US adults are the fattest they've ever been

[Mockingbird]

(CNN)The United States will not be escaping the obesity epidemic crisis anytime soon: Nearly 40% of adults and 19% of youth are obese, the highest rate the country has ever seen in all adults, according to research released Friday by the National Center for Health Statistics. 

 

Since 1999, there has been a staggering rise in the prevalence of obesity, particularly in adults, without any "signs of it slowing down," according to the study's lead researcher, Dr. Craig Hales, medical epidemiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Youth obesity rates seem to be more stable in recent years. However, it is "too early to tell" what direction youth obesity prevalence will take. At least four more years of data are required to truly understand the direction, Hales said.

 

What is "very striking" about this information is that there has been a 30% increase in adult obesity and 33% increase in youth obesity from 1999-2000 data to 2015-16, despite government-focused efforts to address the issue, according to Michael W. Long, assistant professor at the Milken Institute of School Public Health at George Washington University.

 

"They haven't done enough," said Long, who was not involved in the new report.

 

When looking at the goals of Healthy People 2020 -- a 2010 government effort to improve the health of Americans, including by reducing obesity -- the crisis looms even larger. The initiative aims to lower obesity rates to 14.5% among youth and 30.5% among adults by 2020.

 

"I have no expectation at all for Healthy People 2020 to be achieved," Long said. 

 

Hispanic adults had an obesity rate of 47% and Non-Hispanic black adults a rate of 46.8% in 2015-16, the new report showed, with non-Hispanic white adults at 37.9% and Asian adults at 12.7%. 

 

Among youths, Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks also had higher rates of obesity, at 25.8% and 22% respectively, compared with 14% of non-Hispanic whites and 11% of Asians.

 

read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/health/adult-obesity-increase-study/index.html

[Brandon]

Blame sugar, processed foods and people choosing to remain indoors playing video games, on their iPad or watching TV rather than going for walks, pick up games etc. 

[+Warwagon MVC]

Yep. I've watched every obesity documentary I can find. Nobody really goes outside anymore. 

 

Now people are buying STUPID things like this

 

God forbid when they go outside they actually have to walk. Every single obese person has to have a come to Jesus moment like I did and implement a lifetime change. They just better do it before they get too fat otherwise they will be left with loose skin. It's now come to a point where you can never ask a woman "How far along are you" because 99% of the time they aren't pregnant lol.

 

Do you know how much I would love to sit on the couch every night and eat a bag of chips!!! Oh, Baby! ... but then I would be fat.

 

For most people, it's fast food this fast food that, pizza this pizza that. Also the consumption of energy beverages and non-diet sodas. They are just shoving the calories and carbs down their throat.

 

It also wouldn't hurt these people to make stepping on a scale a regular event. This way they can watch their weight go up and be mindful of it.

 

At the end of the day, the weight will not just fall off without a little bit of effort, whether it's cooking at home or exorcising or probably both.

 

 

[Circaflex]

4 hours ago, warwagon said:

Nobody really goes outside anymore. 

This part really disappoints me. Kids these days aren't enjoying the same world I did growing up. Playing outside sports with friends, hide and seek, kick the can; I loved being outside as a kid and even when technology really took off in high-school, we still found time to be active. It saddens me to see 5 year olds with iPads or iPhones as their distraction piece.

[exotoxic]

Obesity is good for business.

[ctebah]

14 minutes ago, Circaflex said:

This part really disappoints me. Kids these days aren't enjoying the same world I did growing up. Playing outside sports with friends, hide and seek, kick the can; I loved being outside as a kid and even when technology really took off in high-school, we still found time to be active. It saddens me to see 5 year olds with iPads or iPhones as their distraction piece.

I believe the blame goes onto parents and not kids themselves, as much.  Today's world is much busier and more expensive than before, therefore in most instances, both parents are required to work.  Add the cost of the daycare and you can start to understand why so many parents are buying electronics for their kids.  By playing video games or on their iPads, kids can be kept "busy."  Take away the electronics and force the kids to play outside with their neighbors and you'll see they enjoy it just as much, hopefully.

[redfish]

Yea, I don't know about this. If I go outside my home, whether its where I live in California or in a different state, 40% of people around don't look like what I'd qualify as "obese." Part of the issue is that our standards for what "obesity" means have changed, from what I can tell. 

14 minutes ago, Circaflex said:

This part really disappoints me. Kids these days aren't enjoying the same world I did growing up. Playing outside sports with friends, hide and seek, kick the can; I loved being outside as a kid and even when technology really took off in high-school, we still found time to be active. It saddens me to see 5 year olds with iPads or iPhones as their distraction piece.

