Posted on 05/08/2012 7:02:05 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
America's obesity epidemic is so deeply rooted that it will take dramatic and systemic measures - from overhauling farm policies and zoning laws to, possibly, introducing a soda tax - to fix it, the influential Institute of Medicine said on Tuesday.
In an ambitious 478-page report, the IOM refutes the idea that obesity is largely the result of a lack of willpower on the part of individuals. Instead, it embraces policy proposals that have met with stiff resistance from the food industry and lawmakers, arguing that multiple strategies will be needed to make the U.S. environment less "obesogenic."
The IOM, part of the National Academies, offers advice to the government and others on health issues. Its report was released at the Weight of the Nation conference, a three-day meeting hosted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cable channel HBO will air a documentary of the same name next week.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.yahoo.com ...
Sorry that only applies to murdering babies. In all other cases the gubment owns your body.
If you have eaten out lately you will see restaurants are charging more for less.
This is just a sneaky way into regulating private conduct. If they can regulate your healthcare then they can regulate your body.
YES! What you said....
Yes...I’m going through pictures of family from the early 1900’s....not a fat person among them.
well yeah...that's what they think.....
to me they can go ______ themselves in Macy's window.
stop cramming stuff in your mouth.
it’s that easy.
Yeah, right.
The "obesity gene" was nowhere to be found two generations ago, but all of a sudden it's prevalent throughout society? That's not how it works. Next thing you'll be telling us is that there is, in fact, a gay gene.
I also never knew that telling overweight people to consume less energy than they burn was "dangerous."
It's no wonder so many people are so confused.
The casual use of “epidemic” bothers me. An epidemic generally describes a disease or infestation that grows exponentially. It arises from sources beyond our control.
Obesity is NOT a disease! It is the result of choices. Choices free men and women are entitled to make. While you can control a disease by eradicating the infectious agent, you can’t control CHOICES the same way. Not without severely compromising individual liberty.
>>Yes...I’m going through pictures of family from the early 1900’s....not a fat person among them.<<
Is your family Eastern European?
Because when I look at my Grandparent’s wedding photos from 1910, there are chunkers. Not the young people, but the older folk. Especially the women that dropped 12 kids and survived. Fat is not just what you eat.
Take a look at Eskimos from the 1900s, you’ll see overweight people.
The problem in this country is people saying that they have the latest fad diet (one that restricts calories to the point that the metabolism goes into starvation mode) which everyone goes on. Then when they go back to eating like everyone else, they balloon.
Exercise is the key to losing weight. Strength training, not just taking a walk. Not aerobics, not walking. Running or swimming laps (for example) takes real muscle and that’s what you need.
Those fit-and-able farmboys of a century ago won two world wars and set us up for the pampered lives this generation has enjoyed.
My Dad and his brothers were among them.
Yes, this. Taking a walk does nothing unless it is a 5 mile cross country power walk. A casual walk around the neighborhood isn’t going to induce weigh loss. Running 20 miles per week will not induce weigh gain, no matter what you eat. You can eat more (cake, doritos soda, red meat, pasta, bread, cheese) and the only result is you get faster. I know from experience. I actually had to cut back my training and start racing half marathons instead of marathons because I was losing too much weight and looking emaciated. I usually manage to put on about 10 pounds in the winter, but it disappears by the end of May by doing nothing different other than sweating in the heat.
>>The “obesity gene” was nowhere to be found two generations ago, but all of a sudden it’s prevalent throughout society? <<
Here it is.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/67666.php
http://www.hhmi.org/genesweshare/d130.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100419162308.htm
Now, not to say that a healthy diet and strength training cannot help out, but really, it’s more like telling my 5’8” daughter that she can work to be short. Starting from childhood I may have been able to feed her a diet that stunted her growth. AND I can teach my kids to eat right and exercise, but they will not be skinny. EVER.
Off to Planet Fitness with my girls!
>>I follow a fairly rigorous physical training regimen focusing on weight training.<<
>You got it.
>Also, you’re a man. Men are simply able to metabolize better.
>God built you to run, God built us to squat over a field and breed.
Don’t be blaming God for your fat butt, there’s walking, swimming and exercises to keep it up tight and trim.
Exactly!
Thermodynamics? It's a government plot!!!
I did some checking up on this and found out they are using the old, 1960s MET Life standards for height and weight. The US Army tried using those in the 1980s, and quickly discovered that those tables were based on people who never exercised and had lots of other bad habits. So much of the Army appeared to be overweight.
That is, if you are physically fit, the tables will indicate that you are overweight, simply because muscle weighs more than fat.
To get around this problem, first the Army tried to use immersion tanks full of water to determine soldier’s fat, in that fat is more buoyant than muscle, based on how much they weighed on dry land vs. how much they weighed in water.
This was both expensive and ineffective as well. So they tried using pinch calipers to measure belly fat and other rolls of fat. And that was really inaccurate.
The bottom line was quietly adopted by the US Army that, if you look fat, you probably are fat. If you don’t, you probably aren’t. Admittedly, there are problems with this as well because many people who are thin and trim have very little strength or endurance; and many people who look pudgy can bench press a Volkswagen and run half marathons in good time.
>>Don’t be blaming God for your fat butt, there’s walking, swimming and exercises to keep it up tight and trim.<<
God made a difference between men and women.
Haven’t you noticed?
Maybe you should read what I wrote about strength training before you make such a silly statement and talk about a “fat butt” when you have no clue what the person you are speaking to, looks like.
Two years ago, my wife suggesting that we take up square-dancing, having met two ladies at morning water aerobics who were members of a local club. Now, two years later, she's lost 49 pounds and four inches around her waist and I've lost 56 pounds and six inches around my waist. Research has supposedly shown that square-dancing for two to two-and-a-half hours is equivalent to fast walking five miles. Whether that's true or not, it has certainly strengthened my legs and increased my aerobic stamina.
I also accompany her to night water aerobics to build up my upper body and arm strength. I am by no means trim .. (having played the catcher position for 40+ years, I've the appearance of a mobile fireplug) .. but I certainly feel better than I did.
My company did that with a "wellness" program. The down side is that you have to submit to a long list of measurements that are entered into your personnel record as a starting point. No thanks. My employer doesn't need that information. The "payback" is a $75 annual reduction in the healthcare premium (currently running $300 every two weeks). Big deal. It's a fart in a hurricane.
I control my calories in a very narrow range daily. My weight stays +/- 0.5 lbs from day to day. I can drive it down by adding a fixed amount of exercise daily. I don't need government or employer "intervention" in my life.
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