Why are americans fat? What do they eat for their meals? Burgers and burgers??

Question

I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but I saw an old episode of Oprah and she said more than half of the american population are overweight.

Btw, yes, i'm from overseas. Somewhere in asia.

Answer 1

The sad truth...most Americans are LAZY.

Also we tend to be very busy and convenient is crucial for our daily lives.

Answer 2

A lot of people eat burgers and other fast food, then don't exercise. Fast food is convenient during the work week (especially with an hour for lunch) then people go back and work on their computers or sitting at a desk answering the phone for the rest of the day. Then on the weekends, a lot of people watch TV and eat more stuff that is bad for you, like potato chips. This stuff is okay to eat when eaten moderately, and if you go out and exercise or take a walk afterwards. But most people (not all) don't exercise on a regular basis. Exercise is a good way to lose weight regardless of whether you eat a lot or a little bit of fast food.

Answer 3

Too often we choose convenience over health, whether from laziness or absurdly busy schedules. The result is consumption of fast food on a near-daily basis. All those empty calories just make us balloon right up.

One thing you might not have heard from Oprah is the wide variety of conditions that fall under the heading "overweight." If I'm five or ten pounds over my doctor's Ideal Weight Chart recommendation for my height and body type, I'm still technically overweight, but not obese.

Answer 4

You asked this as if you are from overseas?? One reason for Americans being over weight we don't take the time to sit down any more to a meal or take the time to plan healthy meals....some I said not all.....
Americans are always in a rush, go thru the drive thru windows at fast food places, or pizza places and grab something quick.
I work long hours and its night by time I get home and don't want to stand in kitchen cooking...just want something fast and easy...btw...am not fat, I control mine by the amount I eat and am active at my work running up and down halls all day...some jobs though you sit at your desk for 8 hrs a day or longer and grab a burger if your lucky

Answer 5

Depression, loneliness, insecurity, fear. yes it is true more than half the population is overweight, and I am one of them. Although I am doing the exercises, and cutting back, but I'm not on a diet, I just eat the lower calorie foods, and don't eat past a certain time. I'm not offended, but others may be. You have more to worry about than overweight people I'm sure you have your own faults and imperfections to bear.

Answer 6

After going to Europe, I can tell you why Americans are obese.

It's not because our food portion is larger. After a trek in Europe, European portions are just as large if not larger. Think of it like this: in Belgium the national dish is 1 kilo of mussels AND french fries (with mayo). Not exactly healthy. AND in Europe water is for boiling potatoes, not drinking.

The reason we're overweight is that we lack public transportation. We would much rather sit at home and watch TV than go outside. We don't walk to work or to a bus station, we drive. We don't walk to the market, we drive.

We don't overeat as much as we underexercise.

Answer 7

Number of reasons. A lot of Americans believe it is just too much trouble to fix healthy dinners, and tend to snack on junk food and grab cheap, greasy takeout for dinner. I'm guilty of this myself, running through the drive through at McDonalds for that $1 double cheeseburger and $1 McValue fry rather than going home and fixing up somethin that has half the fat and twice the nutrition.

We also seem to have an addiction to sweet or salty foods. Sodas instead of water, french fries or Doritos instead of fruits and veggies. If you get used to high sugar drinks and foods, healthy food with natural but lower sugar content tastes blah to you.

Answer 8

For myself, it is a matter of not scheduling walking and other exercise into my day. I have an office job that is rather high stress. If I walk and eat the proper foods every three hours and drink lots of water, I lose weight. But it takes forethought and planning and many times I just don't take the time to do that but grab what is convenient.

Answer 9

American women are on the go all the time, they usually eat standing up on the way somewhere. The easiest food to eat is junk. Of course this is completely a generalization. There are plenty of American women who have healthy balanced lives. Don't believe everything you hear.

Answer 10

there are so many fast food chains in america its sick
i hate it, you drive around you go past a mc donalds and there is like a 20 car line in the drive thru i mean come on people americans are too busy with their lives to actually stop and think, what should i be eating? should i go to the mcdonalds or should i take two minutes of a longer drive to go to a healthy resturaunt and save myself from having a heart attack

yes, people eat fast food every once in a while but a lot of people eat it every day because it is fast, easy, and cheap.
you're better off making a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich from home than eating fast food garbage

it is gross to see people who are overweight going into fast food places and coming out with everything supersized. its like they dont see a problem that is right in front of their faces

it is also embarassing to live in america and to be called a country with over half the population overweight

i dont mean to offend anyone with my answer but it is the truth
20 years ago you never saw someone who was overweight like we see now
boy, has that changed

america needs to think about what they are doing to their bodies because with the way these people are eating, they are going to soon drop like flies because their bodies wont be able to carry on because they had to supersize their fries or they had to get that giant value meal because of what i said before its fast, easy, and cheap

Answer 11

North Americans are getting bigger because the portion sizes are HUGE! I remember buying a bag of chips as a kid (15 years ago) and it was in a small bag, about half the size of a regular bag of chips today. Also, parents are both out working trying to make ends meet. They sometimes find it easier to have take-out or TV dinners, something quick and easy to make. Kids are getting less exercise because school budgets have been slashed and video games/computing are readily available...there is almost no need for a child to go out and play. A lot of my daughter's friends (6 - 7 year olds) also have TV's in their rooms....another distraction!
Hope this helps!