There were no iPads or iPhones, or Internet, when I grew up. But I did spent a lot of time in the library, reading books, or indoors doing drawing or writing projects, or working on D&D stuff. I didn't play any sports outside of class. And I still didn't become fat. For most people who are too heavy, their problem is they have bad eating habits, not that they aren't active enough.

 

I also spent time in my backyard, too, because I liked being outside... But all I guess I'm saying is being outdoors is overrated, being indoors on a computer doesn't make you fat, and my sense is some of this "get active" campaigning just creates a stigma on kids who might already be outcasts and doing the kind of stuff I was doing as a kid.

 

The bigger problem I've found with iPhones and iPads is that a lot of young people have short attention spans and can't let go of their phones. I was in a work environment with a lot of younger people, and it was a problem keeping them from checking their phones when they should have been helping customers.

[The Evil Overlord]

9 hours ago, Circaflex said:

This part really disappoints me. Kids these days aren't enjoying the same world I did growing up. Playing outside sports with friends, hide and seek, kick the can; I loved being outside as a kid and even when technology really took off in high-school, we still found time to be active. It saddens me to see 5 year olds with iPads or iPhones as their distraction piece.

Agreed

[patseguin Global Moderator]

I grew up in the 80's and 90's. I ride my bike everywhere, walked to school, and played outside. Mom would not allow any Atari (which I begged for). I fesr if I grew up in this day and age, I'd be one of these statistics.

[JustGeorge]

 

[neufuse Veteran]

sometimes I wonder if meds docs push anymore cause some of the issues... I started having some odd stomach problems this year (I'm a skinny person, and have a low BMI to start with, always have) but my GI put me on three meds and in the first two months on them I gained 40 lbs doing nothing different then before...... 40! and I don't eat much either!

 

then I've also had friends put on meds for minor things and also start to get big weight gains...

 

docs seem to push pills so much anymore, I know the last time I was at my doc before I had a stomach issue I said about my back hurting sometimes (had it injured in high school, never took any meds for it) without any questions or exams just started writing a prescription and one of the side effects after I looked it up was tada... weight gain... never got it filled though, I can live with the pain.... 

[Active.]

On 10/13/2017 at 8:24 PM, warwagon said:

 consumption of energy beverages and non-diet sodas. 

I feel like you've identified about 90% of the problem there. People might as well be gulping down sugar cubes. 

 

[Dick Montage]

On 13/10/2017 at 7:24 PM, warwagon said:

Now people are buying STUPID things like this

Nobody is buying those because they are too lazy to walk.  The people too lazy to walk either drive/public transport/don't go.  Those things were just a gimmick fad, nothing more.  Thankfully

[JustGeorge]

Regarding diet soda  and artificial sweeteners: There has been some speculation that artificial sweeteners do more harm than good by triggering insulin production when its not needed. If true, it may be contributing to diabetes by causing insulin resistance. 

 

Look at the ingredients list on diet drinks. I'd rather drink real soda. 

 

I think they also use saccharin to fatten pigs

 

 

 

[Above The Gods]

It's mostly because of immigration from Central America.

[T3X4S]

My fiance is a pediatrician @ a Medicaid clinic.  Many of her patients are hispanic.  She tells me that nearly all of the kids are obese, and nearly all of them (in this area, at least) do nothing but eat Cheetos & play X-Box.
The parents wont do anything about it because "eating healthy is expensive". (most of the time they are overweight too - but she only treats the kids)

So, they buy them junk food, and keeping them inside on the X-Box keeps them off the streets and in gangs.

(This is according to her, and is indicative of the area where she works)

[ThaCrip]

Personally i think a lot of it is people are simply overeating more than anything else. some people simply eat WAY to much calories in a meal/day and they probably think what they do is normal when it's clearly not.

 

because one person i know who is clearly overweight(i am sure would be considered obese), and this person is in their 20's, i have seen eat a meal that would be EASILY two meals, if not a bit more, and they probably don't even think what they are eating is a issue.

