The Fattest States in America

Dr Miller,

Great article and you are right....the CDC web site is a bit morbid. Any idea why the fattest states that you mentioned are all in the south?

How about an article for those of us who are trying to gain weight? I'm 6' 3", 203 pounds but feel and perform better at about 215. Trying to pack on and maintain those extra 10 to 12 pounds is tough.

Thanks,

Tom Harris

I see two reasons for this rapid rise in obesity with roots in the early 1980s:

1. The Food Supply

American farm policy changed with deregulation, and the administration of the time removed controls on production. Farmers were thus encouraged to grow more food. Food production in this country grew extensively, and the total food supply in the U.S. (food supply per capita) grew from about 3200 calories/day in the early 1980s to about 3900 calories/day by the year 2000. So there was a lot more food to sell.

2. Wall Street's "Shareholder Value Movement"

Also in the 1980s, shareholders demanded higher immediate returns on investment. Public companies suddenly had to report earnings every 90 days to demonstrate continual growth in earnings and profits every quarter.

So the food companies were faced with a challenge of how to sell more food while there was already plenty in the supply -- so they changed society. They made food more ubiquitously available in places, and available at times, where it was never before available. Now we snack all day. Now we have vending machines in schools. Etc, etc.

Hi Tom, I think the growth of the internet has something to do with our expanding girth. More and more people are choosing to play at computers instead of playing outside. Our desire for convenience has increased our appetite for fast food and that is a big problem when it comes to weight gain. Our portion sizes have grown with everything else. Have you ever noticed the size of plates in restaurants? As far as gaining weight, I agree with JGoldstone. You might also want to increase the frequency of your meals and add some smoothies with some whey added.

I think it's partly due to the fact that daily activities use fewer calories than they used to. Very few people drive a standard transmission anymore. Even fewer people don't have power steering and power windows, and so on. Doors to stores are automatic. Very few people wash dishes by hand. The list goes on and on. Individually, these things probably don't make much difference, but the cumulative effect does.

And speaking of cars, I read somewhere that the longer the commute, the more overweight the individual. I don't know if there's a causal relationship, but it seems plausible that the more time you spend in a car, the less time you have for more active pursuits.

What is the strangest thing about statistics is that now they came up with the antithesis of your postulate stating that overweight people have the better chance to survive heart attacks ... even if they are at higher risk of getting them.

You know what? Perhaps we need to look at many other factors than just weight in determining health. If you find a ninety-year-old who is overweight, do you tell him that he should diet? He certainly is already living on the "other side of the statistical chart."

In the same mode, do we accept preventive surgeries? I'm in that position now. My doctor is "insisting" that I have my parathyroid removed because it is producing too much calcium and COULD cause kidney stones. Hell, I could get hit by a block of frozen detritus dropped by an airplane. Should I build a bomb shelter?

There are limits to what we should craze over. If people in the South are too heavy because they eat a fattier and starchier diet, maybe they are happier as well because ... they don't walk around looking like a concentration camp survivors ... or nonsurvivor's.

Life is a balance. In semi-jest, all I know is I have outlived every doctor who predicted my early demise from something I was doing or not doing. Now, all I can say for certain is that it is now impossible for me to die young. My longevity already took care of that.

Big Business is responsible for Big People.

Bottom Lines are responsible for Big Bottoms.

2 b continued...

Reasons for the American obesity problem are not so mysterious. Here in France, the rate of household Internet use is among the highest in the world. And unfortunately, there is increasing viewing of TV and other sedentary activities. However, these factors are secondary.

Recent studies here in France have indicated that it is not so much the content of our diet per se that keeps our weights down. On the contrary, no one would say that French food is light or low-fat, and no meal goes without a portion of cheese, bread, wine along with salads and our many regional staples of often elaborate dishes. Rather the biggest factor appears to be very simply that we continue to have family meals. Meals continue to have a very important social dimension and it is as much the time we spend at the table than the content (however good). This means that we eat at a slower pace and ultimately smaller quantities. This also means that snacking is relatively nonexistent (kind of equivalent in the States to drinking alone or talking to oneself…).

When I took my children to the US to the first time last year to visit my family I was struck by the apparent loss of this basic social hygiene. The refrigerator was like a refill station where getting food was similar to getting gas. Houseguests were free to "help themselves" as people carried plates like some fast food outlet to the table. My wife and children were astounded and in amazement by this seeming anarchy and absence of basic 'savoir vivre'. And yet in this very same town when I grew up, the family meal was still a central ritual and there were no overweight children at all. The problem in the US is of course exacerbated by the increasing portion sizes. For example, a recent study has indicated that a simple portion of yogurt from a supermarket in the US has 60% more than the same portion in a supermarket here. My boys who dreamed of trying a real American hamburger were taken to a small local restaurant known for its burgers. To my surprise, my strong athletic 14-year-old boy couldn't even finish half the hamburger served to him, so big it was...

I found what for me is the perfect cure to eating either in front of the television or the computer.

Eating in front of the computer cure: Buy a computer desk that has room only for the gadgets and not even enough room for a small dish.

Eating in front of the television cure: Buy a new, light-colored, very expensive carpet. Make certain that the carpet also runs under the china cabinet - a huge one that takes the better part of a day to empty and store the contents therein. It also doesn't hurt to take away the coffee table.

