More Than Two-Thirds of U.S. Adults Now Overweight or Obese: Study

[onehandle]

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

MONDAY, June 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Fewer than one-third of Americans are currently at a healthy weight, with the rest of the population either overweight or obese, a new report finds. About 35 percent of men and 37 percent of women are obese. Another 40 percent of men and 30 percent of women are overweight, researchers said in the June 22 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

"Obesity is not getting better. It's getting worse, and it's really scary. It's not looking pretty," said Lin Yang, a postdoctoral research associate at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Obesity has been linked to a number of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and arthritis, Yang said.

"This generation of Americans is the first that will have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation, and obesity is one of the biggest contributors to this shortened life expectancy because it is driving a lot of chronic health conditions," she said.

The new report used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey gathered between 2007 and 2012, involving more than 15,000 men and women age 25 and older.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/fitness/HealthDay700584_20150622_More_Than_Two-Thirds_of_U_S__Adults_Now_Overweight_or_Obese__Study.html

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[Person 2713]

1. That sand which and these

http://thatiswhyyourefat.tumblr.com

[Stuart G]

2. k and r...nt

[moondust]

3. It's noticeable.

When I go to Costco and other stores I can hardly believe how much obesity there is anymore. All kinds of people who can barely put one foot in front of the other, creeping along because they can't move any faster. Not being obese myself, I always feel sorry for them and wonder if it's genetic predisposition or a lack of exercise or poor eating habits or what; probably some combination of factors.

[cstanleytech]

4. The other factor and probably the biggest one is alot of us literally cannot

afford to eat a healthier diet.
A prime example is my brother he works for Publix and barely earns over 10 bucks an hour yet he cannot afford to shop at his own store to often especially for fresh produce unless its in season and on sale and even then he can only afford to do that occasionally.

[moondust]

5. Yep, that too.

Another effect of widespread inequality/extreme wealth concentration.

[Fred Sanders]

7. I think you have to throw into the mix massive fast food advertising and subsidized mega-farms.

Consumers are little more than cattle being taken to the feeding sheds.
Also keeps the general herd docile and complacent.

[ronnie624]

43. Yep.

The propaganda that pushes consumerism is the biggest culprit.

[romanic]

9. Another factor

to add on is how auto-centric most cities and suburbs are. You can't really excercises or go for a jog in a cul-de-sac with no sidewalks or ride a bike in an eight lane roadway. :-/ Add in drive thru and fast food deliveries and you have very little reason to step out and walk to get dinner.

[joshcryer]

16. It's more like the cheap stuff has super high calories.

So you wind up eating way beyond your caloric intake. It takes if anything self control, you can buy the cheap crap, just have a caloric deficit if you're overweight and a balance if you're at your target weight. That takes counting calories.

MyFitnessPal works to help you do that.

Poor people don't shop for cost / nutrition, they shop for cost / calories. They see something that has a lot of calories and it's more valuable to them than something with low calories. A bag of salad is $4, but it provides maybe 400 calories tops (entire bag). Bag of chips? $2. 1200 calories. Which is the better deal?

The problem is after they get the high calorie food, they eat the entire bag of chips in one sitting, then eat dinner, and eat whatever else. And I am saying this from experience. I struggled at 200 lbs for over a decade. It's hard. Very hard to quit those habits. I went from 230 to 180 just by watching my caloric intake. Food quality be damned (and that means eating pizza some nights and eating beans the other, or even fasting for a day and drinking only water).

[GliderGuider]

20. And the wrong kinds of calories

The combination of high vegetable fats and high refined carbohydrates (flour and sugars) is absolutely devastating over time. It messes with your insulin metabolism something fierce.

[joshcryer]

22. Absolutely.

Drank sweetened iced tea from three years old until thirty, dropped the sugar and things changed dramatically.

[crim son]

25. Your post suggests there is more (or less) to the problem

than some posters will admit. I don't find it either cheaper or easier to eat high-calorie, low nutritional value foods. It IS more time-consuming but not in a way that precludes eating well. I eat garbage food too, but not every day and not even every week. I am and always have been, at what is considered normal weight.

[GliderGuider]

26. I was in pretty bad shape, so I had to go a bit further.

A year and a half ago I cut out all starches (bread, potatoes, rice etc.) and starchy vegetables and fruit, 95% of all sugars, all vegetable oils except for coconut and a bit of olive oil, and all alcohol. I did not cut my calorie intake though, instead I replaced the sugar/starch calories with meat and animal fats of various sorts.

