Quote from CaptainObvious:
The probem is what was considered fat, or obese 40 years ago and what it is considered today are two entirely different things. Today if you're 10 lobs heavy, you're fat, and 30 or more you're HUGE. That's just pure bullshit. Bullshit that is spun out by the fitness and health food industries to increase sales.
Sure, standards may have changed, but that's only an indicator. BMI of 18.5-25 is considered the healthy range and while changing the desired target of 22 down to 20 may show fewer people fitting the ideal, it still doesn't change the actual numbers in the data sampling set.
What's not debatable is that actual measured values
HAVE changed. Humans haven't evolved very much in 40-years, but the
average weight of Americans have skyrocketed. The
percentage of Americans with BMI>30 has increased tremendously. The average
body-fat percentage of Americans have increased. The percentage of Americans dying from obesity-related heart-diseases is now the single large cause of death. You can keep your head in the sand all you want, but that doesn't change what's going on above ground.
One only has to travel outside of the US to see the vast differences; there's no doubt Americans on average are one of the largest most obese group of people on this planet. Then again, most Americans never travel more than 150-miles from their birthplace, so it's hard to convince them of anything outside of that radius.
IMHO, one of the largest contributors to the fattening of Americans is social & emotional. The lack of
personal responsibility is a large portion of this, where the attitude of "
Nothing's my fault, someone else is to blame!" just makes obesity worse. Look at the rates of tort-related and frivolus lawsuits in the U.S. compared to the rest of the world and you'll see that attitude in full-force. Every single piece of food that goes into your mouth & belly is by your choice. Not going to the gym, going for a run or bike-ride after work, but sitting down in front of the TV with a beer is by choice.
Actual medical-issues causing obesity are rare and in the minority; most are caused by people just eating way, way too much. With crappy fatty fast-foods, overeating results in quicker and faster weight-gain than overeating a healthier diet of fruits and veggies.
Some links of interest:
CDC- Body Mass Index for Adults
CDC - Overweight and Obesity
Nutrition Fact Sheet
Wikipedia - Obesity
NIH - Average Blood Pressure Levels On Rise Among American Children/Teenagers
Statesman-New study documents increasing obesity among infants
BMI formula and average weight percentile statistics
Healthlink-US Obesity at an All-Time High
Harvard-Healthy Weight
RAND Corp. - Swollen Waistlines, Swollen Costs
HealthMagazine-Globesity:The Crisis of Growing Proportions