People only see and hear what they want to

Sheltie

Fratty and out of touch.
A while back I posted a thread on a different forum about the obesity epidemic in the United States.

According to many estimates, as much as 40% of the adult population in the US may be dangerously obese and in as little as 10 years obese adults may become the majority. In some states, such as West Virginia and Mississippi, the rate could be as high as 2/3 of all adults. Obesity normally means a person is at least 40 to 50 pounds overweight. It does not include folks who might be a few pounds overweight.

The point I was trying to make was that, combined with the aging of the baby boomers, western civilization could soon be facing one its greatest crises since the plague.

I got a lot of responses but... nobody cared. Some people posted comments about the dangers of fat shaming; others commented about how women are being oppressed by glamour magazines; and many commented on the latest diet fads. Everyone completely missed my point and no one seemed concerned about the fact that our hospitals may be overwhelmed by obesity related illnesses in just a few years.

It seems nowadays everyone has an agenda they live by and any new information is simply processed in a way to suit their agenda.
 
It's nothing new. People have been like that as long as I can remember, and they were probably like that thousands of years ago.

The obesity problem is new though. I live in the state that supposedly has the least obesity, or did last time I saw anything about it, and it's scary enough here. When I go back to the Midwest, it is obvious there is an epidemic.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Being overweight is a serious issue and sugar is a major contributor as if by design. Here's a clip from the movie WALL-E.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy0DDuf8fYw


Overly processed foods are the largest contributors, not just sugar, so many of these processed foods are empty calories carrying very little nutrition or processed additives as nutrients...When I drive to work in the morning and if I happen to drive into the township that morning, there's such a long line going into the drive thru at McDonald's and Bojangles...So many people seem to be unconcerned about real food, just get that quick sausage and egg biscuit of empty calories and heavy processing and wonder why they're tired a couple hours later at work...They didn't give their body any food for energy...

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pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Saw the thread title and thought it was politics ......

Yup. I wonder exactly how much strain obesity puts in a healthcare system. Maybe something to look into. In the countries that have effective public healthcare how bad is the obesity problem
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Saw the thread title and thought it was politics ......

Yup. I wonder exactly how much strain obesity puts in a healthcare system. Maybe something to look into. In the countries that have effective public healthcare how bad is the obesity problem

Yeah the same in politics, and in many other arenas, some people convince themselves of something and live by that conviction whether it be true, false, or none of the above...So technologically advanced we are or claim to be, living in the modern age of the 21st century and fail at some of the basic things and understandings in life...

Just wait until the aliens attack though, that will straighten out a lot of things, thin out the herds, and mend many fences, there'll be no going back after the aliens come...:Whistle:

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nivek

As Above So Below
Everyone completely missed my point and no one seemed concerned about the fact that our hospitals may be overwhelmed by obesity related illnesses in just a few years.

It seems nowadays everyone has an agenda they live by and any new information is simply processed in a way to suit their agenda.

Its like that with everything it seems, we are going to be overwhelmed by a great many problems in the world if we do not begin looking at these problems objectively and make a concerted effort to sort them out, but people are in general ignoring these problems, either fixed on an agenda or their own narrative on how things should be, or so consumed by entertainment and technology that reality is far removed from their lives...

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pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Here's the old ten-second research (a.k.a Google). I just asked the oracle which countries had the most effective healthcare and this is what popped up:

The top 10 countries with the best public health systems:
  1. Finland
  2. Norway
  3. Sweden
  4. Switzerland
  5. Canada
  6. Denmark
  7. Germany
  8. The Netherlands
  9. Australia
  10. United Kingdom
Top 10 most obese countries
  1. United States of America (38.2% of the adult population)
  2. Mexico (32.4%)
  3. New Zealand (30.7%)
  4. Hungary (30%)
  5. Australia (27.9%)
  6. United Kingdom (26.9%)
  7. Canada (25.8%)
  8. Chile (25.1%)
  9. Finland (24.8%)
  10. Germany (23.6%)

Finland ? Really? That's a surprise. At least they seem efficient at dealing with it. Getting fat on what exactly?

Lutefisk?

I don't have an ounce of fat on me but right now I feel the need to horse down both boxes of @Shadowprophet 's doughnuts.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
That's a huge percentage of the American population who are obese, I didn't know it was that high considering that a hundred pounds over one's normal or average weight is classified as obese...From there I wonder how many are 90 to 99 lbs over and 80 to 89 lbs over?...America has a serious problem with obesity...

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pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
That's a huge percentage of the American population who are obese, I didn't know it was that high considering that a hundred pounds over one's normal or average weight is classified as obese...From there I wonder how many are 90 to 99 lbs over and 80 to 89 lbs over?...America has a serious problem with obesity...

...

It's also measured in BMI and/or percentage of body weight. Keep going and you win the prize of comorbid symptoms.

I have often wondered if there are any people out there who suffer from sleep apnea and have to use the breathing contraption when they sleep who are actually thin. I'm sure there are but much like those electric scooters in stores the vast majority are for people who have eaten their way out of their mobility and have rationalized it with some sort of victim's affliction mentality.

There are a lot of thin people who are unhealthy but I am horrified to see so many young people dragging around great swinging bags of fat.
 

Rick Hunter

Celestial
Yes, I have known a few people who were quite skinny and had to use CPAP. My wife's grandfather was a very fit athlete and outdoorsman most of his life and had a horrible case of sleep apnea. I have a mild case of it, corrected by a plastic mouthguard that pulls my lower jaw forward. I can get the same effect by sleeping on my belly with my jaw towards the mattress.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Yes, I have known a few people who were quite skinny and had to use CPAP. My wife's grandfather was a very fit athlete and outdoorsman most of his life and had a horrible case of sleep apnea. I have a mild case of it, corrected by a plastic mouthguard that pulls my lower jaw forward. I can get the same effect by sleeping on my belly with my jaw towards the mattress.

I know three people who use the CPAP and they are morbidly obese.
I think that's the most common cause for sleep apnea. Not the only one apparently.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
I have often wondered if there are any people out there who suffer from sleep apnea and have to use the breathing contraption when they sleep who are actually thin.

In the past I worked for a company that made those sleep apnea masks, tried one on once...I wouldn't want to have to use one every night, it's not very comfortable to me but maybe it's effective?...

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pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I know that there is a certain percentage of people who absolutely require these machines. But for those who need them due to obesity I say 'you have grown so fat that you require a machine to help you breathe'

I also realize just how hard it is to not only lose the weight but maintain it. I lost 130 lbs as a teenager and have kept it off for life. Having done so for many years I even took the extra step of having 5 lbs of useless flesh removed from my body. That was truly disgusting and in fact became life threatening at one point but I'd go through it again without hesitation. Very liberating.

As a result I'm not particularly sympathetic toward 'not being able to lose weight.' There are enough medical conditions that can take you down. Best to avoid the avoidable ones. If something is that important you can do it.
 
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