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[Azurro]

Oh yes, body positivity is such a great thing. /s

We need to bring shame back. Whatever nutrition options are, if people keep on stuffing their face and not getting off of their ass to exercise, this is the natural result. It's personal responsibility. Bring shame back, if you are a fat bastard, people should call you fat.

 

[Ellery]

Why did they put a picture of a clearly normal weight european hand watching european football drinking european beer and eating chips in an article about obesity in the US?

I understand it is some stock photo that has been used for thousand different other articles (about completely different things like sport betting from the UK etc.), but still funny.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The USDA is put in charge of creating a healthy diet in the 1950s, so they make a bulk of it carbohydrates. Seriously, why are 300 grams of carbs a day considered healthy. In 2010 they update it so it’s not a pyramid, but still 45% of your diet is carbs and sugars? I wish I understood why the scientific community of the 20th century believed Ancel Keys and his ideas when the evidence was just not there.

I read this a few years ago and it was mind blowing:

The sugar conspiracy | Ian Leslie

The Long Read: In 1972, a British scientist sounded the alarm that sugar – and not fat – was the greatest danger to our health. But his findings were ridiculed and his reputation ruined. How did the world’s top nutrition scientists get it so wrong for so long?

www.theguardian.com

 

[Wildebeest]

The way to tackle it is to be serious about the causes in biology and society. Not to treat it like a culture war where you come up with some post-modern explanation for why it is actually liberating, or some magical traditional explanation about willpower and morality.

 

[kuncol02]

Oh yes, "I'm not fat, I'm big boned." Hadn't heard that in a while.

BMI is ok for average person, but someone with lot of muscle under fat will be healthier (and look way less fat) that someone with same weight but with way smaller muscles.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I’m not going to deny we have a severe health issue in this country with being overweight but it seems like they are still leaning heavily on the BMI for this.

It completely ignores bone density and muscle. It’s a flawed metric that doesn’t apply to our society or time. I got down to 175lbs to be just below “overweight” BMI at 6’ tall and everyone that knew me thought I was dying.

Bone density doesn't make your belly jiggle. BMI is a SCALE, you have bands for each because there are variations for everyone. Using your example of 175lbs and 6 foot we have a BMI of 23.8, thus as you mention "healthy".
Your friends thought you were dying because they got used to fat you, they considered that state normal.


Similar with muscles - they only expand / grow when you ingest protein and you exercise them. Beer belly does not have larger muscles, it has more fat stored.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

BMI is ok for average person, but someone with lot of muscle under fat will be healthier (and look way less fat) that someone with same weight but with way smaller muscles.

The only place your fat can obstruct muscles is on your belly, everywhere else fat content will be at minimum relative to muscles. There is no scenario you speak of of "lots of muscles under fat" - fat is what gets burned when you exercise, thus build your muscles.

 

[RoadHazard]

Incredibly fat country. Sure, we have overweight people in Europe too, but definitely nowhere near 70%, and you very rarely see those super obese people you have over there (at least here in Sweden).

 

[Banjo64]

Plus sized beauties in advertising and then here we are.

In the UK there came a point in the early 2000s where there were years of outrage over size 0 models in advertisements - as they are anorexic or something and basically being that underweight is unhealthy. Ok, whatever, if it’s scientifically proven that being that underweight is unhealthy, great.

But now we have big fat ugly whoppers instead and no one is supposed to say that’s unhealthy?

 

[GreenAlien]

Fat-shaming should be more popular, considering that overeating is terrible for the climate.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I have a BMI around 23 (24 is the upper end of "healthy") and I'm tired of people telling me I'm "skin and bones". I want to tell them, "No, you're just used to seeing 73% of people being overweight."

In addition to an obesity epidemic, I hear we have a mental illness epidemic. Unironically, I think Fat Bastard's quote from Austin Powers can explain a lot of what we're seeing: "I eat because I'm unhappy. I'm unhappy because I eat."

I wonder what share of the non-overweight 27% of Americans are on some kind of drugs. The assumption being the overweight 73% of Americans are hooked on a feeling that constant/binge eating/refined sugars gives them. Something is terribly wrong with our mental health, and for some reason, overeating is more socially accepted than drug use

 

[GymWolf]

 

[GymWolf]

* Promotes obesity as a good thing

* obesity rates rise

* This makes Pikachu surpised

Spoiler

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Cosmopolitan should put legit drug adicts on their cover and push for that lifestyle to be accepted.

