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Official: Calories not genes cause obesity, but it’s still not your fault

Written by Michele Hickford, Editor-in-Chief on January 5, 2014

Americans (and especially American women, of which I am one) are obsessed with their weight. Nonetheless, about two-thirds of the US population is overweight or obese. It’s a critical health issue in the nation, which will no doubt put a heavy burden (pun intended) on health care resources stretched thin (ditto) by Obamacare.

However I can now reveal the heretofore secret to combating obesity: EAT LESS.

According to senior natural scientist Deborah Cohen, writing in the Washington Post, “Obesity is usually the consequence of eating too much junk food and consuming portions that are too large.”

Really? I had no idea! You mean if we just stuff less pie in our pie holes we can control our weight? That’s it?

Ah, but according to Cohen, that’s not it at all. We are still not responsible for what goes in our mouths.

Who is? Why evil big business of course! And only the government can save us! Cohen says:

The food industry has developed tens of thousands of products with more calories per bite, as well as new, effective marketing strategies to encourage us to buy and consume more than necessary. We should blame these business practices, which are modifiable, for obesity rather than our genes, which are not.

Yes, blame business practices! I say that EVERY time I tuck into a tub of ice cream. Blast you, Ben and Jerry, for tempting me with Heath Bar crunch! Although it’s my spoon shoveling another scoop into my mouth, I know it’s your money-grubbing fingers clutching it and forcing it in.

Not even supermarkets escape blame. Sure, they have lovely fruit and vegetable aisles, and even Cohen says for the most part it’s not access to healthy food that’s the problem,

People may head to the produce section of their grocery store with the best intentions, only to be confronted by candy at the cash register and chips and soda at the end of aisles.

Somehow all that junk just leaps into my cart at checkout! I weep as it trundles down the automated belt, but I am helpless against a packet of sandwich crèmes.

What is Cohen’s suggestion? Why, government regulation of course! After all, she reasons:

Even with more information about food, extra-large portions and sophisticated marketing messages undermine our ability to limit how much we consume. Consider Americans’ alcohol consumption: Only licensed establishments can sell spirits to people older than 21, and no alcohol can be sold in vending machines. Yet there are very few standards or regulations to protect Americans from overeating.

Yes, that’s right. We just need to expand the nanny-state a couple more notches to regulate what we can and cannot eat.

The last time anyone ever made me eat something I didn’t really want to eat was when I was two. Unless you are being raised for foie gras or veal (both of which are mighty tasty by the way), I truly doubt you are being forced to overeat.

It’s the same old liberal story that nothing is really your fault, and the government needs to protect you from your own gullible stupidity. Well I have a message for the government. Stay the heck out of my refrigerator.

But not according to Cohen, “Education can help, but what’s really needed is regulation — for example, limits on marketing that caters to our addiction to sugar and fat.”

Oh right. Because if we didn’t see any ads on TV for Doritos, we wouldn’t want them anymore. Just like cigarettes and bourbon…

 
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  • cnralph

    This is all Bush’s fault.

    • American At Large

      Damn you GWB. I am gonna give you back my combat related special compensation.

  • 4MeNoRinos

    I know I went to a registered dietician a couple years ago, a 1/2 cup was a serving, Not sure many realize what a serving is. So easy to over eat when your unaware what a serving is .

    • Robin Kaser

      yes you are right a serving size is MUCH smaller than you think

      • 4MeNoRinos

        I know I was shocked, and it made a huge difference using a half cup and actually measuring out your food.

  • Cynthia Matthews

    But what we think we know about food may not be the right information. For instance, fat does not make people fat. That’s absolutely true! Without enough fat the body will not absorb vitamins, and fat is also good for blood vessels. . .There ARE studies that show that people on high fat diets have far less heart attacks and strokes. So, there’s some examples. We should have all these know-it-all type rules, people should be free to make their own decisions. Fat free diets and artificial sweeteners are not good!

    • Opinari

      I agree, absolutely! It is true.

    • Shane McMahon

      Certain types of fats….not all fats. Men need a certain amount of saturated fat for testosterone production. Salt is another example of something we need…..but I won’t preach here.

  • Michael John Naretto

    More taxes and more regulations are Liberal Democrats solution to everything.

    • canucksam

      You just have to look at NYC and see how absolutely stupid the libtards are. We don’t keep soft drinks, chips, etc. in the house but that’s our choice just as it should be the consumer’s choice if they want to buy those things. Last I looked we still have freedom of choice - granted our freedoms are slowly being taken away by the out of control whackjobs.

  • cpmodem

    Gov’t hasn’t been the solution so far. Just look at the infamous food pyramid. “Six servings of grains per day.” Really? That’s their idea of nutrition? Get rid of the grain and refined foods and the human species would thrive; as their genes have evolved to do.

    • Douglas Moore

      Created to do. Sorry. Couldn’t hep it. Had ta do it. ;)

    • archangel

      Grains can help a person survive, but not thrive. We are Meat and Fruit eaters. We are primates. Intelligent primates, is all.

      • Susan Lyons

        Well, some of us are intelligent primates. Then there are obama voters.

        • archangel

          HAHAHAHA!!!! I have more respect for chimpanzees learning sign language than I do for Obama voters! For any future comments from anybody saying I voted for Romney, stuff it!! I didn’t vote for Might Robme either.

  • John Schmalstieg

    You just need to take responsibility for your own actions and don’t blame others.

  • Kevin Tucker

    Bush’s fault

  • Shari Peterson

    Ignore the government’s food pyramid for starters. That’s my issue - the government has partnerships with corporations (USDA and Monsanto) and frames its regulation or lack of it based on such partnerships. It’s anti-free market and pro corporation. Government should be completely neutral and as small as possible.

    • Opinari

      This administration thinks they are smarter than anyone whoever came before. Yet, they keep proving otherwise.

      Seems every time you turn around there is a new study and a new excuse for those eating too many calories. Not all of us are obese, some are even skinny.

      Eat what you like (hopefully some fruits and vegetable are included), don’t go low-fat or diet drinks or artificial sweeteners, eat smaller portions.

      Don’t over eat. I’ve seen people load up plates that would feed a 250 lb. man for children under 10 years of age.

  • Janet Hix Tagart

    Taking responsibility for what we buy and what we consume is NOT the job of government. What are “they” planning next? Food rationing? Every household will receive a monthly package, based on the size of the family, of “government approved” healthy meals?

    • Pam

      At this stage of the game,nothing would surprise me.

    • Brian Schwatka

      With regret that may be the eventual result. Remember now with us all footing the bill for health care it is a possibility. In Japan now they are measuring wastelines and fining people.

  • Pam

    I have also discovered that since I retired that a lack of exercise is more the culprit than eating. My food intake has declined but my weight has gone up.

    But ultimately it is self control that will keep you healthy and fit. You can’t pass a law that will affect that. In fact that is the problem, we have been brainwashed into thinking that everything is someone else fault. Until we realize that the fault lies within ourselves and take responsibility for our actions we are programmed for failure.

    • brynda50

      Amen!

  • bart007

    It hasn’t helped that big business farming has sacrificed nutrient rich food for bigger crops that produce food with less nutrients thus leaving people feeling less filled than they would if they had good nutritious food available. Not that I’m blaming it all on them but we have sacrificed so much of our food stock in order to process it down to barely nutritious food people will tend to eat until they feel full.

    • USNJIMRET

      The amount of nutrients in food has zero to do with people eating to damn much, burning to damn little. A little bit of research will teach one about the caloric value of various foods, learn what you need, and burn more then you take in. It is NOT rocket science.

      • bart007

        Actually the nutritional value of the food has plenty to do with the way your body responds to your intake. While you can count calories it doesn’t matter to your body if it is not getting the nutrients it needs to function properly. Perhaps a little knowledge of the way the body actually works and the purpose of food in delivering nutrients to vital organs as well as how that plays a role in feeding the body as a whole instead of just believing that it is all about calories would help you understand the importance of food. If it was just about calories we could just come up with something to fill that need. It’s not ROCKET SCIENCE.

        • USNJIMRET

          Your body does NOT tell you it is full because you have eaten enough nutrient rich chow!
          Also, if someone waits until their body says it is full, they will usually overeat.
          I wonder, are you one of those people who make the whole discussion of weight control a “science” issue? With charts, graphs, formulas and enough information overload that most people just roll their eyes and grab another Twinkie?

          • bart007

            You know just not going to argue with someone who believes one aspect of their world and cannot grasp that we don’t sustain our bodies on calories alone. If this were true then there wouldn’t be a need for vitamins in foods and yes your body does crave those vitamins if it is lacking them. Sorry that science is a foreign concept to you.

          • USNJIMRET

            Why you would think that “science is a foreign concept” to me, I fail to understand. I put that word, science, in quotes because I was wondering if you were one of those people who believe that you can just take things out of context, claim others said something they didn’t say, and try to sound all educated, worldly and smart by being dismissive. Apparently, that is an accurate assessment.
            The basic thrust of the article that both of us are commenting on is EAT LESS CHOW! Not about the quality of the food. Not about how well ‘balanced’ it is. Not about how many different nutritional ‘experts’ have blessed any particular mix of foods. But just by eating less of what most people already consume, and burning up more calories, less of a weight issue.
            Is nutrition important, of course.
            Is vitamin and mineral intake important, of course they are.
            But you can, and many do, so over burden the issue with facts about nutrition, vitamins, good this and bad that, that people with a weight problem just blow you off and continue with their poor eating choices.

          • bart007

            People know how to lose weight and yet there is still a problem with not only obesity in the country but a lot of people who are considered a healthy weight who are not necessarily healthy because of the lack of nutritional value in the food that we grow, buy, and consume.

            Regardless of willpower the quality of the food matters because if you don’t get the nutrients required your body many people will regress in any type of diet because of this. This is why there is a billion dollar industry in dieting with a bigger problem now than 25 years ago. The minute the government and big business became involved with farming they had us where they wanted us. More processed foods as well as GMOs also creates cravings and addiction.

  • Robin Kaser

    shop the perimeter of the store, skip the bakery and deli. Also skip most of the aisles, all that pre made food is not filing but has a lot of calories. The less processed foods you eat the better. Also exercise, and be active.

