A personal theory on the obesity epidemic...thoughts?

[TheBadMan]

I was talking to a friend today and came up with a theory that there are ONLY TWO main reasons for the obesity epidemic that is causing Western society to get fatter and fatter.
Temporarily forget about the toxic food environment, modern technology and the 100 other reasons that are running through your mind right now and bear with me. They’re all valid, but I was thinking about this and I’m convinced that they ALL fall into the 2 main reasons below.

REASON 1 – Lack of knowledge / incorrect knowledge
Ignorance is up first. If you don’t know that eating at a caloric surplus every day will cause you to gain weight then you are ignorant/naïve about basic nutrition and how the human body works. It’s hard to believe that with all the money and time invested in education in our countries that most teenagers and adults do not understand the simple law of thermodynamics.

There is far more to learn about nutrition than this basic law; macro and micro nutrients, food groups, etc. but I won’t dwell on that right now. You can become as much of an expert on nutrition and exercise as you would like to but at the very least, every adult should really know that you can’t eat more than you burn for a long period of time and not gain weight.

What’s as bad as no knowledge? Incorrect knowledge. People have the WRONG knowledge and as a result they approach nutrition and exercise the wrong way. Again, there are many ‘sub-reasons’ for this; here’s a list off the top of my head and I’m sure you can think of more!

1. Media (magazines, books, ads, TV, etc.)
2. Myths and ‘broscience’
3. Information overload
4. ‘one size fits all’ diets
5. Gimmicks, fads and ‘quick fixes’

That’s the first reason. You need to have the correct knowledge to start with…but that’s not all…

REASON 2 – Application of what you know
This is the big one. I’d argue that this is the main reason why people are out of shape, overweight, obese, etc. They KNOW enough but they don’t APPLY this knowledge. Again, there are hundreds of reasons why, both internal and external.
Internal:
1. Lack of willpower
2. Indifference
3. Prioritisation
4. Self defeating attitude
5. Stubbornness
6. Laziness
7. Depression

External
1. Food availability
2. Influence of society/family
3. Portion sizes in restaurants, etc.
4. Misleading food labeling
5. Advertising

And so on…again, feel free to add to the list.

My theory is that it’s a combination of these factors that cause most people to ‘give in’ and not apply what they know. You KNOW that eating 5 donuts isn’t good for you, but you do it anyway. You KNOW that you should exercise more, but you don’t. The reasons why you don’t could be valid, but ultimately what is happening is that you are not applying what you know (assuming you’re not suffering from reason 1!) We all do this in many aspects of our lives but what separates those who succeed and don’t is how consistently they APPLY what they know.

Just a different perspective from the usual…
What do you think?
1.

[henrik1994]

I totally agree with u dude , same with me at school.
there are still boys that think doing 100 situps a day will give them amazing abs in a week
or girls who starve themselves to lose weight
it just annoys me a lot:S
but I do understand them though , when I first started lifting and exercising more at the age of 12 it was with a lot of crash and burns and finally when I discovered the internet I got it all figured out

I am quite sure though that willpower is a BIIIIIIG part in dragging your ass to the gym where you have to go to with the bike for 5 miles , workout for 2 hours and ride back 5 miles and still find time to study and not to eat like a pig.

[BUDTAO]

I have my own theory, but it is lengthy so I wont post it unless urged to do so.

Andrew

[sy2502]

Coming from ouside the US, I can say that Americans don't have a good culture about food.
1) It's more about quantity than quality. I have heard so many friends recommend a restaurant not on the basis of the food being good but because the portions are huge. And of course huge portions = huge calories.
2) People don't cook. Too much takeaway, too much frozen food. A lot of people don't know how to cook, and too many convinced that cooking takes too much time.So they rely on processed food and fast food, which are full of fat and calories.
3) Too much junk. Go to a supermarket and see isle upon isle of junk. Sugary cereals, candy, soft drinks, ice cream... I remember going on vacation in Portugal once, and noticed a whole supermarket isle full of yogurt and another full of fresh fish. Want to take a guess if Portuguese people are as fat as Americans? Growing up, junk food and sodas was a special treat to have once in a while, not meal replacements. But the norm was that we waited for meal time to eat, we didn't snack all the time.

[timhet]

Its interesting because in modern times, more people are exercising than ever before. Did your grandparents goto the gym 5 days a day week? Did they know about nutrition? They didn't have an obesity problem.

[snoack]

3) Too much junk. Go to a supermarket and see isle upon isle of junk. Sugary cereals, candy, soft drinks, ice cream...

we had a lengthy discussion centered around this in the OV35 Misc forum. Here's the thing-

Sugary cereals, sodas, cady, ice cream, etc... have been around since supermarkets came into vogue. The problem isn't access to these foods, it's discipline. Most people just don't exercise it. Blaming the food does nothing to solve this.

