What is Digg?238 Comments
- Yez70, on 10/12/2007, -9/+136Thank the sugar lobby for forcing us all to use cheaper High Fructose Corn Syrup that lacks the natural chemical that tells our brains we are full so we stop eating. The only sugar producers left are huge corporations who are allowed to charge twenty times what sugar goes for everywhere else, so we aren't protecting family farms, just campaign donors now.
If we had stuck to sugar like the rest of the planet, we wouldn't be so fat. Sugar tariffs keep the price of sugar so high it's cheaper to sweeten with corn and get fat.
It's also why we have 32-64oz fountain drinks as a norm. Remember when a McDonald's 'regular size' drink was only 12oz? Now you can only get that size in a Happy Meal.
The US government does not care about you, only their donors. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+117Only 31% ? That seems pretty low for the United States. I say we eat Belgium.
- fatas, on 10/12/2007, -26/+131mm Asian women.
- zarloniusrex, on 10/12/2007, -24/+113wow, the US seems to be perilously close to a catastrophic explosion
duck and cover! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -19/+106AMERICA, ***** YEAH!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -20/+95The fatter we get the more calories we require and the more we spend on health care and medicines. A government controlled by lobbyists cannot protect its people against the great food conspiracy.
- wonderchemist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+76Horizontal strips makes objects look wider.
- foamweapons, on 10/12/2007, -8/+79Yep, the great American food conspiracy is uniquely American. Canada and European countries are different... if you ever have Coke from Canada or Europe you should taste the difference. That's what they call "sugar."
This strange substance is unfamiliar to most Americans because soda, processed foods, jelly, cookies, bread... we don't use sugar. Huge corn subsidies in America have priced sugar far above corn syrup, so we use High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). High Fructose may be a little sweeter than sugar, but it has some consequences...
"In addition, unlike glucose, fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin production. Because insulin and leptin act as key afferent signals in the regulation of food intake and body weight, this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased energy intake and weight gain. Furthermore, calorically sweetened beverages may enhance caloric overconsumption. Thus, the increase in consumption of HFCS has a temporal relation to the epidemic of obesity, and the overconsumption of HFCS in calorically sweetened beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity.” - http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/plasmid/entries/2007/01/08/high_fructose_f.html
America is the only place in the world where tons of children are getting fat. Kids shouldn't get fat, their metabolism is too high. That's where the HFCS comes in... the agriculture industry gets to sell their GM corn the rest of the world refuses to eat, while the health-care industry makes a killing with health-care bills for all the fatty kids. It's pure genius... if you are a maniacal madman on the Board of Directors for both Monsanto and a Healthcare company. - tunafizzle, on 10/12/2007, -6/+67CTRL+ALT+DELICIOUS
- brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -4/+64Japan 3%
I bet most of that is accounted for by Sumo Wrestling. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -13/+71Yes BMI is *****, but there are not alot of huge body builder/athletic types walking around the US with body compositions made up of mostly muscle either. Eventhough this uses data based on BMI it is probably pretty accurate.
- sosurim, on 10/12/2007, -1/+59haha, it would look that way from the charts.
but as a korean who has visited korea several times, i can tell you several reasons why Koreans make up some of the thinnest people in the world.
1. In Korea, people walk everywhere. I mean everywhere. Even going in and out of the subway station is a good workout. During lunch, my colleagues and I sometimes would walk about 10 blocks to eat at this one particular restaurant. In the morning, coming out of my villa into the main throughfare where I can catch a taxi is about another 10 blocks or so. Add everything up, and I walk a few miles, at least, usually more, everyday.
2. The nature of traditional Korean food is such that it defies automation. That's why you really don't see any sort of Korean fast food. A good Korean meal consists of dozens of small dishes at least (a traditional aristocrat banquet consists of about a hundred dishes). Also, most of those dishes are usually vegetables, like kimchee, fermented beans, bean sprouts. Very little calories, a lot of nutrition. When you're used to such a diet, it's near impossible to stomach something like a triple-decker Fatburger. Although there are several McDonalds, Burger Kings, etc. in Korea, they usually modify their meals to have less calories and/or meat and carbs and usually balance it with more vegetables or something. Otherwise, Koreans would never eat it. Also, food portions in most restaurants, whether Korean or otherwise, are much smaller than here. Finally, Koreans traditionally eat a big breakfast, a hearty lunch, and a light dinner. For Americans, it's almost exactly opposite.