  • DARLENE

    Oh good, Bush is finally off the hook

  • Jonathan Yaeger

    Weight loss is a matter of increasing your co-efficient of performance, i.e. the amount of calories you expend must exceed those consumed. Exercise is one way to boost metabolism and caloric burn.

    The body isn’t stupid; if you consume fewer calories at too rapid a pace, it goes into a “conservation mode” and adjusts internal metabolism accordingly. Effective strategies must take that effect into account.

    If government has any valid role in the fight, (and with Obamacare they now have a stake), it is to educate, not mandate. Fat chance of that.

  • Neil J. Rosen

    Food producers provide what their customers want. If people didn’t buy junk food they would stop selling it.

  • Opinari

    Senior natural scientist Deborah Cohen must be a liberal. Everything wrong is someone else’s fault. Sob, sob, the govt must intervene and make it right…except govt never gets it right. This is just another attempt at convincing us we need govt in order to make decisions for ourselves. Another attempt to lure us into a “nanny” state. Disgusting!

  • Bans 016

    I think it has a lot to do with the hormones they inject our animals with and what they feed them.

    • Mark

      Absolutely. My next door neighbor is a pediatrician and not long ago I asked her about a report I had read that girls as your as 8 were now having their periods. She confirmed that she now sees it often. When I asked her why she told me her theory is all of the growth hormone in our meat source. She said that today’s children begin consuming growth hormone from day one through their mothers’ milk. I stopped eating animal products a couple of years ago and the weight simply fell off!!!!! And even better that the weight loss is the fact that I no longer have acid reflux, sleep the night through, poop 3 times per day, etc, etc, etc.

      • brynda50

        Glad that works for you…but, the point of the article is accepting personal responsibility for your own health and not blaming it on anyone, especially the companies that produce the foods. What you CHOOSE to put in your mouth is your business, not the government’s to control. For you, meatless diet works well and is your CHOICE. It is not forced on you. I am not a fan of obesity but the government has no business being in the healthcare field to begin with and it certainly should not have the right to choose what we can and cannot eat or drink. Once again, we are beginning that slide down the slippery slope of controlling/stopping other people’s rights to choose for themselves.

      • Susan Lyons

        Growth hormones and the industry adding soy to just about everything. Chickens are omnivores; they have to have a source of protein or they’ll turn cannibalistic. Enter the consumers who feel its terrible to give meat by-products to chickens. So the chicken industry adds soy to the diet and proudly proclaims their chickens are fed an all vegetable diet. The soy can then be found in the eggs and the meat of the chickens.
        Try finding soy free condiments too. Most mayonnaise is made with soy oil, as well as ketchup.
        There’s now a greater number of people who develop thyroid problems at earlier ages now. Even in children. Soy may be great for some, But if you have thyroid problems, soy is your enemy.

    • Dee Dunbar

      and food has NO nutritional value so our bodies are always in Starve mode which hoardes fat.

  • Blame the FDA!!

    I blame the GOVERNMENT; with the FDA basing EVERYTHING on a 2000 calorie a day diet. You have to eat 2000 calories a day to get all the nutrition you need. Well guess what, 2000 calories supports about 200 pounds! So eat the “standard” 2000 calories to weight 200 pounds - maybe a bit much for a 5′ woman! The dietitian I spoke with told me (and I’m SHORT) to eat AT LEAST 1750 calories per day to stay healthy but I would need to exercise to burn the rest. I gain weight when I eat more than 1200 calories per day and exercising 1 hour 3 times per week. I have years of tracking calories, balancing my diet and exercise tracking to back this up. Don’t blame big business BLAME the FDA and their desire to make EVERYONE the same!!!!

  • 4sailing

    But no there is no blame put to more government regulations and gas prices raising the costs of the healthier food - compare the costs of healthy eating to the junk food. It’s expensive as heck to go organic (yes I know not the only way to eat healthy but the only way to avoid GMO laden food). You’re better off growing your own and doing your own canning and freezing.

    • Angharadz

      Added advantage to growing your own is that you get the exercise and the fresh air that tending the produce requires… plus of course, you’re busy outside, so not bored in front of TV, reaching for another portion to help you ‘relax.’
      No time? I know I, for one, would have a lot more time for tending a garden and, by extension, my own health and well-being, if I spent less time on Facebook, the cell phone and all the rest of our current ‘essential’ timefillers :)

      • itsallgood

        True, I miss my garden and each morning I looked forward to walking out there and checking out the progress of my fruit and veggies. I definitely was more relaxed doing that then going on FB and complaining about the govt!

  • rdlynn

    Obesity is one problem that Obama and the Democrat/Rhinos will quickly and successfully deal with. When the ration cards are distributed and people are lining up for hours every day at the government stores to get their government sausage, cheese, and bread there will be lots of skinny people. This system has proven to eradicate obesity in every area of the world that has imposed it.

    • Manbehindthecurtain

      Soylent Green! Coming soon to a government center near you! The best of Man Made Food!

      • Big_Jake

        Was that you who snuck into the plant on the garbage truck?

        • Manbehindthecurtain

          LOL That wasn’t a garbage truck, that was a new government hearse!

          • Big_Jake

            Oh, so that’s the reason for all the FEMA body bags. Soylent Green will be coming out in the all new Super Jumbo FEMA Survival size. Five years worth of Soylent Green in the economical FEMA bag, for the post-Apocalyptic refugee family on the run.

          • Manbehindthecurtain

            Not body bags but food saver jumbo bags.

    • linedancer2

      You should have seen the thin people back in the 30′s depression! Also, no one was fat in the concentration camps? Wonder why????

    • JustanOguy

      Sorry…. but all of the rations being handed out will be garbage food processed by the big food corporations lobbying D.C. for that contract and won’t solve one iota about the obesity problem.

      Do you really think that Ice Cream, Candy, Soda and Chips are allowable items to purchase with food stamps because the USDA Doesn’t know that these items are bad for you?

      They’re allowable because Kraft, Pepsico, Coca-Cola, General Mills and other big junk food corporations make sure they are not left out through various lobbying / “Political Contribution” contributions known as bribes in the real world.

  • Frank Plachy

    no more regulations! we have more than is needed NOW!!

  • Karin Lindholm Hutchinson

    I’ve ate more these past few years because our communist control freaks in Govt stresses me out, therefore my conclusion is it’s Govt’s fault. LOL. Whats the majority Acorn org and SEIU folks excuses? Oh yeah, don’t people who get high just get munchies and eat a bunch of crap?

  • Leslie

    And just who was in charge of allowing these product ingredients and the harmful productions of them? Oh, that’s right…..our government, as in the FDA. Just like this mess with monsanto and GMO’s, the government teamed up with big corporation to choke out the “little guy” and have nearly succeeded in wiping out every small farmer in the nation, nit to mention change the genetics of the very food we eat that is killing us.

    • linedancer2

      Wow, you are smart you got it….

  • PennJim

    Finally…..something the left is NOT claiming, “It’s Bush’s fault”.

    • linedancer2

      No it’s Lincoln, Washington….they are to blame…

  • Gwyndolen Boudicca Benghazi Be

    The Obama administration has upset me so severely I can’t sleep. So I turned to drinking myself to sleep every night after watching O’Reilly, Hannity ect. I am now overwieght from the thousands of calories I consume in wine daily. I guess the Government is to blame for my choice to drink.

    • Big_Jake

      No you are.

  • KermitHok

    LOL. If that’s the case, then let’s get rid of all the red state sourced agriculture lobby-pushed food subsidies: sugar, dairy, corn. Now let’s see what happens to prices of all the crappy junk food compared to local fresh food. You guys kill me w/your complete lack of logic. Junk food is CHEAP. Because the red state’s (rural and agriculture) have had their prices supports for decades. THAT is the real issue. Equalize the cost of food by eliminating these, and you’ll see better eating. Oh, and while we are at it, get rid of auto subsidies in the form of highways and roads - equalize the public transportation and biking/walking costs - and we’ll have higher participation in exercise regimens vice the fat butts going from house to store to work in cars.

    • johnrhett

      Red state crops? Since when is Illinois, one of the biggest corn producers, a red state? Iowa, another one of the biggest corn producers, is also blue. Wisconsin, a dairy state, is a blue state. Get your own facts straight before you try to tell other people that they’re stupid. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2012/

    • MV

      Since the libtards were in charge in 2009 - 2010 - why didn’t they fix these things? Maybe because corrupt politicians are in both parties, and there are more stupid ignorant voters that vote for handouts and freebies (and last time I looked - that was more a problem on the side of the Dems. than the Repubs.)

      And ‘subsidies’ ….gas taxes cover highways…but the stupid libtard supported rapid transit is heavily subsidized AND extremely inefficient. Without subsidies, the rapid transits would disappear (a good idea!).

      • linedancer2

        Pretty soon the words Democrate or Republic will be not allowed, because someone will say it’s racist….just saying….

    • Andy Z

      I see now all my registration fees fuel taxes are now subsidies for my automobile even when more of my highway trust fund money is going to Public Transit than the highways they are supposed to be for??? Typical Libtard thinking

    • Jim Mobley

      also a gov. that subsidizes food growers and suppliers that don’t have an actual farm, are actually NOT producing anything has no place trying to regulate the food industry. just sayin.

  • Kenneth Allen Donaldson

    Give poor people food not money to buy food with. We got commodities when I was a kid and we were not fat. They can buy cases of soda with food stamps.

  • Melanie Southwick Hinkle

    There is strong evidence linking obesity to those who are on food assistance programs. I would be all for government regulation that limits a certain percentage of non-nutritious food to anyone on assistance. I help out on a community level bringing those without transportation to-and-from the grocery market. Almost always, the majority of what is purchased, is cheap, sugar coated cereal, white bread, cold-cuts, and potato chips. I rarely witness the purchase of any fresh fruits and vegetables. When suggested, the usual response is “they are too expensive.”

    • itsallgood

      That part is true; healthy food is generally more expensive. And if you want organic, be prepared to spend way more.

      • Melanie Southwick Hinkle

        Dollar for dollar, a 5 lb bag of potatoes is more cost effective than a bag of chips.

