jennings780

I got back from Disney World yesterday with the family. Magical place - we had a great time. The concerning thing was that 90% of the people there were overweight and probably 50% were obese. And a huge percentage of the kids were fat. I have never seen more of those little electric scooters around that disabled people ride in. I am sure that some of them really did have medical problems, but a Disney worker told us that her guess is that well over 1/2 of the people in the scooters rent them because they are too fat and out of shape to walk around Disney.

If you were from another country and your sole impression of the US was from going to Disney you would think that we are a fat, ugly country.

It was really disturbing. I wonder what, if anything, can slow or reverse America's bulging waistline?

Moonshot

The obese population is waiting on a new drug to fix their problem for them and it'll probably happen one day.

cyclezealot

I blame in on our fast food culture and the car..Most other countries people walk a lot more than here... Some states are worse than others...

TomM

I don't need to go to Disney World to see how fat our society has become. It's gross.

TheKillerPenguin

I can't wait until anyone who's under 200lbs is called annorexic

C_Heath

goto koffees site and read her story about going to italy.

its good

DXchulo

I think you could go just about anywhere and get that impression. Then again, I live in Indiana and we're one of the fattest states. I'm not sure what it is, and I'm not sure if the automobile caused it or is an indication of an underlying disposition, but people want instant gratification. Fast food, cars, the internet- it just goes on and on. My biggest problem is that most people know what's right but do the wrong thing instead. Here's an example- I work at Arby's in the summer and you'd be surprised how many people go through the drive through and order just a drink. 9 times out of 10 it would be faster to just go inside and order a drink, and you can even get free refills inside. Not only that, but there's a gas station right across the street where a bigger fountain drink is about a dollar cheaper. People know this, but they just don't want to get out of the car. Another thing I hate is when people drive around a parking lot for 5 minutes looking for a spot that is maybe 20 feet closer to the store.

There's a fountain at my university and one weekend I saw this fat lady sitting beside the fountain watching her (I assume) little girl run around and play. Wouldn't she rather be in there, and wouldn't her daughter rather have her in there with her (she wasn't old enough to hate her parents yet)? If I ever get too fat to play with my kids, someone kill me. How can people allow themselves to get too fat to enjoy life to the fullest?

People want instant gratification when doing things the hard way can be more rewarding. Order a pizza one night and cook one yourself the next night, then tell me which night you had the most fun.

And another thing- I don't want to hear the "I'm too busy" excuse from people who spend 5 hours a day watching TV.

lilHinault

"They" probably will come up with a drug to decrease weight w/o exercise, that's true...... there already are such drugs (amphetemine, tobacco, etc) but they're either not side-effect free, or illegal.

Short of some new anti-fat miracle drug though, the only thing that will get us as healthy as Europeans is the same environment: $6 or $7 a gallon gas, walking-friendly neighborhoods, decent public transportation, more acceptance of biking, etc. And, people move to the USA from elsewhere and in 10 years they end up just as likely to be overweight as people born here.

TheKillerPenguin

Agreed. European culture is far more encouraging of exercise than here. Gas is expensive, cities are designed for walking, there are bike paths everywhere, food servings are the perfect size (not too big, not too small). A lot of culture there is based around food and the enjoyment of it, which is probably a big reason why fast food hasn't taken off, whereas we seem to have a more "food is a necessity but wastes time" vibe going on. And the biking scene there is huge!! Every person seems to have a bike and uses it at least part of the time.

I stayed in Europe for a month at my sister's house in Kortrijk. The city is laid out with bike paths on every street, and has one central boulevard where only pedestrians are allowed. That's right, a street where no cars can travel. It's lined with shops all the way down to the city square, which is lined with open air cafes and an open air market is setup a couple of times a week in the center. It was like this in most of the places I went to, including Brussels and Paris. Wide open promenades in their centers connecting many different parts. The only american city I can think of that is like that is maybe Chicago.

My brother in law is a member of the press in Belgium, so he gets free gas. Despite that, however, he was careful not to waste any, going so far as to not roll down the windows on the highway (and it was a hot, hot day) to save a few mpg's. A completely different mentality than here.

Wonderful place, I hated to leave.

cyclezealot

But a warning...In Europe..The fast food culture spreads like the plague..Many Europeans are worried the way their kids popularize and insist on Mickie D's....And many bakery shops are worried about the push towards Hamburgers over good jambon y fromage over greasy burgers...
to me ..American fast foods spread just like our violent action flicks...I for one can understand those governmental agencies who want to sanitize their culture from bad outside influences..good luck...or else your kids will end up looking and acting like ours.
ju jus and prozaic.

Crunkologist

New anti-cannabinoid drugs offer a possible solution to the obesity problem

slvoid

Europeans are getting overweight too.
Personally, I can't wait till everyone is overweight, finally I'll look good.

rule

So The Triplets of Belleville is going to be prophetic after all. The really sad part is to see the obese kids, and I mean who aren't even out of kindergarten yet. Just wait until it's the skinny kids who get picked on at school for being different. That day is fast approaching.

TheKillerPenguin

I disagree Rule, I think the "larger" our society gets, the more self hating it will become. Look at us now! Half the commercials on TV are about fad dieting and appearing to be thinner. What we do to ourselves is not either physically or mentally, and in the future we're going to pay for it more than we already are.

Crash Dummy

I was at Six Flags in Atlanta about two years ago and there happened to be a middle school group at the park. There, I saw the saddest thing I think I have ever seen in my life. A 6th grader was too fat to fit in the rollercoaster. He couldn't lower the safety bar enough so that the locking mechanism could engage. Moral of the story: Get into the diabetes field, it's going to be huge in five to ten years. Not a very constructive moral, but I don't really think anything is going to change the direction our collective waistlines are heading.

We already do have a drug to cure obesity. Several of them, in fact. The ones I use are Running, Swimming and Cycling, though not always in that order.

jnbacon

After returning from two months in India and Nepal, I was seeing how large Americans are in comparison to the populations of those poor countries. It is hard to draw moral or psychological conclusions from that fact, but it certainly suggests we are a country that with overabundant wealth.

PaulH

That's interesting. We went to Disneyland last March, and were intrigued at the relative scarcity of seriously overweight people. Is this an east coast/west coast thing, or do the two parks draw different demographics?

Paul

Bolo Grubb

I have seen lots of overweight people at both parks. pretty much where ever I go I see lots of overweight people.

cyclezealot

Funny overweight people would go to Florida..Eight months of the year, the weight reduction program would be sweating it off...
California is blessed with a entertainment industry that insists on fitness...Not that lots of us, don' t have a long way to go..but, I think more west coasters with our blessed climate try harder.. nor sure if statistics would prove out that idea..

garysol1 

I bet the Demographics are pretty close but Disneyworld draws a lot from the Southeast where Gravy Biscuts are king and no meal is complete without a double helping from every food group. Western US is definatly more health conscience than the east of the Mississippi.....just my opinion of course