The majority of Americans are not obese. 41.9% of the adult population is considered obese, which places the USA eleventh in the global obesity league.
Does it have an obesity problem? 41.9% is a very high number so: yes.
Is 'most Yanks are fat' a stereotype? 58.1% is a higher number, so also: yes.
Nah. We have a problem with advanced technologies providing too much comfort and convenience. Some nukes and a return to the stone age will do everybody a lot of good.
shareYes. And it has a processed food problem as well, which is more than coincidence.
shareYes we do and the fact that we want to embrace overweight people as normal is part of the problem. Look at that commercial for a type 2 diabetes pill that controls A1C. The lead singer is clearly very overweigh and yet she is singing the praises of a pill to control her type 2 diabetes, when perhaps if she looked at herself in the mirror and did something to control her weight which in turn just might control her blood sugar without medication.
shareIndeed we do.
I think Mexico is even worse, and the UK is not far behind.
Mexico is 29th on the list. Adult obesity rate of 28.9%
The UK is 36th. Adult obesity rate of 27.8%
Well hot damn. I don't know what I was thinking about Mexico and the UK but I could swear I read that somewhere.
shareI still think over quarter of the adult population being obese qualifies as a problem in both those countries -- but they're a long way behind the US's 41.9%. Only small island states are ahead of the USA in the chart -- Nauru, Tuvalu, Samoa, places like that.
shareAmerica's problem isn't just a high rate of obesity overall, it's an unusually high rate of morbid obesity. The last time I saw a study of morbid obesity, other nations had higher overall rates of obesity, but the USA was way ahead in the number of people with a BMI > 40, people who are morbidly obese.
And the people studying obesity in a serious scientific way do believe that horrible processed foods are a big factor, some people respond to processed foods in a way similar to addiction, and that morbid or supermorbid obesity could be called "food addiction". There's a lot of real research going on about this, which I'm not an expert on, so feel free to look into it yourselves.
I tried to find a recent, relevant summary of morbid obesity rates earlier, but couldn't. But, yes, I'm pretty sure I've read that too. I also think that's the stereotype -- but that's probably from me listening to George Carlin routines on the subject.
shareI spend a good 30 seconds researching morbid obesity rates by nation on google, oh, the sacrifices I make for Moviechat! But no, a study of morbid obesity rates didn't pop up immediately, and I don't have time to dig deeper, I have to leave when I finish typing.
But yeah, the US seems to have far more morbidly and supermorbidly obese humans than other countries, and apparently the science shows that horrible processed food from Walmart and McDonalds' is a huge factor. But the fact is that the US is full of people who can't afford good fresh or organic food, and that number is rising, so the only change I see on the horizon is the popularity of Ozempic... but of course it's going to be a while before the people who live out of Walmart and McDonalds are going to be able to afford that stuff.
Well, I did see a video on YouTube not that long ago -- it was one of those 'American reacts to a European thing' videos -- and it was about food: portion sizes (much larger in the US), free drink refills (not really a thing here), amount of sugar in US processed food is significantly higher even in the same products we get over here, and moreover it's just a much stronger emphasis on fast food culture that is, yeah, affordable but highly processed foods.
Of course, we have some of the same issues here in the UK, but just not quite to the same degree. Give us another twenty years though. They're making people poorer....