    • Big_Jake

      And oddly enough, food assistance programs also funnel sickly people into Government funded Socialized medicine (ACA) making them even more dependent on big government. I call it Social Domestication. Take an animal (any animal) house it, feed it, water it, provide it Vet care, regulate everything going in, out and around the animal and ‘voila’ they become domesticated. They lose the spirit to fend for themselves. The key difference is human beings in America VOTE, and votes empower politicians politically, financially, and socially. Get the picture? They’re just building a bigger corral.

    • Valerie Ploch

      The Master Gardeners, associated in states with the Agricultural Extension Service, grow vegetables and fruits and do not consume them, but rather donate them to food banks so they are available to the poor! All you have to do is look and you can find!

  • BBS

    Hasn’t the government recently developed a slick marketing campaign designed to make us want to buy lousy healthcare?

    • Big_Jake

      A government sanctioned MANDATE isn’t slick marketing, it’s tyranny.

      • linedancer2

        agree, what do we do? We need a hero!

        • JustanOguy

          Vote Senator Rand Paul. The only potential Presidential candidate that openly speaks out about big Government and understands that it only creates bigger problems when trying to solve problems.

          Even the crony Republican establishment doesn’t like him..

          The powers to be with the help of the media will be doing everything they can to vilify him when it comes to election time in 2016 because they certainly don’t want people to be able to make their own choice based on facts.

  • hausding

    I think I am in an adult body, reading about children discussing getting fat…..I can’t fathom the libtards not wanting to take responsibility for anything themselves…..a whole culture of blaming others……….wow. Talk about losers……….fatty, fatty, fatty……..or skinny, skinny, skinny………..geeze, I like me and don’t go around blaming anybody for my lack of success, looks, or performance. Its me, me, me………no one else.

  • tim

    THIS reminds me of the old joke about if guns kill people the pencils misspell words and spoons make you fat………except now they are taking a joke and making it into fact….typical science, no facts just a bunch of idiots

    • Big_Jake

      It’s the science of the science of nutrition information manipulation. B-I-G bucks!

  • RightBeingRight

    Sorry, but this claim has a lot of truth to it. I can’t remember the last time I voted for a democrat…maybe George McGovern back when I was an idiot. But we are inundated with commercials of fortified this and fortified that…why is it fortified if it was originally a whole grain, pure milk, etc.? We have been led to believe all this “healthy” food, which isn’t, will extend our lives, which it won’t.

    Bottom line? If there is a commercial for it, don’t eat it!

    Your body has an immune system in it that is meant to keep you from cancer, keep you from heart disease, keep you from diabetes. All of these diseases have run rampant over the population in the last 50-60 years, exactly the same time period that sugars and white flour made its way in as the major part of our diets.
    How about the old government sponsored “Food Triangle”? That has been proven to be anything but a healthy guideline citing carbs as the major food group we should ingest.

    Bottom line is this; yes we are responsible for what goes into our bodies, but the food industry has done it’s part with the governments blessing on selling us short on what is healthy and what is not.

    GMO’s. Need I say more?

    • Stephen Zeigler

      years ago I worked in the chemical industry….trust me when I tell you…you have only scratched the surface. Some of the chemicals used in household cleaners and preservatives….insane. Ask yourself…what is pure ? You think it’s white, they put chemicals in pure ,clean, products to make it white, because as consumers would you buy or use a yellow looking product which is suppose to be sterile, it was until they bleached it white and add the chemicals to keep it that way.

      • linedancer2

        My job as a kid at home was to scrub the tub, sink and toilets with ammonia…auggggg, had to pour the powder in run out of the room, take a deep breath go back in the bathroom and start scrubbing, I had to continue that until I was finished….it smelled terrible…now the products creep up on you, they smell better, so we think it can’t harm us….stupid is as stupid does….

    • linedancer2

      In the old days, we purchased our veggies/pot/rice and meat from the corner grocery store, actually we had our butcher stores that had sawdust on the floor….fresh every day…we had no package food, bags of rice and boxes of tomatoes, apples, etc, our dessert was made by my mom on weekends only, she made her dough from scratch and ingredients from scratch…we drank WHOLE MILK. Then suddenly comes processed food, tons of diseases followed,women had to work so needed easier ways to make dinner, even our dogs are not to eat our food? Wonder why? If it kills our animals what does it do to us? We fed our dogs left overs, (no chicken bones) they still lived to be 15-18 years old…they started dry food for dogs and cats because mother’s complained about the smell of canned dog food…as far as dates on products, give me a break…I knew people that returned products after they were rotten, they had to stop that so they graciously gave us a date of returning product, so they don’t get jipped….if something is a day over the date, I smell it, and never throw it away if it is not moldy or smells….this was from the great depression era, eat what you have or die….

  • john

    When’s the last time someone saw an overweight animal (not birds in food courts that get human food) in the wild. Accountability is hard for humans

  • pam c

    The government has pushed the food pyramid which is absolutely unhealthy-payed for by the grain industry/lobbyist. Not a care for what is actually good for people. We were told to eat low fat which is also unhealthy. This is when people started getting heavier. Much of the prepared foods have additives that are know to cause addiction. MSG and its many names. Food addictions cause overeating cause weight gain. These addictions have been compared to heroin addictions.

    Calories are not all the same either. The same calories in a low fat and high carb diet will not net the same weight loss as the same amount of calories in a low carb, moderate protein and fat diet.

  • Robert Peterson

    It’s the Tea Party’s fault

    • Jim Mobley

      must be the sweet tea party.

  • Khris Kringle

    In 2012 I was 5’5″ tall and I weighed around 197 pounds. I decided to go gluten free, sugar free, flour free, junk free, fast food free. All I ate was oatmeal, salad, meat, fresh veggies and fruit, nuts and greek yogurt. It was so easy. I can stand right in front of the Entemann’s cart and it doesn’t leap out and make me buy it. In fact, I have lost my taste for it. I do treat myself once in a while so as not to totally deprive. But we are talking a Ben and Jerrys Dixie cup or a single serving of rice pudding or 1 ounce bag of potato chips. I have so far lost about 50 pounds. I look great, and feel great. everything from walking to getting up off the floor is easier. I do not think there is any excuse for the obesity epidemic other than gluttony. Yeah the equation is quite simple: Stop stuffing face with the wrong food = lose weight. And I didn’t even exercise. And i’m 57 years old.

    • Timewarped

      That’s great … and that’s all it takes…garbage in doesn’t always equal garbage out … it tends to turn to fat and stick

    • linedancer2

      Good job friend. Keep it up…r

    • JustanOguy

      Good job… also started up the same thing this past November and feel SO much better.

      Wasn’t in entirely bad shape at 5’10″ and 185 when I started but I certainly feel a helluva lot better at 5’10″ and 170.

      Just thinking about garbage and fast food now disgusts me. Tough for me to hit the grocery store and seeing the junk in the carts of fat people. (Yes… in my book the big people with the ice cream, candy, potato chips and soda in their carts I call FAT. People trying to do something and at least choosing healthy items to eat are “obese” in my book.)

  • Edward Jones

    ummm let me guess….Bush?

    • linedancer2

      How about Lincoln? or Washington????

  • Raejean

    I think the FDA needs to force the purveyors of processed food and the restaurant industry to get that caloric information out there and in the consumer’s face. I don’t mean a small-print label on the back where you have to do the math around their fuzzy portion declarations per unit.

    • msgreat

      Get your fat and lazy ass up off the couch and do it yourself, if you think that would help. It doesn’t take someone paid by the government to make me do what is right for me. You sick liberals……….

  • Arthur Longeno Pavis Jr

    I don’t need “Daddy Washington bureaucrat” to tell me what’s best for me. Here we human beings are in the twenty-first century and after existing on this planet for millennia all of a sudden we require “help” on deciding how think and how to live. This government control is not constitutional and it needs to stop! Wake up people! This is not Liberty!

  • Timewarped

    Hey why not, I bet all those liberal failing news channels and tv programs will lose some more sponsors … who sits around and watches all those crap programs, fat lib-tards.

  • Stephen Zeigler

    all this time and I thought it was Bush’s fault.

    • linedancer2

      I thought it was Lincoln’s fault?

  • hal

    You have to eat a lot less fat to effectively diet and lose weight. Limit fat intake to a very small amount like less than 20 grams a day. It takes 23 calories to convert 100 calories of glucose into body-fat. It takes a about 2-3 calories to convert 100 calories of dietary fat into body fat. Clearly, the body does not like turning carbohydrates into body fat.

    Carbohydrates give the body easy energy, and are not as calorically dense as fat. The body stores fat first, then usually only burns fat when blood sugar levels are low, which is a state that makes humans irritable and hungry.

    Refined fats like oil butter and cheese are in everything. Fat makes food taste good and the body reacts to it like a drug, signaling the body to eat more and more. Once the body gets used to fatty food, it anticipates it, making the mind think about food more, and especially the next meal. If you stop eating fat, this cycle is a lot less intense, you may even forget to eat food once in a while.

    So the key to losing wait is to cut almost all fat from your diet. If you’re fat, you don’t need to eat any fat! Your body is covered in fat already!

  • KyleinCSpring1

    We gain more weight the more we eat and the less we physically do. Simple math and discipline. The government should stay out of it. <

  • Big_Jake

    Hmmmm… Let me see? Since there doesn’t appear to be any such thing as personal accountability in the Liberal mindset then it must be anyone, anything, anybody and/or everyone BUT YOURSELF. Take your pick… it ain’t you.

  • Brother Bo

    Maybe with Obama(doesn’t) Care, he could decree that all lard butts be forced to have gastric bypass surgery. That way they would cause less medical bills for the taxpayer…

    • Lobby

      Less medical bills from all the bypasses that are performed? You’re against the ACA yet you would suggest forcing someone to undergo a medical procedure? Look, I don’t neccessarily disagree with the sentiment you are expressing, but cmon.

    • Valerie Ploch

      You think you’re kidding! We taxpayers are already paying for gastric bypass surgery for many on welfare!

    • ldazzle

      Is he gonna start w/moochie?

