smoking helps you lose weight.
But those problems are probably really limited to the US. Great Britain and most Western European countries are so densely populated that nobody has limited access to transportation, you can get everywhere by public transportation - often the distances are so small, that you can even go by bike.One of the major causes of obesity, at least in the US, is poverty. People in poor neighborhoods have limited access to transportation and often the nutritional quality of food in their local grocery stores is sorely lacking. Another problem is that processed food is usually cheaper than things that are more healthy for you like produce.
My own experience - which I must point out was some time ago - is that the problem is not always the cost of produce but the cost of fresh, high quality produce. If you buy your fruit and veg from a farmer's market or an organic producer or the like, you can get very good food and while it won't necessarily be cheap, I doubt it will be pricier than in many European countries. Of course, you can buy Ramen noodles or Campbell soup, and that will always be cheaper.I heard about the expensive fresh food in the US. Is that really true? I have a friend at university who lived in Annapolis for 6 months, and she was shocked how expensive fresh fruits and vegetables are. She said that eating fast food is a much cheaper way to live there.
I also often eat locally grown products, e.g. the supermarket where I mostly buy, it's just around the corner, is part of a large chain, but they always offer products from the region. I live right on the border to the Netherlands and there is a big farm in the Dutch village next to us - the supermarket always sells their potatoes, tomatoes etc. And it's really quite cheap, probably because they only need to transport the products 1 kilometre. There is also a store in the city centre that sells products from the mountain region that borders Aachen. Also not expensive.I don't know about the situation in Germany, but I'm used to eating mainly locally grown produce, and even if it's not organic, it's still generally good. Meanwhile, there were some fruits and veggies that I just couldn't bring myself to eat in the US. It was just disgusting, and I fully understand Americans who would rather not eat such things.
Addictions are psychiatric illnesses, you know that, right? That's not just some joke or modern nonsense to make people feel better about themselves. Just like we know that genes can contribute to illnesses like depression, cancer, allergies, attention deficit disorder - we also know that genes can contribute to addictive behaviour. There are neurotransmitter imbalances in the brains of addicts, just like in the brains of depressive people.If you look at obesity as a disability, it's a health and identity-politics issue and people are victims. If you look at it as an addiction, it's a behavioral issue and people need to take responsibility for it. That is, until addiction too becomes a disability and health-identity politics issue and addicts are victims too. :sheesh:
There are lots of overweight middle-class people but I can't deny there's a big poverty connection. I used to be so poor I bought a lot of my food from 99-cent stores, and let me tell you, there is tons of cheap pasta, sweets, and processed food in those places - and absolutely no fresh produce. LOTS of people in poorer neighborhoods depend on those stores. I also did a lot of work with soup kitchens and food pantries, and the nutritional quality of their offerings is on the whole very low.
I don't know what the answer is. It's depressing! But I don't think the answer is not talking about it or banning the word fat or denying people's responsibility for their lives. Comments on media sites are rude and anonymous. The problem is much bigger than this particular article, and the article doesn't disturb me at all.
I also recall the MJ autopsy report citing that he was a healthy 5'10" male at 130 pounds. Isn't that too light for a guy?
This article is interesting to me because I am a social worker. It states that the children were not removed for weight issues but does not give any other reason for their removal. That is amazing.
One of the major causes of obesity, at least in the US, is poverty. People in poor neighborhoods have limited access to transportation and often the nutritional quality of food in their local grocery stores is sorely lacking. Another problem is that processed food is usually cheaper than things that are more healthy for you like produce.
I'm not in favor of discrimination either, but a technically obese person as a fitness trainer for anyone but other obese people? Come on. IMHO, that seems like political correctness to the point of absurdity.
Well...it sounds like it could be argued as a case of neglect or incompetence, which are valid reasons to take children away in other situations where obesity isn't the main consequence...no?This article is interesting to me because I am a social worker. It states that the children were not removed for weight issues but does not give any other reason for their removal. That is amazing.
Yes...genes play a role in interindividual susceptibilities to all those things...but environment and personal pro-active approaches to controlling oneself are relevant to each of those things as well. For that matter, to choose an extreme example, an evil dictator could have been genetically predisposed (or even mentally sick) to be the way they are, and their upbringing will have contributed to it too, but that doesn't mean that demonizing them is morally wrong.Addictions are psychiatric illnesses, you know that, right? That's not just some joke or modern nonsense to make people feel better about themselves. Just like we know that genes can contribute to illnesses like depression, cancer, allergies, attention deficit disorder - we also know that genes can contribute to addictive behaviour. There are neurotransmitter imbalances in the brains of addicts, just like in the brains of depressive people.
I am not saying that people shouldn't take responsibility for themselves, on the contrary. Everyone should accept that we are all born with a certain set of cards in our hands, some can be assets, others can jeopardise our health and well-being - and some can do both. We all have weaknesses and strengths. How we play them, that's our decision.
I don't have problems with judgment. When I see a fat person, I can think of a million different reasons they might be fat; a few glimpses of their personality might indicate which reasons are likelier than others (and may also prove to be commendable anyway.) What's wrong with judgment? It's what people do with them that matters on the moral plane.But we only see one tidbit of this person, one weakness of a personality, that has probably myriads of assets, strengths and some weaknesses. How can it be right to judge someone just because of one tiny glimpse you get of him/her?
I agree.I have no problems with articles giving good advice, articles describing health problems that are connected with overweight / obesity. But this article was just nasty, the author took some extreme examples, put them together in a judgmental and patronising opinion piece, that seemed to have a near demagoguing effect on it's readers.
Well...it sounds like it could be argued as a case of neglect or incompetence, which are valid reasons to take children away in other situations where obesity isn't the main consequence...no?