discussion How would you go about tackling the obesity crisis?

[Leptine]

3 hours ago, cockatoo said:

I suppose a question then is, is it possible to have healthy fast food under a capitalist system? People want to sell as much as possible for as little cost as possible for maximum profits. The health of the end user isn't a concern unfortunately. Is this something governments could regulate more effectively? 

Food culture definitely makes a difference.

 

For example in Japan their obesity rate is very low because even the cheapest food at the Supermarket tends to be healthy over there, their meals are healthy, they have a different food culture that values healthy dishes and they also are between the countries for longevity of life because of that.

 

The same it's in my country, Italy is between the countries in Europe with the lowest rate of obesity despite being the country of 'pizza, pasta', because people in here prefer going to a Restaurant or self making food at home with fresh ingredients instead of going to fast food chains, fast food in here is seen as trash food to go once in awhile or for emergencies (like you're in a rush) but you still can always find better alternatives anyway.

Tones of chains that are popular in the US don't even exist in here. I often read people in here defining pizza junk food, that's because in general the pizza you eat in America is totally different from here.

 

I think the only possibility of contributing to make a change is educating people since when they're kinds at food and explain the huge health risk you put your body in having a bad alimentation.

[aotearoa]

I wouldn’t

I’m responsible for my body only

[apasionata]

3 hours ago, Margaux said:

give free lipo and ozempic to obese people. plus ban fast food from serving them. 

!

 

Only sensible post in this thread. I can't stand this rhethoric of imposing another plethora of restrictions onto obese/overweight people and alienating them when there's this 'miracle' drug you've mentioned that I'm using right here.

 

Of course I just love how the public discourse is gate-keeping and defending 'Big pharma' for being unable to produce enough stock of Ozempic/Wegowy, but most of them were first to throw sticks and stones over 'aggressive' Covid vaccines campaign.

 

Fit, lean and heck, even skinny people build considerable staples of their personality around their physique which is fine - but now that Ozempic storm is in its full swing suddenly they claim same, worn rhethorics and judge overweight people for 'stealing' from people who 'actually need it'.

 

I have borderline insuline-resistance and who are 'you' to tell me whether I'm deserving of this straw to clutch onto. I want to pose shirtless for instagram as well - not just keep mute and stay liking other thots' pics. smh.

[Edit0rz]

Get rid of sugary drinks. Most these people that are obese drink soda and frappachinos like it’s water. 
Id also get rid of warm showers, everyone would be happier, healthier and thinner if they took consistent cold showers.

Get rid of single serving snacks, bad for the environment and not healthy like fruit.

[Intuition]

Ban seed oils 

[Dula Peep]

More regulation on fast food places

free/affordable healthcare

adjust/remove daylight savings time so it’s not dark when you get out of work at 5 in the winter

more affordable gyms/rec spaces and parks

maybe make employers give an hour or longer lunch breaks so workers can go on walks/the gym

educate people more on nutrition with tv commercials/spots.. I felt like the Covid ones were pretty effective 

 

…a lot of people, like my parents unfortunately, just don’t care and want to eat what they want mostly because they are addicted to sugar 

 

[WildAmerican]

reduce added sugar, it's the real evil in a lot of foods/drinks

[duybeeGAshantiGA]

2 hours ago, PopKills said:

I mean didn't it kind of work with cigarettes? I just know whenever I used to have the urge to buy a pack the horrifying pictures scared me off. 

Good for you tbh. Unfortunately it doesnt work with my dad....  and I have to be a secondary smoker...

[duybeeGAshantiGA]

42 minutes ago, Edit0rz said:

Get rid of sugary drinks. Most these people that are obese drink soda and frappachinos like it’s water. 
Id also get rid of warm showers, everyone would be happier, healthier and thinner if they took consistent cold showers.

Get rid of single serving snacks, bad for the environment and not healthy like fruit.

Is this true. Im fit af but I take warm/hot showers. Can you please elaborate so I am more informed on this? Thank you.

[RunUpDoneUp]

I hear fatshaming works pretty well according to the average person, so maybe that? Idk.

 

Poor people eat because their ass is unhappy, fix that and the health comes in tow.

 

Governments will do anything but improve the lives of it's necessary citizens just to keep the pockets of the upper class fat.