Since then I've lost 50 lb without paying any attention to calorie restriction or exercise, my BP dropped from 155/110 to 115/70, my blood lipids have normalized, my acid reflux disappeared, my body-wide edema has vanished, and my previously severe mood swings have gone away.

This diet may not work for everyone, but the Big Mac/Big Gulp diet isn't working for anyone.

[tridim]

36. I did the same, but I was skinny when I started.

Way too skinny. A few years later and I'm exactly where I want to be body-wise, lean and strong. It's amazing!

I just cut my carbs in half and replaced the calories with protein, high quality fats and veggies. Done and done. I enjoy eating so much more than I used to when I ate and drank junk food all day.

Good luck with your progress... General symptom reduction is a nice side-effect isn't it!? That's really what it's all about.

[tridim]

34. Two words, farmer's market.

Veggies are cheap (and amazing) if you avoid the grocery store.

I do wish coconut oil and other good fats were cheaper. Coconut oil used to be cheap before it became popular.

[forthemiddle]

51. Most frozen vegetables

Are just as nutritious as fresh, and on sale you can usually find them in the $1.00-$2.00 range.
I also lost about 50 pounds in the past three years, and the way I did it was through watching calories, and exercising.
myfitnesspal.com is a wonderful FREE app that anyone can use.

It takes determination, and dedication, but not much money to lose weight. And with very few exceptions (those with endocrine conditions) anyone can do it.

If you have a computer, you can use the app (again its FREE), and it truly makes losing weight that much easier.

[tridim]

52. Totally agree about frozen veggies. I do that for mango and veggies in the winter.

[forthemiddle]

54. I make sure that vegetables are twice the portion of my starch

I still have a huge problem getting away from starches. To me, I am not satisfied with a mean without either potato, pasta, or rice side dish. I just had to learn to decrease the portion, and increase the veggies, but I haven't eliminated them. It worked.
My husband is also down about 70 pounds in the three years, and he was a meat an potato guy only.

Another huge change we made was grilling. We grill EVERYTHING. Usually 5-6 days a week, even when it's 20 below here in Mid Wisconsin winter. But if you don't have access to a grill, go get a grill pan. I am sure you could probably pick one up second hand.

We eat a lot of seafood, pork, and chicken. Very little red meat. That is more a preference thing, but I think it makes a difference.
Also, I don't know if people are aware how low calorie pork can be. Now, obviously, if you have a sodium restriction watch out for cured pork, but otherwise if you grill a pork tenderloin it is very low calorie.

Also, everyone WATCH YOUR PORTION SIZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cstanleytech]

59. Ya if you happen to live near enough to one but not everyone does. nt

[restorefreedom]

21. food deserts aren't helping either

many people cannot get to a full grocery or even have the option of getting healthy affordable food within so many miles of their home. so they are left with fast food, convenience food etc. filling and cheap, but not healthy. and as expected, most food deserts are in low income often minority dense neighborhoods. just another way wealth and income inequality is literally killing people.

[HockeyMom]

30. Shocked me how expensive fresh produce is in Florida

It is not much cheaper than it is up North where it has to be shipped. You cannot buy produce in quantity either because it goes bad very quickly. Yes, definitely expensive.

Besides the home cooking factor for people, using more veggies in a meal can be a big determent to poor people.

Edit: Remember a while ago some Republicans were blasting people on Food Stamps for using them to buy GRAPES!!!!! Buy a bag of potato chips instead just because it is less expensive?????????

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. yes. people leaning on the shopping cart like it's a walker

[joshcryer]

15. Went to Wal-Mart after reading this story.

Not because I read the story, I had to get some food. For the first time I noticed it. I don't normally judge other people, I don't look down on them, or criticize them, or judge their body type. But it was just, noticeable. In exactly the numbers described in the OP.

2 out of 3 people were overweight. I never saw it before. Kept checking my phone for the Womens World Cup US standings (woot, they won 2-0) and every time I clicked refresh there was a news story on my phone about this.

It's really unfortunate because I've been there (230lbs to 180lbs). And the plenty of food is so hard to overcome.

I wound up putting back a bag of pork skins, and I'd explicitly went there to get a big bag of spicy pork skins / rinds (had a craving) as a snack to the other food I was getting.

I feel like going on a cut.

[tridim]

41. Ironically, pork rinds could be considered healthy..

At least until the junk food makers fry them in their vats of junk vegetable oil.

