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> Today, over 70 percent of American adults and one-fifth of the children are overweight or obese, Today I learned that 70% of Americans are obese. Never been

> Today, over 70 percent of American adults and one-fifth of the children are overweight or obese, Today I learned that 70% of Americans are obese. Never been to america but I'm truly baffled how people and the government could let this happen. I know that in America the government is supposed not to interfere with people choice but here it's not just some people being lazy and camping at McDonald's.

ldoughty 2y ago
Reread the quote -- You're misinterpreting the sentence. 70% of Americans are overweight. But not all of those are obese.
sabbaticaldev 2y ago
not saying it’s not an epidemic but I would be part of this stats with a BMI of 27. BMI isn’t very accurate for taller people
- datadrivenangel 2y ago
  Also isn't accurate for denser people.
  - tmnvix 2y ago
    Oh come now. The formula is dead simple!
    - datadrivenangel 2y ago
      You're technically correct. It's a formula, it's never 'wrong'. The issue is the mapping of the formula to health outcomes and categories and the limitations of it as a tool.
      - sabbaticaldev 2y ago
        I wouldn’t put “denser” people in the same group as tall people. Having heavy bones is an old excuse for being skinny-fat which is unhealthy
      - lukas099 2y ago
        But at a population level (as the article uses it) it’s mostly fine. Unless the sample skews tall or muscular like the Dutch or bodybuilders.
    - lukas099 2y ago
      BMI is a screening tool with high sensitivity and low specificity. It is useful for selecting patients for further, more specific tests, such as waist measurement. But when talking about how the average BMI of all Americans has gone up, it’s mostly fine.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
SteveSmith16384 2y ago
The irony is that the government is supposed not to interfere with people choice, but for-profit capitalism is allowed to interfere in everything.
skirge 2y ago
epicureanism punished by law, that would be something new.....
pierrebeaucamp 2y ago
The EU average is 53%, with most eastern member states hovering around 60%. Croatia is at 65% (as of 2019, see https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Overweight_and_obesity_-_BMI_statistics https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...). Sure, it's _somewhat_ lower than the US, but not to the degree that you can claim a big disparity in my opinion. As such, we could even rewrite your statement to the following: > Today I learned that 59% of Finns are obese. Never been to Finland but I'm truly baffled how people and the government could let this happen. Also, as other commenters have pointed out, "overweight" does not mean "obese".
- aucisson_masque 2y ago
  Yeah my bad, I assumed wrongly overweight and obese meant the same. Tho I live in France where we have between 20-30 overweight and obese, so its fair that 70% of the population looks astonishing (to a french). I mean 20% is minority, 70% is majority. That's fucked up.
- lolinder 2y ago
  > Also, as other commenters have pointed out, "overweight" does not mean "obese". And to elaborate on this: part of the reason these numbers are shockingly high vs what we subjectively experience is we have a really bad definition of overweight that miscategorizes lots of people who look (and probably are) perfectly healthy. BMI is an extremely rough guideline that's a bit useful at the state level but is a terrible metric for any individual to use to decide if they're healthy. I've seen my fair share of eating disorders directly caused by someone using BMI when it's inappropriate for their build or life stage. When these stats are used by journalists and lay people rather than public health professionals who recognize the limitations, they're mostly good for giving >50% of everyone an excuse to pat themselves on the back that they're healthier than the >50% who are "overweight".
idoubtit 2y ago
According to the latest official (CDC) statistics in the USA: - 9 % of adults are severely obese, - 42 % of adults are obese (it was 30 % some 20 years before), - 74 % of adults are overweight.

ldoughty 2y ago

Reread the quote -- You're misinterpreting the sentence. 70% of Americans are overweight. But not all of those are obese.

sabbaticaldev 2y ago

not saying it’s not an epidemic but I would be part of this stats with a BMI of 27. BMI isn’t very accurate for taller people

datadrivenangel 2y ago
Also isn't accurate for denser people.
- tmnvix 2y ago
  Oh come now. The formula is dead simple!
  - datadrivenangel 2y ago
    You're technically correct. It's a formula, it's never 'wrong'. The issue is the mapping of the formula to health outcomes and categories and the limitations of it as a tool.
    - sabbaticaldev 2y ago
      I wouldn’t put “denser” people in the same group as tall people. Having heavy bones is an old excuse for being skinny-fat which is unhealthy
    - lukas099 2y ago
      But at a population level (as the article uses it) it’s mostly fine. Unless the sample skews tall or muscular like the Dutch or bodybuilders.
  - lukas099 2y ago
    BMI is a screening tool with high sensitivity and low specificity. It is useful for selecting patients for further, more specific tests, such as waist measurement. But when talking about how the average BMI of all Americans has gone up, it’s mostly fine.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

SteveSmith16384 2y ago

The irony is that the government is supposed not to interfere with people choice, but for-profit capitalism is allowed to interfere in everything.

skirge 2y ago

epicureanism punished by law, that would be something new.....

pierrebeaucamp 2y ago

The EU average is 53%, with most eastern member states hovering around 60%. Croatia is at 65% (as of 2019, see https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Overweight_and_obesity_-_BMI_statistics https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...). Sure, it's _somewhat_ lower than the US, but not to the degree that you can claim a big disparity in my opinion. As such, we could even rewrite your statement to the following: > Today I learned that 59% of Finns are obese. Never been to Finland but I'm truly baffled how people and the government could let this happen. Also, as other commenters have pointed out, "overweight" does not mean "obese".

aucisson_masque 2y ago
Yeah my bad, I assumed wrongly overweight and obese meant the same. Tho I live in France where we have between 20-30 overweight and obese, so its fair that 70% of the population looks astonishing (to a french). I mean 20% is minority, 70% is majority. That's fucked up.
lolinder 2y ago
> Also, as other commenters have pointed out, "overweight" does not mean "obese". And to elaborate on this: part of the reason these numbers are shockingly high vs what we subjectively experience is we have a really bad definition of overweight that miscategorizes lots of people who look (and probably are) perfectly healthy. BMI is an extremely rough guideline that's a bit useful at the state level but is a terrible metric for any individual to use to decide if they're healthy. I've seen my fair share of eating disorders directly caused by someone using BMI when it's inappropriate for their build or life stage. When these stats are used by journalists and lay people rather than public health professionals who recognize the limitations, they're mostly good for giving >50% of everyone an excuse to pat themselves on the back that they're healthier than the >50% who are "overweight".

idoubtit 2y ago

According to the latest official (CDC) statistics in the USA: - 9 % of adults are severely obese, - 42 % of adults are obese (it was 30 % some 20 years before), - 74 % of adults are overweight.