Obesity and the Overweight

[Queen of Ice]

Fat people are fat

:O GTFO, really?!?

lol, I have nothing else to contribute. ._.

[Skallagrim]

I would just like to point out that according to the Insurance companies BMI, I am considered obese. I am 6'1" and weigh in at 245 lbs. I work out 7 days a week doing cardio and weight training. Much of what drives what we consider fat and obese is the insurance definitions of what a "healthy weight is". I do understand that we do have a growing weight issue due to poor food and lifestyle choices. But compounding the serious issues of true obesity is the artificial factors that insurance companies use to measure a healthy weight for the books.

Skall

[Aniihya]

I just say: Leave the people how they want to be.
But a bigger problem is the low fertility rate in the Western world, like 1.3 children per family in Germany while Muslim families each have 8 children per family. That what worries me.

Back to weight, I am 6'1" and weigh 185 lbs. I do barely any exercise everyday, well I practise Zui Quan one hour a day and go to the club every two weeks and hakkuh (dance) for about 3 hours. My daily amount of calories which I consume is between 3500 and 4000.

[Safisan]

Overweight, reporting in. I'm like, 10 kilos (22 pounds or so?) overweight, BUT something that usually isn't considered when calculating weight is bone mass. My bones are heavy and hard as... Yeah, they're sturdy. I've taken two-story falls without a broken bone, for example. Realistically, I have 2-4 kilos of fat that I should be getting rid off.

A tl;dr version of my opinion on the subject is that, okay, I'll accept you for being overweight or even morbidly obese, but it isn't healthy and you should be doing something about it. Delving into another possibility for this debate, I don't mind a chubby girlfriend or friend, a few pounds don't do all that harm and some people look cute with round faces >.<.

[Gabriel_Whist]

I just say: Leave the people how they want to be.
But a bigger problem is the low fertility rate in the Western world, like 1.3 children per family in Germany while Muslim families each have 8 children per family. That what worries me.

Back to weight, I am 6'1" and weigh 185 lbs. I do barely any exercise everyday, well I practise Zui Quan one hour a day and go to the club every two weeks and hakkuh (dance) for about 3 hours. My daily amount of calories which I consume is between 3500 and 4000.

The low fertility rate of 1.3 children per family is not the problem, not at all. The 8 children per family is the problem. Our world is incredibly overpopulated, we need people to have less children, not more. Thank god for fertility issues, if everyone was having 8 kids we'd be even worse off. I'm just praying for a good plague or massive war to wipe out at least half of the global population.

[Aniihya]

But if we only have 1.3 children per family then it means that your culture will die out. It is not a problem with one part of my family who have a different surname due to not being affected by germanization in Prussia. They each have 4 to 6 children in their families.

[Gabriel_Whist]

See, having 4 to 6 children is just fucked with overpopulation the way it is. 1-2 kids is plenty to continue your culture and legacy. And in any case, who gives a fuck, its not gonna die out til long after you're dead, so why care?

[Aniihya]

I care because my country had a 40 fold rise in Muslim population in the last twenty years. That already makes 8 million or 10 percent of the German population and these people dont want to assimilate and our government does nothing against it!

[Gabriel_Whist]

Hmmm, sounds like the Mexican infiltration of California. Which sucks. But I can't really get behind people having more kids to have a greater ethnic impact on their country, the world is just way to over populated.

[flickery]

In my opinion, it's fine for people to be happy about their appearance and weight ONLY if they find no other reason to change it. The Acceptance groups are a good thing for people who get depressed over how they look, NOT for people who want to escape having to deal with high blood pressure or clotted arteries because it's. So. Damn. Tough.