[ryan2897]

I agree with what you said but i would like to just add my two cents. Lack of knowledge may contribute to initial gains in weight; however, people who genuinely cared about their own health would not allow themselves to become obese. Instead, they would educate themselves about nutrition and make sure they do not gain any weight. This disregard for health can be attributed to many things. There are people that are just to distracted with other things so they resort to processed food. Also being obese is not generally frowned upon nowadays because so many people are obese. That brings me to the next point which is the declining nutritional value of food and the growing amount of processed food. Crops in the United States have declined in nurtritional value around 40% since the 1950-1960s. People are disregarding vegetables in general and when they do eat them, they are not getting all the nourishment that they could. Processed food is becoming ever more prevalent and its high chemical content and generally unhealthy nature is severly affecting American's health. After World War II there was a growing concern for crops. Thousands of victory gardens were planted by United States citizens and even the president. These home grown crops provided the majority of vegetables in America, and because they were home grown, their nutritional value and the bodily nourishment they provided was much greater. President Truman set the standard for nutrition in the US by establishing one of the first victory gardens. People turned their attention toward nutrition and growing vegetables which in turn made a healthier country. Something similar could be done by OBama to raise awareness for increasing obesity and the decreasing nutritional value of food. Although i am not blaming the obesity epidemic on declining nutrional value, it is a complacent factor. The biggest cause is the general disregard for nutrition that has become more and more prevalent.

[ryan2897]

Its interesting because in modern times, more people are exercising than ever before. Did your grandparents goto the gym 5 days a day week? Did they know about nutrition? They didn't have an obesity problem.

good observation dude

[sy2502]

Its interesting because in modern times, more people are exercising than ever before. Did your grandparents goto the gym 5 days a day week? Did they know about nutrition? They didn't have an obesity problem.

I don't know about other people's grandparents, but mine were farmers, they did physical work outdoors all day. Going to the gym isn't the only way to exercise.

[Bostongeorge617]

Lots of factors, but here is one facet:

For example, look at lower-mid class SE Asians. Traditional dishes consist of carbs galore and low protein (cost efficient), but no real obesity epidemic since it generally consists of unprocessed whole foods.

Now look at lower-class Americans. Their low-cost food tends to be fatty (fried foods, inferior cuts of meat) and also heavily proccessed such as cheap canned goods and inexpensive fast food. Obesity epidemic at it's worst.

People eat what they can afford and what is readily available. Capitalism is great and all, but huge companies pimping ready-to-eat cheap foods and controlling huge portions of the farming industries is a huge part of the problem. Their focus is wealth, not health. You have to have a keen interest in health to bother and read through all of the bs and discern the truth about diet since this information isn't as readily available as one might think due to numerous causes.

[snoack]

Lots of factors, but here is one facet:

For example, look at lower-mid class SE Asians. Traditional dishes consist of carbs galore and low protein (cost efficient), but no real obesity epidemic since it generally consists of unprocessed whole foods.

Now look at lower-class Americans. Their low-cost food tends to be fatty (fried foods, inferior cuts of meat) and also heavily proccessed such as cheap canned goods and inexpensive fast food. Obesity epidemic at it's worst.

People eat what they can afford and what is readily available. Capitalism is great and all, but huge companies pimping ready-to-eat cheap foods and controlling huge portions of the farming industries is a huge part of the problem. Their focus is wealth, not health. You have to have a keen interest in health to bother and read through all of the bs and discern the truth about diet since this information isn't as readily available as one might think due to numerous causes.

fresh fruits and vegetables cost less then that processed and fried crap does. A lot of it comes down to choices and priorities. You can also get good, lean cuts of beef and chicken for very reasonable prices as well if you shop smart. It's not rocket science. You can take that $25 that you spend on a bucket of fried chicken and a family sized box of potato wedges and get 5# of ground sirloin (93% lean) or boneless, skinless chicken breast and feed your family multiple healthy meals.

It's to easy to blame corporations that produce food. They meet the demands of their market and produce what sells. If fruits, vegetables, and lean cuts of beef are what the market calls for, then that's what they'll produce in mass. Again, it's not rocket science.

[fallingreason]

I think alot of it has to do with the general populations infatuation with taste and how palatable a food is.

Everytime I explain to someone (after I am asked) how and what I eat, 80% of the time I get a reaction similar to, "that sounds gross!" or "does that TASTE good?" When I eat with others, more often than not I will notice people choosing based on tasted rather than nutrition.

Our affection for sweets was an evolutionary advantage allowing us to distinguish good foods from bad, but now that we can produce and market mouth orgasms with cheap, unhealthy ingredients it is destroying the consuming populations' health.

[SKRJPR99]

Its interesting because in modern times, more people are exercising than ever before. Did your grandparents goto the gym 5 days a day week? Did they know about nutrition? They didn't have an obesity problem.