If they fried them in lard (which they used to do) they would be a perfectly healthy snack that will not cause weight gain.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

45. I went from 323 to 227 (and still trying to get to my goal of 210).

I cut way down on alcohol, started eating Greek yogurt, lean chicken and fish, salads, fruits, etc. I count calories - 1500 / day.

I also drink a LOT of water. I'm floating in it right now...

[Fred Sanders]

6. Scan the stands of any American TV sports game....not a pretty picture.

[Arugula Latte]

10. This is really scary on a lot of levels.

One is that a lot of people, not necessarily elderly people, are going to be permanently disabled by a stroke. That will upend not only the stroke victim's life, but the lives of family and friends, in terms of becoming caregivers, suffering financially, etc.

[YOHABLO]

11. If you look up the stats you'll find most obese states are in the South. AL,MS,GA,SC,etc.

[Hekate]

18. I've heard medical people there call it the Stroke Belt :(

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. And the best BBQ is in the South.

Coincidence?

[tridim]

33. It's not the BBQed meat, it's the bread, the fries and deep fried everything.

It shocks me how often protein and saturated fat are blamed for obesity. It's completely wrong, and it completely misses the point.

[Psephos]

39. your posts in this thread are spot on n/t

[ronnie624]

47. I agree with Psephos about your posts,

but don't forget regular moderate exercise, perhaps the most important element in reducing risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.

[tridim]

48. Thanks. I do forget to mention exercise sometimes

Only because it has been my default state of being for the past three years. Good diet and exercise, the two keys to Rx-free good health.

Exercise should be as much a part of anyone's day as brushing your teeth.

[SunSeeker]

12. And the other third are on meth.

OK, I may be exaggerating just a little. But when my skinny sister-in-law finally went off meth, she gained 100 pounds. Seems we only know how to be fat or sick...or both.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. Seriously? This thread is drifting down without DU claiming it's the clone of Venus and Apollo?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

27. Only as done by Rubens... ;) nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

50. More like "as done by Arbies."

[Trajan]

14. I was on that train ....

Thanks to Dr. Michael Moseley, I'm down from 274 to the low 180's ....

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms

I wish more people would try it ... Nothing to buy (except a book, and perhaps a few recipe books for your own benefit) ..

Fasting = less food cost.

A recent update ... Longo is also in the documentary above ...

http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/8614392-74/diet-fasting-percent

[shanti]

55. ymmv...

fasting wouldn't be a good option for a diabetic, for example.

[Feron]

56. For type 2 diabetics fasting works.

It helps keep insulin levels low which helps treat the insulin resistance.

Just fasting for 12 hours is beneficial (intermittent fasting).

Type 1 is a different thing altogether. I wouldn't try it without a doctor's supervision.

[betterdemsonly]

17. The prevalence of diabetes is one example of how unregulated capitalism ultimately

destroys itself.

[Hekate]

19. Food is a necessity of life, like air. But turning food into a commodity to be pushed ....

....in ever greater quantities, sold on a corporate model in which an ever increasing bottom line is the only measure of success, developed in laboratories, sold by the most persuasive persistent advertising in history -- this has been a recipe for the perfect storm of public health disasters.

Unregulated capitalism indeed. The story of how corn syrup got into everything is illuminating.

Thanks to Science, corn farmers produced more corn than ever before in history. It was more than the farmers could conceivably sell for either human or animal consumption. So what did the farmers do? Did they plant less in subsequent years? No, because they really liked the increased profits.

So back to the Laboratories they went, to ask the scientists to develop new and wonderful ways to use up all that corn. One of the Jim-dandiest ways was to develop a then-new sweetener, very intense, and cheaper than sugar: high fructose corn syrup. Over the next couple of decades it ended up in damn near everything, stuff you would never imagine needed a dose of sweetener.

One way I know this , aside from an episode onPBS, is that when my son was little I had to read labels religiously, to make sure there was no wheat, rye, or any of their derivatives in the food I made for him. After he was about 7 y.o. he outgrew the problem and I stopped. A few years ago, though, I learned about HFCS and after a bit of research decided to read labels again to see where it appeared. I didn't recall HFCS appearing on labels all those years ago-- but now it showed up everywhere.

There's more, but I'll stop. I see the problems around me, even in my own family. Diabetes used to show up in old people, sometimes-- and by old I mean 70s and 80s. Now a slew of my cousins in their 50s have it, and two of my siblings.

Unregulated capitalism indeed.