All in all, if you really want to change this, start by helping your plump friends. Offer to provide support for their fat loss regimes, go to the gym with them and help them pick better foods. Do what you can as a friend and if it does not work, at least you know you've done your part. :]

[gaiadarkstar]

I think the focus should be the children if we could bring back good programs in schools and churches and such and the children grew up with good habits then perhaps this disease, and it is a disease, will not continue on to further generations. I mean why did they get rid of morning excersizes(I cannot spell worth crap sorry) and why is phys ed only required for like one semester? I also agree that towns should take an interest to try and create more healthy avenues for entertainment. My brother goas to a rock wall to climb when he can and that doesn't cost too much to put up, although the insurance stuff might be a problem. I just wish there were more community sponsered activities for people who want to get healthy like a group of mothers that walk together or something. I don't know but I think that the people in charge need to be the ones to motivate the people they are in charge of. I know I have trouble staying motivated if I had more things available to go to I would jump at the chance, especially if childcare was provided or the kids could be a part of it.

[The_Sickness]

Obesity... I know people on both sides of the issue.
I believe in choice I think you should decide whether or not you want that next cheeseburger or you want your kid to do the same.

It's not about the community or the nation getting involved it's about people making a choice. I started to get a little overweight after I quit smoking five years ago. That's no one's fault but my own because well to be honest I like the taste of food again. lol
But I now go out every chance I get and move to keep my weight under control.
I realise not everyone can be active due to health conditions but there's always something you can do to help yourself even if it's only a little.
Childhood or even adult obesity is an issue to be addressed on a person by person basis not some government mandate that will throw a blanket over the situation and strangle personal choice.

[Phoenixrisen]

Just to throw it out there.

I'm about 5'7" or so and last time I weighed myself I was 260 pounds. I have never had severe health problems. Never had high blood pressure, and can keep up with my 5'8" 140 pound husband with no real problem. Well, I probably couldn't today, because I have pneumonia. On that point I had it for at least two weeks before it effected me enough to keep me from work. Even then the doctor never would have known if he hadn't taken a chest x-ray there were none of the symptoms shown. My lungs sounded just fine. They and my heart have always been exceptionally healthy. I was diagnosed Wed. If it hadn't been for doctor's orders I probably would have been back at work on Thurs. after the antibiotics had time to set in and I would have been able to handle it. I'm a healthy person.

I work a labor job. I have a lot of muscle on my body. There is a layer of fat there, so you can't always see it, but I'm pretty solid and not in the all your fat under the muscle layer way that's really nasty for your health. I generally eat healthy, and according to my husband usually not nearly enough. Still, I don't lose weight. My blood sugar is on the low side. I'm in a size category accord to my weight that would place me as morbidly obese but I'm healthy, and I don't look it.

The problem is that there are people out there who are cashing in on the fact that people aren't tiny and think that they have to be to be healthy. In that mindset the majority of things out there to help people weigh less will ultimately make you gain weight. That's the way American marketing works. We've put money as more important than a person's health and so of course the nation in general is going to suffer. Am I trying to say that there aren't plenty of people out there who could make different better choices? Hells no. What I am saying is what's been said before and my own piece as well. Everyone is different you don't know anything about them usually, and even if you do, butt out.

The fact that this topic seems to come up in many places, and often gets discussed by at least one or two people that can't remember where to put capital letters, really makes me feel a little sick. If you're not overweight or obese yourself you have no real right to go on and on about it. Yes, everyone has the right to their opinions, but it's a personal issue. The only ones that really need to be discussing it are the people that have the issue, and their doctors or other health care professionals.

Now some of you will undoubted try to say that I'm getting defensive. I'm not. I just don't see the relevance to anything that this sort of topic has. It doesn't even get you to understand anyone better really. There have been a few people that have used it to more or less attack the morbidly obese, even if they are phrasing it in sugar coated terms. It's not your place. Now, if anyone has a goodly amount of scientific or medical training in this respect I would like to hear what they have to say about it all though. Otherwise, it's all just conjecture. Not the fact that the US is trending toward fat, that's a proven fact. The rest of it though.

