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There are plenty of people who consume highly processed foods and stay skinny. There are plenty of people who eat greasy, sugary, fattening foods who stay skinn

There are plenty of people who consume highly processed foods and stay skinny. There are plenty of people who eat greasy, sugary, fattening foods who stay skinny. The problem is not car culture, sugar, and processed foods. The problem is overeating. America, and the rest of the first world has major issues with food addiction and a culture associated with "eating until the plate is clean"

minikites 5y ago
>The problem is overeating. We've had a food surplus for a long time, why is obesity a relatively recent problem?
- waiseristy 5y ago
  You don't get addicted to 2 lbs of turnips and some bacon fat. You get addicted to three 1500 calorie McDonalds meals per day
  - minikites 5y ago
    Doesn't that mean the cause is related to car culture (drive-thru) and processed foods, not just overeating?
    - waiseristy 5y ago
      I think you are reading too far into my McDonalds example. There are plenty of McDonalds without a drive through, who still overserve their customers. There are also plenty of people who are overweight just because they love to cook and eat tasty food (soul food!). Why are chefs nearly always overweight? They work incredibly hard and tax their bodies for 10 hours a day. They aren't sitting in drive throughs. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they are around food all day and consume large quantities of it
  - bcrosby95 5y ago
    It's mostly about the drive through. Is it impossible to make drive through with food that isn't grossly terrible for you?
gaws 5y ago
> There are plenty of people who consume highly processed foods and stay skinny. There are plenty of people who eat greasy, sugary, fattening foods who stay skinny. These people must burn at the stake.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  I better start researching fat suits.
Jtsummers 5y ago
The problem is that there is no the problem. Our foods are unhealthy (low nutritional value, even if they provide the calorie content necessary to live; vitamin and mineral deficiencies lead to poor health outcomes). Our foods are often too high in calories (portion sizing, sugary drinks, "coffee" that's 90% sugar). Our culture is increasingly sedentary (cars versus walking and biking, television and computers that are engaging and help people lose track of time idling away on the couch). And plenty of other factors I'm not thinking of right now. You can't point to any one of these and say this is the problem. They're all problems and all need to be addressed. Educating people on the impact of food choices and health (not even obesity, all the other health impacts). Reconstructing cities without the need for a 30+ minute commute to work or a grocery store. Emphasizing community activities that get people out of their homes and away from their televisions and computers (harder right now with COVID restrictions). Discouraging (by some measure) restaurants from serving grossly unhealthy serving sizes. Some of these are more feasible than others. We aren't going to rebuild cities any time soon. Public transportation is a political third rail. People in some regions enjoy aiming their trucks at cyclists (too many close encounters in GA for me to even want to use a bike lane in that state again). Others are more feasibly addressed though.
- waiseristy 5y ago
  Great points, but I fundamentally disagree that overeating is not the single biggest component contributing to the first worlds dietary issues. You know what is the single defining feature of skinny people? Outside of Olympic athletes and manual laborers? They eat substantially less than everyone else. You aren't going to "walk off" a 1500 calorie burger, unless that's the only thing you eat that day
  - Jtsummers 5y ago
    It may be the single biggest component, but it's not the only component which means it is not the problem. And the definition of overeating has changed because of these other factors. Sugary sodas and drinks are not eaten, consequently what was a healthy and satiating meal is now overeating because people are getting 250-2000 extra calories a day (250/bottle of soda approximately). Drop the sodas and many people won't be overeating (or overeating to the same extreme) as they are now without changing their diet. Poor nutritional quality of foods can be disruptive to metabolism and health in general. Which again can mean that what was an objectively healthy portion for them becomes an unhealthy portion. As an example, low iron (anemia) decreases a person's ability to engage in physical activity and leads to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. So that a 2000 kcal a day diet that may have been healthy is now overeating. The general sedentary nature of people also means that what was a perfectly reasonable diet for our grandparents and great-grandparents is now overeating. When people spend 1-2 hours a day sitting so that they can go from one place where they sit for 8-10 hours to another place where they'll sit in front of a computer or tv for another 4-5 hours and then sleep, their calorie needs are barely above that of someone who is bedridden for illness or injury. Restaurant portion sizes are outrageous (though, anecdotally, the last few times I've been to a restaurant they seem to have toned it down). That is a problem. But these other issues cannot be neglected because it's a system, they all interact with each other.
astura 5y ago
If we start with the premise that the cause of obesity is overeating then we have to ask the question why is a significant portion of the population suddenly overeating? Convenience foods are older than the "obesity epidemic" and every year there's more and more obese people than the year before.
mmarq 5y ago
I wouldn't generalize to the whole first world, obesity is mainly a problem in English speaking countries and in northern and eastern Europe, ie places with a subpar (eg Germany) or non-existent (eg UK, US) cuisine.

