Not much on the telly tonight, so I ended up watching "My 600 lb. Life" --- the show where folks go to Houston for bariatric surgery… some successful, some not so much.
After watching a couple episodes, I'm left with some mixed feelings.
Is super morbid obesity:
1) a disease along the same lines as alcoholism and drug addiction?
2) a lifestyle issue (poor food choices, lack of exercise, laziness)?
3) a mental health issue (poor self esteem, depression, etc.)?
What have you seen in your practice re: number of super morbidly obese admissions, bariatric surgeries, disease processes related to super morbid obesity, difficulty caring for super morbidly obese patients.
I did research on food deserts and the costs of healthy foods and you are quite right. Healthy foods are not low cost. Produce, lean meats, etc tend to be harder to access for low income people and if you live in a food desert, double so. So, you buy what you can. Some communities are trying to combat that with mobile farmers markets, and inexpensive produce. It helps but it is not enough.
I read this a lot, and am not entirely sure I buy into it.
Yes, some stuff is ridiculously and artificially cheap. Government subsidies make corn syrup and cheese way cheaper than a free market would dictate.
But, nothing is cheaper than rice and beans.
I eat well with limited processed foods. When I look in my cart next to other carts in the store, the junk food carts are more expensive. I can afford to spend more on food if I want, but I see folks who appear to be on a pretty limited income spending more than I do.
This "bad food is cheaper" idea is so prevalent, I wonder if it has ever been tested. IE- take the food budget of a low income family spend that same amount, including Happy Meals on wholesome, fugal foods.
This is me.. I LOVE my food. Sure I should lose about 20-30 pounds and talk of it. Do I think it will happen anytime soon... n-o-p-e. I like my food and right now my schedule is beyond crazy. I am getting pulled in 1,000 different directions between work and school. Exercise and diet just aren't my priorities.
I personally believe there's nothing wrong with allowing bad habits here and there. I think some people become so obsessed and stressed with doing things the "right way" that it becomes just as detrimental to their health as what they're trying to avoid.
The trick is to find that balance. We ALL love food (except maybe the occasional person with certain eating disorders). There's nothing new there, and love of food is nothing uncommon. What I think most Americans fail to realize is that you can teach your body to love HEALTHY food. Also, many people have never even experienced truly good health and they don't realize how much more they could be getting out of life if they were in better health. Most of us are raised on crappy diets and by the time we're adults we just simply don't know any better, and our bodies don't know any better.
I admit that I've never struggled with being overweight, but throughout my 20's I was never very careful about my diet (although I was still quite active). Eating healthy used to be a chore. Now I'm nearing my mid-30's and I've been very intentional about my diet for the last few years and I've come to truly love and prefer healthier foods. After eating them for a while your body grows to recognize those foods as something that will make it feel better and function more efficiently and then it learns to actually desire those foods more than the unhealthy foods that may have previously seemed so appealing. It takes time and discipline, more than most people care to invest. Now I can't even drink a whole coke or eat a bunch of potato chips because it's just way too much junk. My body doesn't even desire it anymore because I'm teaching it to recognize good fuel from bad fuel. When I do eat it, I may enjoy it going down but my body almost immediately starts giving me that, "what did you just put in me, man?!? I can't use that!" feeling. ha.
We literally ARE what we eat.
Am I saying never eat pizza or fried chicken or a burger or whatever? of course not. But make the majority of your diet clean food and slowly you will want the other stuff less and less. If you make treating your body right a priority, then you find that you become better and more competent at your other priorities. To me ultimately that's what taking care of my body is about: feeling as good and functioning as efficiently as I can. Not how it makes me look.
I'm working part-time as a school nurse and the research I've been studying shows that we are "fatter" nowadays. I'm headed to work so don't have time to link to studies but I think people can agree (maybe?) that there just weren't that many 600 pound people around 100 years ago. Or 400, or 300, or maybe even 250.
I see kids come to school with microwave pizza, Hot Cheetos, cola, Cup O'Soup, etc. School lunches for the most part are not that healthy and even when they are, most of it goes in the trash.
Some teachers have large container of cheese puffs to give out as "treats" for kids who do well on some subject in class.
