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I have actually counted the percentages of truly fat folks in a Wal Mart or Cracker Barrel or Sams or maybe even while I'm parked out front of a TJ Maxx waiting on my wife.

It's astounding and there is a definite socioeconomic component that seems to cut across all races.

Folks used to say it was because poor folks ate crap because it was cheaper. I think it's also about self discipline....which applies to work ethic same as appearance though no doubt there are stronger social pressures on wealthier folks to not get fat....especially the wives.

You look at poor people in this country, and you look at poor people in a third world country, and you'd be surprised at how healthy our "poor" people look, in fact quite a few are fat.

You bring up being able to afford certain kinds of foods, and I often wonder if that is a part of it - not everybody can afford to eat healthy foods, and some people say "well, you can only afford to exercise if you are middle class or upper class", and while that maybe a component of the overall equation, there is still something missing, because anybody can get out and walk or run everyday, regardless of how much they make in a year)=.

I think what's missing is, is what you brought up - self discipline. If self discipline wasn't such an important part, you would only be able to find a handful of self-help books in any large bookstore.

Another component - lack of concern on the part of parents - there is no reason why a normal child should not be outside playing quite a bit, yet it seems an awful lot of parents let their kids turn into couch potatos.

People talk about how kids are antsy in class, and have to be given drugs - I'm sure a very small portion of those kids have actual problems - the rest just need a real playground, real recesses, and to get away from the "everybody wins" games. Soccer is the perfect sport for this - if you have a large playground, you could get most of the kids involved for the price of a soccer ball. It doesn't matter if you have 20 or 30 little kids on each side, they'll be running their butts off. They'll expend a lot of energy, and it'll help them keep in shape.

It seems like we have a lot of fat people now, just wait 20 or 30 years from now, because everytime I see a new school go up, I see a playground not much bigger than a couple of basketball courts put together.

My wife and I are friendly with some doctors and nurses.

They tell us they now have to keep longer intramuscular syringes around for injecting larger buttocks....no joking.

I'm 6'5 and 225 and folks say I'm thin when in reality I should be around 200 to be appropriate weight.

My wife is thin.

My oldest daughter at 5'4" and 110 lbs is told she is too thin....which is ridiculous.

When I lived in Manhattan in the 80s, I saw almost no fat folks aside from some goombahs who worked at it.