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
This would make sense… If it was exactly the same everywhere with a similar level of convenience.
But it’s not, America is much much worse than Europe on this, and rich countries in Europe don’t exactly have less convenience than the US. How else would you explain it other than a systemic difference? American brains are not fundamentally different to European ones.
As an Europan I can tell you, that the food in de US often tasted sweet to me. It’s like people in the US lost their taste buds for bitter and sour. There is no need to add sugar to every dish, especially bread.
The other thing was the amount of fat in nearly everything. Salad? With a creamy sauce or tons of oil. Of course you have to add 400g meat AND a high calories cheese to it. Served with some sweet bread and it’s basically a burger in disguise.
We were told that California was the healthy and rich state. If that was the healthy food, I’m starting to believe all those images on social media of fat dripping dishes.
In the end we cooked ourselves most of the time and payed the horrific price.
Try eating it for a few months and I bet you will see that people acclimate. Just like if you cut out salt suddenly processed shit tasted way too salty. Hell, I just had a peanut butter cup, first candy in weeks and it was like hyper sugar. Yuck.
A buddy of mine spends time in an easy Asian country where even desert is barely sweet and he noticed the same coming back to the states.
See, food companies figured out they could make more money selling food with cheap HFCS because it “tastes better”. It’s cheaper than sugar because we grow boat tons of corn + govt subsidies. It isn’t banned because corruption and regulatory capture that is ubiquitous in the US.
I think diet is a part of it, but car culture and fast food is the biggest difference. Many developed European countries still rank much higher than the US in steps taken per day. Plus, fast food is usually a treat and not the default with a drive thru. It is back to the algebra of calories in the end.
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.
This would make sense… If it was exactly the same everywhere with a similar level of convenience.
But it’s not, America is much much worse than Europe on this, and rich countries in Europe don’t exactly have less convenience than the US. How else would you explain it other than a systemic difference? American brains are not fundamentally different to European ones.
As an Europan I can tell you, that the food in de US often tasted sweet to me. It’s like people in the US lost their taste buds for bitter and sour. There is no need to add sugar to every dish, especially bread. The other thing was the amount of fat in nearly everything. Salad? With a creamy sauce or tons of oil. Of course you have to add 400g meat AND a high calories cheese to it. Served with some sweet bread and it’s basically a burger in disguise. We were told that California was the healthy and rich state. If that was the healthy food, I’m starting to believe all those images on social media of fat dripping dishes.
In the end we cooked ourselves most of the time and payed the horrific price.
Try eating it for a few months and I bet you will see that people acclimate. Just like if you cut out salt suddenly processed shit tasted way too salty. Hell, I just had a peanut butter cup, first candy in weeks and it was like hyper sugar. Yuck.
A buddy of mine spends time in an easy Asian country where even desert is barely sweet and he noticed the same coming back to the states.
See, food companies figured out they could make more money selling food with cheap HFCS because it “tastes better”. It’s cheaper than sugar because we grow boat tons of corn + govt subsidies. It isn’t banned because corruption and regulatory capture that is ubiquitous in the US.
Lucky us.
Repeating my previous response:
I think diet is a part of it, but car culture and fast food is the biggest difference. Many developed European countries still rank much higher than the US in steps taken per day. Plus, fast food is usually a treat and not the default with a drive thru. It is back to the algebra of calories in the end.
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.