  • bart007

    Funny thing is in reading through here I read contradictory statements from everyone on how to lose weight and what to do… Note we have to fortify our food because we have processed it so much that the nutrients are gone

  • Indigo

    The real problem is this: Our way of growing food has leached important nutrients out of the soil. The soil is poor which in turn makes poor nutritional crops. Then cooking of the food furthers kills more necessary nutrients. So what’s happening is our bodies are STARVING for these necessary nutrients and sending the message, “eat more we are starving.” But the education that is sent to people that are struggling with their weight is much the same as the comments !! Obviously that isn’t helpful otherwise they wouldn’t be such a problem in our country. Eating 51% or your food raw with 49% cooked is a better option and will lead to a more normalized metabolism. However, a completely raw diet is the ideal. http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

  • Wyoming Bullrider

    In this article it does not state anything about exercise as well as to eating well. I am 53 years old, I am not over weight nor am I obese.

    All though I have knee problems and back problems I still get off my butt and
    get outside and try and do something. Even just try and walk up and down
    the driveway if there is nothing else to do..

    Most people all they do is sit in front of the boob tube all day, or play these stupid games on the internet all day long. Not many people get out and walk, or work in the yard until you’re sweaty with sweat running down your cheeks. Sure there are gyms but when was the last time anyone has taken a walk outside on a nice day? Or has push mowed the lawn in summer time?

    I was always told to eat healthy and watch what you eat. Even with thyroid problems, a little exercise for a half hour and watching the things you eat are good for you as long as it is in moderation.

    I weigh 154 lbs@ .5’2″ tall and at my age my doctor says I am very healthy, even though I have thyroid problems, back problems and knee problems. I get up and do things all of the time. I stay active and not sit around all of the time, unless, when I have back surgery then I am down for a week or two and then I am back up trying to do things even in pain.

    I cut out all the medications for pain except my thyroid medications and yet I am still my weight. My blood pressure is fantastic, my heart rate is fantastic, and everything
    else is fantastic. My doc told me “for a woman my age. I am in real good health except my back and my knees.”

    So as my grandma use to tell us “there is no reason why a person can’t lose weight or has to sit in the house and do nothing thus making a person over weight and obese. If you put your mind to losing the weight or not gaining weight, and turning off the television, get out and or up and do something like house chores you won’t have to worry about adding extra lbs.” I have been my weight steady for the last 15 yrs. by the way.:)

    • Valerie Ploch

      AT 5’2″ tall and 154 lbs., you are overweight! I am 5’2″ and weigh 125 lbs and am, at least 5-10 lbs overweight!

  • ed28

    This is an issue of personal responsibility. Period!

    • disqus_BglexnIiXv

      YUP!

  • Humzee

    The government pushed the low fat diet on us, thinking it would save us from heart disease. The food producers took this opportunity to flood the market with low-fat food products and vegetable oils. Removing fats from foods left them tasteless so they added in sugar to give them some flavor. So our consumption of sugar, especially fructose in the form of sucrose and HFCS, shot up to 150 per person per year which also directly paralleled our increase in obesity rates. All calories are not created equal. Refined carbohydrates are particularly bad for weight gain because of the way they don’t satisfy hunger and also raise our insulin levels. One of insulin’s jobs is to store excess carbs as fat in fat cells. Study the science…refined carbs foul up our natural appetite control mechanisms and drive fat storage…

  • paul singh

    And how the hell are they going to control someones eating…I can only guess it you are over a certain weight they will fine you until your weight is within their suggested limit. You will probably be jailed if you fail to reach a goal weight.

    This government is or rather this administration has lost it’s mind.

  • PaleAle

    if you move your butt a little more, and your mouth a little less, your engine won’t have to work so hard to pull your caboose.

  • Jay Jay

    A cousin of mine once told me we would all have big heads in the future. I told him, no we’re all going to have big butts. We are moving less that’s the big problem. It’s about what we’re not burning. I’ve had four children. I’m not wealthy so no gym for me. I’ve gained and lost like a see-saw. It had everything to do with how much I burned off.

    • Dawn Harsley

      It is not necessary to join a gym or a health club in order to exercise. Walking is one of the best exercises and can be done for free around one’s neighborhood or at the local shopping mall. Many doctors’ offices have maps of local shopping malls indicating the mileage when walking the mall. Many open before the stores open, thereby giving the “exercisers” a chance to walk at their own pace and also not to be in the way of the shoppers. A friend brought me a set of weight bands which are relatively inexpensive. Used often, they give quite a workout. Normal bending and stretching doing household chores also burns off calories.

      • Jay Jay

        yep that’s exactly how I took the weight off. I walked all around my neighborhood in the spring/summer and the mall in the fall/winter. You just have to focus more and really want it to do it that way. I found it was about moving around. So that’s what I did.

        • Dawn Harsley

          Good for you. It’s a whole lot cheaper than joining a health club. Too many people find too many excuses as to why they can’t lead a healthier life. It’s always the fault of the food industry, or they don’t have time, or they can’t afford a health club. You proved them wrong and so did I.

  • disqus_BglexnIiXv

    The key word here is usually. I ,as a thin person, that is not all that active, can tell you that if any person that is prone to being over weight ate half as much as I do they would gain weight three times as fast as they do now. Thats not to take away from the fact that if you have a weight problem you need to not only watch how much you eat,but what you eat,and make sure you are active.

  • Pat

    Healthier food is almost always, if not always, more expensive than junk food. Here’s an idea, how about making healthy eating affordable!!!!

    • Sarah

      When people think of health food they think of the organic aisle, which is more expensive because they use more expensive ingredients (junk food is able to be so cheap because it cheapens the ingredients and process). But the produce area is actually incredibly cheap. I buy a bunch of spinach for 2 dollars, a bunch of bananas for 1.50, cucumbers at 50 cents a piece, and apples at 3 dollars for a bag of 10, and I purchased a bag of organic chips and salsa the other day for the same price as junk chips and sodium filled salsa. I take my clients to the grocery and they are shocked at how eating healthy is actually not more expensive. People will make excuses to cover up the fact they aren’t willing to make changes. If people would actually try they would see.

      • lucky

        I work at a grocery store and I can tell you organic is twice as much…when a pineapple cost $3 for a regular one and $13 for organic. lettuce is twice as much too…..just so you are not miss lead.

        • Margaret McDowall DeVries

          Many food marked organic is not! No control on this stuff! You need to know where and who grows it! Without doubt apples and other fruit that are sprayed with pesticide are not! But we all like the shiny red apples! No bruises!
          Lettuce you can wash, carrots, potatoes most vegetables ….just wash good
          Meat is the worst culprit! And organic can be put on there

  • Curtis Smith

    Liberalism - ideas so good they are forced upon you.

  • lokiswife

    Mercola.com has had some interesting articles on how food additives disrupt the body hormones that tell you when you are hungry and when to stop eating. The “you’ve had enough” hormone is supposed to kick in about 20 minutes after you start eating, but aspartame and other food additives squelch that message. Without the message, you can eat until your stomach complains about being overstuffed. Once you learn the truth about the additives in your food, it makes it easy to stay away from the junk….and to read labels on any packaged stuff you buy.

  • Barrack

    No, healthy food is cheaper to make a meal. My wife tells me that all the time. She says we can’t afford fast food and eating out. I guess that’s why our family is not overweight. Unhealthy food is more convenient though. Frozen pretty made meals and fast food very convenient… And expensive.

    • CB750Rider

      Where do you live? I think it is the opposite of what you said everywhere else in the United States.

      • Sarah

        I purchase all raw veggies and fruit for incredibly cheap! I can buy two cucumbers for a dollar, a bunch of spinach at 2 dollars, a bunch of bananas for 1.50. The most expensive fruit I get is grapes and those are still only 3 dollars.

    • Margaret McDowall DeVries

      So not true, making meals from scratch is more expensive! Years ago maybe not, I brought my kids up on homemade bread, soups, pizza, casseroles mostly chicken and hamburger meat! Hubby family was all overweight so I was. Super mom on what they ate!
      As adults they are all overweight? Has to be too much fast food, definitely some genetics, and stuff they put Ito our food! I am tired of reading labels !!
      Organic is priced outrageous, and is not always what you think it is, so many ways they can scam you on that! And no regulations!
      You need to grow your own, which is expensive cost you $20 for tomatoes selling at $1.29 because you need to use all the stuff to make sure they are 100 % organic cannot use bug spray ect.,
      Cannot raise your own chickens ! Most HOA would not allow this!
      I was on a medication that added 60 pounds took me two very long years to take 50 off smaller portions ! Practically little meat! It is really hard! I eat 1/2 of what I used to eat! And only eat when hungry! I can do this, my kids are grown
      A single mom, working outside home cannot!
      Should have photo ID on food stamps! It is discouraging to see them buying steaks, and higher priced items I could not afford on a military wives income! Now retired on long term disability! It’s not easy!
      My husband is obese eats all the wrong stuff has diabetes and I cannot change that ! Tired of trying! Not easy!

  • 7citizen7

    Mac and cheese makes a cheaper meal than meat. Eggs make a cheaper meal than meat. Fresh veggies and fruits, even in season, are more expensive than frozen, and frozen is is more expensive than canned. When there are 2 seniors in a family, and the budget only allows $200 for the month for groceries, you eat whatever is the cheapest. Cheap foods are almost always high in calories, low in vitamins, and all around just not the best in the world for you. This is what a large majority of our senior citizens are living on.

    • Meat Eater

      But food stamps just had a 30% increase last year. Oh wait, that wasn’t for Our Seniors was it

      • 7citizen7

        Yes, seniors only receive $15.00 a month in food stamps!!

    • dginga

      7citizen, it isn’t usually the seniors who are the super-obese in this country. Have you been to a WalMart lately?

      • 7citizen7

        Low income (working for minimum wages) are facing the same thing and that is where a lot of weight is being gained. I will be so glad when the economy turns around and people can go back to working for the salaries they use to make!! Throughout the US, about half of the people that had good jobs are now working minimum wage just to stay off the welfare rolls.

