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> Soda is the new smoking. FTFY. No, really, sitting on your ass may be uncomfortable but it's not 1) addictive 2) marketed heavily to teenagers 3) causing lif

by ihsw 13y ago

> Soda is the new smoking. FTFY. No, really, sitting on your ass may be uncomfortable but it's not 1) addictive 2) marketed heavily to teenagers 3) causing life-long debilitating diseases 4) cheap and abundant.

bjeanes 13y ago
Well ... I wouldn't agree with 4 and maybe not even 3 (that stands to be seen), but it's definitely not the new smoking.
- mahyarm 13y ago
  Soda is extremely cheap and abundant. You can buy 2L bottles for under a dollar everywhere, and it's the express lane to obesity if you drink versions with calories in them. It's even social, where people provide it at parties and offer it to other people, creating a social pressure to consume it. Obesity is spreading throughout the USA at alarming rates, with over %70 of the population being overweight and ~%35 being actually obese!
  - jere 13y ago
    Perhaps the disagreement is that sitting is cheap and abundant.
    - bjeanes 13y ago
      yes, exactly.
dragonwriter 13y ago
> sitting on your ass may be uncomfortable but it's not 1) addictive Ok. > 2) marketed heavily to teenagers Its compulsory for teenagers (via mandates for school), as well as marketed heavily to them (in terms of sedentary occupations.) > 3) causing life-long debilitating diseases > 4) cheap and abundant. No, sitting on your butt is actually both of these.
mistercow 13y ago
Actually, I can see arguments that it is all four of those. 1) Being sedentary is not directly addictive, but it is self-perpetuating. Being sedentary reduces your overall energy levels, and that leads to more sitting. There are also a ton of psychologically addictive activities that require sitting. 2) What about playing video games, watching movies, Facebook (or whatever the kids do these days), etc.? And don't forget studying. We actually force teenagers to sit for 6-9 hours a day for 75% of the year. 3) There's a good bit of evidence that supports that chronic sitting does, in fact, cause long term harm. 4) What's cheaper than sitting?
nilkn 13y ago
While one can contort your four points to fit a sedentary lifestyle, I agree with you that soda fits them all trivially. I also agree that soda poses more of a direct and immediate threat to personal health, as it's a leading cause of obesity and also a major source of sugar, which itself is a leading cause of diabetes. That said, there's still one thing smoking has over soda as well: second hand smoke is both annoying and harmful to nonsmokers. There's not an analogue to this for drinking soda or sitting.
- ihsw 13y ago
  It's a long-shot but the sugary bullshit crusade has affected every other source of food and water -- sweeteners are added to every possible thing. Real honey, for example, is difficult to find because most honey sold in grocery stores is just honey-flavored corn syrup. Trying to avoid the sweet-foods avalanche is very difficult because it's everywhere.
angersock 13y ago
Soda is probably the worst thing you can do for your health. At least cigarettes don't make you fat.

by ihsw 13y ago

bjeanes 13y ago

Well ... I wouldn't agree with 4 and maybe not even 3 (that stands to be seen), but it's definitely not the new smoking.

mahyarm 13y ago
Soda is extremely cheap and abundant. You can buy 2L bottles for under a dollar everywhere, and it's the express lane to obesity if you drink versions with calories in them. It's even social, where people provide it at parties and offer it to other people, creating a social pressure to consume it. Obesity is spreading throughout the USA at alarming rates, with over %70 of the population being overweight and ~%35 being actually obese!
- jere 13y ago
  Perhaps the disagreement is that sitting is cheap and abundant.
  - bjeanes 13y ago
    yes, exactly.

dragonwriter 13y ago

> sitting on your ass may be uncomfortable but it's not 1) addictive Ok. > 2) marketed heavily to teenagers Its compulsory for teenagers (via mandates for school), as well as marketed heavily to them (in terms of sedentary occupations.) > 3) causing life-long debilitating diseases > 4) cheap and abundant. No, sitting on your butt is actually both of these.

mistercow 13y ago

Actually, I can see arguments that it is all four of those. 1) Being sedentary is not directly addictive, but it is self-perpetuating. Being sedentary reduces your overall energy levels, and that leads to more sitting. There are also a ton of psychologically addictive activities that require sitting. 2) What about playing video games, watching movies, Facebook (or whatever the kids do these days), etc.? And don't forget studying. We actually force teenagers to sit for 6-9 hours a day for 75% of the year. 3) There's a good bit of evidence that supports that chronic sitting does, in fact, cause long term harm. 4) What's cheaper than sitting?

nilkn 13y ago

While one can contort your four points to fit a sedentary lifestyle, I agree with you that soda fits them all trivially. I also agree that soda poses more of a direct and immediate threat to personal health, as it's a leading cause of obesity and also a major source of sugar, which itself is a leading cause of diabetes. That said, there's still one thing smoking has over soda as well: second hand smoke is both annoying and harmful to nonsmokers. There's not an analogue to this for drinking soda or sitting.

ihsw 13y ago
It's a long-shot but the sugary bullshit crusade has affected every other source of food and water -- sweeteners are added to every possible thing. Real honey, for example, is difficult to find because most honey sold in grocery stores is just honey-flavored corn syrup. Trying to avoid the sweet-foods avalanche is very difficult because it's everywhere.

angersock 13y ago

Soda is probably the worst thing you can do for your health. At least cigarettes don't make you fat.