Obese people.

[2strokebloke]

I don't think that TV makes people lazy either, but face it - lots of people just sit around watching TV rather than doing anything.
The best way to get kids to go outside? Buy them fireworks.

[Oz]

Some very interesting thoughts people. I have seen both sides of the fence. I was always just slightly chubby (never out of the normal range, but at the top end of it) as a kid. In the past 9 months, I started eating well and going to the gym 1-4 times a week (variable, mostly twice). I've now lost nearly 10kg and put on some substantial muscle. My BMI is 23.5 and in the 55th percentile, which I was thrilled with. The key was realising WHAT I didn't like and setting up things to change that. It's always hard to force yourself.

[Steel]

my BMI is 19.3, im almost underweight. To be honest, i wish i could trade with people who gain wait more easily. I cant put on ANY bulk, so i dont even try. but going through life ans "chickenlegs" and "toothpick" isnt easy either.

[integra818]

Originally posted by Steel
my BMI is 19.3, im almost underweight. To be honest, i wish i could trade with people who gain wait more easily. I cant put on ANY bulk, so i dont even try. but going through life ans "chickenlegs" and "toothpick" isnt easy either.

So I'm guessing you're a light-weight guy eh? It's a positive thing...your car goes faster

[HogieGT-R]

Originally posted by Jimster
Oh the lovely American diet- I almost died when I saw that a medium Coke at a North American Maccy D's was as big as a Large coke anywhere else in the world and the Large Coke was a Fucking BUCKET!!!!!!! don't even get me started on the fries...................I love

hell you think the drinks at micky-D's are buckets.....try the KFC/Taco Bell half gallon Mega Jug....the thing is so big that it has it's own handle and it looks like one of those sand buckets....but wait there's more...7-11's Super Big Gulp...this thing has an even larger size compared to it's already large 64 ounces.......it looks like a small keg.....there's no way in hell that i can even fit that in my cup holders...i'd have to secure it in the passenger's seat with the damned seat belt...or have one of my friends hold it with both hands.......

[YogsVR4]

Originally posted by HogieGT-R


hell you think the drinks at micky-D's are buckets.....try the KFC/Taco Bell half gallon Mega Jug....the thing is so big that it has it's own handle and it looks like one of those sand buckets....but wait there's more...7-11's Super Big Gulp...this thing has an even larger size compared to it's already large 64 ounces.......it looks like a small keg.....there's no way in hell that i can even fit that in my cup holders...i'd have to secure it in the passenger's seat with the damned seat belt...or have one of my friends hold it with both hands.......

I know I've seen them, but I have never seen someone actually buy one. They must be out there, but they're not moving fast around here.

[Dan_in_WA]

I have 5 kids, from 13 years to 14 months. The TV isn't on much, at my house. There are only the VCR and Playstation II connected to it, anyway.

I kicked the networks out of the house long ago. My kids don't miss it. There is always something to do: Friends, play outside, yada yada.

All are lean and strong for their size/age: My two boys, 10 and 11, are getting pretty tough for me to pin down when we rough-house!

I DO BLAME THE GODDAMN FUCKING TELEVISION!!!

[integra818]

wow, PS2 as a substitute for TV, great!

They won't see much of that violence with the PS2...unless they play 'Grand Theft Auto:3/Vice city', but then agian, that game was meant for adults

[Dan_in_WA]

Yeah; between PS2 games and movies, and the Internet (computer's in the living room! And monitored) they get all the screen time they need.

And they read books. So do my wife and I. Lots of great book series to read. Plus the trampoline and the swimming pool.

Wintertime means raging snowball fights, one fort against the other. I pull in after work and get out of the car, I'd better be ready for war - 'cause I'm a legitemate target until I reach the porch!

Life in a small town is great.

[Oz]

Originally posted by Dan_in_WA
the Internet (computer's in the living room! And monitored) they get all the screen time they need.

You're depriving your kids of pr0n? And you still think they'll grow up OK?

[integra818]

Originally posted by Oz


You're depriving your kids of pr0n? And you still think they'll grow up OK?