I have a photo of a mom pushing a stroller with a pretty large 18 month old who was asleep with his hand in a Cheetos bag and the other hand was covered in yellow Cheetos "cheese". Another mom came to see me with a toddler who was drinking orange soda out of a baby bottle.
Many kids have a mouthful of cavities - and then come in with metal crowns.
Serving sizes have increased in restaurants and we feel cheated if the size is smaller.
Etc.
To the original point, obesity can be attributed to some genetics (diabetes or thyroid issues) but those can be treated in a way that keeps you from getting obese.
Obesity can be attributed to mental issues either that you are born with or that are situational - so many broken homes nowadays and kids sit in front of video games instead of interact with family and go outside to play in the yard.
I'm not in complete agreement that this is related to true "addiction" though. I think it is lifestyle choices that lead into illnesses (diabetes) or mental issues (depression).
I see this type of child abuse often, and am alway amazed that it is tolerated.
If mom brought in a 6 year old drinking a beer, we would report it.
We accept malnourishment when it leads to obesity, but if a child was life threateningly thin, we would intervene.
What any of us are able to do on an individual basis is irrelevant to a societal problem. (There's always someone who can one up you and shame your self discipline anyway).
Everyone here might already be aware of this practice but just in case..
I did research on food deserts and the costs of healthy foods and you are quite right. Healthy foods are not low cost. Produce, lean meats, etc tend to be harder to access for low income people and if you live in a food desert, double so. So, you buy what you can. Some communities are trying to combat that with mobile farmers markets, and inexpensive produce. It helps but it is not enough.
We've had this discussion many times before on AN.
I disagree that unhealthy foods are cheaper and easier to access than healthy foods and have researched it personally by going to the grocery store.
Buying fresh fruit and vegetables is one way to be healthier and it is cheaper by volume than a bag of Doritos. You can also shop for sales. Also, frozen vegetables are more wholesome than canned and you can buy this as well and in every store, there are always some on sale.
Beans, rice, many cuts of meat, etc., are all cheaper by volume/nutritional value than Cup O'Soup or Kraft Mac and Cheese.
You can stock up on pasta (there are high protein/low carb or veggie pastas available) in 16 ounce bags for way less than trying to buy enough Kraft Mac and Cheese to serve a family of 5. Most likely, one box will equal one serving even though the box says 3 servings.
Oatmeal instead of sugared cereal. Or eggs instead of cinnamon buns for breakfast.
You can find healthy food in greater bulk for less money in almost every food aisle in the store.
Contrary to popular belief, it can actually cost more to eat badly. In fact, a new government report finds that nutritious foods – such as grains, vegetables, fruit and dairy – typically cost less than items high in saturated fat and added sugars.
Researchers from the USDA compared the prices of 4,439 healthy†and less healthy†foods commonly available in supermarkets around the country, examining price of edible weight, price per average portion, and price per calorie.
Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.
Spidey mom: You researched it by going to a grocery store. Have you researched it from the stand point of a person who lives 15 miles (or more) from a grocery store and has no transportation? My point was the people in food deserts do not have access that most of us have. They have access to convenience stores, where processed food is actually cheaper than produce in most cases.
And btw; My food cost have gone up since I have started eating healthy. I eat only lean meats and the cost of meat has gone up. I eat a lot of vegetables, the price of which has gone up. I can eat a lot cheaper on a high carb diet but I will also gain more weight. It's very simple to say that eating healthy for you is cheaper but not everyone can eat the same.
I SERIOUSLY do not ask this to stir up a ****storm, but here are my 2 questions. I have wondered this for years:
1) If obesity is a disease, why did our ancestors not seem to have it? In all of the historical photos/paintings that I have seen in my life, I have yet to see a pioneer or a settler depicted as 400#. Or a cowboy or an Indian, for that matter.
2) If obesity is a disease, why is the US so very far ahead of other developed countries in morbid obesity % of population? Is this a genetic condition that is limited to 1/3 of North America?
And for the record, I myself am considered obese. Not morbidly so, but obese nonetheless. I know exactly why I am, but it's definitely not disease.
Spidey mom: You researched it by going to a grocery store. Have you researched it from the stand point of a person who lives 15 miles (or more) from a grocery store and has no transportation? My point was the people in food deserts do not have access that most of us have. They have access to convenience stores, where processed food is actually cheaper than produce in most cases.