    • Dawn Harsley

      I’m a senior citizen and at least once every day i have a salad of lettuce, tomato and low fat salad dressing. If I’m fixing a large one for dinner as my only entre, I may put a little cheese in also. Seniors are more astute than you give us credit for. Sure, some seniors struggle to pay rent, buy food and medications but most have learned through raising families in hard times how to eat inexpensively and still eat relatively healthy. Meals on Wheels is a great way for seniors to get the nutrition they need at very little cost. Those who have transportation can eat lunch inexpensively at many Senior Centers. That doesn’t mean that seniors don’t need help. It simply means that we are more self-sufficient than many believe. We’re from a generation that doesn’t ask for help very often and that is one of the problems we have…….seniors who are used to asking for help when they really need it. I guess my husband and I are fortunate in that we have the resources (although sometimes tight) to buy the right foods, pay for our medications, our utilities and whatever costs may come along but I realize not every senior is so fortunate..

    • JustanOguy

      High calorie cheap foods low in nutritional value don’t solve the hunger and people eating that garbage actually eat more because their body is craving vitamins & minerals.

      A serving of Brown Rice (mixed up with olive oil, garlic, etc - yummy!) is cheaper then a serving of Mac and Cheese and goes a lot farther.

      Nothing really wrong with the eggs except for the cholesterol. Beans are also a very high nutritional source that are cheap. Very yummy if you learn how to prepare them properly. (Red Beans and Rice — Yummy!)

      Ironically… there are very poor people around the world that eat on less then $20 a month and they are FAR healthier then our “poor” people getting $150+ a month on food stamps.

      Junk food low in nutritional value makes you eat more…

      $200 a month for two? I could easily turn that it into a healthy diet. You don’t need to eat 4 apples a day… just one. 2 lbs of fresh carrots are $2 where I live and bananas are going for 59 cents a pound. 10 lbs of potatoes are going for $2.99.

      My breakfast on the run generally means some blended up celery, kale, spinach, carrots and a banana. Full of energy and easily good till lunch and it costs less then a $1.00.

      Plenty of cheap nutritional foods out there..

      • 7citizen7

        I challenge you and one other person to eat for one month for $200 using the foods you described above, in the dead of winter when nothing is in season. Or, if you are by yourself, to only spend $100 for groceries for 30 days, using the fresh veggies and fruits you are talking about. Here, apples are almost $3.00 a pound; bananas, beans, peas, and potatoes are not all that good for diabetics. Oats are a staple for brunch, 7 days a week. Less than $3.00 for 8 brunches. Breakfast AND lunch is too expensive-it must be either/or or brunch. That is the type of meals we are talking about for seniors. Not good for diabetics at all. And you are right, for the person that already has clogged arteries, eggs should not be a staple. Mackrel is $1.59 a can and when combined with 6 eggs, quite a bit of cornmeal and a little flour, fried will be enough patties for 2 people for 3 meals. Not good for either person. Good luck with being able to afford olive oil on $200 a month for groceries! Celery is way too expensive to ever buy. Kale is okay, if you can catch it on sale during the season, other wise, no. Onions are the main source of vitamin C-oranges, etc. are too expensive. Peanut butter is a must for the diabetic. A treat for the non-diabetic is a piece of dry toast with a teaspoon of applebutter, and that is only a couple of times a month! You are talking about $150 a month in food stamps-Honey, try $15.00 a month for SENIORS! It is quite evident, you are not living on SS and almost half of that is for housing, not including utilities, and $15.00 a month in food stamps!! And all of this is just ONE example of what seniors are going through!!

        • JustanOguy

          Please don’t think I’m chastising you with some of the things I pointed out because I can certainly understand the pain created due to decades of poor economic policy created by the Government (Dems and Republicans) that has led to this.

          I saw this coming long ago, downsized (got rid of the mortgage and paid for something smaller with cash, dumped the luxury car and drive something modest that is paid for and much cheaper to maintain/lower car insurance, etc) and I stock up when there are sales on items I enjoy with a somewhat prepper mentality cycle because I think it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. For example, just picked up 20 cans of Progresso Soup this morning for $20 where 20 was the limit. I do this all the time when I see items I like and stock up. I rarely pay retail for anything nowadays.. (Picked up 4 boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese also for .47 cents each - 4 was the limit. Rarely eat it but I’ll stash it away for that price.)

          I don’t have to live off of $100 a month for food but I could if I had to and do so somewhat healthier then the complete junk choices that most people make.

          Absolutely no offense to you and other seniors out there that have to struggle but the fact of the matter is that I see fat people whipping out the food stamp cards all the time and their carts are full of garbage foods living large. (Pun intended.)

          Ice Cream, chips, candy, soda…. garbage that isn’t entirely cheap and there are cheaper alternatives that are more healthy.

          Best wishes to you and don’t vote for Politicians promising the world with money that isn’t there to pay for it without borrowing or printing up money — which is just making the poor, poorer and the rich, richer.

          Creates inflation which is the hidden tax taking place and squeezing everybody on fixed incomes.

  • TheVoiceHere

    The only logical solution is what I dub “The Ethiopian Plan”. Remove all food from store shelves. Remove all money from circulation in the US. Apply for humanitarian aid and enjoy the slimming effects.

    • Meat Eater

      MREs (Meals Refused by Ethiopians) for All

    • Dawn Harsley

      That’s funny.

    • Dinorah Kezler

      We should remove all politicians from Congress, federal and state. We’d be leaner that way. Less people diverting our hard earned money, and at the same time less people on welfare. The ones making the laws are not very lean either. Have you seen them? Most are really fat like the “fat cats” they benefit, not the taxpayers that they should represent.

  • Meat Eater

    Ever notice, that the meat eaters in nature are always the leanest? and the grain/ grazers are the fattest? Meat eaters have their eyes in the front of their faces. Last time I checked the mirror and looked at all the people I pass in the street.. all the eyes were in the front.

  • linedancer2

    You all think things are bad now, you should have been alive in the 30′s…that was a real depression, men lined up for soup, etc. lost their jobs…they all became very thin…mmmm wonder why? No junk food…..couldn’t afford it if there was much…

    • Dinorah Kezler

      No obesity problems then. Whenever I read about the 2008 depression, and that we have poverty raising and I see fat people including me, I think that we are not poor enough.

  • joepoli

    Millions of Americans are inactive: they don’t exercise, take walks or do outside the house gardening or work. That is why they are fat. Active people consume thousands of calories a day and don’t gain weight. I agree that fast food and processed foods help us put on weight but Americans have become very lazy.

  • linedancer2

    Fat people always make excuses, or hide….I have a relative that is 12 yrs old and obese….he eats junk for breakfast, junk after school, no sports, sits all day in the house, no friends…I can’t say anything as I’m told to shush….I have to sit by and watch a young child get sick with who knows what disease will come his way…..diabetes jumps into my head first…any suggestions…

    • Independent Tom

      What a load of manure. Fat people are fat because the skinny owners of fast food restaurants hold guns to their heads and make them eat. They threaten to murder their families if they go to the gym. Fat people are victims and skinny people are to blame for their overeating.

      • linedancer2

        Forgive me you are sooooo right…

      • pam

        I agree Tom, people blame everthing and everybody else. People only eat fast food and crap food. Not like our Moms used to make. I still do, nobody wants to take the time to make good food. I am also tired of the scooter in the grocery store, and fat people jump on them and buy chips, pizza, and crap. And the Handicap stick these are not for Fat people, they are for the Handicap people. Do they never look in a mirror. OMG! Then they would see! I go to a restaurant and the parents are huge and so are the kids, what do they order Burgers and Frys. What are they teaching them how get fat? Lay off the spoon, go for a walk. Grow a garden, work in the garden and eat the great food that comes out of the garden. And stay off the sofa, phone, games and go for a walk do something!

        • Sandra Stanislav

          did you know in calif you can no longer grow your own garden. wow talk about a stupid state.

        • africanstardust

          Even small things will help. I think a lot of obese people feel like it’s too much; the idea of losing 300 pounds must be incredibly daunting. But even doing it step by step will do a lot - in high school I wasn’t that overweight but I wanted to lose 10 pounds. I stopped drinking soda and lost the weight in a week. When you’re that overweight and start cutting down on unhealthy food, even if it’s gradually, the initial loss will be so encouraging that it will motivate you to keep going.

  • JoeCasepack

    I’m surprised the average liberal doesn’t want a spoon ban.

    Banning spoons to stop obesity makes about as much sense as banning guns.

  • Independent Tom

    Big business held a gun to Big Bertha’s head and forced her to eat her way into a 500 pound girth. They also threatened to murder her family if she goes to the gym.

  • Nanaof3kids

    Did they ever hear of fresh fruits or vegetables? You can buy a bag of apples for less than a bag of potato chips. How about some salad or maybe grilled fish or chicken. I was in line behind a woman who had 15 of those individual chocolate pies and of course paid with her food stamp card. Their purchases should be monitored if the tax payers are footing the bill. The government wants to ban guns but junk food is killing more people than guns.

    • Independent Tom

      She must be the exception to the rule, most welfare parasites sell their food stamps so they can purchase drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, and cigarettes.

      • Dinorah Kezler

        Yes, that’s true. And just like an ATM, they get cash back. We see it all the time at the supermarket. They ask how much is the maximum amount I can get back? Isn’t it supposed to be just for food? and they make multiple purchases and multiple withdrawals.

    • http://www.bcarr.com/ Brendon Carr

      Them individual chocolate pies is tasty, though.

  • Peter Charles Miller

    Ugh…stupid Libtards.

  • Jenny

    Wow, this was an open invite for people to attack people who suffer from obesity. I’ve never met one person (except a sumo wrestler) that said “I want to be fat ,obese miserable, depressed, and in pain..” Many still suffer the mindset that obese people are fat because they’re useless and stupid.. that’s really sad. I agree a lot of this is personal responsibility, however a lot of this is misplaced trust in so called “science” that states “obesity is caused by eating fatty foods” or “Obesity is caused by too many calories” or “laziness” or “sugars” or blah blah blah… This also leads to poor education on nutrition. At the end of the day one can conclude that they have to become anorexic in order to cover all bases to finally lose some weight and gain enough confidence to leave their own homes. Since certain “health experts” have become involved in people’s eating habits the obesity rate has SKYROCKETED. In the 90′s it was said that eating fat will make someone fat… did that fix our obesity problems or make it worse? Busy lifestyles also make it hard to eat properly. When someone works 60+ hours a week they don’t have time to sit down and slowly eat a properly balanced meal. It’s usually hit up the quickest and cheapest meal there is. Nowadays, if someone needs to eat healthy, they can go to Whole Foods Market and get the finest fresh healthy organic foods if they can afford it ($2.25 for ONE APPLE). Or they can spend $1.00 for 10 packets of ramen noodles.. this day and age which do you think people can afford? My personal experience.. I’ve always been a big girl. In high school I always thought I was fat so I excersized 4 hours a day x 6 days a week. I started out less than 15 grams of fat and less than 1200 calories a day… couldn’t lose weight. I ended up anorexic because I desperately didn’t want to be fat. I’m currently paying the price for that. Some here who’ve never suffered a weight problem need to rethink what they think they know about obesity. I’m tolerant of fat jokes, but not politicizing it..

