Is Fat the New Normal in America?

Is Fat Normal in America? A Surprising Reason Why We


[h=2]Is Fat the New Normal?[/h]A rise in average body weight may be changing how we see ourselves.

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By Sherry Rauh
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
[COLOR=#3789B9 !important]WebMD Archive[/COLOR]
[h=3][/h]If you're tall enough to stand out in a crowd, you're probably aware of your tallness – maybe even self-conscious about it. But imagine that you're in a room full of basketball players. Suddenly, you don't seem so tall anymore. Your above-average height feels normal.
The same scenario -- but with weight, not height -- may be happening throughout the U.S.
According to the CDC, two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Now that the average body weight tends toward plump rather than svelte, the perception of what's normal may be sliding. And that may have health consequences that are flying under your radar.
[h=3]The New Normal[/h]The average American is 23 pounds heavier than his or her ideal body weight. If we equate "normal" with average, it's not much of a stretch to say it's normal to be fat.







"For children and for many adults who are overweight, they are starting to perceive themselves as the new normal," says obesity expert Robert F. Kushner, MD, MS. Overweight people may dismiss their weight, he tells WebMD, because they feel "everyone else looks exactly the same." Kushner is a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity.
"It's quite clear that people are changing their idea of what an acceptable body size is," says Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School. As the average body weight goes up, there's more acceptance of heavier body types. This, in turn, clears the path for even more people to put on weight, says Christakis, who is the co-author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Change Lives.
[h=3]Are Americans Really Getting Fatter?[/h]The rate of obesity has climbed dramatically in the past 20 years: A third of adults are obese today, compared to 23% in the late 1980s. But this trend may have reached a plateau. According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the obesity rate has not changed significantly in the past few years.
That's no reason to become complacent, Kushner says. "The prevalence of obesity is leveling off, but it's leveling off at flood stage. So we need to turn that around."
[h=3]Is Weight Gain Contagious?[/h]How did we get to that "flood stage" of obesity? Maybe you should look around you.
"Our work suggests that weight gain spreads in social networks," says Christakis, who has researched the spread of obesity.
His findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2009, show that your odds of becoming obese rise by 57% if you have a friend who becomes obese and by 40% if your sibling becomes obese."We're social animals," Christakis says. "We're influenced by the choices and actions and appearance and behaviors of those around us."
In short, our social contacts -- the people in our lives -- have a big influence on what we eat, how much we exercise, and how we judge our own appearance. This may help explain why obesity rates are not the same throughout the country. In fact, there are what might be called obesity hotspots.

in my southern berg, most live to eat instead of eat to live
and it shows

here in Canada we are "beginning" to slim down...now most young kids are slim again, but it has taken constant haranguing and nutrition taught in the classroom that gets taken home to the parent to help people understand, weight kills.

Obesity is becoming so commonplace that people are starting to view it as normal. Actually, there is no way it is OK or acceptable. It is the greatest health hazard facing the nation currently.

This is not normal:





This isn't normal, either:

I'm just amazed how accepted fatness has become.


At 26 years old in 9-5 middle class America you go to work and people in their late 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's are all sitting around while visibly overweight ACTUALLY talking about how fit they are. I mean these people are visibly overweight. It is not debatable. And yet here they are, sitting there talking about how much they can lift while eating a twinkie. I just sit there in absolute disbelief. It's beyond delusion because they're all in on it. They all truly believe their stomachs sticking past their belt doesn't amount to fat or even out of shape. It's absolutely scary.

Can you even begin to imagine if I started talking about weight or actual working out with these people? Dear god. I think halfway through the conversation I'd be having my career threatened. It's amazing lol and scary at the same time. It's like being in a zombie movie and the zombies don't know they're zombies and will attack you if you mention the fact that they are.

Going with no.

A lot of guys these days don't get the concept of Functional Strength. For example they will brag about how much they can bench, but they can't do a pull-up. Or for that matter, they can't even do that many push-ups with proper form. Before I started running and strength training, 10 years ago I was almost 40 pounds heavier than I am now. For the last 10 years I have been an avid runner (40 to 60 miles a week). For the past 5 years I have been an avid cyclist (80 to 150 miles per week), and for several years now I have strength trained religiously as well. I am 38 years old and have 6 pack abs. The thing is, if you are not in really good shape, you don't understand how much being in really good shape improves your quality of life. Get strong and lean and nothing will seem impossible to you.

