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Obese Americans now outnumber overweight Americans

 
 
 
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Tom Sawyer

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For those of you may have become worried that Americans were starting to slack off in living up to the fat and lazy stereotype the rest of the world has of them, rest assured that they have once again outdone themselves. Now, simply being overweight means that you're one of the skinny ones. There are more obese people in America than there are merely overweight ones.

Obese Americans now outnumber those who are merely overweight

A tally by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis estimated that 67.6 million Americans over the age of 25 were obese as of 2012, and an additional 65.2 million were overweight.
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I blame the over-hunting of wolves. Without as many wolves to run from, there's no need to worry about doing cardio.
 
Tom Sawyer said:
For those of you may have become worried that Americans were starting to slack off in living up to the fat and lazy stereotype the rest of the world has of them, rest assured that they have once again outdone themselves. Now, simply being overweight means that you're one of the skinny ones. There are more obese people in America than there are merely overweight ones.

Obese Americans now outnumber those who are merely overweight

A tally by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis estimated that 67.6 million Americans over the age of 25 were obese as of 2012, and an additional 65.2 million were overweight.
Click to expand...

I blame the over-hunting of wolves. Without as many wolves to run from, there's no need to worry about doing cardio.
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You ever been to Kenora?
 
Nice Squirrel said:
Tom Sawyer said:
Only the one time. Too many wolves.
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Must be the poutine causing the obesity there then.
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It's entirely possible. Just because the lack of wolves is the primary causal factor in obesity over an entire country as a whole doesn't mean that it's therefore the primary causal factor for every single specific instance of obesity across every community in the world outside of that country.

In the specific case of Kenora, you are correct that it's because of the poutine. The grease runoff from this industry into the local water supply makes for fat and lethargic wolves, so they don't chase people very much. They do, however, still smell like wolves, so I have a personal aversion to the place for reasons unrelated to this thread.
 
Being overweight or obese increases the risk of a variety of chronic health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Extra weight can also make people more vulnerable to certain types of cancer. The more you weigh, the greater the health risk, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
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Cha-ching.
 
TV and credit cards said:
Being overweight or obese increases the risk of a variety of chronic health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Extra weight can also make people more vulnerable to certain types of cancer. The more you weigh, the greater the health risk, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
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Cha-ching.
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Helping people to die younger is the single most effective way to solve the Social Security funding problem. They pay into the system their whole lives and then keel over in their early 60s before they can cash a cheque.
 
Back on topic, and in keeping with the general spirit if the forum, has there ever been a proletariat revolution preceded by large amounts of weight gain in the populace?

It's hard to imagine the Marie Antoinette story going something like:

"The peasants have too much cake"
"Well, let them drink lemongrass-kale smoothies and take a hot yoga class"
 
Wouldn't a proletariat revolution by obese people stall out pretty quickly? The rampaging mobs move slowly, get tired quickly and require a hell of a lot of resources to feed. All you need to do is to have the pampered elites jog slowly away from them for about twenty minutes and they're safe. If the elites are obese as well, they can just drive away in those little golf carts that they have in their fenced-off subdivisions. Although, how the proletariats would manage to climb over the fence in the first place is problematic.
 
Tom Sawyer said:
Wouldn't a proletariat revolution by obese people stall out pretty quickly? The rampaging mobs move slowly, get tired quickly and require a hell of a lot of resources to feed. All you need to do is to have the pampered elites jog slowly away from them for about twenty minutes and they're safe. If the elites are obese as well, they can just drive away in those little golf carts that they have in their fenced-off subdivisions. Although, how the proletariats would manage to climb over the fence in the first place is problematic.
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Maybe you could get some food sponsors to set up booths along the way. Like McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts.
 
Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains... and maybe 50-100 pounds.
 
Tom Sawyer said:
For those of you may have become worried that Americans were starting to slack off in living up to the fat and lazy stereotype the rest of the world has of them, rest assured that they have once again outdone themselves. Now, simply being overweight means that you're one of the skinny ones. There are more obese people in America than there are merely overweight ones.

