America's fattest cities - are all in the South
- Thread starter Displaced Bama Fan
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I do not deny the factors other people have presented, but one I haven't seen yet is image consciousness and social body shaming. It's nice to assume health and education is the motive for less obesity, but in the image conscious big cities there is a very powerful social shaming that goes on against obesity from the point of view of beauty and vanity (totally disconnected from health issues). This is very pronounced in California. It is hard to communicate how in many subtle and not so subtle ways, even slightly overweight people are looked down upon. There's a real discrimination that has economic, employment, and social influence. So of course from a young age people here feel that pressure and make sure they stay very thin. A side effect of this thinness may be being healthier, but being healthier is not really cause or motive for many. That said, there are also a lot of very health conscious people here. These tend to reinforce each other, but they are not the same.
Wow...Alabama leads the nation in disability rates...or at least did a couple of years ago. I doubt much has changed. MS, TN, AR & LA aren't far behind which would correlate some the findings of the original article too.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/08/alabama_claims_highest_disabil.html
Well, at least Alabama is first in something besides college football. I'm not sure this is a title I would want though.
I'll also throw in a very common mindset I hear from people who are obese, overweight or just unhealthy due to diet. It's a mindset of they only go through life one time and there are a lot of things in life they aren't able to enjoy. So they aren't going to deprive themselves of eating the things they like. It's the "You only live once" type mentality yet they apply it to the foods they eat. I hear this A LOT down south. So it's not that they don't know. They simply choose to continue to eat unhealthy despite knowing the potential consequences.
Sure, I've heard it too. My wife and I have gotten on a healthier diet for the most part. Leaner meats, more veggies, less starches. Makes sense. Ironically, we both feel better too. I walk almost every night when I'm not umpiring as well as lift at home. For those that need to lose weight, get a dog. Seriously. Get a good sized dog and take him/her for a walk every night. Trust me, you'll see and feel the difference. Plus, you'll have some companionship, an alarm, etc.
I am assuming that this article got most of its numbers from anonymous polling of the general public. I read something a few years ago that tried to explain why the South has the largest obesity percentage. The author of that article suggested that people in the South tend to be more honest about their weight in these polls than people of other areas and went on to suggest that the numbers are somewhat skewed because of this.
Actually I found a similar article. This might be the same one that I read.
http://http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/south-fat-or-just-honest
Actually I found a similar article. This might be the same one that I read.
http://http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/south-fat-or-just-honest
Heck, I'll use myself as an example. Both my wife and I have college degrees, live a comfortable middle class lifestyle and are very well educated about what we should be eating and what we shouldn't. But I chose to ignore the information for YEARS. I ballooned up to an ungodly weight for my size. Got to the point where I was feeling like utter junk, hated the way I looked and simply got tired of being FAT! So I decided to make a change. There are millions just like me. They have the knowledge, know what's right and wrong from a dietary standpoint. But choose to continue to eat bad.
As did I. I would drain 3-4 cokes a day, eat fast food on the way in to work and at lunch. I was busy with kids' activities and the simplest way to eat was fast food...I'm down about 18 lbs and want to drop 25 or so more.
I drink coffee instead of cokes, eat more chicken and broccoli for dinner and salads for lunch...typically drink a protein shake for breakfast. I try and life 3-4 times a week and walk, as I said, every night I'm not umping.
I was eating healthy for awhile and exercising regularly. In January 2011, I weighed over 200 pounds and I am 5'4. Then I started biking to get to work. I lost a ton of weight and I kept biking. I was still biking and eating healthier up to June of last year. It has been posted on here why I stopped and I am still recovering. I ballooned up to 194. I have started exercising (no biking) again and eating better. I have lost 15 pounds. I never eat fast food or have sodas. I quit sugar entirely (i use pure raw honey for sweetening). Hopefully I will get the grip strength back in my hand again and be back on the bike doing 30+ miles again.
Oh yeah, the major changes I've made are cutting waaaaay back on the processed foods, soft drinks, portion size and started exercising at least three times a week. I don't always get in the amount of workouts I'd like. But I ensure to get three. I figure that's better than none.
In other news, it's a proven fact that 98% of all people involved in auto accidents ate some type of bread within 24 hours prior to having the accident.
This proves to be about as much a causative factor as does education to what we eat and when. I'll take myself for example. I didn't attend any college, I'm 67 y/o and I'll bet as strong and healthy as anyone here who did. All it takes is a little self determination. Anyone can do it. Just because someone has a college degree that doesn't make them any smarter or healthier than anyone else. More educated, perhaps. But smarter? Not by a long shot.
This proves to be about as much a causative factor as does education to what we eat and when. I'll take myself for example. I didn't attend any college, I'm 67 y/o and I'll bet as strong and healthy as anyone here who did. All it takes is a little self determination. Anyone can do it. Just because someone has a college degree that doesn't make them any smarter or healthier than anyone else. More educated, perhaps. But smarter? Not by a long shot.
I don't think college is a necessity to determine education. My brother-in-law isn't college educated, neither was my grandfather, and they are two of the smarter people that I have known. I do think aptitude is another measure of intelligence that doesn't necessarily correlate to "college" educated. Some of the dumbest people I know hold PhDs.
You know what a guy with a PhD calls a guy who learned his trade by OJT? Boss.
You're starting to see glimpses of this in the south. Granted, it's not to the degree as the places you are describing but elements of it does exist in the south. We have a couple who we invite over from time to time whose husband works in an industry that "being fit" and having a certain "look" is an unofficial requirement for his job. He's told me before he has to "play a role". He stays in great shape, and like you said, not for the health aspects of it. But for the social pressures within his line of work. Everyone is lean, trendy, organic, granola flying out the windows of their cars etc. You know the type I'm sure. When they come over he gets to let his guard down and actually be himself. I usually cook steak, or hot dogs and hamburgers, "twice baked" potatoes, chips and dips and lord forbid a soft drink or two etc. He enjoys it because he gets to eat without feeling like he's being judged because it isn't necessarily "health conscious". His wife on the other hand is so influenced by the social pressure that as she's eating she's on and off apologizing for eating it. "I feel awful for eating this. But it's so good." It's nuts.
They don't call it "Piled Higher and Deeper" for nothing.
That's generally the exception to the rule though. While I have met some PhDs that wouldn't know their butt from a hole in the ground, most of them in my field are pretty sharp.
You know what I call this?
Lunch.
Four different kinds of cheeses and six different kinds of meat. I don't even know that many kinds of meat.
Jackhole.You know what I call this?
Lunch.
Four different kinds of cheeses and six different kinds of meat. I don't even know that many kinds of meat.
There's a general intelligence that is transferable and then there's specific intelligence that simply isn't. Regardless of the field, I've met people who in their field are very "smart" and you'd think that would transfer to other areas of life. But it doesn't. We're all that way to some degree. But "we" tend to naturally assume that since someone is a Dr, Lawyer, Accountant, has a college degree etc they are "smarter" than the auto-mechanic who wears a uniform with his name on his shirt. And many times "we" treat them as such without even realizing it. My sister in law's brother is a surgeon and a very, very good one. Well respected among his peers. But get him outside his field and I swear if you didn't know you'd think he's gingerly retarded. Things you and I call "common sense"/"common knowledge" is foreign to him. So depending on the arena he's in determines how "smart" you think he is. Change the arena his "smartness" changes.
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