British medical suggestion

[Matthew Dalton]

absolutely!

I was stunned to see they're now doing this for men's clothing. The last time i picked up a pair of size 30 waist trousers, they had a 32 waist! Unbelievable.

bk

Thanks for adding that! I hadn't heard they were doing it for men's clothing. Didn't think anyone would feel there would be a need to do so. I was glad that I wouldn't have to be wary of it when ordering clothing from the internet...

 

[melankomas]

absolutely!

I was stunned to see they're now doing this for men's clothing. The last time i picked up a pair of size 30 waist trousers, they had a 32 waist! Unbelievable.

bk

fftopic: they are? blast. women's sizes were bad enough. half the advantage of wearing men's clothing is not having to try things on.

 

[GOK]

Yes! Vanity sizing is an awful idea and one that surely has the potential to add to the problem? If a size 40" person can buy a size 38", the likelihood is that he might have a celebratory burger because he appears to be smaller than he actually is! I favour anti vanity sizing!!! lol

BK, I am in complete agreement with you regarding the junk food demographic and I find the situation really quite sad. I dislike making assumptions about the intelligence levels of certain areas of the populace but the statistics often do speak for themselves.

 

[MrBern]

the sprawl & the spread

In a related story, Reuters is reporting a health survey that US kids in the suburbs are twice as likely to be overweight than Urban teens.

"In a sprawling suburb, you can do very little on foot," said lead study author Dr. Reid Ewing of the University of Maryland's National Center for Smart Growth Education and Research.

By contrast, he noted in an interview, people in cities are often forced to be active in their daily lives -- walking to stores and public transportation, carrying groceries up the stairs to their fifth-floor walk-up apartment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061218/hl_nm/suburban_sprawl_dc

 

[GOK]

"In a sprawling suburb, you can do very little on foot," said lead study author Dr. Reid Ewing of the University of Maryland's National Center for Smart Growth Education and Research.

I don't get this - surely there are places to walk, parks, shops etc?

 

[Paisley]

Suburbs vary, of course, but some of them don't even have sidewalks. They were designed for the residents to go everywhere in the car. Office campuses: same thing. You can walk for half an hour in the street and through parking lots to go to some big box store, or you can drive.

 

[GOK]

Suburbs vary, of course, but some of them don't even have sidewalks. They were designed for the residents to go everywhere in the car. Office campuses: same thing. You can walk for half an hour in the street and through parking lots to go to some big box store, or you can drive.

Wow, that is so bizarre! I cannot imagine what such places look like.

 

[The Wingnut]

Half the issue is simply shutting off and throwing out the TV / home theater / gaming console.

After school and after work activities should not entail sitting on one's posterior for hours on end. If one is sitting still, it should be while reading a book, or at least engaging in some sort of educational / creative acitvity.

I manage to stay very slim and in good health. I'll be 30 next week and weigh just 5 lbs more than I did when I was 18...most of that is muscle put on during Air Force basic training and tech school. I run 3 times per week and excercise occasionally...but still have the typical bachelor diet. The fridge is stocked with mostly microwavable food. Last night's dinner consisted of salmon, mixed vegetables and a glass of wine, but some nights it's a burger, or a nuked burrito.

 

[melankomas]

Yes! Vanity sizing is an awful idea and one that surely has the potential to add to the problem? If a size 40" person can buy a size 38", the likelihood is that he might have a celebratory burger because he appears to be smaller than he actually is! I favour anti vanity sizing!!! lol

BK, I am in complete agreement with you regarding the junk food demographic and I find the situation really quite sad. I dislike making assumptions about the intelligence levels of certain areas of the populace but the statistics often do speak for themselves.

i mean no disrespect, but i wonder at people who assume the poor should be buying lettuce and apples and milk. what person who cannot be sure she'll have electricity would be fool enough to buy foods that may spoil without refrigeration? the poor, when food can be bought, often must think about what types of food they can tighten their belts round. that means preservatives. sodium. et cetera. at the most healthy, the pantry will lack enough variety to provide nutrition: potatoes, perhaps, rice, beans if one is fortunate. certainly, one could go to market more often and buy less each time, but that's the behavior of an entirely different mentality.

well, i'll be silent on the subject.

 

[GOK]

i mean no disrespect, but i wonder at people who assume the poor should be buying lettuce and apples and milk. what person who cannot be sure she'll have electricity would be fool enough to buy foods that may spoil without refrigeration?

The same kind that buys TV dinners that need to be stored in a freezer and nuked in a microwave, perhaps? Or buys doughnuts instead of bread?

the poor, when food can be bought, often must think about what types of food they can tighten their belts round. that means preservatives. sodium. et cetera.

I think we are talking about a different kind of poor here. When I was living on the breadline (and believe me, I do know what I am talking about here), I still fed my family good food. I wouldn't have dreamed of squandering the meagre finances I had on ready meals and junk.

at the most healthy, the pantry will lack enough variety to provide nutrition: potatoes, perhaps, rice, beans if one is fortunate. certainly, one could go to market more often and buy less each time, but that's the behavior of an entirely different mentality.