Obese Americans now outnumber those who are merely overweight

A tally by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis estimated that 67.6 million Americans over the age of 25 were obese as of 2012, and an additional 65.2 million were overweight.
Click to expand...

I blame the over-hunting of wolves. Without as many wolves to run from, there's no need to worry about doing cardio.
Click to expand...

You can maybe outrun a wolf, but you can't outrun a bad diet.

People aren't fat because they don't exercise - rather it's the other way around, they don't exercise because they are fat.
 
dismal said:
Back on topic, and in keeping with the general spirit if the forum, has there ever been a proletariat revolution preceded by large amounts of weight gain in the populace?

It's hard to imagine the Marie Antoinette story going something like:

"The peasants have too much cake"
"Well, let them drink lemongrass-kale smoothies and take a hot yoga class"
Click to expand...
Fat✓ Politically divided by consolidated media✓ Poor public education✓ Easy credit✓ Entertained✓.
It's might be awhile before enough people are willing to get up out of their La-Z-Boys.

Tom Sawyer said:
Wouldn't a proletariat revolution by obese people stall out pretty quickly? The rampaging mobs move slowly, get tired quickly and require a hell of a lot of resources to feed. All you need to do is to have the pampered elites jog slowly away from them for about twenty minutes and they're safe. If the elites are obese as well, they can just drive away in those little golf carts that they have in their fenced-off subdivisions. Although, how the proletariats would manage to climb over the fence in the first place is problematic.
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A trebuchet might come in handy. Oddly, the optimal weight ratio is just about one gross of fat bastards as a counter-weight to sling one well armed fat bastard over the gated community walls.
 
While there are undoubtedly many overweight and obese people in the US I think the numbers are misleading because the numbers are based on BMI which is a poor metric (doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle) and the cut-offs are too low. A 6'0" man weighing x pounds 184 lbs or more is considered overweight while one weighing 221 lbs or more is considered obese. Really?
 
Derec said:
While there are undoubtedly many overweight and obese people in the US I think the numbers are misleading because the numbers are based on BMI which is a poor metric (doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle)
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What fraction of high BMI people are that way because of muscle mass?

I'd say that it is pretty low. Most people I see look pretty soft.




and the cut-offs are too low. A 6'0" man weighing x pounds 184 lbs or more is considered overweight while one weighing 221 lbs or more is considered obese. Really?
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Additionally, too high BMI because muscle still puts people in a higher risk category for hypertension, type II diabetes, and joint issues.

I've experienced this myself. At age 24 I was 69" tall and 215 lbs. I could bench press 405 and squat 500. I had great definition. No roids just lots of the right food and addictive lifting. I was also creeping into hypertension land and developed arthritis in my knees.

Now nearing 40 I'm down to 165 lbs. The hypertension is gone. My resting HR is 40. I can only bench 250 but I can run a 5k in 19:30. The arthritis in my knees has improved. I'm a lot healthier at the lighter weight. I bet that if I cut down to 140-150 range I'd be even better-off from a long term health standpoint (cardiac and joint health).

So 130 to 160 lbs recommended for 5'9" seems about right.

Peak running fitness for me had me at 135 back when I ran the mile and when I worked for the park service and hiked everyday.

Now peak paddling fitness has me at 165.

Much over 165 and I'm having problems no matter how active.

Much under 135 and I'm probably malnourished.

There are exceptions to be sure but as a quick and dirty metric it works pretty well.
 
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Derec said:
While there are undoubtedly many overweight and obese people in the US I think the numbers are misleading because the numbers are based on BMI which is a poor metric (doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle) and the cut-offs are too low. A 6'0" man weighing x pounds 184 lbs or more is considered overweight while one weighing 221 lbs or more is considered obese. Really?
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That sounds reasonable. I'm 5'11" and got to about 185 and all of a sudden noticed the chub in my face. I wasn't fat, but definitely overweight. Took 25 pounds off, but now float around 170.

And as noted above, most Americans aren't overweight in the BMI scale due to muscle mass. Seriously?
 
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