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OP I'm a Floridian by way of NV, AZ and NJ and I can tell you the high rate of obese health care workers is not just in our state. I have morbidly obese family members who I love with all my heart and I know what the future holds for them because I've seen other family members go through amputations due to Type 2 diabetes. Health care workers are especially aware of the consequences and yet I've seen some outside enjoying a cigarette.
Sometimes education doesn't mean a darn thing when it comes to making smart health choices.
I'm adding to my own post because the last sentence sounds harsh. It comes from frustration over losing people I love from a disease that could have been avoided.
Many people in Australia are also obese but I think not as many are morbidly obese as in the US.
But I live in eastern Sydney, in a middle class area, and spend quite a bit of time in the wealthy areas near the well-known Bondi Beach, helping out with my grandkids. You do see overweight people but the majority, especially of Asian background, are slim and trim.
Last week went out to Parramatta, in western Sydney. There was a music festival in the park and many young women of Asian background were arriving. I was absolutely shocked to see how many were really overweight. I really started wondering what our culture is doing to cause this.
We had returned from a holiday in Taiwan only a couple of weeks previously and cannot remember seeing anyone overweight. It is now a wealthy country, even with their problems with earthquakes, and food is excellent and very abundant, so it is not scarcity. I assume they are more educated in the importance of healthy food choices and of exercise.
There seems to be a correlation between obesity and relative poverty in many countries. Unfortunately.
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Many people in Australia are also obese but I think not as many are morbidly obese as in the US.
But I live in eastern Sydney, in a middle class area, and spend quite a bit of time in the wealthy areas near the well-known Bondi Beach, helping out with my grandkids. You do see overweight people but the majority, especially of Asian background, are slim and trim.
Last week went out to Parramatta, in western Sydney. There was a music festival in the park and many young women of Asian background were arriving. I was absolutely shocked to see how many were really overweight. I really started wondering what our culture is doing to cause this.
We had returned from a holiday in Taiwan only a couple of weeks previously and cannot remember seeing anyone overweight. It is now a wealthy country, even with their problems with earthquakes, and food is excellent and very abundant, so it is not scarcity. I assume they are more educated in the importance of healthy food choices and of exercise.
There seems to be a correlation between obesity and relative poverty in many countries. Unfortunately.
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We definitely had the opposite experience! I've remarked many times at how surprised I was by the number of obese and overweight people I saw in Taiwan. Was it as bad as traveling throughout the U.S.? Definitely not. But compared to, say, neighboring Japan, it was quite the contrast. I guess we saw it more so in the countryside than in Taipei, but even in Taipei I saw more than I did in Tokyo.
Self reported Obesity by state, using BMI. Healthy is less than 25, lol. Congratulations, the 6 of you! No need to point out that this is not a perfect map or a perfect way to measure obesity. We know that, but there it is anyway.
The map indicates that people are more likely to be at a healthy weight if they live in an area with a climate that is amenable to outdoor exercise, and/or where infrastructure encourages people to walk, bike, take the bus or train rather than driving everywhere.
I've been to Oklahoma, one of the fattest states, and not only was the climate not very conducive to spending much time outside (it goes from hot and humid to freezing cold to torrential rain and wind in the blink of an eye) but there were not even sidewalks in the part of town where I was in, and no shoulders on roads to bike on.
I have friends in Georgia who report that there is absolutely nowhere they can go on foot except in a circle around their residential area. Everyone has to get in their car and drive.
It's also the case that the "traditional" diet in the fatter states is greasy and sugary. That does not help at all.
We moved from Hawaii to Northern rural NV, and we were shocked by the obesity rates also.
We had just watched a zombie movie, and I went to Walmart. I was immediately struck by how all the overweight people were walking in the parking lot, looked just like a zombie gait.
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I'm almost positive this is caused by people eating too much fast food. It's a real health hazard. I'm on a small diet to get some extra pounds off, and am just shocked by how many calories and fat are in your normal fast food burger. Those breakfast burritos are just as bad or worse.
So I make my own breakfast burritos now w/ low carb tortillas that are only 25 to 40 calories stuffed w/ oven grilled salmon, arugula, fire roasted green chili and a low calorie horseradish sauce. You can make a delicious burrito that is no more than 100-130 calories, compared to the fast food ones that are 300-500 calories or more! Which means if I want to pig out and eat two, its still only 200-260 calories.
