Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
It is a refreshing topic that has been discussed extensively elsewhere and think there is a wide background of knowledge here and in many cases, a different demographic.
Would disagree that obesity is a choice but is rather a symptom of an ailing and often ignorant society.
Where I think they are many sincere posters in this thread (excluding me), I find the amount of sensationalist, media pushed non-sense in this thread to be humorous. People quote statistics and make assumptions like they mean something.
Overweight and obesity statistics in the US are published by the CDC and are based entirely on BMI, which is widely held to be the worst metric possible, and overstates the problem. If this is an epidemic, why do they need to artificially inflate the numbers?
Percentage of income spent on food gets convoluted, as there are very few reliable statistics published on real income. The tiny US savings rate excludes home equity and 401(k) investment, and is based entirely on % of income placed in an interest bearing savings account, the least used modern vehicle. Average household credit card debt ($18000 ish) is a myth, as it is average account debt, including corporate holders, who are required to pay off monthly. If anyone were to look at true household credit card debt, it would be tiny in comparison.
Assumptions in this thread are rampant. The guy in CA refinancing his house lives above his means? Massive assumption!!
The second response was about pedophelia? People really think that. That is more terrifying than obesity.. what are we doing about the high percentage of ignorance in the US?