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| Data from Table 026 Source |
We mentally expect men to gain weight as we age but something happened in 2010...all cohorts over the age of 34 were in a statistical dead-heat for levels of obesity. That is, 60-and-70 year-olds were no more likely to be obese than 35-and-45 year-olds. That repeated in 2018.
The fastest growth rate in obesity levels in both absolute terms and percentage of 1990 base levels were in the 20-to-34 year-olds. Between 1990 and 2018, the rate of obesity in men between 20-and-34 increased from 14.1% to 37.2%. Their 2018 obesity rates put them in a statistical dead-heat with all of the older cohorts in 2010. That is troubling because it threatens earlier onset of obesity related issues like diabetes, heart-disease, cancer, kidney failure and strokes.
It would be speculative to guess why obesity is growing so quickly but the following list might be a good start
- Too much screen-time (sedentary)
- Very little physical "work" available. Even landscaping has been mechanized.
- Food is too available
- Portion sizes have bloated
- Food formulated to stimulate purchase and over-consumption
When my wife and I married, we began biking at a next door college, riding approximately an hour and a half a day. Not endurance or speeding, but covered at least six - seven miles a day. Kept us in decent shape - we burned calories.
ReplyDeleteWhen she began her dissertation, we cut that habit out, staying inside and doing research for her topic. Staying up way late into the night. Before she finished, we became pregnant. And for some years, the duties of parenthood stopped our habit of working out. We got lazy - we got busy - we make excuses, basically.
In my teens, 20's and 30's I was way more active than my own children when they were at that age. Computers were barely a thing, game consoles were slightly better than the original Pong, and going outside to play wasn't considered a punishment. I was thin as a rail and ate 4 to 5 meals a day. My youngest sits all day at a computer (now 30 years old) and outside of mowing once per week, has no physical activity. He nibbles at food, eats junk, and looks - not fat - but way more stocky than I ever was. The life of young people today is way different.
ReplyDeleteAs for myself, same as anon above, life got in the way and I got lazy. My metabolism started going downhill at 40 but my eating habits didn't. I'm a good 30-40 lbs over where I want to be but can't get outside of the office enough to burn any calories. I've cut way back on food but that isn't enough. And yeah, I'm still making excuses.
A big part is all of the processed foods that we now have. The rest of the reasons are also true.
ReplyDeleteBingo
DeleteWinnah Winna Chikken Dinnah
Seed oils and processed fats. More sugar in our diet, less "real" food. Few vegetables. Mostly processed foods with lots of taste additives.
The diet, along with the lack of physical exercise, has led to the obesity issue. Plus, we no longer "Fat Shame" people like we did in the 60's and 70's when I was growing up....so there is no societal pressure.
I see 40y/o men that look pregnant altho with today's BS, maybe men can get pregnant. LOL
ReplyDeleteFred in Texas, eating habits and lifestyle activity are the key! I just turned 59 and while I'm heavier than I want to be, being active on the homestead and cutting the carbohydrates have been the answer for me. Something about hard physical work... And doing push backs after one plate of food...
ReplyDeleteSEED OILS ! ! ! ! ! ! !
ReplyDeleteAnon is correct. It’s established that people prior to 1970 ate as much food or more than we do now. The difference is all the food additives and SEED OILS. Oils your body doesn’t know how to deal with. They are poison. Don’t consume them in any form. Especially chips!!!
ReplyDeleteAside from the Japanese EVERY successful modern country has seen an enormous increase in obesity. And as mechanization increases expect obesity to increase. Eventually all of humanity will look like the "humans" depicted in the 2008 film Wall-e...and we'll be just as helpless.
ReplyDeleteFrance might also be bucking the trend.
DeleteWhen I drive through msu's campus I often see students and think "you're too young to be that fat."
ReplyDeleteEat.Less.Move.More. You’re welcome.
ReplyDeleteAnon@554
DeleteMe: I'm too fat.
VA dietician: OK, here's your plan: 1,600 calories/day.
Me: 1,600?!
VA: Yeah, we don't prescribe exercise cuz it hurts.
Me: I was at PT yesterday. One guy had a heart attack...
All points are spot on. Not enough exercise, eating too much. Eating or buying fast food instead of making a meal from scratch.
ReplyDeleteI had physical therapy recently, and the PT asked about daily activity. I told her it varied, shoveling snow, raking roofs, yard work, stacking wood, gardening daily, cutting trails, etc. She looked kind of surprised and said that was ‘heavy activity’ and much more than most people she meets.
I thought heavy activity would be construction workers and roofers. She said sweeping a floor or dusting would be ‘moderately active’. For our generation that was easy work.
Southern NH
Fast food continues to be larger portion of our diet, more menu items, and larger servings. McD started with $. 15 hamburgers, small fries, small shake. Now double big patties, add bacon, cheese, etc, more deserts
ReplyDeleteCovid scared us, especially females, stay indoors. Once on, pounds stay.
Twenty to thirty for men means the stopping of growth and the need for less caloric intake. Intake of beer tends to increase during the same period.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Poland and Romania both men and women ran towards the slim/lean side. They walked to public transportation or rode bikes, private car ownership was rare and used sparingly.
Have to add my two cents! Came back from RVN in July '67. At separation physical weighed 197 pounds. Rejoined the Army a year later at 144 pounds (due to very dissolute living)! But during the following 57 years where at one point I got to 245! pounds, i weighed last night 205 pounds. I've never been really injured nor ill. I try to live by two maxims: Everything in moderation, and If the calories don't go in, the weight wont stay on.
ReplyDeleteThe food these days is so laced with toxins that our bodies cannot process them. The American diet is heavy on carbs, which our bodies break down into sugar. Until our blood insulin levels drop below a certain level, our bodies don’t burn fat. Crazy enough, our bodies store toxins in our fat… so even if you don’t eat too much, your body needs a place to store the toxins and the fat keeps growing.
ReplyDeleteOrganic may not be perfect, but you can’t convince me all the chemicals they spray on the Franken-food can’t be good for us… in addition to everything mentioned above.
…in Muskegon
I’ll add, since going grain (yes, including beer/whiskey. I miss taco shells!), gluten, sugar and seed oil free, I can’t seem to gain any weight. Natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup in moderation help bring some joy into my life. Frozen fruit smoothies made with kefir aren’t bad either! Home made sauerkraut brings a lot of flavor and probiotics to the table. Okay, we do eat buckwheat, fermented and baked into bread and fried with lots of grass fed butter - again doing my best to avoid Monsanto dairy and beef. Did I mention I can’t gain weight? It costs an arm and a leg, but I’m 40 and I’m still active! My dad was fat at this point in his life… I don’t want to be that dad. God has blessed me with a great job and wife. She apparently wants to keep me around for a little while.
DeleteIn Muskegon