Extreme obesity

Rising obesity rates

There have been articles questioning the so called obesity rates. For one thing, they changed the definition of obese. Also, the ethnic make up of the US is changing, and the people who are more likely to be obese are increasing in numbers. Drugs with weight gain as a side effect are being used more.
5 years

Rising obesity rates

All true.

All of the weight categories got lowered. You could go from overweight to obese without gaining a pound!

50 years ago none of our modern anti-depressants existed ... not to mention other meds as well.
5 years

Rising obesity rates

I love reading about how Americans keep growing fatter and how obesity rates keep increasing. I am seeing so many attractive women now who are over 300 lbs. it is amazing. Going to restaurants, food courts, etc. and seeing so many women of all ages stuffing themselves and growing ever fatter is such a turn-on for me.
5 years

Rising obesity rates

There is no doubt that the USA is a fat country getting fatter. The younger generation is much fatter at their age than the previous generation so I'm expecting that the average weight will continue to climb. "400 is the new 300."
5 years

Rising obesity rates

I hooe it never stops going up. It saddens me when you see these beautiful chubby girls give into society pressures (sometimes bf/husbands pressuring) and become skinny instead of being cute obese gluttons they are destined to become.
5 years

Rising obesity rates

johnxyz:
Also, the ethnic make up of the US is changing, and the people who are more likely to be obese are increasing in numbers.


Which ethnics groups are you referring too?
5 years

Rising obesity rates

I'm not sure about outside of the U.S., but in the U.S. I've heard that obesity rates are expected to reach 50% in '30, assuming current trends continue. There hasn't been any evidence to suggest this will change. This also assumes the obesity threshold continues to be a BMI score of at least 30.

There are significant differences by race and income group, so some demographic groups are already very close to 50% even now, and may surpass 50% well before '30.
5 years

Rising obesity rates

ShakesSphere:
There was talk of the obesity epidemic leveling off after 2000. But after The Great Recession began in 2007-8 people went back to getting fatter in the US, Mexico and Europe.
Since 2016, we have an obese president who loves fast food and is cancelling all of the healthy food initiatives brought in by Michelle Obama. Deregulation is giving a free reign to the food industry. I predict a runaway epidemic of obesity in the US.


The horribly *failed* school lunch program that caused a lot of waste, encouraged the opposite effect. It still needs to end though, if it hasn't already. The food was often so bad, cold pizza brought from home would taste better.
5 years

Rising obesity rates

I actually have a few more thoughts on this, and it's no wonder that you can expect obesity rates to continue to rise.

The average length of the full-time work week continues to rise. Last I heard, the average is around 47-48. Something like 20-30% report over 60 hours. Some occupations such as tax accountants will have peak seasons requiring longer work weeks at some times of the year.

Commute distances continue to rise. Averages around 30-45 minutes one way, which depends on metro area of course. Super commuting, or 1.5+ hours each way, is more common than it used to be. It's one of the major reasons folks are leaving NYC and San Francisco, the latter of which has become so toxic, few are willing to move and live there (but I digress).

Between work hours and commute time, it's not hard to see it adds up. Sleep hours don't have much more leeway to go down. However, there's still only 24 hours in a day. Vacation time is often limited, and there's often office political pressure not to use it. In light of all these time demands, physical activities typically take a back seat, as many are simply too tired or wish to make the most of any potential family time.

Certain other trends likely reflect this. The last few times I went to a gym, most patrons looked like they were either retired, or didn't go very often, perhaps once or twice a week. The treadmills (aerobic activity might help weight loss) were less popular than the weight machines, which actually cause most to bulk up.

Professional runway models and athletes may have the time to go to the gym 4 hours a day, or even more. Indeed, their jobs often depend on it. Whereas paid shoots are unlikely to take up 45 or more hours a week. Most jobs don't permit this. Part-time jobs would allow this, but typically don't provide anywhere near enough income.

Makeup and cosmetics also always have far more bang for the buck in terms of time and cost, when it comes to making oneself look better.

I've even heard that it's no longer uncommon for high school football players to weigh over 300 lbs.

Housing trends also reflect this. As the rural small towns continue to depopulate and the cities continue to grow, this creates housing demand. Analysts have determined customers most want interior floor space, but there's only so much land area to go around. Something has to give, so yards in new houses get smaller. This usually means no physical activities in the yard.

There's also financial considerations as well as time. Fresh fruits and vegetables tend to go bad quickly. So, you might be less inclined to purchase any, if much of it would go bad. Organic food is similarly costly, and may go bad too quickly. A problem when you may just want to stock up as much as you can in fewer grocery store trips. One can always get vitamins by popping a multivitamin pill, too. This also encourages more takeout food or microwaveable food that's easy and quick to to prepare.

Another trend is that since the 50s, the amount of takeout or restaurant food for meals has only increased. It makes sense. Significantly more women are in the work force, and have professional career type jobs, which would be affected by the increasing length of the work weeks. Most will raise kids at some point. She wants to ensure her family gets dinner that night, but after a long day she may not feel like cooking and wants minimal cleanup. The answer? She might stop by McD's or some other fast food joint on the way back and just order multiple value meals. Or if not, there's probably frozen microwaveable food in the fridge. This is the kind of food that is more likely to add more pounds and inches.


While some of these trends are a little concerning, and you wonder what the breaking point is, I don't see them ending any time soon. I do however like one of the consequences of this; there will be more plus sized women in the future.
5 years

Rising obesity rates

The obesity rate is now 42%
4 years