4 ms·
I wonder how big a role obesity plays in all of this. It may be that teens are having less sex because so many of them have effectively taken themselves out of
by gozur88 11y ago
I wonder how big a role obesity plays in all of this. It may be that teens are having less sex because so many of them have effectively taken themselves out of the sexual marketplace.
- orky56 11y agoAre you referring to obesity in terms of attractiveness or ability to conceive?
- BinaryIdiot 11y agoI'm not parent but I wonder if it could be both? Though I think the former was the original intent but I hadn't thought about the latter.
- orky56 11y agoMy wild hypothesis is that teens may be more aware of the rising cost of parenthood and may rationally be avoiding the situation altogether.
- mirimir 11y agoParenthood provides virtually no economic benefit in modern industrial society. More so now, with mobility and weakening of family ties. Children cost a lot, and they probably won't help when you're old. So why bother?
- gozur88 11y agoI think you underestimate the extent to which pregnancy was always considered an Unthinkably Bad Thing by teens. And also overestimate the extent to which teens are rational.
- gozur88 11y agoI was just thinking in terms of attractiveness. Kids today have an unlimited supply of videos of beautiful people having sex. Not only are their expectations rising, but their choice of attractive mates is falling.
- nsxwolf 11y agoSo they'd rather just watch porn than lower their expectations and have some sort of sex?
- gozur88 11y agoIt's not so much that they'd rather watch porn. It's that porn sets their expectations regarding what sex is and with whom they expect to have sex. If I'm a 4 and I won't settle for less than an 7 (which is a step down from what porn is teaching me about averages), it's likely I'm not going to father many children.
- nsxwolf 11y agoIf you're a 14 year old boy wouldn't you go for pretty much anything you could get?
- gozur88 11y agoYep, that was the case for me. But two things: One, it's not the boys who decide when sex happens, for the most part, and two, the amount of effort a boy (or a man) is willing to put into wooing a woman depends in some part on how attractive she is to him.
- orky56 11y agoDo you think it relates with what's going in Japan?
- levemi 11y ago> because so many of them Is this based on your personal observation or are you referencing some known well established statistical fact.
- nness 11y agoSeriously? It would have such an absolutely negligible effect that the only thing more conclusive is your bias. The article mentions that is is mostly believed to be a combination of investment in effective and health programs.
- ZoF 11y agoHow can you say that with such certainty? People who feel fat don't want to have sex as often. You don't think that's true? Note: I said people who _feel_ fat, not people who _are_ fat.
- Fomite 11y agoOn the other hand, there is evidence showing that overweight teens engage in riskier sexual practices. That's the problem with this who hypothesis - it's nothing more than an ungrounded "Just So Story" with no evidence.
- gozur88 11y ago>Seriously? It would have such an absolutely negligible effect that the only thing more conclusive is your bias. You sound pretty sure of yourself. Why is that?
- MonadQueen 11y agoBecause he's a fatty!
- gyardley 11y agoC'mon - when I was a teenager I would've had sex with the crack of dawn if I knew it was interested. I doubt anyone capable of getting pregnant is truly 'off the market' for every teenaged boy in their vicinity. It's more likely that popular representations of teen pregnancy in the media gradually taught enough kids that having a baby in their teens will seriously screw up their life. You only need to see one episode of Teen Mom to know that's nowhere you want to be.
- batbomb 11y agoI hate to break this to you, but obese people have sex too.
- andrepd 11y agoHmm that's quite a far fetched hypothesis.
- beatpanda 11y agoAs a former fat teenager, I can tell you that your hypothesis is falsified by the avalable evidence.
- learc83 11y agoThe article was talking about drastic declines in the last 10 years. Childhood obesity rates have been stable for the last 10 years (childhood obesity rates include teenagers).
- coldpie 11y agoAside from your main point, don't place all the blame for obese children on the children themselves. Healthy habits start at home.