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I know it's more of a western problem, but it would be good if someone could find some real solutions to the obesity crisis. If you ask many GPs in the west th
by calsy 10y ago
I know it's more of a western problem, but it would be good if someone could find some real solutions to the obesity crisis.
If you ask many GPs in the west they will tell you that a majority of illnesses they address are related to weight and diet. With an aging, increasingly overweight adult population alongside a sharp rise in child obesity come big consequences for health care over the next half century.
Im not saying its an easy task you can just throw money at, but if trends continue as they are now the health and economic impact on society will be huge.
Bar some sort of national catastrophe (for e.g. war, famine, disease) is it a crazy idea to think we could see a reduction in obesity levels? Are we simply resigned to the fact that we will just get bigger and bigger in the future?
- roadnottaken 10y agoUm, I know a solution to the obesity crisis....
- calsy 10y agoEat less, exercise more? Easy to say right, but the simple message isn't working obviously. Obesity levels have doubled over the last 40 years. Its not sporadic either, it's affecting the entire population now. Why is this happening?
- ams6110 10y agoThe government (and medical science) was wrong about what it told us to eat for the past 40 years.
- asp_hornet 10y agopeople believing there is some mystical cause to their obesity is the problem. People like to blame some magical undiscovered illness when they are just eating too much, eating too many bad foods, not exercising enough or a combination of those. there is no mystery to obesity but I do believe we can do more to educate people on better / healthier lifestyle habits.
- agentdrtran 10y agoevery single fat person I know is very aware they're fat, but they just don't give enough of a shit to change all their habits.
- andrewmcwatters 10y agoBecause people consume more calories than they need. We know this, we've known this for a very long time.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- awqrre 10y agoEating less and eating the right things is probably much more effective then exercising more (it takes a lot of work to burn up a donut)... But I'm not saying that exercise is not important for other reasons.
- projektir 10y agoYou're talking about small-scale, individual solutions... ones that you'd throw at a random obese person. He's talking about a population level crisis. "People eat too much" doesn't answer the question anymore.
- bsder 10y agoAyup. Basic income and universal health care. That way people can concentrate on their health, first, without having to worry about their daily salary to keep themselves housed, clothed, and fed. Oh, wait, that wasn't what you meant? :) As for your snide solution: There is research coming in that your body will reduce your metabolism in order to conserve fat. Fat cells "remember" the environment when they were created, and take between 3-5 years to be replaced. So, you are fighting the fact that you were fat 3 years ago even if you weigh correctly right now. I can also tell you from personal experience that stress us a HUGE factor. I haven't changed anything obvious in my life, but I'm down almost 15 pounds since my life became a lot less stressful (external factors went away). Am I magically more virtuous all of a sudden? Doubtful. So, what changed? Am I feeling fuller? Am I sleeping better? Is my survival system not being so wound up? Who knows? So, from my point of view, if you want to cut down on obesity, cut down on people's stress. And that translates to fewer hours at work, help with young/old family members, healthcare improvements, etc.
- flukus 10y agoI knew a solution to changing the TV channel, it didn't mean the remote control wasn't a welcome invention.
- mulcahey 10y agoFrom what I have read there may be more to it than just laziness and over-eating. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/babies-have-a-microbial-window-of-opportunity-excerpt/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/babies-have-a-micr... It seems to agree with my observation that many people get obese very easily while I would have a very hard time even if I tried.
- blackoil 10y agoFor starter, stop drinking liters of cold drink and beer every day. If you really need it, I will create an app for that.
- bonoboTP 10y agoPeople often think it's just because the food is there in abundance. But it was there even before! But obesity is still rising. And poor people are fatter than the rich. I'd say it's a mix of specifically engineered flavor additives, advertisement, marketing and product placement and similar things. But the usual approach is that people are simply stupid and it's their own fault so there's no problem. Anything the food industry does is simply the beautiful free market at work, and it's every citizen's duty to see through it all and choose a healthy lifestyle despite all the crap thrown in their face every waking hour. Fat people are great business. They eat a lot (so they can be sold food), they stay at home a lot (so they can be sold entertainment and shown TV ads), they become sick (so they can be sold medicine) etc.
- kbart 10y agoIt's a political problem. Tax sugar and junk food heavily and the problem will solve itself over time.
- monort 10y agoThere is a technical solution to obesity - automatic calorie counter. There are some attempts, but they are not very accurate yet.