    • Rocky_Lady

      I believe that people like you are more the exception than the rule. I also believe that most people can empathize with people who struggle to lose weight. That being said, I know several obese and morbidly obese people and for them, this article rings true. When someone goes to dinner with us and orders two meals just for one person, that is the problem.

    • hal

      You don’t have to starve yourself. You can eat until you feel full, just don’t eat fat and sugar. You will lose weight, guaranteed. Food without fat and sugar doesn’t taste all that great. You’ll be surprised how little you have to eat to feel full. The body loves fat, and will trick you into over eating, if the meal contains fat.

      • Sandra Stanislav

        you are wrong. everything has sugar in it. just ask a diabetic. I know I use to be on insulin. and now I am off. through diet and walking.

    • MrsD

      Beautifully written. Obesity is a complex problem and the way food is mass produced today is a big contributor. The article was offensive to anyone with compassion. You don’t demean drug addicts or alcoholics or other addictions. But we do make fun of obese people because we can see the results of their addictions and the challenges they face. I am sure that drives them further into their addiction. The writer of this article has no clue about the problems of an obese person and the causes. It is a cruel article, written with the intention of making the author feel superior and to hurt a group of people who desperately need help and proper education about nutrition. If the purpose of this article was dehumanize a group of people with hatred and ridicule instead of showing compassion and love it seems to have been succeeded.

    • Sandra Stanislav

      I am not tolerant of fat jokes. that is bs.

    • africanstardust

      This is true, and a huge problem in the US and a growing one globally is depression. I wonder how many of our physical issues are actually caused by mental and emotional states. Depression can literally make you sick, but aside from that, people eat to cope, just like some people drink to cope or do drugs to cope. The real problem isn’t even the food, it’s the emotional state of the people. And how do you fix that? Good question.

    • Amanda Flemett

      I can relate. I have never been the slender type that we see on our TV. I have always had curves, a bust, a bum, hips, a waist, etc. The classic hour glass figure. Five children later, and a lifetime of Bi-Polar disorder and life saving meds that make an individual gain weight have caused me to be overweight. Plus, many injuries from the military. So, I cannot get out and do the activities I used to, but I won’t give up my meds for ANYONE. I make sure my family eats right, and we have times when we have “free” days, or days that we aren’t making sure we are eating from every food group but having a meal of something we enjoy. It is not everyday. Not only that, it isn’t worth risking more health problems. All my doctors can ever tell me is that I don’t “fit into the weight category for my size.” What the hell does that mean? Is my blood pressure up? No, Do I have any other health problems? No. So if I am alright with my body image, if I can get around normally, If I am as active as my body allows me to be, and if I make a true effort to eat foods that are good for my body, why the hell does it matter if I look like some model on TV? This is how women end up with body image distortions. I can’t go on runs like I used to in the Army, and I can’t do aerobic exercises like I want to. But I can walk, and I can be active and I can turn off the TV and computer and get my butt outside doing something to help with my health.

  • dginga

    I have a friend who is a nurse. Recently she was telling me that one of most frustrating aspects of her job is the morbidly obese patients they get at her hospital. Many of these people are between 300 - 500 pounds or more. The hospital has had to buy special steel beds to accommodate them, and special steel walkers because these people are so heavy that they will crush a normal walker. She recently had one patient who was so heavy he broke the toilet in the hospital bathroom. I asked her if this type of patient is rare, and she said that, while you might think they are, they are not. The ambulances have a very hard time accommodating them - especially the poor techs who have to lift them, they need the special beds I mentioned, the special walkers because they cannot get around, special wheelchairs because they won’t FIT in a standard wheelchair, etc. But the most frustrating thing for her is that she has to fight with them and their families all day long because these patients want to eat full meals every couple of hours. The families constantly sneak food in to them. The docs are trying to restrict their diets to help them, but they and their families are determined to get around the hospital rules. I don’t know why they bother to go to the hospital if they are determined to kill themselves with food. They can do that at home.

    • Margaret McDowall DeVries

      Nobody says when little I want to grow up to be 300 pounds! The scorn and hateful remarks certainly cannot help them to feel good in fact I would think the opposite and depressed and eat more!

      • dginga

        I agree that nobody WANTS to grow up to be 300 pounds or more, but you can’t deny that your food consumption is largely at fault when you eat a full meal every couple of hours! And if you’re so obese that you can’t get out the door of your home so your family has to bring food to you, they are complicit in killing you with food. Now I believe that if you want to kill yourself with food, go ahead.

        I did not exhibit scorn or hateful remarks in my comment. I just stated what a nurse told me. I am someone who was always really thin and could eat anything I wanted. Then I turned 40 and my hormones changed. My weight shot up and I have had to struggle with weight ever since. I hate it when people just scoff at heavy people and say, “They eat too much.” This issue is NOT that simple. My doctor is an expert at metabolic syndrome. She says women have a much more difficult struggle with weight than men because of hormones. I could STARVE myself and not lose weight. I’ve tried it with fasting. Found out that’s a really bad idea because it just causes your metabolism to shut down in response, then when you start eating the metabolism doesn’t kick in again because your body is afraid you’ll start starving again. This is a very complicated issue. But I sure as heck don’t eat 8 - 9 full meals a day! I don’t even eat two meals a day. i work out every other day and I’m still fat. Not 300 pounds, but heavier than the government says I should be. Other than that, my doc says I am extremely healthy.

        I also know there has to be a genetic component to it because otherwise how do you explain that skinny women tend to have skinny kids and heavy women may have skinny kids, but the kids don’t stay skinny as adults? I know a lot of people say it has to do with eating habits established as children, but in my own case, my mother was kind of heavy, as were ALL of the women in her family. My Dad was thin and so were the other members of his family. As adults, my brothers are all built just like my dad. They can eat anything and stay thin. My sisters and I all take after Mom. Once we hit 40, the weight just piled on and stayed.

        I know men who say they always want to meet the mothers of the women they date to see what the women will look like when they are older. If the mother is fat, they dump the daughter. If the mother is thin, it is more likely the daughter will remain thin. Oh yeah, but it’s ALL about calories…

  • John Stuart Mill

    Great article. Mockery is well deserved in this case and it’s done beautifully.

  • NMnative

    I agree for the most part what this article says, but what the author forgets, or is too ignorant to learn, is poor people buy the least expensive food, and this food is really, really bad for you, and seems to put weight on the easiest. Until you’ve been there yourself, you should never think you know what someone is the way they are. That’s just plain ignorant and the worst kind of prejudice.

    • Dinorah Kezler

      The least expensive food is the one you cook yourself! not fast food. I have the experience to prove it; but, then you have to move and do the cooking, and it’s easiest to just drive to McDonalds and order through the window. I call that laziness, not being poor.

    • scott

      This is really simple…take in less than you burn, and you never have to worry about it. Calories are calories, and what you don’t burn, you store….fat!

      • JustanOguy

        Not all calories are the same… 100 calories of Broccoli is far better for a person then 100 calories of Potato chips.

        Just saying that it’s a little more complicated then just counting calories and it’s the nutritional value that really matters.

        • scott

          Love the avatar!
          That being said, the fact remains that regardless of quality, if you burn more than you intake, you lose

          • JustanOguy

            Thanks! And you are right…

    • JustanOguy

      See Doris’s comment above:

      http://allenbwest.com/2014/01/official-calories-genes-cause-obesity-still-fault/#comment-1188556151

      She’s spot on since I also practice this. A lot of that “least expensive food” actually makes people hungrier and addicted to food. Empty calories do nothing for satisfying what a body needs.

      When a body is nutrient deficient, the hunger is going to continue until those nutrients are supplied. Pound for pound the healthier products might cost more but you are going to eat less pounds of the healthy product.

  • commcowboy

    If people would go out an buy a juicer, use it twice a day, and do some exercise they would lose weight. This is not rocket science.

  • marcyharris92

    I’m a very slender person, but I think one has to look at the way farmers have bred animals (especially pigs) that don’t run to fat and are leaner by genetic composition. I don’t eat junk food, but I eat all I want of healthy variety of foods and don’t gain. (I also work out). I think it is true that both because of money and habit poorer people tend to eat poorly. Sometimes they just don’t know better. My mother pioneered an effort through the government to have aides help mom’s make healthier food choices. Suprisingly they found good for you food actually helped them stretch their welfare dollars for food. They did have to actually cook the food though and not just drive through.

  • Neva Burgess Crawford

    First of all I don’t indulge in Ben & Jerry’s because they contributed funds to the “Occupy Wallstreet” idiots that were raping, trashing, and NOT working in our country, while protesting whatever they made up to sound good….second, I’ve been there and it’ IS because I did not control my portions. Cut out sugar and you can WATCH the inches drop quickly.

  • db49

    Losing weight is easy. I’ve lost hundreds of pounds in my life time.

  • Doris

    For those who are “in trouble”, with their doctor, because of their weight. He might not know this, or share it with you. It’s possible, if you give up wheat, a lot of the cravings will subside. First off, you are cutting out WHEAT, which is in almost everything, including beer and many other forms of alcohol. Once you give up wheat for about four days, you will feel like a new person. Read about how the DNA in wheat is different today, than it was fifty years ago. You don’t have to be wheat intolerant, for this to work for you. It works for anyone I know who has tried it. Then, if you are like me, you will give up other grains, and anything processed. I could NEVER eat the soy and chemical filled processed breads, crackers, treats, and other foods that are stacked up in grocery stores today. You don’t even know what your food tastes like, until you give up the processed stuff. It’s a BIG change, but doesn’t cost more, if you do it correctly. Because you eat more nutrient dense, filling, tasty foods…you won’t be wanting to eat as much. One of the other benefits…many people say they sleep better, once they make the change to whole, natural foods. You don’t even have to go organic, to feel better, but if you can…that’s great. Most of all, we need to stop judging really overweight people, who got there by being addicted to foods like wheat. Read about wheat and food addiction. You can’t beat something, until you figure out what is causing the problem. If this helps a few people get on the right track, then it’s worth talking about. BTW…the government won’t save you from wheat or soy. They’ll tell you to eat MORE of it. And if you do, chances are you might eat more of EVERYTHING YOU SEE.