minikites 5y ago

>The problem is overeating. We've had a food surplus for a long time, why is obesity a relatively recent problem?

waiseristy 5y ago
You don't get addicted to 2 lbs of turnips and some bacon fat. You get addicted to three 1500 calorie McDonalds meals per day
- minikites 5y ago
  Doesn't that mean the cause is related to car culture (drive-thru) and processed foods, not just overeating?
  - waiseristy 5y ago
    I think you are reading too far into my McDonalds example. There are plenty of McDonalds without a drive through, who still overserve their customers. There are also plenty of people who are overweight just because they love to cook and eat tasty food (soul food!). Why are chefs nearly always overweight? They work incredibly hard and tax their bodies for 10 hours a day. They aren't sitting in drive throughs. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they are around food all day and consume large quantities of it
- bcrosby95 5y ago
  It's mostly about the drive through. Is it impossible to make drive through with food that isn't grossly terrible for you?

gaws 5y ago

> There are plenty of people who consume highly processed foods and stay skinny. There are plenty of people who eat greasy, sugary, fattening foods who stay skinny. These people must burn at the stake.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
I better start researching fat suits.

Jtsummers 5y ago

The problem is that there is no the problem. Our foods are unhealthy (low nutritional value, even if they provide the calorie content necessary to live; vitamin and mineral deficiencies lead to poor health outcomes). Our foods are often too high in calories (portion sizing, sugary drinks, "coffee" that's 90% sugar). Our culture is increasingly sedentary (cars versus walking and biking, television and computers that are engaging and help people lose track of time idling away on the couch). And plenty of other factors I'm not thinking of right now. You can't point to any one of these and say this is the problem. They're all problems and all need to be addressed. Educating people on the impact of food choices and health (not even obesity, all the other health impacts). Reconstructing cities without the need for a 30+ minute commute to work or a grocery store. Emphasizing community activities that get people out of their homes and away from their televisions and computers (harder right now with COVID restrictions). Discouraging (by some measure) restaurants from serving grossly unhealthy serving sizes. Some of these are more feasible than others. We aren't going to rebuild cities any time soon. Public transportation is a political third rail. People in some regions enjoy aiming their trucks at cyclists (too many close encounters in GA for me to even want to use a bike lane in that state again). Others are more feasibly addressed though.

waiseristy 5y ago
Great points, but I fundamentally disagree that overeating is not the single biggest component contributing to the first worlds dietary issues. You know what is the single defining feature of skinny people? Outside of Olympic athletes and manual laborers? They eat substantially less than everyone else. You aren't going to "walk off" a 1500 calorie burger, unless that's the only thing you eat that day
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  It may be the single biggest component, but it's not the only component which means it is not the problem. And the definition of overeating has changed because of these other factors. Sugary sodas and drinks are not eaten, consequently what was a healthy and satiating meal is now overeating because people are getting 250-2000 extra calories a day (250/bottle of soda approximately). Drop the sodas and many people won't be overeating (or overeating to the same extreme) as they are now without changing their diet. Poor nutritional quality of foods can be disruptive to metabolism and health in general. Which again can mean that what was an objectively healthy portion for them becomes an unhealthy portion. As an example, low iron (anemia) decreases a person's ability to engage in physical activity and leads to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. So that a 2000 kcal a day diet that may have been healthy is now overeating. The general sedentary nature of people also means that what was a perfectly reasonable diet for our grandparents and great-grandparents is now overeating. When people spend 1-2 hours a day sitting so that they can go from one place where they sit for 8-10 hours to another place where they'll sit in front of a computer or tv for another 4-5 hours and then sleep, their calorie needs are barely above that of someone who is bedridden for illness or injury. Restaurant portion sizes are outrageous (though, anecdotally, the last few times I've been to a restaurant they seem to have toned it down). That is a problem. But these other issues cannot be neglected because it's a system, they all interact with each other.

astura 5y ago

If we start with the premise that the cause of obesity is overeating then we have to ask the question why is a significant portion of the population suddenly overeating? Convenience foods are older than the "obesity epidemic" and every year there's more and more obese people than the year before.

mmarq 5y ago

I wouldn't generalize to the whole first world, obesity is mainly a problem in English speaking countries and in northern and eastern Europe, ie places with a subpar (eg Germany) or non-existent (eg UK, US) cuisine.