Welcome to the politically correct world. Where you can't say anything to another person that may be discouraging or offensive. You can't actually tell people they are fat and need to lose weight. You might hurt their feelings.

Demographically, yes. Socially accepted? Not yet.

Ryan5 said:

Is Fat Normal in America? A Surprising Reason Why We


[h=2]Is Fat the New Normal?[/h]A rise in average body weight may be changing how we see ourselves.

Save This Article For Later​

Share this:


Font size:
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By Sherry Rauh
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
[COLOR=#3789B9 !important]WebMD Archive[/COLOR]
[h=3][/h]If you're tall enough to stand out in a crowd, you're probably aware of your tallness – maybe even self-conscious about it. But imagine that you're in a room full of basketball players. Suddenly, you don't seem so tall anymore. Your above-average height feels normal.
The same scenario -- but with weight, not height -- may be happening throughout the U.S.
According to the CDC, two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Now that the average body weight tends toward plump rather than svelte, the perception of what's normal may be sliding. And that may have health consequences that are flying under your radar.
[h=3]The New Normal[/h]The average American is 23 pounds heavier than his or her ideal body weight. If we equate "normal" with average, it's not much of a stretch to say it's normal to be fat.







"For children and for many adults who are overweight, they are starting to perceive themselves as the new normal," says obesity expert Robert F. Kushner, MD, MS. Overweight people may dismiss their weight, he tells WebMD, because they feel "everyone else looks exactly the same." Kushner is a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity.
"It's quite clear that people are changing their idea of what an acceptable body size is," says Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School. As the average body weight goes up, there's more acceptance of heavier body types. This, in turn, clears the path for even more people to put on weight, says Christakis, who is the co-author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Change Lives.
[h=3]Are Americans Really Getting Fatter?[/h]The rate of obesity has climbed dramatically in the past 20 years: A third of adults are obese today, compared to 23% in the late 1980s. But this trend may have reached a plateau. According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the obesity rate has not changed significantly in the past few years.
That's no reason to become complacent, Kushner says. "The prevalence of obesity is leveling off, but it's leveling off at flood stage. So we need to turn that around."
[h=3]Is Weight Gain Contagious?[/h]How did we get to that "flood stage" of obesity? Maybe you should look around you.
"Our work suggests that weight gain spreads in social networks," says Christakis, who has researched the spread of obesity.
His findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2009, show that your odds of becoming obese rise by 57% if you have a friend who becomes obese and by 40% if your sibling becomes obese."We're social animals," Christakis says. "We're influenced by the choices and actions and appearance and behaviors of those around us."
In short, our social contacts -- the people in our lives -- have a big influence on what we eat, how much we exercise, and how we judge our own appearance. This may help explain why obesity rates are not the same throughout the country. In fact, there are what might be called obesity hotspots.

Click to expand...

I could care less if people are shopping at the Kmart, with a bad wheel on a shopping cart, filled to well over capacity with Hostess Twinkies and Ding Dongs, in their undersized sweats with their belly peaking out fat. You know, the kind of fat where the pizza delivery guy has 4 or 5 extra large pies that he flings at the couple like they were show dogs jumping though hoops fat. You know, so fat their belt size is, wait for it...........the equator. Baba bump.:2razz: I don't care one whit. In fact when I get old and infirm, which is coming much sooner than I care know, I will aspire to be so fat I can play Jabba the Hut in the Stars Wars movie and be pretty damn convincing. So really I just don't care about fat people one way or another, and honestly wonder why busy bodied mutts have get into their business, when it aint theirs to begin with.

Ryan5 said:

If you're tall enough to stand out in a crowd, you're probably aware of your tallness – maybe even self-conscious about it. But imagine that you're in a room full of basketball players. Suddenly, you don't seem so tall anymore. Your above-average height feels normal.

Click to expand...

Not true. Standing around basketball players, my 6'1 feels like short, not average. It happened today. It was strange to see the world from a short person's eyes.

I agree fat is the new "normal".

If you are a woman with a body fat percentage of over 30% then you are clinically overweight. If you are a man with a body fat percentage of over 19% then you are clinically over weight.

The average body fat percentage for American men is 28.1% and for American women it is 40%. Of course this is held down a lot because of younger people in the studies. If you looked at the average for men over the age of 30 it would be much higher. Men with waists larger than 102 cm (40 inches) and women with waists larger than 88 cm (35 inches) have a much greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.