Are they as good as Blake's breakfast burritos? No, because they have a lot less fat, salt and calories than Blake's food. But considering that the Blake's breakfast burrito is between 400 and 480 calories, and 2 of my salmon breakfast burritos w/ green chili are about half those calories and all the fat is the good fish fat, it's a very easy adjustment.
One thing I learned in New Mexico was that if you put enough 505 Fire Roasted Green Chili on something, even the wrapper will be delicious!
The map indicates that people are more likely to be at a healthy weight if they live in an area with a climate that is amenable to outdoor exercise, and/or where infrastructure encourages people to walk, bike, take the bus or train rather than driving everywhere.
I've been to Oklahoma, one of the fattest states, and not only was the climate not very conducive to spending much time outside (it goes from hot and humid to freezing cold to torrential rain and wind in the blink of an eye) but there were not even sidewalks in the part of town where I was in, and no shoulders on roads to bike on.
I have friends in Georgia who report that there is absolutely nowhere they can go on foot except in a circle around their residential area. Everyone has to get in their car and drive.
It's also the case that the "traditional" diet in the fatter states is greasy and sugary. That does not help at all.
You and your sister do not care for Oklahoma but that is ok. If memory does not fail me she lives somewhere on the outskirts on 2-3 acres. Go into OKC, Edmond, Yukon, even my hole in the ground - plenty of sidewalks, bike lanes and pedestrian crossings. The climate may be an issue for you but not for everyone. Right now it is 6:30 and a pack of kids is out playing on sidewalks and the blocked off cul de sack under supervision of adults. Those adults will have a glass of wine as soon as I get the corks out:>) Saturday/Sunday was planting season in the neighborhood. Lots of baby plants were shared.
The bottom line here is culture. We can talk all we want about walking for transportation or active jobs and all that, but most people in most of the country have somewhat sedentary jobs and drive a car for transportation. So why are people in the south so much fatter than people in Colorado or California? Culture.
I live in Colorado, and at least in our friend group, just about everyone is active for fun. We go on mountain bike trips or play tennis or go to the gym or hike. Even our toddlers do it. It's just the culture, and living in a naturally beautiful place obviously encourages this.
However, I'm originally from one of the red states on the map above, and I have experienced first-hand how normalized garbage food, sodas and sedentary hobbies are.
I'm not sure my hometown had fewer people walking for transportation, and there were probably more people engaged in active jobs in my hometown. But people were far, far fatter because it was perfectly normal to line up at the buffet (feeding troughs) or drink half a gallon of sweet tea per day. Fast food was considered an acceptable dinner multiple nights per week, and soda was just what you drank at meals. Few people went to the gym, and sports were for kids. I don't remember us ever once going on a family hike except on vacation to a national park or something similar.
Culture is the driver here.
Edit to add: Also keep in mind that race is a relatively strong factor here, which is of course related to culture. For example, black Americans are almost three times as likely as Asian Americans to be obese, with whites and hispanics being about 2.5x more likely. So places with high Asian populations will fare better here.
Last edited by Wittgenstein's Ghost; 04-09-2024 at 11:15 PM..
You and your sister do not care for Oklahoma but that is ok. If memory does not fail me she lives somewhere on the outskirts on 2-3 acres. Go into OKC, Edmond, Yukon, even my hole in the ground - plenty of sidewalks, bike lanes and pedestrian crossings. The climate may be an issue for you but not for everyone. Right now it is 6:30 and a pack of kids is out playing on sidewalks and the blocked off cul de sack under supervision of adults. Those adults will have a glass of wine as soon as I get the corks out:>) Saturday/Sunday was planting season in the neighborhood. Lots of baby plants were shared.
Well, then you explain why Oklahoma is the third (or fourth, depending on the survey) fattest state.
I think it's our carbohydrate/sugar addiction.
I've worked on myself for about 3 years and pretty much kicked the addiction. Pretty much, but not perfectly.
I never eat salads, never eat anything processed. Down 30-35 pounds.
The local obesity is the result of a local culture. People in San Francisco act and think one way, people in Topeka act and think another. Our Op's town is just another town, with its own standards.
The AMA, with its ridiculously unhealthy food pyramid, has not helped.
We are subjected to this nonsense:
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