Same thing I was thinking

[replicant_008]

Obesity - it sounds pretty obvious but it's because the calorific intake > the energy demands of the individual. Now reduce the calorific intake or increase the energy demands all things being equal then eventually the individual is likely to reduce in mass.... well kind of - for plenty of reasons this doesn't work - some folks metabolisms simply slow down, while there are some other issues that complicate things.

Okay, so why do some countries have a predominance toward obesity and worse still morbid obesity than others. Well it comes down to a lot of factors - genetics does play a part, but also the cultural effects of diet weigh heavily.

As an aside, the average Sumo wrestler lives on a diet of mainly fish and rice - but it is the quantity and frequency of eating that results in their mass. These individuals are very fit and strong but perhaps not aerobically more anerobically - their training is power based not based around cardiovascular endurance compared to say a distance runner.

Now some of you know I have a dark history of having worked in marketing and a significant reason for obesity is essentially marketing. From the day you were born, you were fed images and messages from a variety of sources associating foods with what tasted good. Now for instance there are foods such as kippers (pickled herrings) which to some cultures are mighty tasty but to others the smell and flavor are repugnant. The taste buds aren't any different - it's the social conditioning that makes the difference predominantly.

In the western world - "we" in marketing have programmed you to associate sweet as a pleasuresome flavor, we have also associated the taste of fried foods and those rich in fat as having intensity of flavor that you like - as opposed to healthier but more bland foods such as vegetables. We've also associated your selection of fruit and vegetables not around food value or taste but around appearance - which is why some of the more flavorful but less attractive varieties are no longer available commercially.

Nowhere is this more pushed than in the US - however, the marketing images have crossed borders and in countries where obesity was not an issue (in fact more like malnutrition until recently) we have seen obesity becoming more prevalent eg Japan.

Also cultural changes in parenting (working parents and lack of access to grandparents) and cultural changes have meant children are no longer as active as they were before.

When I was a kid, we didn't wear hats, wore no shirts and never used sunscreen - yet spent our summers playing around at the beach or in the park whereas now kids are sheltered from the dangers of the sun...

Sport has ceased to be about winning and spending time learning skills to be competitive but more about participation so the motivation to spend hours honing skills has disappeared. Kids now associate themselves with sporting idols by buying merchandising rather than spending hours grinding skills out in a variety of sports.

I played cricket, soccer, rugby union, volleyball, field hockey and cycling competitively when I was a kid - and now I rollerblade, cycle, ski, scuba dive, sail, play squash, soccer and golf as an adult. Which means that I have to stay reasonably trim to be competitive (and when I did blow out to 180 lbs I did something about it to trim back to 155lbs).

As a kid I don't think I ever watched a sporting game live - I watched them at home on the TV occasionally but I'd more likely to running around the park playing cricket with the rest of the kids at school. I was never particularly gifted at sport - but I grafted and ground my way to being competitive but unspectacular but I had the satisfaction of knowing that despite a lack of any real talent I worked at it harder than others did...

And those that market have programmed you all to buy the best equipment in order to be successful - I'm a sucker for equipment. And the marketers have also programmed you that a game console is ubiquitous in a kid's household...

[slave]

I found that about the states. When I went we were like HOLY FAT PEOPLE BATMAN!!!!!!!


Im thin, well, Im a cyclist, and I have ALWAYS eaten healthy, its not just to not get fat, which I cant do, but to feel better.. And hell, for me, cycling is the shit. A good mountain climb then a fast decent, like flat out, sliding corners, man, thats the shit for me.

[Steel]

Yeah another thing, liek what replicant mentioned; when i was a kid, i ran around in the sun all day without sunscreen. why the hell is everyone so sheltered these days? It's sickening. The sun is bad cause it causes cancer, sports are bad becasue kids get psychologically damaged when they lose, yadda yadda. its such bullshit these days.

[slave]

Im not going for big, just toned, Steel, want motivation, lookit this pic. (no this isnt for a homosexual reason) but Hugo, even CK are using these thin guys now, just toned, sure they got perfect skin, and tans, but are they big? nopes...