Why are so many Western people fat?

[mrswdk]

Is it really that hard to eat in moderation?

[Phatscotty]

Freedom, convenience foods, and sugarcane monopoly

[Metsfanmax]

Is it really that hard to eat in moderation?

Yes

[DoomYoshi]

I agree, Kim Jong Un should lose some weight.

[DaGip]

Is it really that hard to eat in moderation?

I just plugged up the toilet this morning and I thought the same thing to myself.

[betiko]

[waauw]

that moment when you think an asians eye slit can't possibly get any smaller, they get fat...

[saxitoxin]

that moment when you think an asians eye slit can't possibly get any smaller, they get fat...

Wait - didn't you once say you were half Pinoy?

[waauw]

that moment when you think an asians eye slit can't possibly get any smaller, they get fat...

Wait - didn't you once say you were half Pinoy?

yes I am

[KoolBak]

This is interesting...looks like a worldwide epidemic, not just us fatties

[tzor]

Is it really that hard to eat in moderation?

Yes. People lie to us all the time and we believe all the lies.

• About one-fifth of the U.S. population consumed diet drinks on a given day.
• The percentage consuming diet drinks was similar for females and males at all ages except among 12- to 19-year-olds, where a higher percentage of females than males consumed diet drinks.
• A higher percentage of non-Hispanic white persons consumed diet drinks compared with non-Hispanic black and Hispanic persons.
• From 1999‒2000 through 2009‒2010, the percentage of persons consuming diet beverages increased.

Now here is a fact. People who consume "diet" sodas tend to have stomachs that crave more calories to consume. (Long story short, tongue tells stomach "sugar is coming" - stomach doesn't detect that sugar and never sends the signal "I'm full now.")

There are other factors as well that result in the increased tendency to overeat or to eat incorrectly. (Processed foods also can do this.)

Refined fructose, typically in some form of corn syrup, is now found in virtually every processed food and fast food meal you can think of, and fructose actually "programs" your body to consume more calories and store fat.

[TA1LGUNN3R]

Because we can and because we're awesome.

-TG

[Lootifer]

Lol, Pacific Islands making up the top 5-10 of obese nations. ALERT THE PRESSES!

(the BMI measure doesn't work for Pacific Islanders who are genetically predisposed to being short and broad - regardless of how fit or unfit they may be)

[Metsfanmax]

Lol, Pacific Islands making up the top 5-10 of obese nations. ALERT THE PRESSES!

(the BMI measure doesn't work for Pacific Islanders who are genetically predisposed to being short and broad - regardless of how fit or unfit they may be)

Also, it falls prey to a common fallacy: smaller populations tend to have more outliers regardless of what issue is being considered. So if there's any random spread to this effect, nations with small populations are going to see a disproportionately high (and low) ranking on this list.

[mrswdk]

Plus given the ludicrous proportions of a lot of islanders, I wouldn't call coming in 1th or 12th behind the island nations something to crow about.

[persianempire]

burger king, kfc, mcdonalds, taco bell, pizza hut, the list goes on and on..

[betiko]

This is interesting...looks like a worldwide epidemic, not just us fatties

what this chart tells you is that if you are Samoan you're fat, but if you add americanness to it you have +20 point chances to be fat.

This chart also tells you that if you're from kiribati you're fat and your island is shaped like a penis.

[KoolBak]

And if you're from South Africa? Mexico? Saudi?

Just not as fun to pick on as us cool people

[notyou2]

GMO food and growth hormones

[Lootifer]

And if you're from South Africa? Mexico? Saudi?

Just not as fun to pick on as us cool people

I think the point is: Why are so many people in the world fat? (with the PoV that China, and a lot of other Asian countries can say, "man you guys ARE fat", because comparatively they are skinny).

It's fairly simple really: Humans are fundamentally lazy + humans aren't very good at self control.

The good news is that society is going through a phase where exercise and physically looking good is trendy right now. That should hopefully slow down the increasing rates of obesity.

[waauw]

Normal, it's human instinct to seek out high calories. We thrive on the addictive dopamine released everytime we eat.

And most asians are just too poor te bcome fat and due to increasing wealth that is rapidly changing(with obvious exceptions like Japan).

[mrswdk]

burger king, kfc, mcdonalds, taco bell, pizza hut, the list goes on and on..

lol. McDonald's and KFC are absolutely everywhere in China. That's not it.

[mrswdk]

Normal, it's human instinct to seek out high calories. We thrive on the addictive dopamine released everytime we eat.

And most asians are just too poor te bcome fat and due to increasing wealth that is rapidly changing(with obvious exceptions like Japan).

As you acknowledge within your own post, economies such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have levels of wealth on a par with Western countries and yet significantly lower obesity rates.

[/]

It probably has a lot to do with what your country likes to shill. Asian countries generally love to sell televisons, video games, bluray players, computers, and every other electronic device under the sun (which I use ironically, since they keep a lot of people out of the sun more surely than vampirism) and now practically every kid in Asia is nearsighted.

Westerners on the other hand advertise candy and soda like our media is run by picnic ants. Getting fat is patriotic!

[Dukasaur]

And if you're from South Africa? Mexico? Saudi?

Just not as fun to pick on as us cool people

I think the point is: Why are so many people in the world fat? (with the PoV that China, and a lot of other Asian countries can say, "man you guys ARE fat", because comparatively they are skinny).

It's fairly simple really: Humans are fundamentally lazy + humans aren't very good at self control.

The good news is that society is going through a phase where exercise and physically looking good is trendy right now. That should hopefully slow down the increasing rates of obesity.

On the contrary. Exercise has been has been trendy since the 1970s, and the obesity epidemic has not only continued during that time, but has accelerated. Jim Fixx started the running craze in 1977, and most other fitness fads were well under way before the end of the 80s. Despite enormous promotion of the idea, exercise can't make you slim. Exercise works up an appetite, and you will quickly replenish the calories you burned.

The core of the obesity epidemic is the decline in traditional cooking and eating at home. More and more of our meals are eaten on the fly. We get breakfast at the drive-through on the way to work, we get lunch at some other fast food joint, and we know we'll be too tired to cook by the time we get home so we grab a bucket of chicken at a third drive-through on the way home. All this eating on the fly packs on the pounds. We don't have time to look at our food, we're changing lanes and swearing at other drivers while we plow through our Egg McMuffins. At lunch we're busy on the phone while the double burgers disappear. Lunch is over and we didn't even notice what we ate. Get home, and the bucket of chicken disappears while we rush to take our turns on Conquer Club and throw in a load of laundry before rushing to bed for a few hours of unsatisfying sleep and starting the whole cycle over again tomorrow. The constant manic pace of modern life, always eating on the fly while rushing to be somewhere else or do something else, means our brain doesn't get the proper satisfaction signals from the food, and more and more we're eating things without even remembering that we ate them.