Ryan5 said:

Is Fat Normal in America? A Surprising Reason Why We


[h=2]Is Fat the New Normal?[/h]A rise in average body weight may be changing how we see ourselves.

Save This Article For Later​

Share this:


Font size:
AAA


By Sherry Rauh
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
[COLOR=#3789B9 !important]WebMD Archive[/COLOR]
[h=3][/h]If you're tall enough to stand out in a crowd, you're probably aware of your tallness – maybe even self-conscious about it. But imagine that you're in a room full of basketball players. Suddenly, you don't seem so tall anymore. Your above-average height feels normal.
The same scenario -- but with weight, not height -- may be happening throughout the U.S.
According to the CDC, two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Now that the average body weight tends toward plump rather than svelte, the perception of what's normal may be sliding. And that may have health consequences that are flying under your radar.
[h=3]The New Normal[/h]The average American is 23 pounds heavier than his or her ideal body weight. If we equate "normal" with average, it's not much of a stretch to say it's normal to be fat.







"For children and for many adults who are overweight, they are starting to perceive themselves as the new normal," says obesity expert Robert F. Kushner, MD, MS. Overweight people may dismiss their weight, he tells WebMD, because they feel "everyone else looks exactly the same." Kushner is a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity.
"It's quite clear that people are changing their idea of what an acceptable body size is," says Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School. As the average body weight goes up, there's more acceptance of heavier body types. This, in turn, clears the path for even more people to put on weight, says Christakis, who is the co-author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Change Lives.
[h=3]Are Americans Really Getting Fatter?[/h]The rate of obesity has climbed dramatically in the past 20 years: A third of adults are obese today, compared to 23% in the late 1980s. But this trend may have reached a plateau. According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the obesity rate has not changed significantly in the past few years.
That's no reason to become complacent, Kushner says. "The prevalence of obesity is leveling off, but it's leveling off at flood stage. So we need to turn that around."
[h=3]Is Weight Gain Contagious?[/h]How did we get to that "flood stage" of obesity? Maybe you should look around you.
"Our work suggests that weight gain spreads in social networks," says Christakis, who has researched the spread of obesity.
His findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2009, show that your odds of becoming obese rise by 57% if you have a friend who becomes obese and by 40% if your sibling becomes obese."We're social animals," Christakis says. "We're influenced by the choices and actions and appearance and behaviors of those around us."
In short, our social contacts -- the people in our lives -- have a big influence on what we eat, how much we exercise, and how we judge our own appearance. This may help explain why obesity rates are not the same throughout the country. In fact, there are what might be called obesity hotspots.

Click to expand...

Of course America is getting fatter. And it's not the pudgy-I overate on holiday-I'm a bit bloated fat. It's the truly obese-I have to knock a wall down-weigh you on a tractor trailer scale-obese.

The drinks at the movie theatre size-wise are-- I would swear-- come in the same size cup as the popcorn served when I was little. No, America...
You don't need to "upsize" everything.

Dittohead not! said:

This is not normal:

Click to expand...

Not normal, but damn funny! :mrgreen:

PirateMk1 said:

I could care less if people are shopping at the Kmart, with a bad wheel on a shopping cart, filled to well over capacity with Hostess Twinkies and Ding Dongs, in their undersized sweats with their belly peaking out fat. You know, the kind of fat where the pizza delivery guy has 4 or 5 extra large pies that he flings at the couple like they were show dogs jumping though hoops fat. You know, so fat their belt size is, wait for it...........the equator. Baba bump.:2razz: I don't care one whit. In fact when I get old and infirm, which is coming much sooner than I care know, I will aspire to be so fat I can play Jabba the Hut in the Stars Wars movie and be pretty damn convincing.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the mental image! I was planning on a late lunch. Now? Not so much! :2no4:

That being said...

I get equally annoyed by the health nut, granola eating, triathlon running, anti-drinking, anti-smoking crowd. Don't tell me what size soda I'm allowed to buy. I'd like to force feed them twinkles. Or spike the tofu with high fructose corn syrup. :2razz:

MODERATION is a beautiful thing!

There never was, is, or will be anything normal.

Normal is a figment of our imaginations.

ecofarm said:

Not true. Standing around basketball players, my 6'1 feels like short, not average. It happened today. It was strange to see the world from a short person's eyes.

I agree fat is the new "normal".

Click to expand...

Yeah but I think the point WebMD is trying to make is that fat people generally hang around other fat people because that's their comfort zone, obviously.