3. Scarcity of land and resources play important roles. Oil is very expensive in Korea. When I drove a car there in 2000, gas was approx. $5/gallon. It's probably double that now. That's why many people can't afford to drive a car on a regular basis. This means you walk, bike or take public transportation. Beef is also very expensive in Korea. Pork is less expensive and Chicken even less, since the latter requires very little space. Most districts and cities were designed long before the age of the automobile - some places are so packed together that not even the smallest of cars can pass. You can only go so far and then you have to walk the rest. Things like drive-thrus are therefore impossible, and you'll never see one in Korea. Many areas don't require multiple story buildings to have elevators, because a combination of elevator AND stairways would consume too much space that there would be no space for working areas.
4. They work their ass off at work. Koreans may have many faults, but dilligence is not one of them. A typical work day for most starts somewhere between 7:00 - 7:30am and continues to 7,8 or even 9:00pm, depending on the the work load and/or when your boss leaves. They work about half a day on Saturdays. So, a 60-70 hour weeks are not uncommon. Whether they put those hours to actual productive use is another question, however, but most people I worked with work hard. Kids too work just as hard. Since there are no school buses, many kids have to wake up early to ride buses to school, and after that, they usually have several extracurricular tutorials their parents have signed up for them.
5. As a result of all of the above, their concept of fat is very different from that of a typical American. What Americans would think is an average build, they will think as overly fat. I've seen girls who'd be good enough to be called skinny here reading diet books in bookstores.
Some of the few things I have a tough time getting adjusted to when I come back to the US (usually after being in Korea for quite a while) are: 1) jetlag, 2) getting used to the sights of big-ass SUVs, 3) sight of fat women everywhere, and 4) big portions in restaurants.
In fairness, the things I have no problem getting adjusted to are: 1) cleaner air, 2) more civilized driving practices, 3) diverse cultures, 4) kickback atmosphere (at least in California). - AllenS, on 10/12/2007, -2/+49we can start with their delicious waffles
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+50A diagram of world fatness ? I see only 27 countries.
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+42A few hundred miles south of Europe.
- SIRBERUS, on 10/12/2007, -8/+46Shouldn't the mexican stick figure be half-way inside the US stick figure?
- catfish182, on 10/12/2007, -1/+37If i move to Korea it will raise them 10%
- Moocat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+30I actually did not know that part about all our sugar foods having high fructose corn syrup replaced in them. You learn something new everyday :)
- StupidLiberal, on 10/12/2007, -4/+32ksponge :
"Hi, you are wrong. I am one of them. I guarantee this would put me as extremely obese, however, I have no fat to speak of at all. 5'11, 275 (fluctuates within 5 pounds). I train daily in bjj, and I would own all of you skinny minnies that rank in this bmi where you "should", that statement comes with my personal "SMACK YOU DOWN" guarantee. Thanks for playing."
Ha! An internet tough guy retard--ooh we are scared. Keep working out to make up for your small prick. Thanks for playing douchebag - brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30"What else does Belgium have other than Waffles and chocolate?"
Chimay Abbey, where the world's most heavenly Ales are brewed. - Triffid, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31Oh, FFS... people in this country (America) need to wake up and face the truth. This has nothing to do with any sort of conspiracy or hidden food qualities. Get off your asses and stop eating so much. I hit the gym or the road at least once a day and (surprise, surprise)... my sons want to go and work out with me. How about stepping up and setting a good example for your kids.
Oh.. and as far as BMI goes. It is a ***** statistic for insurance companies to use for rating an individuals risk factor.... But as a collective estimation tool, its OK.. A BMI of 30 is pretty damn high. - LogicBomB, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26Canada and the USA were surprisingly different. You'd think with both our countries being so close the eating/exercise habbits would be almost the same.
- pxa270, on 10/12/2007, -5/+28Maybe something to do with the incredible car-dependence/addiction of the US?
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23I bet that most of America's total is accounted for via couch wrestling. Gotta see how long you can ride one of those buggers before you fall off!
- jerrycan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23@Yez70
First you get the Money. Then you get the Power. Then you get the Sugar... - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+25You're right. It's covering such a huge area we should start calling it a pandemic.
- greg2000, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22You wouldn't think that Hungary would be so high.
- 4answer2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19No India or China? Missing 2 billion + people right there...