Maybe then people will get the absurdity for fat acceptance.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Fast Food should be expensive.
Healthy food should be cheap.

Why the fuck is it the other way around.

You know that wouldn't fix shit, right? If you put all the reasons on a scale on why people eat trash, the costs would be miniscule.

@topic: The problem is beyond repair and it' swallow all 1st world countries sooner or later. Reason? In most groups eating healthy makes you straight out an outsider. Believe me, I know.

 

[Wildebeest]

Cosmopolitan should put legit drug adicts on their cover and push for that lifestyle to be accepted.

Maybe then people will get the absurdity for fat acceptance.

Fashion magazines have a long history of putting drug addicts on their cover because drug addicts are often just skin and bones and have a cool "wasted" look.

 

[chixdiggit]

Fast Food should be expensive.
Healthy food should be cheap.

Why the fuck is it the other way around.

100% this. I don't get the chance to prepare as many meals as I would like and it's always a struggle to find something healthy.

 

[kuncol02]

The only place your fat can obstruct muscles is on your belly, everywhere else fat content will be at minimum relative to muscles. There is no scenario you speak of of "lots of muscles under fat" - fat is what gets burned when you exercise, thus build your muscles.

Did you ever saw how lots of Olympic level weightlifters and hammer throwers look?

 

[chromhound]

Fat-shaming should be more popular, considering that overeating is terrible for the climate.

That will get you cancel in no time

 

[Fake]

COVID approve this.

 

[GymWolf]

Did you ever saw how lots of Olympic level weightlifters and hammer throwers look?

Or someone like big show...

 

[RoadHazard]

It's not like it's really that hard to not be morbidly obese either? I used to always be able to eat and do anything without it having any visible effect on me, but a few years ago I became a tad overweight as a result of living too close to work and just not being very physically active (maybe combined with worse metabolism due to growing older). At worst, around two years ago, I was around 95 kg, which is definitely too much for my 183 cm height. Then a year and a half ago I moved a bit further from work, which made me need to walk a bit more each day (up and down a pretty steep hill), and I also started going for more walks outside that. Nothing crazy, just a few km a few times a week. That's pretty much all I did, and I'm now at around 80 kg, which is pretty much where I think I should be (BMI below 24).

I understand some people have genetics that mean they have to work harder, but I don't think that applies to over 70% of the population. But you also don't get literal buckets of food and soda at fast food restaurants here, that might help too. Those servings I see in photos and videos from America are hilarious. No shit people are gonna be obese.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Did you ever saw how lots of Olympic level weightlifters and hammer throwers look?

I also seen Tyson Fury winning world championship fights. Doesn't mean this is even remotely good for millions of people. Let Olympic weightlifters worry about themselves.

 

[Kilau]

Bone density doesn't make your belly jiggle. BMI is a SCALE, you have bands for each because there are variations for everyone. Using your example of 175lbs and 6 foot we have a BMI of 23.8, thus as you mention "healthy".
Your friends thought you were dying because they got used to fat you, they considered that state normal.


Similar with muscles - they only expand / grow when you ingest protein and you exercise them. Beer belly does not have larger muscles, it has more fat stored.

Assumptions.

It’s not a flawed metric. It’s useful for population studies but was never intended to be used as an assessment at the individual level. Of course it ignores bone density and muscle, people are using BMI incorrectly.

Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus

Weekend Edition math guy Keith Devlin graded the body mass index, a popular measure of determining healthy body weight, and failed it on 10 grounds.

www.npr.org

Oh yes, "I'm not fat, I'm big boned." Hadn't heard that in a while.

Doubt you’ve heard much of anything because you always come off as an ignorant cunt.

 

[kuncol02]

I also seen Tyson Fury winning world championship fights. Doesn't mean this is even remotely good for millions of people. Let Olympic weightlifters worry about themselves.

I didn't said it's good for milions of people, but another guy with same height and same weight with less muscle mass would be less healthy. Thats why BMI is only approximate indicator that fails in case of extremes (not only for athletes).

 

[Meicyn]

Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus

Weekend Edition math guy Keith Devlin graded the body mass index, a popular measure of determining healthy body weight, and failed it on 10 grounds.

www.npr.org

Uh… literally the first bullet point from your article says:

The person who dreamed up the BMI said explicitly that it could not and should not be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual.