That's a totally valid observation however I would add that our grandparents most likely had physically demanding jobs, and the food they ate had to be cooked/prepared/stewed/baked/fried/sliced/diced/etc. until fast food came about. Since their food had to be prepared by them, it was whole and natural and unprocessed. There's no way you could overeat that like you could pounding away ice cream, doritos, soda, In N Out double doubles, etc. [That almost sounds like a previous dinner course of mine]

[chickeneater]

I'm suprised genetics were not #3.

My dads whole side was obese, cousins, aunts and uncles. Why? Very few exceptions. And they dieted harder than anyone I know. Perhaps that goes under application.

I see families eat crap and be lazy and be skinny, and vice versa.

Also, look at American indians. Obesity is rampant! (alcoholism too, but thats another story) The theory is that generation after generation the humans in the tribe that could make it thru droughts and long periods of hunger and cold winters were the ones who could hold and gain a lot of bodyfat. Therefore, unfortunately, the genetic gene pool for naturally low bodyfat American Indians died off, and the Indians that could eat a lot and store body fat easily dominated the said gene pool.

So, there is something to be said for some people having a much easier time following a typical bodybuilding diet with a caloric deficit, and for others it's pure torture.

[snoack]

That's a totally valid observation however I would add that our grandparents most likely had physically demanding jobs, and the food they ate had to be cooked/prepared/stewed/baked/fried/sliced/diced/etc. until fast food came about. Since their food had to be prepared by them, it was whole and natural and unprocessed. There's no way you could overeat that like you could pounding away ice cream, doritos, soda, In N Out double doubles, etc. [That almost sounds like a previous dinner course of mine]

ice cream, chips, and soda have all been available for about 100 years now. In N Out opened their first restaurant in 1948. McDonald's opened their first restaurant in 1955. For the most part, most of our grandparents had access to these foods as well.

Again, it isn't the food, it's the lifestyle choice.

[E-PRO]

Its interesting because in modern times, more people are exercising than ever before. Did your grandparents goto the gym 5 days a day week? Did they know about nutrition? They didn't have an obesity problem.

But there is also like 5billion more people on the planet. Gotta compensate for that.

[sy2502]

ice cream, chips, and soda have all been available for about 100 years now. In N Out opened their first restaurant in 1948. McDonald's opened their first restaurant in 1955. For the most part, most of our grandparents had access to these foods as well.

Again, it isn't the food, it's the lifestyle choice.

The portions they served in the 50s were also smaller than what they serve now. See
http://www.divinecaroline.com/79975/...-size--vs--now

[AlphaBrass01]

I agree with most of what has been said in this thread. I just want to add the fact that most people do not know how GOOD it feels to be fit and strong. Unless you get really involved in a sport as a kid, you probably never go through any real "training" of any type until adulthood. At that point, the decision is hard to make, because, let's face it, training hurts sometimes, especially when you first start. The thing that keeps me psyched about hitting the gym hard and maintaining the lifestyle outside of the gym to support my training and stay healthy is the fact that I know how good I feel after a great workout, or just how much better I feel now that I am confident in my strength and health. The results themselves motivate me to push for more - in exercise and diet and general health.

[Dysmorphic]

Obesity is not an epidemic.

[VEight]

Also, look at American indians. Obesity is rampant! (alcoholism too, but thats another story) The theory is that generation after generation the humans in the tribe that could make it thru droughts and long periods of hunger and cold winters were the ones who could hold and gain a lot of bodyfat. Therefore, unfortunately, the genetic gene pool for naturally low bodyfat American Indians died off, and the Indians that could eat a lot and store body fat easily dominated the said gene pool.

.

Could also be that they didn't adapt to a modern diet very well and are always giving their kids soft drinks...

[Breaststroke]

Moderation, moderation, moderation. Everything in moderation.

[bcx]

Its interesting because in modern times, more people are exercising than ever before. Did your grandparents goto the gym 5 days a day week? Did they know about nutrition? They didn't have an obesity problem.

Yeah but grandparents for one went driven round everywhere and suchlike. They walked and did a lot more physical activity. Not doing anything particularly major, but it's all little things throughout the day.
Also there was no fast food, it wasn't possible to just decide you want a full meal and just get it, it had to be made.

I think it's the media personally. Was reading an article the other day in my mates magazines that said the way to get a flatter stomach is to do sit ups. it's a KNOWN fact that situps do not cut the fat on your tummy, yet they still repost it (why I don't know), and people believe it as it's in a magazine.
Also they promote fad diets, which are all based around a calorie deficit rather than an actual exercise routine. It's all a culture of convincing people they can have the perfect body without doing any exercise whatsoever.