- bioskope, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20This is America! I want a bowl of raw red meat, right now! Forget that! Bring me a live cow over to the table! I'll carve off what I want and RIDE THE REST HOME!
Lord Bless Dennis Leary - catfish182, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19sorry about ksponge, sugar makes him that way
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23What else does Belgium have other than Waffles and chocolate?
Um... - Sethbacca, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Or to do with the lack of mass transportation as an option in the majority of the US unless you live in a major city. In Maine you have to drive everywhere, everything is miles from everything else, you can't go for a walk to the subway or to other public transit, it just isn't an option. So by the time you put in a full day of work, and 45 minutes each way for driving, there goes 10-11 hours of your day, and doesn't leave a whole lot of time for active activities. Alot of the country is structured in such a way that we spend the majority of the day on our butts, which certainly isn't conducive to getting any exercise and losing weight.
For people who do manual labor work they get their exercise at work plus whatever other activities, but for your average phone jockey/paper pusher its an entire day on your butt every day. I'm not making excuses, but our country is poorly structured for getting people active on a day to day basis, again unless you're in a major city, then you can at least walk to the majority of places. - dishslayer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18haha silly fat people *frowns at self*
- asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18What about the munchies? Countries that have legalized or decriminalized pot are pretty low on this diagram.
- therightside, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18@ ksponge
You practice BJ's all day? No one asked about your sexual preference. - drgmdp, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18don't digg him down, if you think walking 5 blocks is a lot, you have a problem..
- bentman78, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18@Y0tsuya
umm you can ask restaurants to serve smaller portions. Just ask for a lunch size at dinner. Forcing restaurants to serve smaller portions? Sounds like nanny-state government to me. If your not hungry don't eat it. If restaurants serve to much, then don't eat out so much... - helinism, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17No surprise to see the UK trailing in third place at 23%. Factor in global warming and the results are catastrophic for our already declining birth rates. I say we team up with America and Mexico to start an international campaign to make fat men keep their titties covered up in summer dammit!
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -8/+22"I bet some countries in Africa are in the negatives "
You can't have a negative number of people with a BMI over a certain number. Might need to think that post over again... - Y0tsuya, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18@omaromar
You can keep dreaming and rationalizing, or you can exercise and eat right - catfish182, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14I worry about my kids and how they are affected.
They both have bellies but we do our best to keep them active. Spring, summer, and fall is easy as they are all ways outside but its not just exercise it is also eating well. Its hard to eat good meals (well i should say its hard to get kids to eat good meals) at a affordable price. I feel good as our doctor helps us monitor their weight but its a everyday fight to stay healthy.
I also do not believe in the BMI crap but i never have. I look for body fat % and diet and exercise.
Now excuse me while i go and take a BMI real quick. - Y0tsuya, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Why bother, there are no fat people there.
- Sepeteus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16@ksponge
I'm glad us skinny minnies here in the internet are safe from you net surfing, muscular, aggressive, hormone oozing testomen. Go and build some body fat. You sound too cranky when you don't eat enough. - endrid, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16I used to live in Japan and it is true that very few people are obese there. If that isn't a great perk, then I don't know what is. They literally crack up over how big our food portions are over here in the US. Maybe we could learn something from them? Or are we too arrogant to believe that we don't know everything?
- wachter1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12The truth comes out and so do all the excuses. The BMI is flawed. I am fat because of my genes. Blah blah blah. Nonsense. As flawed as BMI may be, that is no excuse for the U.S. having such a disproportionate number of high BMI people. And no, it is not all in your genes. America is a nation of immigrants, so if fatness is primarily based on genetics, America should be somewhere in the middle (factoring in the averages of all different ethnicities) --not leading the pack.
- evilregis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15@logicbomb, save for our border, Canada and U.S. have very little in common.
- WilliamDavis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12We can admit that America's a fat ass country without believing BMI is a good measure.
Yeah, BMI might give a somewhat relative view. Yeah, Americans are fat. If we actually used real body fat percentage, it would only make America look fatter. - Triffid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11No kidding... I'd like to see that broken down within different US regions. I'm willing to bet its > 45% for adults in my portion of the country (northern mid-west). And if you're in a Wal-mart its > 75%.
- teaguehopkins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9@sosurim (#6553819)
Wow, it's really refreshing to see someone present a logical and relatively balanced argument on digg. Pretty good advice for staying fit too. Walk more, eat less, eat healthier food. -
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