It was always meant to be used at a macro level, not micro. I’ll even link you a scientific reference to reinforce the point:

Do we need to think beyond BMI for estimating population-level health risks?

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Most important bit:

The analysis has indicated that BMI remains a useful measure for estimating risk of health outcomes in a large and representative sample. There was little difference between the measures once known confounders were controlled for. Different measures may be better for assessing individuals; however, BMI is still useful in a population setting and should not be discounted.

Thus the point holds, people using BMI for individual assessment are using BMI incorrectly. Of course it’s an inaccurate assessment, it was never meant for that purpose. But BMI is still useful for population studies. It’s not intended to give you pinpoint accuracy. Yet, you can read the numbers and see with your own eyes when you visit a Walmart that the index is in the general ballpark and is a great indicator.

 

[Kilau]

Uh… literally the first bullet point from your article says:

The person who dreamed up the BMI said explicitly that it could not and should not be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual.

It was always meant to be used at a macro level, not micro. I’ll even link you a scientific reference to reinforce the point:

Do we need to think beyond BMI for estimating population-level health risks?

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Most important bit:

The analysis has indicated that BMI remains a useful measure for estimating risk of health outcomes in a large and representative sample. There was little difference between the measures once known confounders were controlled for. Different measures may be better for assessing individuals; however, BMI is still useful in a population setting and should not be discounted.

Thus the point holds, people using BMI for individual assessment are using BMI incorrectly. Of course it’s an inaccurate assessment, it was never meant for that purpose. But BMI is still useful for population studies. It’s not intended to give you pinpoint accuracy. Yet, you can read the numbers and see with your own eyes when you visit a Walmart that the index is in the general ballpark and is a great indicator.

Yes my link was 10 reasons why it’s bogus, no reason for an “uh…”

Obviously the CDC and others defend using it.

The first post you replied to started me with saying I don’t deny the health crisis in this country so no point bringing up people of Walmart.

 

[TrueLegend]

Fast Food should be expensive.
Healthy food should be cheap.

Why the fuck is it the other way around.

Healthy food is always cheaper compared to fast food on any nation on this planet. Fruits dont cost as much as Burgers and French fries, you just have to do research on local healthy food availability. Easy to cook to.

 

[Lasha]

Arguing about BMI misses the point. BMI is innacurate at the individual level but jacked individuals with dense bones are also outliers in a population. The mockery of the human form in the OP will be considered obese regardless of if your metric is BMI, Bodyfat %, waist circumference, or human eyesight. Most people who are obese by BMI will probably be obese by other metrics. There is a reason why the fat acceptance movement is one of the biggest critics of using BMI. The metric's flaws provide ammunition to justify poor life choices.

I've only had BMI actually matter when applying for new insurance. The initial application was flagged for BMI. My insurance agent could tell I wasn't obese by looking at me and appealed. I was sent to a doctor for a physical using more accurate metrics. The tests backed up what somebody could see with their own eyes. Does it mean BMI is flawed? No, because BMI correlates with higher health risk in the population so additional review was required. Have I ever been sad because my BMI is busted? Again no because I pass the sight test for looking healthy.

 

[Meicyn]

Yes my link was 10 reasons why it’s bogus, no reason for an “uh…”

Obviously the CDC and others defend using it.

The first post you replied to started me with saying I don’t deny the health crisis in this country so no point bringing up people of Walmart.

Your link is an opinion piece, it doesn’t exactly measure up to a scientific paper. Honestly I don’t understand why you’re even arguing over this, a few posts ago you showed that you don’t understand what BMI is supposed to be used for.

 

[Kilau]

Your link is an opinion piece, it doesn’t exactly measure up to a scientific paper. Honestly I don’t understand why you’re even arguing over this, a few posts ago you showed that you don’t understand what BMI is supposed to be used for.

You clearly didn’t read it, it explains my point. A flawed tool is still flawed even if applied as intended.

 

[Meicyn]

You clearly didn’t read it, it explains my point. A flawed tool is still flawed even if applied as intended.

Ah, I see what you’re arguing now. Fair enough.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Food can be fun cooking makes people happy I like trying new foods lazy people just get addicted with an emphasis on sugary foods.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

I am an overweight American. Most of the time I eat fast food because I work 12 hours a day and only have time to get something out to eat and then go to bed. There is no nutrition to be found in most food that you can eat quickly.

 

[Sabotage]

*SHOCKING*

Stay home, couch potato, door dash everything, follow the food pyramid - have you eaten you 6-11 servings of bread?

