gwd

Now for the first time in human history more people are fat than starving?

Maybe that is good for us car free people since we will be more likely to live to
spend our pensions. It will be a different world when more people are dying from obesity than from starvation. I watch the fat people that I work with suffer every time they climb stairs, they have their back aches and sore ankles. It seems like a slow painful death. Maybe the health aspect of car free is more important than the money or evironmental sides. We just don't notice how our lives are being extended and health improved. I know it is possible to be overweight and car free but the extra walking and biking seems to do good.

From:

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4793455.stm
Some quotes:
"He said the "burden of obesity", with its related illnesses, was also shifting from the rich to the poor, not only in urban but in rural areas around the world. "

"He said food prices could be used to manipulate people's diets and tilt them towards healthier options."

"China typified the changes, with a major shift in diet from cereals to animal products and vegetable oils accompanied by a decline in physical work, more motorised transport and more television viewing, he added. "

"But he said other factors, such as exercise, also played an important role."
"Japanese cities are based on efficient public transport and walking. The average American commutes to work, drives to the supermarket and does as little walking as possible."

nasiralpharia

Now if only we could spend THEIR pensions too!

nedgoudy

We will probably see a SPIN on this
in advertising with Archer Daniel's Midland
and other AgroBiz Giants soon...

They must feel proud of themselves...

Especially all the purveyors of Sugar
based and Fatty based Crap Foods...

They won the war for our hearts and minds. :O(

(With the exception of a few holdouts,
myself included.)

krazygluon

as a fat pseudo car-free guy (I'm car-free, my S.O. isn't) i've noticed I've got a different kind of fat than most fat people. Its almost like the fat has more connective tissues that sort of compress and support it.

and there maybe more fat than starving...but I'll bet there's still more people with bad nutrition than there are fat people. (as fat people are almost completely included in this class)

gwd

Well, isn't that the idea behind a pension and why it is better than an individual savings? For example in the US. If half the baby boomers croak in the next year, the social security trust fund will be in better shape and the survivors will be less likely to have their pensions reduced.

This article seems fishy to me. Even though it touched on a lot of subjects it seems like something is missing.

bmclaughlin807

This is what I love about this country. Let's blame the people that make the foods for people being fat. (Anyone ever notice that these companies tend to produce what people want to buy? Now that people are finally starting to realize what they've been doing to themselves, more and more places are starting to serve healthy food.)

Isn't it time for people to realize that they need to take responsibility for themselves? There is more to obesity than just diet... you have to be active, to burn off what you've eaten. This is the part that a LOT of people have fallen down on... when a block is too far to walk to grab a pack of smokes, or a blizzard, or whatever, there's a problem.

random97402guy

Ditto.

Roody

Maybe McDonalds, ADM and other food companies are also not being responsible citizens. They could be causing people to want foods that they didn't want before. It's easy to see the ads for how great a $1 double cheeseburger is, but it takes some effort to discover the downsides to it, like calories, fat, white flour, even HFCS in the buns, ketchup and pickles. Maybe McDonalds is being irresponsible when it doesn't point out the possible side effects of a double cheeseburger. Yes, individuals are responsible for what they put in their mouths, but corporations are also partially to blame when they spend millions to trick, cheat and deceive the consumers.

carless

I resemble that remark....

Platy

Me too. Racing may be out, but plain old transportational cycling is easy even for those who are quite hefty.

nedgoudy

And they spend BILLIONS a year in CREATING a demand for the stuff.

While personal responsibility is a
great thing, CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
and GOOD STEWARDSHIP is important
too, and all those guys are like the wolf
guarding the chicken house when it comes
down to those qualities! You know it!

bragi

I'm pretty sure that even somewhat hefty carfree people are way, way healthier than those people whose only exercise is to walk to the refrigerator. I'm not big myself, but I'll never forget the time I smirked at a fat woman I passed when I was running a 10k. She noticed the smirk, apparently, because she blew past me a few seconds later, and I couldn't catch her again despite my best effort. The lesson I learned from that experience is that girth is not necessarily a good predictor of fitness. The key, of course is exercise, and if you don't have a car, you're going to get a lot of it, there's no avoiding it. I'm willing to bet that very few carfree people will ever have to worry about diabetes or heart disease, regardless of their waist size.

Roody

That's what I'm hoping. Six years ago I was sedentary, weighed 320, had diabetes and finally had a heart attack. Oh I also smoked. Now I exercise 90 or more minutes a day, a lot of it riding around doing what needs to be done. I weigh 115 pounds less and I no longer smoke. My blood sugars are normal and my annual stress EKGs put me in the 94th percentile for cardiac fitness in my age group. This is damn good, and I owe some of it to being carfree, and most of it to cycling. This year I'm going for 96th percentile!

Bike_UK

You would be quite right, if it was a non-influenced free choice. Supersize Me pointed out the advertising budgets of the fast-food industry (restaurant and pre-packaged) compared to the government-sponsored 'Eat healthy' message and the good advice was completely drowned out. On top of that, no-one offers a free toy to kids who buy an apple.

As to the "more and more places are starting to serve healthy food", i hope you are not referring to any of the fast food chains? If so, check out the fat and salt content of the 'healthy' options. I think these are examples of what nedgoudy was alluding to.

It is entirely your own responsibility for what you do to your body but you can only make decisions based on information you have, and if you are never made aware of a reason to question what you do then you will carry on doing it. Much like why i think most people drive cars - they never question why they do it, but everyone else does so it must be ok?

mwrobe1

Exactly...I equate refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup to poison.

bdinger

Oh man, don't I know that feeling. I'm a big guy, but everyone I ride with is always impressed with my riding abilities. I've been living in a gym for the past year to get back in shape, and it's paying off.

Anyway, I was out on a trail and there was a guy on a shiny Madone that blew past me through a street crossing I had stopped for. Shortly down the trail, I called "on your left!" and started to pass - when he saw me he started kicking it harder.

I won't forget the look on this face as even though he was putting what he had into it, a chubby dude on a Specialized MTB passed him on his shiny Madone. And he just couldn't catch back up to me. It was *great* .

I agree that there's a certain amount of corporate responsibility that must come into play, but at the same time - if they buy the product they will continue to make it. At some point we must start educating the masses that by eating this crap they are slowly killing themselves. Maybe they'll get it.

I know I did.

Platy

Yah, I've been dropped by a guy on a unicycle on a 5% grade hill. Big deal.

jeff-o

This is called being "big boned."