    • JustanOguy

      Yep.. spot on and know exactly what you are talking about because I also now practice the same eating philosophy.

      People need to be educated on how to read labels and look for that Hydrolized Wheat Gluten (among other things) which is in SO many products that claim to be “healthy” when they are actually not healthy.

      I now try to avoid anything that is not natural and dumped all of the diet soda, processed foods, beer, etc, etc, and my body fat % is now much lower then even back in the days when I was working out an hour plus every day.

    • Duke

      You are a complete idiot.

      • Sandra Stanislav

        the first thing the dr will tell you when you are diabetic, which I am but I no longer take insulin, is to not eat bread. any form or shape of bread.

    • CountryGirl

      Corn is actually a HUGE problem. Think about it…they feed cattle, pigs, chickens, etc…high fat, corn diets. WHY? Because they want the fat on the animals to make more money and corn is a cheap feed to add to their diets.
      Take also into consideration, we are the fattest nation on the earth and most all of our food supply has corn riddled through it…whether it’s from animals ingesting it, or it’s added through one of the MANY derivatives, or sprayed on, etc… there are so many names of derivatives of corn. The corn not only makes the animals fat, but humans too!

  • c-cool

    after the green hot-dogs they served in my elementary school (circa 1985), I’ve never trusted government food regulations.

  • Jasper

    By regulating alcohol have we effectively eliminated alcoholism?

  • Dawn Harsley

    Just another example of government interfering in our lives. I agree that exercise and eating healthy is important to our health but it is a personal decision, not one dictated by the government. Frankly, it is somewhat frightening to see the creeping invasion into every aspect of our lives. Just ask someone from a socialist or communist country.

  • JustanOguy

    When I’m at the grocery store and see overly obese people, 9 out of 10 times it’s explained just looking at what’s in their grocery cart… that somebody else must have put in there. ;)

    We need government regulation? The same government that allows food stamp recipients to purchase chips, candy bars and ice cream? LOL!

    • Amanda Flemett

      Oh and don’t forget, they are also accepted at McDonalads. Meanwhile, the government thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to have our elementary school students counting out how many calories they eat a day and limiting what their caloric intake is. It doesn’t matter that each body is an individual, growing, and has components of genetic structure AND that the child may be more inclined to be active in sports or need more calories for cognitive reasoning (yes, it is a factor) but hey! why not cut off our kids, give them bad body images in Kindergarten, limit their food intake, while those on public assistance can go to McDonald’s, and buy birthday cakes and cookies and candies with their EBT cards?

  • George Blackshear

    Are the politicians and our government the brightest that our educational systems could put out and then thrust upon us, like the bubonic plague, when has public service stooped so low. Who is in charge of this asylum, does anybody really know, the one thing I do know is that this BS has got to stop and I mean stop now. Wake up America I know that most of the people out there in Obama land can not possibly be this stupid, but then again I could be wrong.

  • nick

    When will you strong minded, strong willed skinny people understand that we are not all strong minded and strong willed. Many of us are not narcissists. And so we must allow for the lowest common denominator

  • Vlad99

    If Mrs West has trouble keeping her weight down. Why don’t she ask her husband what he does. The Colonel is in great shape no doubt about that. Personal responsibility right?

  • ConservativeGirl999

    This Washington Post article writer, Michelle Obama & Nanny Bloomberg are all criticizing us on what we eat, meanwhile the feds subsidize corn (and I think wheat) production so that those foods are all we can afford. This whole regime reminds me of the French Revolution as they (the aristocrats) dine on champagne & caviar while we are trying to afford medicine, skyrocketing energy costs & unemployment or underemployment. Then they lecture us saying “Let them eat cake!” or in this instance “Let them eat caviar!”

    • James N. Samples

      I believe the term ‘let them eat cake’ refers to the poor and uneducated lack of healthy foodstuff….

      We should take a lesson from the French Revolution on how to deal with our leaders…

  • Phoebe

    Too much bad stuff is in fast food and processed foods. Lots of hidden sugars. Artificial sweeteners don’t quell the craving of sugar, so more is consumed. When school cafeterias started serving soft drinks and even fast foods, that really got kids hooked. Soft drinks are cheap compared to fruit juice and people seem to prefer them. People get addicted to the bad food that is also percieved as cheap. I have seen most of my nieces and nephews become obese and they have yellow teeth from soda. Fast foods are easy and fast and seem to be a large proportion of what people eat. When I was a kid, soda was a treat that we got maybe 2-4 times a month. Fast food was A&W drive -up or another hamberger drive-up, that we got maybe 4 times a year as a treat. I love french fries, but I don’t eat them very often because they are bad for me. They are a treat.

    • Sandra Stanislav

      my husband and I never gave our son sodas and we never bought already prepared cookies or food. I made them from scratch, which I know I know nobody can cook from scratch any more. what a bunk. but it was our choice and it should be our choice. NOT YOU LIBS. PERIOD. if you libs do not want to eat it don’t become a conservative and learn how not to eat them.

      • Amanda Flemett

        I agree. Just as the USDA needs to be done away with, people have a right to eat what they want, but they must also begin to understand their choices have an affect on their bodies and their lives. The government doesn’t need to be in my food, drink, insurance, or education! Stick to highways and federal parks! Get your own house in order before you tell me how to run mine!

      • Phoebe

        I am not saying the government should be controlling what we eat. Just a comment on the choices people make.

    • Eileen Davis

      Parents are usually both working and don’t have the time to make sure the family eats properly. It is a shame there is a lack of stay at home moms like many of us seniors had.

    • ed the grocer

      There is no difference between pop and processed fruit juice. Both are loaded with fructose and glucose. Remember that fruit is normally a seasonal food, the kind that bears eat to get…fat, before winter. Even many tropical areas depend on oil nuts and fish as staples, not fruit.

      • Phoebe

        I am sure the juices today are filled with bad stuff. The carbonation in soda is bad for teeth because it etches into the enamel and then the acidic sugar also helps dissovle the enamel. Children that have been raised with fruit juice or sweet tea in their baby bottles (bathing the teeth all day long) have a lot of decay. Even letting a child go to bed with a bottle of milk is bad because of the milk sugar. I worked at an upscale children’s dental office and saw too many 2 and 3 year olds with rotted teeth. The parents would say things like: they could not get the child to fall asleep unless they had that bottle of sweet tea. I helped a woman from Cambodia fill out the helath history for her 2 year old. One question was: What is the childs favorite activity? She said, “eating candy.” Another question was : What is the child’s favorite food. She said, ” Candy.” the poor child had teeth decayed to the gums and had 14 teeth either removed or stainless steel crowns placed. That is a horrible experience for a two year old. I got the impression that in third world countries candy is expensive and a rare treat. Coming to America, candy is everywhere and cheap. So, people feel affluent when they can buy lots of candy. Of course, you can’t generalize groops of people, but you have to try and figure out why people do things that will ruin their childs teeth and health.

  • Grizzly907

    So much for personal responsibility?

  • JulieElkes

    For those of you who believe it’s the big businesses’ fault, you need to read this.

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/05/he-ate-only-mcdonalds-food-for-90-days-and-ended-up-like-this/

    • pen44

      Great article, Julie….thank you!! It is all about personal choices & responsibilities, Mr. Cisna did well, very well inded

  • Wayne Merritt

    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  • blue d’artagnan

    I have a sister that weighs about 105 pounds. To hold this weight, she practically exists on cigarettes, and coffee everyday, and takes laxatives every other day. Not healthy. Just because someone is thin or slim, doesn’t mean they are healthy. Period. People act like hospitals are overrun with obese sick people. They’re not. If you walk down hospital halls, you won’t see more obese people than thin people in hospital rooms.. Spent a lot of time in hospitals and have not found this to be true. Not saying it is better to be obese, but the eating practices of a lot of these thin people are just as unhealthy as obese people. Sick people come in all sizes. Also, bulimia and other eating disorders can be found among many of these ‘thin’ people.

    • jenna

      That will all catch up to her for sure. She will be practically immobile when she gets old enough

    • JustanOguy

      You are certainly right that just because somebody is skinny does not mean they are healthy. I worked in a chronic care segment of the health system in my younger days..

      When it came to controllable issues / lifestyle choices that put somebody in there it was dominated by smokers, drinkers and obese people.

      With what you describe… your sister is just going to fall over and die one day. No long term care draining the resources away will be needed.

  • Brett Dent

    Blame a business for providing a product that people obviously WANT. Sounds more anti-capitalist than it does anything else. Free markets must come with personal choice. If you want to get fat and eat too much, it’s your own damn fault and I don’t feel you are less of a person for it. Some people have food as a passion. That’s fine. But to start to regulate what we can eat because of obese people… that’s just a cop out.

  • Kevin Lynch

    With all the blaming, Ms. Cohen is a prime candidate for a time slot on MSNBC!!!

  • Sandra Stanislav

    this is bs, plain and simple. but the libs will literally eat it up with a spoon and vote yes to it. I was diabetic. lost weight and got off insulin. now I have the opposite problem my blood crashes too low so I had to gain weight. my dr said do not loose any weight but try to learn to eat things that help keep my blood up. so technically I am overweight but for health reasons. I do not like cookies or doughnuts or sweets. do not like chips and dips. mine is spaghetti and just plain old fashioned cooking. I do not own a microwave and never use one. I do not eat at fast food or restaurants. this is my choice. and the gov should never never have the right to tell us where what when or how to eat. PERIOD

    • ed the grocer

      Overweight for health reasons? Try moving slowly towards a primarily fat diet. It may take one or two months. Remember to eat enough salt and minerals for good digestion and energy. Coconut oil is especially good for energy along with butter and animal fats.