 

i have never measured my calorie intake exactly on a typical day but i would imagine i am in the ball park of normal with say around 2000-2500 calories per day. basically ill eat a meal (say a burger with some Coke etc) and then roughly 4-5 hours later ill have another meal etc. basically ill have 2-3 meals a day (with either Coke/Mtn Dew with those meals) with some side snacks and that's about it. but when i do eat food i almost always have either Mountain Dew or Coke with it as i have been drinking between 16-32oz per day of one of those two drinks for many years now(more or less a good portion of my life span). with that said, i still try to drink water each day to as i try to get at least 16oz of water per day as i have a feeling some people would see some benefit just drinking a bit more water. but when i drink the water it's just casually as when i eat meals pop(Mtn Dew/Coke) simply tastes much better.

 

ill be 38 years old later this month and i am 5'7" @ 140-145lbs but i was usually around 150lbs a good portion of my life as i don't think i ever cracked 160lbs+ before but i know i have been into the 150's. back when i had energy to burn in my prime (basically 16 years old) i was the same height i am now but was 125-130lbs but i was quite thin back in those days as even now i am sure i am still well within normal ranges and i am smaller than most guys, especially those with a bit of age on them. but i have dropped roughly 10lbs vs not all that long ago but then again i have scaled my food intake back a bit.

 

but ill bet the vast majority of those who are clearly overweight are simply eating WAY to many calories like probably at least 3,000+ every single day. i realize there can be legit things like some people are naturally bigger than others or thyroid problems etc but in general i am willing to bet the vast majority of people who are overweight simply eat too much.

 

also, as a general guideline i have heard it's better if you eat smaller portioned meals but a bit more often than eating huge portions but less often. sorta helps regulate metabolism etc from what i have heard. can help with weight.

 

also, i don't really get any real exercise either. i might go for an occasional walk from time-to-time etc, but i have been pretty inactive for a easy 10+ years now. but i am probably in okay shape considering that as i can still run around 14-15mph topped out(i know this is close given the speed of a golf cart we got which was about 13.3mph(given it takes nearly 4.5min per mile) and i was beating that), at least as of a couple of years ago or so, and my weight was a bit more than it is now back at that time. back in my prime i would estimate my top running speed was around 18-20mph which i figure has to be close especially considering what i can do now and i can tell i have noticeably slowed down since then and i weigh about 25lbs more or so at the time i was doing 14-15mph. plus, on my 16th b-day (Oct 1995) i first touched the high school's basketball rim which if you figure that's 10' and my reach at the tip of my finger standing still was 7' i had to have roughly a 36" vertical jump which has to be above average, especially for a white guy.

 

36 minutes ago, T3X4S said:

My fiance is a pediatrician @ a Medicaid clinic.  Many of her patients are hispanic.  She tells me that nearly all of the kids are obese, and nearly all of them (in this area, at least) do nothing but eat Cheetos & play X-Box.
The parents wont do anything about it because "eating healthy is expensive". (most of the time they are overweight too - but she only treats the kids)

So, they buy them junk food, and keeping them inside on the X-Box keeps them off the streets and in gangs.

(This is according to her, and is indicative of the area where she works)

WTF

 

it's like they are trying to kill their kids. surely there has to be stuff they can find that's healthier than that without breaking their bank account.

 

with that said... eating junk food is okay here and there (you could even get away with it every day just keep the portions reasonable) but to use that for your meals, WTF.

 

47 minutes ago, slamfire92 said:

Regarding diet soda  and artificial sweeteners: There has been some speculation that artificial sweeteners do more harm than good by triggering insulin production when its not needed. If true, it may be contributing to diabetes by causing insulin resistance. 

 

Look at the ingredients list on diet drinks. I'd rather drink real soda.

Agreed. i never drink diet soda simply because it tastes like crap compared to regular and even besides that you hear stories of it actually being worse for you then regular soda to.

 

i am nearly 38 years old and i have been drinking Mountain Dew/Coca-Cola on regular basis for a good portion of my life (those two are definitely my favorites over the long term) and i am well within a normal weight. i am 5'7" @ 140-145lbs. i was floating around 150lbs for years though as i don't think i ever hit 160lbs. with that said i would say i have been drinking on average of about 16-32oz per day (of Coke/Mtn Dew and occasionally Dr Pepper etc) for a decent portion of my life now. with that said, i only drink Coke/Mtn Dew (and the like) during meals as i just don't go through your typical day drinking it all day long. so at the end of the day my calorie intake on a typical day is likely within normal ranges, which say around 2000-2500 calories.

[T3X4S]

30 minutes ago, ThaCrip said:

 

WTF

 

it's like they are trying to kill their kids. surely there has to be stuff they can find that's healthier than that without breaking their bank account.

 

with that said... eating junk food is okay here and there (you could even get away with it every day just keep the portions reasonable) but to use that for your meals, WTF.