And btw; My food cost have gone up since I have started eating healthy. I eat only lean meats and the cost of meat has gone up. I eat a lot of vegetables, the price of which has gone up. I can eat a lot cheaper on a high carb diet but I will also gain more weight. It's very simple to say that eating healthy for you is cheaper but not everyone can eat the same.
Sorry I wasn't clear - not just by going to grocery stores. But by reading research. And taking a nutrition class.
I SERIOUSLY do not ask this to stir up a ****storm, but here are my 2 questions. I have wondered this for years:
1) If obesity is a disease, why did our ancestors not seem to have it? In all of the historical photos/paintings that I have seen in my life, I have yet to see a pioneer or a settler depicted as 400#. Or a cowboy or an Indian, for that matter.
2) If obesity is a disease, why is the US so very far ahead of other developed countries in morbid obesity % of population? Is this a genetic condition that is limited to 1/3 of North America?
And for the record, I myself am considered obese. Not morbidly so, but obese nonetheless. I know exactly why I am, but it's definitely not disease.
You won't stir up a . . . storm for me. I agree with you.
I was thin - pencil thin - no boobs, no hips. 110 pounds and 5'6".
When I had my 3rd child, I started to gain weight. With my 4th child at age 44, I got quite chunky (pregnancy and menopause shortly thereafter). I was eating very badly and not exercising.
I'm going low-carb/high protein. Lots of veggies, which I fortunately love. And getting more exercise.
Americans just worked physically harder back in the day. Now we sit, like I am right now, in front of computers (or TV's). We drive everywhere and rarely walk.
(Edited to add that a local cardiologist told my mother-in-law that he found most people in her age group who grew up in this rural area on farms and ranches were the healthiest of any group of patients that he sees. Maybe they ate meat and potatoes but they also worked physically hard. My mother-in-law's mom lived to 97 and she is 86. My father-in-law was physically very healthy but had dementia and fell and broke his hip, got pneumonia and died at almost age 91).
Ice cream or soda was a treat and now it is a daily event.
You can stock up on pasta (there are high protein/low carb or veggie pastas available) in 16 ounce bags for way less than trying to buy enough Kraft Mac and Cheese to serve a family of 5. Most likely, one box will equal one serving even though the box says 3 servings.
Really? A box of Kraft Mac and cheese equals one serving? Sorry to pop your zealous bubble but I can feed 3 people like it says on the box. Anyone who actually eats a whole box by themselves is a gluttonous pig.
Is that "knowledge" from personal experience or just your opinion from your so called "research"?
These days it is too easy to weigh 250+ pounds for obesity to really be considered a mental illness. It seems like most people (especially women) have to make a real effort just to not be fat, let alone be physically fit. It's tough, it takes a lot of work and planning, and this is assuming you're completely healthy otherwise.
I don't think this is because people are lazy. Women are now expected to work full time, maintain their houses, take care of their own kids and often their own parents, and our current society really pressures women into being completely selfless mothers, all the time. They feel like their kid has to play every sport, take every kind of lesson, have birthday parties that look like they should be on Pinterest. I think a lot of women would feel too guilty to tell their children they can only participate in one activity so mommy has time to work out.
In a nut shell, I think the obesity epidemic is due largely to a shift in our priorities, with our health being at the very bottom, which also affects our children. Mom and dad don't have time to cook between work and piano lessons so everybody is eating pizza for dinner.
But there's no excuse for orange soda in a baby bottle, that's just pure stupidity.
I agree with you.
Guest219794
2,453 Posts
I read this a lot, and am not entirely sure I buy into it.
Yes, some stuff is ridiculously and artificially cheap. Government subsidies make corn syrup and cheese way cheaper than a free market would dictate.
But, nothing is cheaper than rice and beans.
I eat well with limited processed foods. When I look in my cart next to other carts in the store, the junk food carts are more expensive. I can afford to spend more on food if I want, but I see folks who appear to be on a pretty limited income spending more than I do.
This "bad food is cheaper" idea is so prevalent, I wonder if it has ever been tested. IE- take the food budget of a low income family spend that same amount, including Happy Meals on wholesome, fugal foods.