 

[Interfectum]

Lizzo said it's okay to be fat now so...

 

[SJRB]

It's almost as if ignoring scientific facts and acting like obesity is a healthy body standard because that's more convenient than pursuing an actual healthy body is an incredibly dangerous precedent.

Time will take of this problem, sooner rather than later.

 

[Fermbiz]

I love me some SSBBW's

 

[AlteredForms]

An absolute classic:

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Oh yes, "I'm not fat, I'm big boned." Hadn't heard that in a while.

Dont forget the "My metabolism is slow" excuse.

One my old coworkers was a fat ass. She's look like she eats soup and salad everyday and was at least 200 lbs. Something doesn't make sense.

She left the company and one my coworkers cleaned out her office. Her desk had candy bar wrappers in it and occasionally I'd see her buying 3 chocolate bars at a time at the cafe vending machine. Who the hell buys 3 at once? I knew the real deal about her, but for most people they saw someone who ate healthy in the cafe and claimed metabolism issues. BS.

There's only so many chocolate bars you can eat at the office. So it means she must had pigged out at home too.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Dont forget the "My metabolism is slow" excuse.

One my old coworkers was a fat ass. She's look like she eats soup and salad everyday and was at least 200 lbs. Something doesn't make sense.

She left the company and one my coworkers cleaned out her office. Her desk had candy bar wrappers in it and occasionally I'd see her buying 3 chocolate bars at a time at the cafe vending machine. Who the hell buys 3 at once? I knew the real deal about her, but for most people they saw someone who ate healthy in the cafe and claimed metabolism issues. BS.

There's only so many chocolate bars you can eat at the office. So it means she must had pigged out at home too.

Well, some people's metabolism DO slow down. I weighed like 140 and I'm 6'2. I weighed that most of my life, I'd like to think? But after I hit around 35? My weight skyrocketed to around 212, biggest I've ever been. I cut my food intake to less than half. I used to eat like a fucking black hole and never gain weight for much of my life. I fast a lot now at days, up to 2 days at a time in some cases. They say 3 days is best, but I get edgy if I go beyond 2.

ATM I'm pretty toned, slim and not sure of my BMI, but if I tug at the thickest part of my belly... it isn't much, lol. I still go HAM on certain dishes, but remain strict with my diet. So, I can honestly say I was mildly obese at one time in my life. The American Dream.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Well, some people's metabolism DO slow down. I weighed like 140 and I'm 6'2. I weighed that most of my life, I'd like to think? But after I hit around 35? My weight skyrocketed to around 212, biggest I've ever been. I cut my food intake to less than half. I used to eat like a fucking black hole and never gain weight for much of my life. I fast a lot now at days, up to 2 days at a time in some cases. They say 3 days is best, but I get edgy if I go beyond 2.

ATM I'm pretty toned, slim and not sure of my BMI, but if I tug at the thickest part of my belly... it isn't much, lol. I still go HAM on certain dishes, but remain strict with my diet. So, I can honestly say I was mildly obese at one time in my life. The American Dream.

I get it. I'm in my late 40s and have edged up in weight too.

Key difference is I've slowly inched up since university.

The person I'm talking about is 30 and was the same 200 lb for 4 years she worked here. And she wasnt tall either. She was probably 5 '6. Just think of a big round fat woman who'd claim metabolism issues to everyone.

 

[diffusionx]

I’m not going to deny we have a severe health issue in this country with being overweight but it seems like they are still leaning heavily on the BMI for this.

It completely ignores bone density and muscle. It’s a flawed metric that doesn’t apply to our society or time. I got down to 175lbs to be just below “overweight” BMI at 6’ tall and everyone that knew me thought I was dying.

No, you are overweight. I was once in the BMI range of 24-26 straddling the line and thought that I was fine, then for various reasons I lost a bunch of weight to go down to 21-22 and yea, turns out I was wrong and was overweight. I was carrying too much weight because I was eating a lot more food than I needed. BMI is a perfectly valid metric for about 98% of people. It only fails at the tail ends, the most common criticism of it is say bodybuilders or athletes where they have so much muscle it dings them as overweight, but OBVIOUSLY an athlete doesnt need BMI to tell them where they stand.

