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Why does shaming people not work? If we learnt there had been a secret government policy to reduce obesity by subtly promoting thin musicians and actors at the
by dmurray 10y ago
Why does shaming people not work? If we learnt there had been a secret government policy to reduce obesity by subtly promoting thin musicians and actors at the expense of their fatter competitors, and saw how successfully they promoted this idea of a healthy weight - we'd be in awe of this feat of propaganda/marketing/behavioural economics. That part has been done really well: in the West, fat people aren't beautiful and, with exceptions, successful people are not fat.
Gym memberships are at a high. The amount of time and money people invest purely in their fitness is at a high. Yet so is obesity. The behavioural forces making people fat are stronger even than the social, sexual and economic pressures driving people to be thin.
- s_ngularity 10y agoThe problem is fitness alone is not a cure for obesity. I think diet is the biggest factor in American obesity, even though lack of exercise is obviously a big problem as well. Portion sizes are inflated compared to other countries, soda is cheaper than water in some places, and high sodium and high fat foods are consumed daily by many people. Not to mention high-calorie "coffee" from places like Starbucks.
- darpa_escapee 10y agoPeople are down voting you but the cold hard truth is you can maintain a healthy weight by diet alone. No amount of excerise is going to offset eating a whole pizza and cheeseburgers everyday unless you're training at Olympic athlete levels. You aren't going to put on weight or maintain an unhealthy weight if you aren't eating excess calories.
- nugget 10y agoI'm shocked whenever I find myself in a Starbucks early in the morning - it's essentially a constant line of folks ordering milkshakes for breakfast.