why is there such an obesity problem in the US?

Question

Americans, tell me, are you obese and if so what is your typical daily diet? Do you consider this to be too much food or is it normal?

Answer 1

I think its to do with our lifestyle in general, we have a lot of fattening stuff in our food. The meat we eat here goes through all the chemical treatments before coming to the grocery selves and all that has its impact to obesity. Huge servings in fast food and restaurants, alcohol , too much snacks and munching, I have observed that our consumption of sugar is way too excessive than all over the world and these are all the factors which needs to be controlled from the childhood otherwise we get used to this particular lifestyle.
We hardly cook at home and depend on the fast food culture, We do not eat veggies or fruits and rely on fatty snacks between meals. So all this boils down to our lifestyle in general which leads to obesity if not taken proper care and other health issues.

If I may add we hardly consume water in our daily use instead rely on flavored and other beverages which are full of sugar, this too is fattening!

Answer 2

Here is how I see the prob. people have too much money available to them thus they do not bother to eat the proper foods at home and eat out far too often. The choices of eating out are often made by what appeals at the time not necessarily what is best for you. Fast foods are just that, something that tastes good but often has all the wrong ingredients that your body needs. If we tended to eat 2 or 3 square meals a day at home we would be far better off. Home cooked meals( and I don't mean Kraft dinner) are more nutritious and satisfying to the body thus you don't get hungry soon like when eating fast foods. The more vegetables, fruit and whole grains we eat the better we are.These kind of foods are satisfying and health beneficial thus less disease.Bottom line, we are lazy and take short cuts.

Answer 3

I'm American and am not obese. I'm actually quite thin. Sadly though, too many are. Why are they obese? Let's see: little to no exercise (take the car everywhere!), rather eat their meals at McDonalds or another fast food than cook at home, eat lots of junk food and very little fruits and vegetables, eat super-size portions of food instead of regular size portions, etc etc.

I try to eat healthy although I do have my "cravings" once in awhile.....say once a month not every freaking day.

What is this for? Curiosity? An essay? A survey?

Answer 4

Very possibly because of the amount of synthetic chemicals in the food and environment. When the body can't break it down and remove it quickly enough to minimize harm, it stores it in fat. Take a look at a processed food label and see how many ingredients you can pronounce. And your shampoo.

Europe uses something called the 'precautionary principle', which simply means that chemicals and other products should be thoroughly tested for safety -- by an independent team, not the manufacturer -- BEFORE they're released for public use.

The U.S. is quite certain that this idea will ruin their economy.

Makes you wonder.

Answer 5

I'm 5'4" and weight 220 pounds.
I eat 1 sometimes 2 meals a day.

I think the obesity problem is because there are so many well advertised cheap fast food joints, and that we have so much technology and stuff to make lives "easier" that we've all just become lazy.

Answer 6

The largest number of big people is among the poorest because they can only afford to buy junk! It should not be more expensive to buy healthy, natural foods than it is to buy processed, fattening, poor quality "food", but it is. It's time that people started realizing what they are putting in their bodies and holding food manufacturers/producers accountable for the poor options that are available. It seems weird to me that so much time and energy are put into making poor quality foods taste and look better, yet they cost less than the simple, healthy alternatives. Something doesn't make sense.

Answer 7

Honestly I think it's because we aren't as active as we used to be. When I was a kid not too long ago we used to play outside all day and not get to watch over 900+ channels of TV, video games were limited and computers were like DOS.
Today people have way too much at there fingertips and don't have to leave there house to do anything really. Pay bills at home, work from home, have groceries delivered, buy clothing and toys on the Internet. If you wanted to you could be a hermit all day long and not even leave your house or your bed to work and live. It's the Slacker generation. My kids are skinny and healthy because I don't let them watch TV or play games all day there are active in sports and boy scouts, and have chores. These days kids get made fun of for being skinny instead of fat because fat is normal to our kids.

Answer 8

well it is not that obesity rpoblem is there in Us, it is ther all over the world . basically technology is imporving soo fast that we have machines to do most of the work. also there r soo many fast food restaurants , cheap foods available , also taste is given very good importance, adding too much of cheese and other faty foods also add to this. it is also believed that stress makes u eat more. our lives have now become very stressful. we all have office jobs where most of teh people sit , sit and sit in their desks all the day , no exercise, eat and sleep... this kind of pattern has changed life and hence leading to many health problems.

Answer 9

Well, I am not obese, but i do believe that the obesity problem is due to junk food, lack of exercise and stress (emotional eating).

Answer 10

Mentality of instant gratification without work (including exercising to stay fit) + proliferation of fast food places and/or places that serve portions that are ridiculously large = obesity problem.

That pretty much sums it up.