[Edit0rz]

1 hour ago, duybeeGAshantiGA said:

Is this true. Im fit af but I take warm/hot showers. Can you please elaborate so I am more informed on this? Thank you.

You can raise your metabolism by raising your internal body temperature. You can achieve that by consuming warm and warming food, avoiding cold drinks and ice or by lowering your external temperature so your internal body has to compensate. I often start showers warm (not hot) and turn it colder with the last minute or 2 all the way cold. Cryotherapy, ice baths and swimming in cold water does the same thing.

[AMIT]

41 minutes ago, RunUpDoneUp said:

Poor people eat because their ass is unhappy, fix that and the health comes in tow.

 

Governments will do anything but improve the lives of it's necessary citizens just to keep the pockets of the upper class fat.

 

The ruling class has the power to change many things but they don't give a damn about anything except lining up their pockets (even more). 

 

Lots of suggestions in here are valid but will never work in the capitalist society we live in, simply because a healthy diet doesn't bring in the profits as much as unhealthy stuff. Food is stuffed with sugar because it's addicting and so makes people come back to spend more of their money on it. Cities aren't walkable because of the huge grip the car + oil industries have on most capitalist countries, specially the US. This is another issue caused by capitalism because it doesn't give a damn about people, only money, hence why so many of us struggle with our health, mental or physical.

[Edit0rz]

1 hour ago, duybeeGAshantiGA said:

Is this true. Im fit af but I take warm/hot showers. Can you please elaborate so I am more informed on this? Thank you.

To keep metabolism up you can try to raise your internal body temperature. You can achieve this by consuming warm food and drinks and avoiding ice or by lowering the temperature around you so your internal temp will rise to keep you warm. Ice baths, cryotherapy, swimming in cold water all work.

[cockatoo]

4 hours ago, John Slayne said:

i also think that the education system when it comes to health, nutrition, and exercise needs massive reforms. i used to hate sports and any kinds of physical activity at school because as a queer person it just felt like a very masculine and heteronormative space where i didn't belong. 4 years later i ran my first marathon and i'm considering the gym now, and in general i'm much more open to sports and exercise than i ever was at school.

Omg this is so true! I was never really bad at sports or anything but I was super put off by the whole atmosphere (and PE teachers mostly being bullies) that I never tried. I'm much more physically fit as an adult since being away from that space.

 

Children need more fun ways to exercise and it doesn't all need to revolve around sports like football 

[Communion]

7 hours ago, LoveInStereo said:

I agree that walking to work isn’t doable for most but why not start your morning with a half hour stroll & end the day with another? It’s not about getting from point A to point B, it’s just gentle exercise that isn’t hard on your body. If I have the day off, I still try to walk over 10k steps/day, it’s great for mental health & staying in shape & I find jogging, ellipticals, etc too strenuous on my joints. I live downtown in a city & I know too many people who take Ubers everywhere & get **** delivered to their house that’s easily within walking distance & complain about never having money & wanting to lose weight. We’ve all become conditioned to expect convenience at all times, no version of a healthy life is compatible with total laziness

This is your problem. Much of America - I use this because of its high overweight population; no clue or interest in where you personally live - looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America has one of the highest levels of vehicular-caused death because of the lack of sidewalk infrastructure.

[FailSafe]

Just delete the fat, it's not that hard

[Bussea]

free lipo and bullying for all 

[Aethereal]

Bullying is an abomination. 

[Beyoncé-Knowles]

free cigarettes and laxatives for all!

[thetea]

12 hours ago, Navy4Life said:

Oh please I was shamed my whole life for being skinny and then for working out (and consequently getting bigger) and eating a vegetarian diet. All that from people who are clearly not taking any consideration about what goes into their bodies or how active they are. 

that's horrible too. people judge people for being 'too skinny' but it's not comparable to the amount of disgust that people express towards obese people. being skinny is still the beauty standard. 

 

13 hours ago, HeavyMetalAura said:

To your last point, I’m not sure how much time you’ve spent in “body positive” or “fat positive” online spaces, but healthy-shaming or gym-shaming people is a major issue in those communities.

there's always extreme people in every community, while I agree that obesity isn't something to be celebrating, it's not something to shame people for. 