When my buddies and I go over the border to Buffalo or Detroit, the food portions are giant compared to Toronto. Even for basic shit, you can get a 20 pc of Mcnuggets for like half the price. And the pizzas in the US are giant and really doughy. Beer is dirt cheap too. So the amount of easy cheap junky food is everywhere.

I once went to Indianapolis and the food portions were like double the size of what I was used to in New York. And while NYC has lots of overweight people, it is nothing compared to what I saw in Indy and other Midwest/Southern towns. It’s sad actually, but there is so much misinformation about there about healthy eating and weight loss. Most people just eat way too much food.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

I get it. I'm in my late 40s and have edged up in weight too.

Key difference is I've slowly inched up since university.

The person I'm talking about is 30 and was the same 200 lb for 4 years she worked here. And she wasnt tall either. She was probably 5 '6. Just think of a big round fat woman who'd claim metabolism issues to everyone.

I think female metabolism isn't quite on par with male, but I could be wrong? But for the better part of my life, females always worried about weight gain, as well as see an acute change in weight, more so than men. There are females who are outliers, though. I've seen women compete on even footing, in food competitions or even surpass dudes. I mean, we all bleed red and have the same basic makeup as humans, but we aren't 'created equal' in the sense that we all have the same born-advantages.

 

[Kilau]

No, you are overweight. I was once in the BMI range of 24-26 straddling the line and thought that I was fine, then for various reasons I lost a bunch of weight to go down to 21-22 and yea, turns out I was wrong and was overweight. I was carrying too much weight because I was eating a lot more food than I needed. BMI is a perfectly valid metric for about 98% of people. It only fails at the tail ends, the most common criticism of it is say bodybuilders or athletes where they have so much muscle it dings them as overweight, but OBVIOUSLY an athlete doesnt need BMI to tell them where they stand.

I had to stop weight training and focus only on cardio to get my weight to that level. You know nothing about me so don’t make ignorant assumptions. I knew what I was doing and why I was doing it.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I am an overweight American. Most of the time I eat fast food because I work 12 hours a day and only have time to get something out to eat and then go to bed. There is no nutrition to be found in most food that you can eat quickly.

You can cook yourself in 15-30 minutes flat. Stop watching TV or cut your gaming time, you will have time to cook dinner.

Excuses, excuses...

 

[poppabk]

Ah yes West Virginia that haven for Cosmo reading hipster trend chasers.

 

[Punished Miku]

No, you are overweight. I was once in the BMI range of 24-26 straddling the line and thought that I was fine, then for various reasons I lost a bunch of weight to go down to 21-22 and yea, turns out I was wrong and was overweight. I was carrying too much weight because I was eating a lot more food than I needed. BMI is a perfectly valid metric for about 98% of people. It only fails at the tail ends, the most common criticism of it is say bodybuilders or athletes where they have so much muscle it dings them as overweight, but OBVIOUSLY an athlete doesnt need BMI to tell them where they stand.

I think I'm BMI 25 and I'm pretty thin honestly. Can see significant definition on lower abs, and brachial artery definition on arms. I wear skinny jeans. My cheeks on my face are slightly sunken in. I'm no body builder but I work out a lot. I eat pretty light most days. 200 calories in protein shakes, around a 400 calorie lunch. Dinner is usually around 500-800 calories and is really my only big meal. I do 4 hours of moderate to high intensity cardio a week also.

I'm not sure you need to be a bodybuilder to carry some extra weight in muscle, but who knows.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I once went to Indianapolis and the food portions were like double the size of what I was used to in New York. And while NYC has lots of overweight people, it is nothing compared to what I saw in Indy and other Midwest/Southern towns. It’s sad actually, but there is so much misinformation about there about healthy eating and weight loss. Most people just eat way too much food.

I might be wrong, but I'm going to give many fat and overweight people (me included) the benefit of the doubt that it's not even about healthy options or labeling. Pretty sure the average person knows pop and chocolate milk is bad while eating lean chicken and water is good.

I think for a lot of us we know whats healthy and not. Some people just dont give a shit and eat what they want. The key difference is some people blame the system or government while others take responsibility and accept it.

 

[Punished Miku]

The key difference is some people blame the system or government while others take responsibility and accept it.

Any trend that is impacting 70% of society is far past the realm of individual responsibility. Yes, people can take charge of their own lives. But this is a global trend that needs to be tackled in the same way as smoking. You don't just tell everyone to quit smoking. You launch new taxes, regulations, age restrictions, and mass education campaigns explicitly demonizing it for decades.