A study estimates that more than one billion people are affected and reveals that nutritional imbalances continue to rise. Childhood obesity has quadrupled over the course of three decades
In short, some Europeans live on easy mode when it comes to weight and fitness. Their portions are probably smaller, fast food less common. There are better social safety nets reducing sources of stress.
Perhaps the food industry hasn’t achieved the level of regulatory capture as in the US and so sucrose / HFCS isn’t added to things as much (idk I am guessing)?
Yeah it’s all about the calories in vs out but there are clearly systemic issues that, once fixed, would help us greatly in the US.
Car culture is not quite accurate. It is more like, “the entire mode of existence of anything outside of downtown areas is designed around cars and is so ingrained in laws, infrastructure, city planning, etc. that it will take many decades of committed, relentless, focused, unopposed effort to undo.”
I agree with all your points, but I think knowing that you don’t use your full 2,000’ish calories a day should be factored into what you choose to eat. Personally whenever I move, I always look for the most walkable neighborhoods so I can at least try to live a more passively active lifestyle.
I understand that this is a privilege, but I also eat one cheeseburger and maybe a six piece chicken nugget when I go to McDonald’s. I don’t need fries or a soda, because I don’t burn enough calories to justify them.
I generally agree with you but I don’t think you are taking into account individual nutrition. For a fat person to lose weight they need to eat less. When this happens your body literally screams at you not to. This doesn’t end when you are no longer fat. It is a constant battle and your body is constantly trying to reach the fat state again. Unfortunately when you restrict your diet to lose weight, or keep it off, this itself can cause deficiencies and malnourishment.
This is very much a systemic issue but it is also tied into culture and personal responsibility. Unfortunately it is very complicated and not the same for everyone.
But losing it is hard and the battle to maintain a lower weight is a bitch and a half.
If it were easy, everyone would do it.
Not all of us are equipped with unassailable willpower (I think that’s part of the executive function of the brain). Additionally, many people maladaptively cope with stress, trauma, boredom, lack of dopamine, etc., by eating. Others have mentioned factors that discourage cooking at home.
I think any dismissive, simplistic, judgemental take on weight loss is worth the toilet paper I just flushed. It doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t help anyone who needs help.
About all it does is make the preachy people feel superior to those who they’re preaching to
… while making the overweight people feel shame, usually a counterproductive emotion. If shame effectively motivated people to lose weight, few would be overweight because there’s been plenty of fat shaming over the years.
People are individually responsible. But people are also responsible for finances. Telling someone they should manage their money better, get a better job, and spend less is equally tone deaf as much weight loss “advice”.
Better to understand the whole picture and figure out what we can do to systemically and individually set people up for success rather than denigrating them for personal and systemic issues.
In short, some Europeans live on easy mode when it comes to weight and fitness. Their portions are probably smaller, fast food less common. There are better social safety nets reducing sources of stress.
Perhaps the food industry hasn’t achieved the level of regulatory capture as in the US and so sucrose / HFCS isn’t added to things as much (idk I am guessing)?
Yeah it’s all about the calories in vs out but there are clearly systemic issues that, once fixed, would help us greatly in the US.
Car culture is not quite accurate. It is more like, “the entire mode of existence of anything outside of downtown areas is designed around cars and is so ingrained in laws, infrastructure, city planning, etc. that it will take many decades of committed, relentless, focused, unopposed effort to undo.”
I agree with all your points, but I think knowing that you don’t use your full 2,000’ish calories a day should be factored into what you choose to eat. Personally whenever I move, I always look for the most walkable neighborhoods so I can at least try to live a more passively active lifestyle.
I understand that this is a privilege, but I also eat one cheeseburger and maybe a six piece chicken nugget when I go to McDonald’s. I don’t need fries or a soda, because I don’t burn enough calories to justify them.
I generally agree with you but I don’t think you are taking into account individual nutrition. For a fat person to lose weight they need to eat less. When this happens your body literally screams at you not to. This doesn’t end when you are no longer fat. It is a constant battle and your body is constantly trying to reach the fat state again. Unfortunately when you restrict your diet to lose weight, or keep it off, this itself can cause deficiencies and malnourishment.
This is very much a systemic issue but it is also tied into culture and personal responsibility. Unfortunately it is very complicated and not the same for everyone.
Understanding the concept is simple.
But losing it is hard and the battle to maintain a lower weight is a bitch and a half.
If it were easy, everyone would do it.
Not all of us are equipped with unassailable willpower (I think that’s part of the executive function of the brain). Additionally, many people maladaptively cope with stress, trauma, boredom, lack of dopamine, etc., by eating. Others have mentioned factors that discourage cooking at home.
I think any dismissive, simplistic, judgemental take on weight loss is worth the toilet paper I just flushed. It doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t help anyone who needs help.
About all it does is make the preachy people feel superior to those who they’re preaching to … while making the overweight people feel shame, usually a counterproductive emotion. If shame effectively motivated people to lose weight, few would be overweight because there’s been plenty of fat shaming over the years.
People are individually responsible. But people are also responsible for finances. Telling someone they should manage their money better, get a better job, and spend less is equally tone deaf as much weight loss “advice”.
Better to understand the whole picture and figure out what we can do to systemically and individually set people up for success rather than denigrating them for personal and systemic issues.
I think you have a twisted vision of Europe. And it’s way less homogeneous than you make it seem.