[joshcryer]

23. Good post.

[HockeyMom]

28. "You can walk around this ROOM 100 times"

That is what my husband's doctor said to him in the hospital after his heart attack. Point being that you do not need to walk/jog outside or on a machine in a gym. You can walk ANYWHERE, including inside you own home.

I was born and raised in Manhattan. Mass transit everywhere. Learned very young that by the time I stood there waiting for a bus or train to come, I could have been at my destination by WALKING there. Saved some money too.

I raised my kids on Long Island. There were no sidewalks where we lived. My kids either rode their bikes, or walked in the streets. I certainly wasn't going to drive (hate driving) them to their friends home not that far away. I did it myself too to visit friends. My car stayed in the driveway.

People need to get up and MOVE.

[exboyfil]

29. I still have a long way to go

but I went from 315 to 244 this year (5 ft 6 in) through diet change (no more pizzas and lots of vegetables) and a lot of exercise (walk at 1 1/2 hrs a day and 1 hr of rowing a day). Doctor says I should get down to 190. I have a more aggressive goal. Off blood pressure and cholesterol medicine, and my numbers look great.

I think I have psychologically trained myself to eat better. I can't stand the thought of fast food and much prefer grabbing a salad with low calorie dressing. I eat a massive salad and grapefruit for breakfast. Left over stir fry with lots of vegetables and low calorie sauces for lunch, and usually the same type of stir fries for dinner.

[tridim]

31. The horribly bad advice at the bottom of this graphic is the reason...

[HockeyMom]

53. Absolutely

All that GRAIN and PASTA? Told my husband that when he tried to say that switching from white bead to whole grain was healthy. Well, maybe, but doesn't mean it is DIETIC eating all that bread and butter every day. I only eat grains once a day for breakfast.

I am of Italian heritage. We did not get big bowls of pasta multiple times a week. That was special SUNDAY dinner. My Nana made all these bitter green veggies (like escarole or dandelion) into salads or soups most days of the week.

Yes, I agree. Way too much grains on that chart. Better more veggies and even lean meats and seafood.

I have weighed 100 lbs., give or even take, 5 lbs. my entire life. What the hell do I know? I am almost 67 years old.

[The2ndWheel]

32. It's that sweet, sweet sugar

It's like porn, or pot, or money, or anything else people can't get enough of.

[d_r]

38. for our ancestors

it was a gold mine. A little honey hole of something sweet might be the difference in survival. So we get those genes that love it. But back then it was hard to come across, today it is too easy. Instead of diseases of not having enough we have diseases of excess.

[tridim]

42. I replaced my sugar jar with a little honey hole. Local Raw honey. Mmmmmmm!

Sweet can be nutritious, what a concept!

[jomin41]

35. We're number one! We're number one!

[d_r]

37. I agree with

the thoughts posted here - the accessibility of cheap calories, the difficulty in affording truly healthy food, increased sedentary lifestyles, cities based on driving. I would also add high fructose corn syrup. I think that depression also accounts for some portion. And don't forget the good old beer belly.

[GliderGuider]

40. The beer belly can be a sign of metabolic syndrome...

... or insulin resistance or gluten intolerance. The treatment is the same in all cases, and is dead simple - cut starches and sugars.

[d_r]

49. yes or

just a sign of too many empty calories!

[wilt the stilt]

44. It is just how we eat.

and you can buy fresh fruits and everything on a smaller income. watch you sales and watch what you eat. simple hamburger is still pretty fair priced. Let's say it is $5.00 per pound which is close to what it is now(it has gone up recently) That is $1.25 for your meat. fresh broccoli is about .60 per helping and noodles or potatoes are somewhere around .40 per serving. That is around $2.50 for dinner. Lunch can be a sandwich which is about $2.00 per sandwich if you make it yourself. Breakfast for me is a piece of toast with cream cheese. About .50 per breakfast.

You can certainly eat for cheap. We just consume too many calories.

[The2ndWheel]

46. We don't get rid of enough calories

Michael Phelps ate a lot and could still look the way he did because he's an Olympic swimmer. Or, he was an Olympic swimmer, so he had to eat a lot to keep his body going. Either way.

However, unless you're an athlete in the prime of your life, or somehow manage to have enough money that you can buy time, there are only so many hours in a day to consume and get rid of the calories. We can't do everything.

[Habibi]

57. How much is due to overconsumption of alcohol

and/or to antidepressant use, I wonder?

[onehandle]

58. It's overwhelmingly consumption of high-fat high-calorie foods and lack of activity. nt