That I said, I do agree that there have been good points made on both sides. I do think that the initial point may have lost though, because after the first few posts, no one even mentioned the video clip. It wouldn't load for me, but I do think that the idea of exploiting that people are overweight for money is sick. Then again that goes out to the "diet" companies too.

[Kagerou]

Nyarg. Fatness.

I'm chubby. Alright? I admit I'm chubby. I like being chubby. ^^

Now, that's not saying that I like being called fat. -.- My brother calls me fat all the time, but that's like..his job.

-pokes fat-

But I'm also big boned. From my mother's side of the family. Although I'm not going to get the tallness. -.- I get to stay short YAY!

I'm not actually over weight yet. I don't weigh myself...hell we don't even have a scale.

Oh yeah, I also admit that I sleep all day.

Kai, hmm...

The nearest grocery store is about an hour away by car, you think I'm gonna walk from Ralston to freaking Williamsport down a highway? We'd actually get arrested for that. :P So we have no choice but to use the car.

But yeah.

Fat people, they need to somehow find a way to like, lose weight.

OH!

You also have to consider a family thing for diabetes or something of the sorts. I have a 50-50 chance of getting diabetes or a heart condition because of my mom's side. Plus, I have the chance of not even living past 65. Not even one person on my mom's side has ever lived past 65. My gram is the oldest Anderson (not my last name, and this is for up where I live.) and she's like...61? 62? Yeah, on oxygen and all this other crap. I don't think she'll last much longer. Maybe 2 more years max.

I'm sorry, I've been rambling!

[Lilikins]

Obesity is indeed a big problem in America, the only issue is, not enough people are blunt about it.

The most common forms of obesity, in which I have seen in my community, is in children.

Seriously, these kids suck down almost a half pack of soda within a day, sit on their butts, and play video games all day. -.-

And the thing is, you know with the economy the way it is, a lot of parents have to work long hours to keep up with their rising monthly payments, trying to get in overtime for some extra cash, in fear of getting laid off.

With this, parents don't really have time to work up healthy meals for their children, which results most of them in taking a quick stop for some fast food, efficient enough to feed their families.

You know, if this is the way our society's children are being raised, we're in a heap of trouble.

If a child isn't raised with a healthy lifestyle, how on Earth do you expect them to learn to respect their body?

-Sigh-

We're gonna end up like all the fat people on Wall-E. *Facepalm*

[Kagerou]

Lilikins.

You made me think that I posted something twice, and then I couldn't edit it. I was like, "NOOOOOO!!"

And then I noticed that the post was different.

:D

[Lilikins]

Lol!

I thought the same thing, then I was like, oh!

We both have great taste in avi's eh? x3

I'm actually going to put a new one up soon enough, so now worries. ^^

[Kai]

Kai, hmm...

The nearest grocery store is about an hour away by car, you think I'm gonna walk from Ralston to freaking Williamsport down a highway? We'd actually get arrested for that. :P So we have no choice but to use the car.

Notice I said "two block", not 40 miles ;) If it's a long drive, I don't think anyone would expect you to walk it. I only meant a scenario where the store is a short distance walk away.

Anyways, just saw this in the news: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38521309?gt1=43001

I'll just uh... leave this here... *wanders away again*

[Lilikins]

LOL Kai.

That baby is gonna be like, so embarrassed once it gets older.

I kinda feel bad for her. :(

[gaiadarkstar]

I wasn't trying to say the government should make a mandate but why not bring in programs in school to help kids stay healthy. I mean if the parents can't or won't help them who will. The others are right too, how can we maintain a healthy weight when we have to struggle and owrk long hours to just stay afloat, monetarily speaking (sorry if mispelled). I was hoping for community programs to be available and reasonably priced or even free that you could go to and have a group to help you stay motivated. And don't suggest to ask friends cause I live in a small town and there reaslly aren't many people that are near my age that share my interests and I am terrible at making friends. I also don't have much opportunity since I don't have a car and no community programs to go to to meet people. *sigh* I just have no motivation and I guess talking about things here isn't really going to get me anywhere.