[deano_hoosier]

Article in The Atlantic...

This Is the Average Man's Body - James Hamblin - The Atlantic

[al & jane]

Excellent article, thanks for sharing.

[manaboutown]

Wow, was this ever revealing! Thank you.

I wonder what the average male in America's Healthiest Hometown looks like. Aren't we about 70ish on average?

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

As a U.S. male age 30 to 39,

I think that that eliminates most of us from being average right there.

But seriously, I have to wonder why we Americans are so fat? What is it that we eat or do so differently than people in other countries?

I'm a bit taller than average, which always astonishes me. I always think that the 5'9" number, (simply by my observation), is wrong. But my BMI is right around that 29 number. I think that being a bit taller helps me look a bit slimmer.

One thing that I do notice in this country is that are so much more accepting of being fat. We are even getting to the point of celebrating it with fat people in advertising and every other media. We no longer say fat women, or even overweight women. We call them "curvy girls" like that somehow makes them attractive. We're no longer fat men, we're big guys like we can run out and play football. It's getting to be where fat is the new cool.

I, for one, am not happy about my weight and realize that it is a health hazard. I have tried to do something about it several times, but it's never easy. I will continue to try and hopefully something will work. But I see obese people every where eating all kinds of bad things and not giving it a second thought. Maybe I'm a bit more sensitive to it because I have a heart problem and several orthopedic problems. It seems that, for me, the older I get, the less discipline I have. When I was younger, I would decide that I'm not going to smoke, or drink or eat this or that and I would just do it. As I've gotten older it seems a lot harder to control myself.

Now there are a few, very few, people who seem to be able to make a decision to stick with a certain kind of diet and/or lifestyle. They seem think that it should simply be easy for everyone to do exactly as they do. I've always tried to have the viewpoint that we should never judge a person until we've walked a mile in their moccasins. What comes easy to some, obviously, in this case, is not very easy to most.

Sorry to rant on, but it seems like we have so much going for us in the country and we're simply going to destroy our selves by being so unhealthy. And I include myself in this. We worry about all sorts of political problems, and in which direction our country is going. But I really believe that our obesity problem is going to do more damage to us than any politician.

[manaboutown]

A fellow I know who emigrated to the USA from India when he was a teenager had a visit from his brother who had spent his life in India. His brother said something like this to him. "What a country! Even the poor people get to be fat!"

Apparently too easy an access to calories and lack of a need to burn them leads to obesity. Evolutionary reasons probably are the source of our overwhelming desire to overeat even when we do not need to store fat for times of want or famine.

[mgjim]

My observations about this article:

1. The Chinese will not only take over the world economy but they'll out-live us.

2. American men have too much inactive leisure time (myself included).

3. The NBA should be recruiting heavily in The Netherlands.

[Midvale]

As we get older it's tougher to commit to working out 30-40 minutes a day.
But we have to or else it's doctor visits and pills. Keeping my BMI ok so far (23).

[BarryRX]

I love averages!
Did you know that the average American has less than 2 arms and 2 legs?
All kidding aside, it's sad that so many of us are not only overweight, but obese. The comic Louis CK said "I don't stop eating when I'm full, I stop eating when I hate myself." There are days when I agree with him.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by BarryRX

I love averages!
Did you know that the average American has less than 2 arms and 2 legs?
All kidding aside, it's sad that so many of us are not only overweight, but obese. The comic Louis CK said "I don't stop eating when I'm full, I stop eating when I hate myself." There are days when I agree with him.

Sad that someone can make a living out of being fat, isn't it?

[BarryRX]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

Sad that someone can make a living out of being fat, isn't it?

I think that like most comedians, he makes a living out of being a keen observer of the human condition, and he pretty much nailed overeating with his comment.

[rubicon]

I do not fit this profile practice moderation in all things and deplore the fixation concerning over weight people.

If a person's weight situation is genetic then I give them all the credit and support I can for trying to manage a healthy lifestyle.

If a person's weight situation is lack of discipline then I give them all my support for over coming any obstacles in their way of achieving success.

I have learned the importance and hence the benefits of possessing a strong will. I quit smoking in the early 1970's. I maintain an ideal weight for my height, have a flat stomach. Work out three /four days a week

without realizing it I adopted a Zen Buddhist tenet essentially stating that desire leads to sorrow. So for much of my life my decision model included the admonish of "watch what you wish for you just might get it."

[billethkid]

my incentive for being much better than the average numbers is a brother who died of heart problems at age 39 and my father at age 54.

I am currently 77. Everything in moderation. Eat ONLY heart healthy. Have benn walking 2-3 miles per day for over 30 years at 3-4 miles per hour.

When all this is done day in and day out there is no sacrifice required. It becomes ones lifestyle and habits. To eat other wise is almost impossible for me to do....except indulging my sweet tooth on ocassion. To not exercise for more than a day or two is almost impossible to do.

The incentive is enormous and the lifestyle is easy to live with....really.

I am ashamed of the fat American image we have earned in this country......among some other recent negative images.

btk

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by deano_hoosier

Article in The Atlantic...

This Is the Average Man's Body - James Hamblin - The Atlantic

I've known for a long time that the average U.S. person is overweight. But to find out that the average man in his 30s is overweight is somewhat surprising. It means that a 35 year old has about 40 more years in which to gain a lot more weight if he continues with the same eating and sedentary habits. It has been said that the average person gains about 1 pound per year. If that's true, it seems that the average man should be obese by around age 50.

It's really sad for our country's future because I don't think any health care system in the world can withstand the pressure of these numbers. I warned about this over ten years ago.

The problem for our country, as I see it, is that there's no leadership. And there's no leadership because the fast food industry has bought and paid for everyone who is in a leadership position. We are almost totally in the hands of the food industry. Do I sound like an extremist? I'm not; I'm just a realist.

About BMI: The average Japanese BMI is 23.7 which may look good by comparison to the U.S. but believe me it's nothing to brag about. If it was 18, 19, or 20 I would say okay. But 23.7 is not good. A study was done (I don't have it here) but from memory the result was that the lower your BMI the better, as long as you don't go below 18. (I won't tell you my BMI because someone will complain that I'm bragging )

Concerning what to do about being overweight: Knowing what to do is not the most difficult part. I think it's relatively easy. It's making a commitment and sticking to it that is the hard part for most people. That's because there's a strong emotional connection to food. Almost everyone can gain knowledge but not everyone can control their emotions. And the average American is losing that battle.

[Topspinmo]

Let's face it we American's have it made or freedoms is like nowhere else in the world "the Man From India said it even the poor can get fat, some parts of the world one meal day is struggle! That's why everybody else wants to come here that's not got the royal spoon!

with all the blue collar jobs gone and 1/2 voting population on free food debit card it's only going to get worse in both cases jobs and debit cards. As for overweight 10 pounds or 200 it's all hard to loose without active routine and diet.

Most active routine for most American's is what I am doing right now when I should be exercising! As for me high level of tennis three to four times week keep's me within 10 to 15 lbs of my high school weight. 5'11 3/4" 188 pounds now I figure 170 to 175 would be my target. For me to loose the 10 to 15 I have really watch what I eat. Which for now being I'm not on any medication (including mental) not going to happen.

[Carla B]

I think one reason you find slim people in The Netherlands is that the bicycle appears to be the predominant means of transportation; the same with Belgium. When we were there a couple months ago we noticed how active, slim, and young everyone was. However, we also observed that most of the cafes featured food French fries and pizza loaded with cheese, 'cause its cheap, and there were very few older people out on the streets, except for tourists like us.