 

Agreed. i never drink diet soda simply because it tastes like crap compared to regular and even besides that you hear stories of it actually being worse for you then regular soda to.

 

She said its mind-boggling the # of parents who report the same thing over and over - 
Some kind of spicy Cheetos w/ soft drinks & X-Box.

We had all kinds of video games when I was a kid. 

Hell, we had the full-blown coin op arcade games in our basement !  But I spent most of my childhood years on my awesome BMX bike !  (of course it was riding to play video games somewhere else...)

 

[CrossCheck]

4 hours ago, Active. said:

I feel like you've identified about 90% of the problem there. People might as well be gulping down sugar cubes. 

 

This statement is entirely false and is not the real reason for obesety.  It has more to do with how active people are, at work and at home. I drink a good amount of soda but have always worked active jobs that require a good amount of walking and physical labor. I am 46 and have stayed at 165-175 for 30 years now. With this report, how many of these obese people sit on their ass all day behind a desk.

[ThaCrip]

1 hour ago, T3X4S said:

She said its mind-boggling the # of parents who report the same thing over and over - 
Some kind of spicy Cheetos w/ soft drinks & X-Box.

We had all kinds of video games when I was a kid. 

Hell, we had the full-blown coin op arcade games in our basement !  But I spent most of my childhood years on my awesome BMX bike !  (of course it was riding to play video games somewhere else...)

 

 

Yeah, it does seem like today's kids from not all that long ago have changed. like once technology really got a foothold in peoples lives (especially with this smart phone stuff over the last decade or so) it seems physical activity dropped off quite a bit. like i grew up in the 1980's and 1990's (i was a teenager from late 1992 through most of 1999) which was before all of this modern technology really got a foothold on things. sure, we had video games and all, as i played em quite a bit when i could, but i also was still physically active at the same time outside etc.

 

but i guess with that said... there are probably always going to be those people who, even without modern technology, are just not that active type of person with sports etc. but i guess with modern tech it's just that much worse.

 

p.s. but it's funny you mention the bike driving to play video games somewhere else as i used to ride those with my cousin at his house roughly 2-3 miles one way to play Mortal Kombat 2/Mortal Kombat 3 etc at the local pizza place that had the arcade machines there. those were the days ; hell, once in a while we did it over at my house but had to drive like 5miles one way on a bike. the good ol days of energy to burn as there is no way in hell i would try that now. lol

[+JR1966 Subscriber²]

4 hours ago, Above The Gods said:

It's mostly because of immigration from Central America.

Donald, is that you. 

[+JR1966 Subscriber²]

1 hour ago, CrossCheck said:

This statement is entirely false and is not the real reason for obesety.  It has more to do with how active people are, at work and at home. I drink a good amount of soda but have always worked active jobs that require a good amount of walking and physical labor. I am 46 and have stayed at 165-175 for 30 years now. With this report, how many of these obese people sit on their ass all day behind a desk.

I think it is " all of the above " really. Even China is facing an obesity epidemic now as they westernize. It is a global health crisis and is becoming an epidemic. Health experts are calling for obesity to be classed as a disease however Governments are concerned that would normalize it.

 

One thing we know. It is going to become a hell of a lot worse before it begins to get better.

[Memphis]

Statistics are skewed. Since many of them rely on researching medical records medical history section and I see allot of them at several hospitals over the years in my profession and I can tell you that a seriously large amount of charts of obese patients DO NOT have the diagnosis listed. The study is mostly likely undercutting the real number unless it measures reported patient weight to height instead of just the patients diagnosis list which usually does not contain it. Although theyre are good studies I am sure (not sure about the one in this report) that go by just the reported numbers instead of the medical diagnosis.

[Mando]

On 13/10/2017 at 11:42 PM, Circaflex said:

This part really disappoints me. Kids these days aren't enjoying the same world I did growing up. Playing outside sports with friends, hide and seek, kick the can; I loved being outside as a kid and even when technology really took off in high-school, we still found time to be active. It saddens me to see 5 year olds with iPads or iPhones as their distraction piece.

yep, no young boys playing Jobby on a stick......i mean how else are you meant to chase girls at 5yr+ jeesh! 

 

 

Joking aside, obesity is a western world problem, the UK is not far behind the US.

[Mando]

9 hours ago, Above The Gods said:

It's mostly because of immigration from Central America.

of course, you dont see obese white people in the US........its the Hispanics fault......../shakes head