are the result of a vice. There's no fixing it at this point. The alternative is more difficult and as such americans wont do it.

so what do we do as a nation? Give up? Or keep expecting individuals to pony up, which has largely been a big fat failure so far?

seattle prattle wrote:

so what do we do as a nation? Give up? Or keep expecting individuals to pony up, which has largely been a big fat failure so far?

No junk food with food stamps.

Eliminate corn subsidy.

Sugar tax.

Tax breaks for fitness/exercise.

Bradyc wrote:, we are a lazy everything now society.

Propose walking half a mile instead of driving to 75% of the population and watch the eyes go wide with confusion and terror.

non-fatty wrote:

seattle prattle wrote:

so what do we do as a nation? Give up? Or keep expecting individuals to pony up, which has largely been a big fat failure so far?

No junk food with food stamps.

Eliminate corn subsidy.

Sugar tax.

Tax breaks for fitness/exercise.

Forgot to add: invest in public parks and outdoor recreation areas, bike lanes, running paths, etc. Lots of towns have crap for places to exercise outdoors. Nobody likes running on busy roads.

hi there wrote:

I’m older than 55 and I’ve never seen a time in my life when food was so relatively inexpensive and varied. I can go to Trader Joe’s buy an entree that’s two servings from any ethnic group, for less than $6

Even frozen dinners, like those you mention at Trader Joe's, have come a long, long way in terms of quality and health! I can get 4 relatively tasty frozen Indian dinners + a 4 pack of garlic naan + 4 bananas + a bar of chocolate which can be split into 4 pieces for about $20, or $5/serving. That's four relatively healthy 800-calorie meals for $5 each. And as someone that's traveled to India several times on business, they are actually pretty decent!

People simply consume way too much. I remember when I went to Chili's just before Covid and was disgusted at how much food/beer people were shoving down their throats. Appetizers, several beers, large greasy entrees, and a huge dessert, easily 2000+ calories per person.

The solution is for the government/society to start treating obesity like they did with smoking. PSAs around the clock showing exaggerated effects of being a lardfat, fat-hostile policies, fat taxes, condoning fat shaming, allowing companies to charge people by the pound (eg airlines).

Look what happened with smoking - it's been virtually eradicated in the US because everyone knows how dangerous is it and how incredibly lame and uncool it is to smoke. The problem is that we've gone the other way in promoting the idea that being a lardfat is totally normal.

The problem with the correlation with fat shaming and tobacco shaming is that a similar distribution exists in those that still smoke and those that are most impacted by obesity. Its the poor and uneducated. But I agree, has to be ostracized in some way or it will never go away.

I'm for doing all of it, both personal responsibility, and public policy and legislation.

It's going to take all of it and more.

Here's an idea, too - we can be willing to share what has worked for us as runners and athletes. Not pushy, but don't hide it, either. Be willing to talk about it when people ask or are interested. Be an example (in a good way). The nice thing about that is that it is a positive thing to shoot for rather than approaching it as punishments or shaming if they don't do it.

But honestly, i think the very first step is that on a national level, we need to identify it as a problem that needs to be solved.

But see this gets confusing.

If we do want to encourage people to exercise in some way, why would we not support Ragen Chastain more in the running category.

Or Jen Selter for lifting?