All my eating now takes place in the kitchen at the table. You are correct, my meals are about the same but snacking has disappeared. For the most part, I did it not because I was hungry but because I could.

We never keep too many snacks in the house other than raisins and carrots and very few sweets except when my granddaughter is visiting. I know ... they aren't good for her but I love the smile I get when I put out a few fresh-baked (at the bakery - we don't do baking) chocolate chip cookies. Anyway, she is slender as a sunflower and a once in a while treat is good for her soul and doesn't do any damage to her body.

I believe that culturally we are not burning enough calories. A normal day for most people is to ride ina car or bus, stay in a house or office, watch tv, make a quick carb and calorie filled dinner, We go out to lunch or make a high calorie lunch, drink high calorie drinks and do very little calorie burning labor. We certainly don't have to hunt for food.

The average person is wired for casual activity where the engine is not running on high. It is the hyperavtive or person with a lot of adrenaline that is really more unusual. They generally live to eat because the switch isn't calling them to the kitchen or snack.

Unless we start spending more time in the kitchen and doing food preparation and shopping this will continue to be a problem. We also need to burn burn burn more calories.

How about we start with going to school in our neighborhoods then we can walk. Build more local shopping stores rather than big malls and box stores. Get off the tractor mower, ride bikes, walk to place of worship, turn off the tube a little and listen to the radio like the old days....Gotta go, I have to make dinner and maybe I need to get off this computer too!

LSLMom

Statistics only show people's preferences or in this case addictions.

Maybe the question should be addressed as to why people have such addictions?

Oh comeon lets not forget the Yo-yo diets.

I can't speak personally for others here or abroad.

But I'm morbidly obese and I know that I do not eat in moderation, however I eat fresh vegetables, fruits and avoid red meat.

Stats are somewhat nonsense...I like the recent one that liquor is not good for women....can cause breast cancer. I wonder how long it'll be before stats will contradict that.

My 93 yr old mother was told that her "bad" cholesterol is very high. They keep warning us and want to put her on statins. When she was in her 60s they were really high, so the doctor put her on a restricted diet. She went from 155 lbs to 130 lbs at 5'5".........and her bad cholesterol didn't budge/lower. So now 30+ years later they want to put her on meds to prevent her from dying. Huh? She has never had a stroke, heart attack....not even angina. She doesn't get headaches ever.

But my real comments are in regards to diets. Does America really know how to eat? Are our priorities nutrician or convenience?

Every January when you are suppose to make your resolutions; and after a 3 month food fest, starting at Halloween and ending around the Super Bowl (appropriately named).........the Diet Industry and Fitness Clubs go into overdrive to get your business. Every rag to riches magazines dedicate their space to the latest diet craze.

They are all the perfect recipe for disaster. And meanwhile your metabolism is bouncing all over and has no clue to what you want.

Those diets may work for losing 5lbs. Any more then that will come back with additional pounds once you stop the diet and go back to your old or new bad ways. If you cannot seriously make permanent changes in your life, then you are better off maintaining then to play diet roulette.

My sister-in-law attributes obesity partly to stretchy waisted pants!

We are a nation of overweight people, but we are malnourished!

Also when I started teaching preschool years ago it was very unusual to see an overweight 4 year old. By the end of my career it was pretty commonplace to have several overweight (and sometimes obese) four year olds in one class!

I totally agree with Robin--the two biggest reasons for overweight kids is portion sizes/junk food and sitting in front of the computer or tv playing games. Kids don't play outside anymore--they park in front of the computer. The computer itself is not to blame but the parents who use it as a babysitter or who do not control the amount of time spent in front of it are.

PE isn't required in school anymore except for one year in junior high and one year in high school so kids aren't forced to exercise. Most don't exercise on their own--most of us don't exercise on our own!

For that matter, fewer families eat meals together and many of those meals are put together from pre-cooked or packaged kits. Fat and sodium contents are through the roof. Working in a grocery store, that was one thing I noticed regularly. Families would come through with their carts filled to overflowing with frozen meals or frozen kits to prepare a meal from, Hamburger Helper type products, Spaghettios, sugar-filled cereals, soda by the gallon, packaged salad mix--nothing to create a meal from scratch. And we wonder why our society is getting heavier and more people are developing diabetes and other weight-related conditions?

Sniff, sniff. What's that smell? Sniff, why I think I smell the food police.

This is a BS argument.

Just as evidence shows those over the recommended BMI - 18.5 if I remember right - all the way up to a BMI of 30 are healthier than those with a BMI of 17 or lower . . .

Just as $22 Billion of cholesterol drugs, many with side effects like liver failure and cancer, are stuffed down our throats every year despite mounting evidence cholesterol is not a cause of heart attacks . . .

Now the food police are stepping up, preparing to tell us what we can and can't eat or at least tax the sh7t out of anything they don't approves of.

California is working on it even as we speak. Yes, the ultimate nanny state is about to screw over caffeine drinkers.

Here's the story so far: http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1104/news_detail.asp

The mayor of SF, I think, is trying to put an extra tax on sodas as well.

I think I'll go drink a Pepsi and eat some cheese.