Obesity 'not individuals' fault'

[Locutus]

It's not my fault. Nobody is responsible anymore. Sounds about right.

Try eating less food and getting active.



Individuals can no longer be held responsible for obesity and government must act to stop Britain "sleepwalking" into a crisis, a report has concluded.


The largest ever UK study into obesity, backed by government and compiled by 250 experts, said excess weight was now the norm in our "obesogenic" society.
Dramatic and comprehensive action was required to stop the majority of us becoming obese by 2050, they said. But the authors admitted proof that any anti-obesity policy worked "was scant".

......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7047244.stm

 

[MikeyDB]

Yeah it's no ones fault....

Air pollution (global warming) no human contributes to the grey-green-brown of the San Diego skyline...

Obesity is the same thing....

You either have the obesity gene or you don't.....

You either have the polluters gene or you don't....

No fault...no blame....no need to wonder about who's responsible.....PERFECT!

 

[Tonington]

It's all part of the aliens plans. We're hedonistic, we're lazy as a species, we enjoy food, we will grow larger, and then we'll be culled

 

[Niflmir]

Just a case of a headline editor distorting the message into an outrageous line.

 

[karrie]

The instant researchers found that obesity was rising faster than inactivity and diet could account for, yeah, they went looking for other causes and explanations.

Obesity is rarely a single cause problem. Locutus, you saying 'eat less food' and implying that and activity will solve it, is no more reasonable an answer than some scientist saying it's all genetics or adenovirus 36, and so no one is accountable.

In a world with diseases like fibromyalgia skyrocketing... whole populations of people whose bodies are so poisoned that their basic cellular structure can no longer cleanse itself properly... such a simple statement falls flat very quickly, as does a researcher's explanation that it's simply genes or adenovirus.

 

[#juan]

Just a case of a headline editor distorting the message into an outrageous line.

I once knew a 320 pound lady who swore her problem was glandular, and that there was little she could do about it. In my estimation, the main problem "gland", was her mouth which kept closing on everything within reach. She bought Oh Henry chocolate bars by the case and regularly had a couple in addition to her lunch. For her, MacDonald's was a "between meal" snack shop. I don't know if the old dear is still around but she probably is. Her demise would have spurred a downward spike in the food industry.

 

[Locutus]

I once knew a 320 pound lady who swore her problem was glandular, and that there was little she could do about it. In my estimation, the main problem "gland", was her mouth which kept closing on everything within reach. She bought Oh Henry chocolate bars by the case and regularly had a couple in addition to her lunch. For her, MacDonald's was a "between meal" snack shop. I don't know if the old dear is still around but she probably is. Her demise would have spurred a downward spike in the food industry.

Well said juan.

 

[Tonington]

I think some of the reasons are plainly obvious. How widespread was obesity before we became so sedentary? Living in cities, driving to work, increased stress, lowered metabolism, all results of an affluent society. We eat more than we need. Most people are unaware of the differences between a hunger craving and one for hydration. Most genetic predispositions still require an excess in caloric intake, or more appropriately caloric imbalance, to result in obesity.


There is interesting microbial research which indicates that microbial populations in the gut also play a key role in the epidemic.
http://docnews.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/4/4/6

There is no single answer of course. Though I suspect any dietitian would suggest that proper nutrition, more exercise, and better sleep is a good keystone approach.

 

[Locutus]

The instant researchers found that obesity was rising faster than inactivity and diet could account for, yeah, they went looking for other causes and explanations.

Obesity is rarely a single cause problem. Locutus, you saying 'eat less food' and implying that and activity will solve it, is no more reasonable an answer than some scientist saying it's all genetics or adenovirus 36, and so no one is accountable.

In a world with diseases like fibromyalgia skyrocketing... whole populations of people whose bodies are so poisoned that their basic cellular structure can no longer cleanse itself properly... such a simple statement falls flat very quickly, as does a researcher's explanation that it's simply genes or adenovirus.

I said try eating less food and getting active. That has never hurt anybody and it can't hurt these people either. There may be other treatments (stapling a gut is an illusion) but the first 2 are valid.

 

[Niflmir]

I am not sure if I was misunderstood or not...

I have in the past shown that sometimes headlines directly contradict the actual conclusions of scientific or social reports. In this case, the researchers are calling for a widespread public effort to counter a growing trend in obesity. No where in the actual article are they quoted as saying that it is glandular, genetic or linked to any one cause in particular. The headline editor, instead of choosing a good summary like: "Researchers call for government effort to help combat trend in obesity" chose instead "Obesity 'not individuals' fault'" which has absolutely nothing to do with what follows.

The article is not an article about what causes obesity, is simply shows that there is a growing trend in obesity and points out that a concentrated effort is wise at this point, as opposed to an individual effort.

Hopefully that makes it clear how the headline is a distortion of the reporting that follows, a distortion that biases against proper comprehension but heats up the blood.

 

[MikeyDB]

Like cliche, there's often a nugget of truth. Many would suggest that the drive-thru, the super-sized fast-food-order and the rise of global warming as an issue doesn't belong to anyone....