[popmusicisdead]

make smoking socially acceptable again.

[HeavyMetalAura]

8 hours ago, thetea said:

that's horrible too. people judge people for being 'too skinny' but it's not comparable to the amount of disgust that people express towards obese people. being skinny is still the beauty standard. 

 

there's always extreme people in every community, while I agree that obesity isn't something to be celebrating, it's not something to shame people for. 

I never said it was something to shame people for, in fact in the very post of mine that quoted (and you left this part out when you quoted me) I said that shaming people for obesity is wrong. 
 

I think what me and @Navy4Life are getting at is your disregard for the stigma other body types face as well. You literally said skinny shaming is “a non issue in real life” and when that user told you about a real issue they faced, instead of admitting you’re wrong you just go “that’s horrible but it’s no comparable.” Like the thread isn’t even about skinny shaming, it’s about the obesity epidemic, but there’s no need to deny the realities that other body types face when they come up.

 

It’s not a competition. We can acknowledge the stigma and hatred that fat and obese people face while also acknowledging the vitriol that comes from many “body positive/fat-positive” communities towards skinny/fit people. 

[thetea]

3 hours ago, HeavyMetalAura said:

I never said it was something to shame people for, in fact in the very post of mine that quoted (and you left this part out when you quoted me) I said that shaming people for obesity is wrong. 

i never said that you did. i said that most people that aren't on the internet do. 

 

3 hours ago, HeavyMetalAura said:

I think what me and @Navy4Life are getting at is your disregard for the stigma other body types face as well. You literally said skinny shaming is “a non issue in real life” and when that user told you about a real issue they faced, instead of admitting you’re wrong you just go “that’s horrible but it’s no comparable.” Like the thread isn’t even about skinny shaming, it’s about the obesity epidemic, but there’s no need to deny the realities that other body types face when they come up.

 

i stand by that statement. while we shouldn't judge people for any of their body types, in no way is being judged for being fat comparable to being judged for being skinny. being skinny has and will continue to be the beauty standard, whereas being fat for everyone alive at this moment has always been demonised and judged. people view obese people as less attractive, less functional beings and disgusting, on top of all of those fake claims of health that people make to justify fat phobia. online internet spaces are not a very good indicator of being fat becoming normalised and promoted, there's online spaces that promote literally every ideal that aren't realised in the real world. people just need to keep their reservations about other people's bodies to themselves and stop bringing up their claims about caring about their health or attractiveness for both skinny and obese people. 

[HeavyMetalAura]

11 minutes ago, thetea said:

i never said that you did. i said that most people that aren't on the internet do. 

 

i stand by that statement. while we shouldn't judge people for any of their body types, in no way is being judged for being fat comparable to being judged for being skinny. being skinny has and will continue to be the beauty standard, whereas being fat for everyone alive at this moment has always been demonised and judged. people view obese people as less attractive, less functional beings and disgusting, on top of all of those fake claims of health that people make to justify fat phobia. online internet spaces are not a very good indicator of being fat becoming normalised and promoted, there's online spaces that promote literally every ideal that aren't realised in the real world. people just need to keep their reservations about other people's bodies to themselves and stop bringing up their claims about caring about their health or attractiveness for both skinny and obese people. 

I don’t disagree with you that fat people have it worse? Obviously fat people have it worse. But you chose to say that skinny shaming isn’t a “real life issue” and brought up the fact that fat people have it worse as though it somehow invalidates the skinny/fit shaming that people experience. It doesn’t, and it’s not a competition. If it was, yes, fat people would win that competition when it comes to oppression. But it’s not.

[thetea]

23 minutes ago, HeavyMetalAura said:

I don’t disagree with you that fat people have it worse? Obviously fat people have it worse. But you chose to say that skinny shaming isn’t a “real life issue” and brought up the fact that fat people have it worse as though it somehow invalidates the skinny/fit shaming that people experience. It doesn’t, and it’s not a competition. If it was, yes, fat people would win that competition when it comes to oppression. But it’s not.

i agree that I worded what I said about it being a non issue  before badly, you are right. but the fact that people always bring up that skinny people face issues that they believe to be similar in conversations specifically related to obesity kind of invalidates the point that the person is trying to make.