[quickcrx702]

fresh fruits and vegetables cost less then that processed and fried crap does. A lot of it comes down to choices and priorities. You can also get good, lean cuts of beef and chicken for very reasonable prices as well if you shop smart. It's not rocket science. You can take that $25 that you spend on a bucket of fried chicken and a family sized box of potato wedges and get 5# of ground sirloin (93% lean) or boneless, skinless chicken breast and feed your family multiple healthy meals.

It's to easy to blame corporations that produce food. They meet the demands of their market and produce what sells. If fruits, vegetables, and lean cuts of beef are what the market calls for, then that's what they'll produce in mass. Again, it's not rocket science.

I agree with you to a point that people need to be more proactive with making smart food purchasing decisions. However, the average Joe is subjected to a ridiculous amount of marketing hype to purchase garbage in a box/can/drive through/etc. Corporations push garbage food via advertisements because it is more profitable for them. They get away with using increasingly worse quality ingredients including many that most people cannot pronounce to cut costs and increase shelf life, while at the same time maintaining or increasing the costs of goods sold. When was the last time you saw a commercial advertising fresh veggies, fish, etc?

You are correct though that they are corporations and it is their responsibility to the shareholders to increase profits, so you can't really fault them for operating as they should. It is up to Americans to stop purchasing these foods so that they are no longer profitable, thereby forcing corporations to produce healthier/more profitable foods. That's not going to happen any time soon though. Unfortunately, most of us are overworked(Example: 50 hours is a light work week for me), barely making ends meet, and would rather buy crap in a box/can/drive through to save time that can be used for other activities instead of food preparation.

[AlphaBrass01]

I also have to say that I am one of those people that takes short cuts in preparing food. I eat canned foods and frozen veggies and such, but I am careful about it. People don't want to spend a lot of time in prep, which I understand. They just need to take some time to THINK.

[Spmrks]

Quite frankly the vast majority of society is ignorant when it comes to what we would consider basic principles of nutrition and exercise, you are absolutely correct on that point. I feel personally we currently live in an immediate gratification kind of world. People personally choose to abstain from gaining this knowledge because it takes time... time which may in turn take away from their own personal interests be it school learning what they choose to learn or work etc. In other words if it does not fit into their own desires then it just doesn't matter. But then they get fat or some kind of health problem and what do they do.... they once again look for that immediate gratification in the form of some miracle pill thats supposed to let them eat whatever they want and watch the pounds fall off. Patience is a virtue but it has been somewhat lost in the past coupe of years. Personal belief... the lack of patience can be directly related to the obesity that we see today.

[AlphaBrass01]

Quite frankly the vast majority of society is ignorant when it comes to what we would consider basic principles of nutrition and exercise, you are absolutely correct on that point. I feel personally we currently live in an immediate gratification kind of world. People personally choose to abstain from gaining this knowledge because it takes time... time which may in turn take away from their own personal interests be it school learning what they choose to learn or work etc. In other words if it does not fit into their own desires then it just doesn't matter. But then they get fat or some kind of health problem and what do they do.... they once again look for that immediate gratification in the form of some miracle pill thats supposed to let them eat whatever they want and watch the pounds fall off. Patience is a virtue but it has been somewhat lost in the past coupe of years. Personal belief... the lack of patience can be directly related to the obesity that we see today.

Exactly right. The people who have made a successful lifestyle change have seen the results over months...even years. Most aren't willing to wait that long and would rather complain and not act.

[chickeneater]

I just want to add the fact that most people do not know how GOOD it feels to be fit and strong.

this is a good point. I recall a runner who said that the reason most people quit running is because they don't get to the level of fitness where running is actually fun.

I think the same applies to golf. Everytime you reach a new level in your swing and have those aha moments, you're dying to get back. So, when you get to a certain level of bodyfat where you start to enjoy the mirror, it makes it more fun and easy to diet and excercise than before.

[abood-uae]

very true

2 reasons that covers 100 reasons


great article

[WlLD]

Cheap food is generally bad for you whilst healthier foods are normally more expensive in general.

Apple at my work costs roughly 70c each whilst a 200g bag of chips can be a similar price.

[Gx7Pyro]

Its interesting because in modern times, more people are exercising than ever before. Did your grandparents goto the gym 5 days a day week? Did they know about nutrition? They didn't have an obesity problem.

there are more people going to the gym, but not more people exercising. my grandparents did not go to the gym 5 times a week, but they did walk everywhere and stayed active. they would walk to the supermarket instead of drive or take the bus, even though it is 30 minutes away. they gardened and kept everything clean. and they might not have known about nutrition, but they ate pretty healthily just by eating traditional Korean food - lots of rice and veggies with a side of meat.


to OP - you bring up some good points, but I think the main problem combating obesity is the lack of motivation from the general public.to me and from what i have experienced, motivation conquers all. if you want to be fit, strong, muscular, or whatever, you will do what you have to do - you will GET educated. you will ignore junk foods. you will eat the disgusting-yet-healthy foods. you will get the exercise you need.