It is people being lulled into the "prosperity" is ....eating when you're not hungry, drinking when you're not thirsty, driving a block to buy a bag of cheetos, setting the thermostat at 80 so you can wander around in your underwear when it's -30 outside....excess is "prosperity"...

Every urban commuter needs a four-wheel drive off-road-vehicle....every kid needs a cell phone an Ipod and two hundred dollar running shoes....

Nah....consumers aren't to blame for obesity and pollution, for waste and destruction of the earth, it's all got to be someone else's fault.....

 

[Twila]

Inactivity, processed food, lack of education knowledge on what actually contsitutes healthy whole foods, taking the path of least resistance, having people around you who WON"T be truthfull and allow you to lie, so many reasons to be obsese or are those excuses?

Obesity is not a couple of extra pounds. Obesity is GROSSLY overweight and EXTREMELY fat. That has alot to do with the individual's lifestyle choice and not some mysterious something they have no control over.

 

[karrie]

There is no single answer of course. Though I suspect any dietitian would suggest that proper nutrition, more exercise, and better sleep is a good keystone approach.

They are... yet they fall flat on their faces when dealing with so many of the autoimmune diseases.

I know I'm simply not impartial enough about this, especially with so many fibromyalgics being on this board. It's rising so drastically it's terrifying. I see these women struggle (not the board women, but others I know with the disease)... dosing on pain killers just to get to the pool to exercise. Dosing again to try to make it home... spending the day in pain because they took a half hour swim. Crying because they have to eat as much as the dietician says, or else they'll be malnourished. But they're so damn used to eating less than everyone else, they feel like pigs eating the right amount to keep their organs functioning right. Taking supplements left right and center (including many of the probiotics) because on-line literature sells them a million and one silver bullet 'cures', while docs scramble around and can't even find a single way to help effectively.

The meds alone cause these women to balloon (steroids, anti-depressants to manage pain transmissions and try to fix the sleep disorder that comes with the 'not quite a disease', birth control to try to keep hormones even... all have weight gain as a side effect). Then the illness' does it even moreso. Inactivity even more. And then someone on-line (who probably hasn't been overweight a day in their life) says that 'obese people should try exercising and eating less'.

yeah yeah... I know... it works for many of the obese. but there are just so many reasons people are overweight... it never stops frustrating me to hear a blanket statement from any side of the issue. Even the one like the article poorly (thanks for pointing that out Niflmir) uses to summarize.

*sigh*

 

[Tonington]

Karrie. I understand what you're saying. Generalizing a problem as diverse as obesity is a sore spot as any other generalization. I don't want to come off as unsympathetic to the varied underlying components of obesity. Those who suffer are undoubtedly more aware of the conditions that dictate something for which personal choice have limited results.

 

[Niflmir]

The point is that you need to be a rebel in this day and age to lead a healthy life style.

Normal behavior is driving down to the grocery store to buy enough groceries for the next week or two. Healthy behavior is walking to the store to buy enough food to last the weekend.

Normal behavior is driving to work and driving home. Healthy behavior is living close enough so that you can walk or cycle.

Normal behavior is a three meals a day with snacks in between. Healthy behavior is spreading your balanced diet throughout the day.

Everyone knows that an individual without certain disorders can break from the mob and lead a healthy life, but one person alone does not change the direction of the mob. In fact, mob mentality prevents so many people from rebelling against the norm presented to them. Taking individual responsibility can work, but if we want to change social norms that takes concentrated effort. That is the message the Foresight report expressed and the headline editor distorted.

 

[Twila]

There's a huge (no pun intended) difference between being overweight and being obese. The general public seems to have these as one and the same in their heads.

 

[triedit]

Karrie that was an excellent post and describes me exactly.

Technically, I am anorexic. I typically eat only enough to stay alive. Ive been this way for so many years that my body is extremely efficient. Some days (today being one of them) I have to have a handful of pills just to get to the car, nevermind a gym. I am morbidly obese by anyone's standard, although I seem to be losing about 2 lbs a month now thanks to physio and double pain meds. Im not a candidate for any of the systematic weight loss trends--gastric bypass, Bernsteins plan, etc because of my ill health and my already low caloric intake. I don't have a thyroid problem either.

So whose "fault" is it Im obese?

Nobody so far as I can see.

 

[Twila]

Treidit, there is simply no way you can be obese and anorexic. You can be obese and malnourished but if you only eat enough to stay alive then you can't be obese.

If it were possible we'd have a cure for those poor starving Etheopians.....

 

[Colpy]

I said try eating less food and getting active. That has never hurt anybody and it can't hurt these people either. There may be other treatments (stapling a gut is an illusion) but the first 2 are valid.

Exactly.

I lost 50 lbs since March........and I'm not on a "diet", so to speak. Just don't eat as much, surrendered butter and ice cream entirely (sigh), RARELY eat fast food now, quick walk 5 klicks a day, finished by running up the equivalent of eight flights of stairs.............

Not that hard.

Heh!

 

[hermanntrude]

but when you weigh 400lbs it's SO hard to get out the door...