Possibly the one that says "I can't be bothered"? [huh]

 

[LaMedicine]

perhaps this is where my discrepancy is rooted. my parents both came from such underprivileged countries. one's parents' values are bound to rub off on one at some point, and although i do see obesity as a serious threat to public health, part of me also still believes my parents words: "being heavy is a privilege". i recall how disappointed my father was that my frame isn't built to hold a great deal of weight. when i was old enough to work and help pay bills, i remember saving a bit of money for weight gainer (this is a high-calorie powder), in hopes i could become heavy.

This is another big problem, too. Obesity is on the rampage in underpriveledged and underdeveloped countries as well. It seems the reason is the easy accessibility of inexpensive and fattening processed food that has replaced the traditional food of the region.
Take, for instance, some Polynesean countries. Plumpness was traditionally good form, and while the citizens ate traditional food and were overweight, there were not that many who suffered from obesity-related illnesses. Now, with their diet shifting from traditional food to western fare, there is a marked increase in the rate of diabetes and heart disease.
Traditional food, evolved over the centuries, helped keep people of the respective ethnicities healthy. Different ethnicities have different resistance and affinitiy to food, due to the difference in genetics. It is now pretty much common knowledge among my colleagues that Asian ethnicities have less resitance towards diabetes where obesity is concerned. In other words, Asians are more likely to develop insulin resistance with excess weight than European/European ancestry Americans are. So, we advise our patients, try to stick to traditional fare and do your own cooking as much as you can, it is for the best of your health.

 

[GOK]

So, we advise our patients, try to stick to traditional fare and do your own cooking as much as you can, it is for the best of your health.

I cannot imagine why someone would want to choose processed 'western' food over fresh, healthy Asian fare. It's beyond me, especially as generally it is so easy and quick to cook.

 

[LaMedicine]

I cannot imagine why someone would want to choose processed 'western' food over fresh, healthy Asian fare. It's beyond me, especially as generally it is so easy and quick to cook.

It's just human nature.
Anything that has been around for ages is boring, anything new is attractive and trendy.lol lol lol
Takes a while to recognize the wisdom of our ancestors.

 

[Paisley]

Traditional fare in many parts of the world consists of rice, beans, potatoes, greens and occasional meat and fish. Most of us recognize this as a healthy diet.

Veering from a traditional diet to one's detriment is nothing new. Gout used to be called "rich man's disease." It's associated with a rich diet.

True, there are many kinds of poor. However, the term "poor" as applied to Americans usually doesn't mean people who are living in a cardboard shack. Many of America's "poor" have color TV, air conditioning, microwave ovens and other accoutrements of a comfortable, modern life. (Many of them also have a cigarette habit.) I happen to live two doors down from a duplex that has been used as Section 8 (government) housing over the years. I've seen many a case of empty beer bottles behind that duplex on trash day.

Whether poor people should or shouldn't eat junk food or drink beer or smoke cigarettes is their own business. But the idea that some people are overweight because they are poor just doesn't fly with me.

 

[LaMedicine]

But the idea that some people are overweight because they are poor just doesn't fly with me.

Lack of basic education and knowledge of nutrition would be the biggest culprit. Or, the interest of, maybe.
Outside of the US and other developed countries, lack of education is often a big factor. Especially lack of education for women. This goes hand in hand with the lack of social infrasturcture that will enable such education and knowledge to be handed out, and often, the stability of the society as well. Anything that one can get one's hands on, and fill the empty tummy comes first.
What disturbs me most is that there are a select few who are getting richer at the cost of the health of unsuspecting people, but if I say anything more, it'll surely get political, so I'll stop here.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Lack of access to the basics of a good diet also. Village Pantry and Seven Eleven just don't cut it, quite frankly. My relatively rich, relatively professional class downtown neighbourhood is well situated to source the basic ingredients of a good diet (farmer's market 3 times a week, 8 months of the year), and is close to good restaurants. And i can afford to travel to find these things.

Poor neighbourhoods are service by the aforementioned chain stores. And junk food restaurants. And the people are less ikely to be able to afford to travel to find the good stuff.

[whoops, "political" (actually socioeconomic, but i guess that gets counted as political here, these days) references removed]

But, we're talking about Scotland. Parallels? To be sure.

bk

 

[Paisley]

Wow, that is so bizarre! I cannot imagine what such places [suburbs] look like.

The lovely suburb of Superior, Colorado, shown in this article.

In contrast, my adopted hometown of Englewood, Colorado:

The photo shows a few blocks where there is shopping, a farmers market in summer, train station, bus line, condos, gym, library, concert hall, restaurants (both burger joints and inexpensive healthy food) and museum. I have to admit that I usually drive to these places, but it's definitely walk-able.