I know this is a real phenomena because at work it's obvious these people are insecure when a fit person, not just me but other fit people, start giving their views or talking about their lives. There's definitely tension in the room and then the fit person will just sorta abruptly stop because they sense that tension and realize "ohhh.. we can't talk about this truthfully without you all getting upset" and they stop. It's amusing but very real. Crowd-think is a big part of why people are fat I think. I do think it's that superficial on a ground level.

Ryan5 said:

I know this is a real phenomena because at work it's obvious these people are insecure when a fit person, not just me but other fit people, start giving their views or talking about their lives. There's definitely tension in the room and then the fit person will just sorta abruptly stop because they sense that tension and realize "ohhh.. we can't talk about this truthfully without you all getting upset" and they stop.

Click to expand...

I don't have that problem. Maybe it's you.

It wasn't normal to be thin, unless you were so poor you had to be, in pre-60s America. Twiggy changed all that. And it had nothing at all to do with nutrition.

I've been in all 3 facets of weight. I grew up scrawny as a twig. When I graduated high school I was 6'3" and 165. Not an ounce of fat or muscle to be seen, even though I ate like a race horse. When I graduated boot camp I was still only 170. Through the years in the Marines, I bulked up a little and filled out to about 195-205. After I got out and worked in insurance, I ballooned up to 265. No medical reason or excuse. just a desk job and a never ending stream of McDonalds, dougnuts, soda, deep fried food etc....but with a 6'3" frame, I "carried" it without appearing obese, even though I was and felt awful.

When I went to school for physical therapist assistant program I was around 255 lbs. I was always a fast runner in the Marines, and I totally got my ass kicked on a 4 mile run by a 55 year old classmate. That moment "sobered" me up. Over the past 4 years I have been an active lifter and runner. I'm 215 now, wanting to be 205, but my body always seems to plateau at 212-215 no matter my diet or training regimen. But while I am not going to impress any powerlifters or bodybuilders with my bench press, nor will I beat the 145 lb guy in a race, I take pride in the fact that I run relatively fast for my size (usually place or sometimes win in my age group running) and can move appreciable amounts of weight in the gym. Really, I'm out to prove that you don't have to be 145 lbs to run fast, and you don't have to be 300lbs to be strong.

Training for my first full marathon (I've run plenty of half marathons). Up to a 20 mile long run right now. And where I run, it's all hills.

There is one thing about fat, it is easy to maintain.

Obesity certainly seems to be becoming more acceptable and more widespread. I'm not sure if it's really the norm yet though. In any case, it's a big risk factor for a myriad of health problems and should really be highly discouraged. People need not be pressured into becoming as skinny as a twig, but there are established medical criteria that describe what constitutes a healthy weight and I think these should be emphasized to a greater degree than they are now.

Umm yep. Spend some time in europe and you will see

Ryan5 said:

Yeah but I think the point WebMD is trying to make is that fat people generally hang around other fat people because that's their comfort zone, obviously.


I know this is a real phenomena because at work it's obvious these people are insecure when a fit person, not just me but other fit people, start giving their views or talking about their lives. There's definitely tension in the room and then the fit person will just sorta abruptly stop because they sense that tension and realize "ohhh.. we can't talk about this truthfully without you all getting upset" and they stop. It's amusing but very real. Crowd-think is a big part of why people are fat I think. I do think it's that superficial on a ground level.

Click to expand...

I used to be fat, so I understand how fat people think. They know they are fat but people telling them they are fat and how to not be fat is not really going to help. It's no mystery to them why they are fat.and becoming fit isn't a mystery either. They have to want to change. No amount of nagging will help. It's just like being an addict. Though I wouldn't say people are addicted to food per se mostly because I wasn't. It's really the addiction to easy food. I found myself never eating cooked meals but crap out of a bag or a window. It was quick filing and cheap. It's instant food, you don't have to think about it. My avatar was a picture of me when I was 17. I was extremely fit because I was on the swim team. I was impressed with how in shape I was. But once I graduated and got into college there wasn't time for swimming, not like I was. Beer and quick foods fattened me up pretty fast. I wanted tochange. that so I did. Nobody helped, nothing worked, I did it by the sweat of my brow. So the best thing to tell people is that they can do it, it isn't easy but if they want to be healthy and fit the answer is right there.

Fat's where it's at.
-root boy slim and the sex change band.