  • justcallmefred

    We could just save lots of stress and solve many of the problems in the nation by eating the libs! Of course most of them are bitter sour prunes.

  • trooper4truth

    My advice to everyone is start the morning eating cold cereal with ordinary milk. It simply balances the bodies digestion so we don’t feel inordinately hungry and start gorging in places like the AM PM mini mart which only have hot dogs and junk food. Disclaimer: Healthy man does now have a PHD in biology and is not a certified nutritionist.

    • pen44

      My mornings start with a 2/3 cup of oatmeal with a tablespoon of honey..1/3 cup of dry oats cooked in 2/3 cup of boiling water, pinch of salt. Honey goes on after it thickens and is ready to eat, and a 10oz cup of black coffee. Sticks with me to lunch 3 or 4 hours later.

  • jaswim

    Don’t buy it. While I believe it’s a small factor, I believe
    genes do play a role in metabolism. I look at pictures of my ancestors on my
    mother’s dad side of the family and so many of them were overweight and today
    my mother is as well. These were people
    who lived in a time period before all the modern conveniences, which have
    resulted in less exercise for the average American. Then I look at pictures of
    my ancestors on my Dad’s side of the family and everyone, including my father
    were thin. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Besides didn’t the AMA decide that
    obesity is a disease this past year? Personally, I think that along with
    alcoholism being a disease are both a lot hogwash and before you judge me too
    harsh I have struggled with both issues. I do believe that calories and lack of
    exercise play an even larger role in weight gain, but to say that genes is not
    a contributor as well, I believe is nonsense.

    • genann59

      You might also take into consideration the eating habits of the two sides of the family as well as the exercise habits, jobs, and such on both sides of the family There are some genetic components such as metabolism, but the main factor is the number of calories consumed versus the number of calories burned. Another big factor in weight gain is the number of people drinking diet sodas which fool the brain into thinking it has consumed sugar, kicking in the body’s insulin which when it consumes what sugar might be present, starts making you feel hungry, and leads people to eat more. That is why people who drink diet sodas don’t lose weight and often gain weight. Regulation needed, no so much as education. People who know and understand proper nutrition do not need the government regulating their choices for them. If you know what certain chemicals do to the human body, you can decide if you wish to consume them or not. If enough people decide certain chemicals are undesirable and quit buying products that contain them, the manufacturers will quit using them so they will not lose money. That is how things are regulated in a free society, not by government regulations made by a government which thinks its citizens do not have the brains or comon sense to care for themselves.

      • jaswim

        As I pointed out, I believe genes are a small factor and calorie intake and lack of exercise are large factors, please re-read what I wrote. I agree with what you have written and I especially agree that government has no business regulating our food choices. As for sodas, I only drink water and tea. I was actually considered too thin until I reached my mid thirties and then slowly started gaining weight and it became very difficult to get the pounds off. A few years later I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and taking medicine for this has helped, but I still struggle. However, I haven’t given up and I now work in a labor type job and it is also helping as well as I am making better food choices. My only real point is that I do believe genes do play a small role and in my case it could also be that hypothyroidism could have been a heredity disorder that others in my family could have experienced. I know of one other family member on that same side of the family who shares this in common with me. I did not mention this info previously because I was focusing on the fact that I believe genes do play a small part and I still hold that belief, however, as I said before I believe calories consumed and lack of exercise play a larger role.

    • ed the grocer

      Note that families eat out of the same fridge. There are genetic factors, but never discount a common diet.

    • rnnow1

      Sounds like jaswim comes from a long line of overeaters. An example of learned bad habits. Every single overweight person I’ve ever met wanted to believe this condition was something out of their control. True metabolic problems causing obesity are RARE. By the way, the big government koolaid you’ve been consuming is spiked. Life is made up of choices. Make different choices.

      • jaswim

        Sounds like rnnow1 comes from a long line of rude, judgmental folks. Did I not say it was a small factor, did I not acknowledge that calories were a factor, that lack of exercise were also factors and notice in those cases I did not add the word small, but instead stated large factors. Oh, I forgot , being your so judgmental I’m sure you did not pick up on those words. By the way, I am making good choices and I don’t even have to exercise any more because I have a job now where I am basically doing a work out all day and so far have lost 10 lbs. in the process. I did not mention it because I did not realize I would get such a rude response, but I also have hypothyroidism, look it up, it makes losing weight difficult. I know of at least one other member on that same side of the family who had the same condition. There is a possibility that some of those ancestors I was referring to may very well have had the same condition. I take a pill for my condition, now if they just find one that will solve the condition of rudeness in this judgmental American society of ours.

  • dstrykr

    Good grief…..all of sudden, American’s are unable to control themselves? How about looking at the chemicals put in our foods, say (for one example) like MSG (ya know that old commercial….”betcha can’t eat just one”). Try to grow your own and produce your own milk these days. Who does this writer work for, Kraft?

  • genann59

    Your article is so common sense. One regulation that might help with fat kids is resumption of PE and recess and not letting the fat little darlings skip them for various health reasons, one of which is too fat to safely exercise. Get the little lard asses off those lard asses and exercising. Kids who exercise burn off a lot of those calories, kids who sit playing computer games pack on the pounds even with a decent diet.
    And if people, not the government, would read the calories on food labels, figure that every 3000 calories consumed over calories burned equals one pound weight added, then cut the damn calories consumed. Pay attention to useless calories consumed in liquid consumption, frappuccino by Starbucks, delicious, but 200-300 calories depending on size of bottle, and no nutrition. Sodas usually 150 calories or more, beer 180 calories or more. Don’t just count your food calories.
    Don’t wait for the government to regulate things, do it yourself, based on your needs. If you have the mental capacity to add, subtract, multiply and divide, you can determine if you are overdoing it and what you need to cut back on, the govt will make a one size fits all program, we are individuals and need to take care of ourselves.

  • ed the grocer

    There are two prime sources of energy, fats and sugars. Glucose ( grain starches and root vegies )is good in modest amounts and is limited by insulin and other factors. Fructose is complicated to process and should be limited to a small bit of fresh fruit every day. Excess sugar is very damaging and the body works hard to store away from the vascular system. Fats are from animals, nuts and grain/veg sources. The short length fats are called saturated and are the best source of fuel. Mid length (mono unsaturated ) fats mostly from nuts, are also very good. Long chain ( poly unsaturated ) from grain and veg oils should be used sparingly. The hunger that drives us to eat nonstop comes from the body trying to get glucose out of the vascular system. This is the roller coaster of sugar. Use short chain fats for a satisfying meal and long term energy. Don’t forget to include a broad range of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and co-enzymes for good health.

  • lmoa

    I gained a lot of wt. after my son was born thought of bypass surgery found out what they can eat and the amount, they are only able to eat 4ozs at a meal. I tried that and within a year lost 115lbs that was 8 yrs. ago and I still way less than 120lbs. I do watch what I eat and that is mainly protein, since I can’t eat veggies. It works if you try it. If you get hungry eat something with few calories. Also, keep a scale where you can get on it each morning. I hope this helps someone. And remember if you fall off of my kind of diet don’t worry get back on it.

    • bwark

      Congrats to you Imoa! I have also gone that route, with detours through the years. I am now a smaller size than I was when I was on active duty in the US Navy in the 80′s! I heard, “Wow…were you sick?” because I lost 85 pounds, I’d tell people that I wasn’t. Then, I’m asked, “Did you have gastric bypass?” and I’d say “no”. People seem to think that no one can just do anything by themselves. Have the will power to watch what you eat? Count calories and stop eating garbage all by yourself and add some exercise? The instant gratification is great but, learning to live a healthy life lasts longer!

      • Takeresponsibility

        lmoa and bwark, Congrats!! Now that is taking responsibility for your health, your weight, and your future! What a great example you both are to your friends and family.

  • barrashee

    We should regulate political ads, an obvious source of disinformation

  • haselcheck

    It’s the fault of the Nanny State…..

    • Jeanne

      The faults falls on each individual. Take responsibility. I do!

  • Jesse Bryant

    Funny how people all of a sudden get upset, when it comes to what they can cram down their throats. This has been going on for a long time, and people have sat by complacently, as long as their rights weren’t being infringed. It’s okay to have legislation that’s aimed at peoples’ bedrooms, and what substances people can use, and where they can use them; but don’t mess with your refrigerator? You’ve all sat by and let it get this far, and now it’s your turns. You were warned it would come to this…

  • billwhit1357

    Guess I was Blessed with skinny genes, lol! I eat everything constantly and never gain an ounce! Course, I only eat junk food once a week or so.

  • JackiKK

    I dislike liberals as much as the next person. But on this issue, some drastic action needs to be taken. Supermarkets are full of stuff that can barely be called food. Metabolic syndrome…. heart disease, diabetes, etc… is and will continue to be a very serious problem. I agree that the ultimate solution rests on the individual and the choices they make. But this issue is so serious that everyone needs to work on solving it… government, schools, corporations, families, individuals.

    • dginga

      The GOVERNMENT has no business in regulating food, other than possibly preventing stuff that’s poisoned or contains bacteria. If someone wants to eat potato chips, let them. You want the government to regulate food choices for EVERYONE because SOME people are fat. Let’s get the government out of ALL of this.

  • BillQuantrill

    Well remember Hillary said “They cant be trusted to make their own decisions”. The nanny state will continue and expand even more unless everyone wakes up and says No More!

  • Yukiko

    The blame falls directly on the food producers. We wouldn’t eat as much if they would only produce terrible tasting foods. I’m incensed that desserts, chocolate and other wonderful tasting sweets are so delicious. If it weren’t for the manufacturers of these foods I would have to watch my weight. We need a law regulating or outlawing good tasting foods.

    • Jim Southerland

      Rub off some of that blame on retailers too. They just make things too attractive and easily available. I think they do something to the lighting to send sublibminal messages to make you buy more than you need. The gov. has got to do sumthin’

  • orlandorays

    It’s all about not eating too much, and getting enough activity. Just adding in more walking will do a world of good. I should know. I lost 40 lbs the past six months, and it was all about regulating HOW MUCH I eat (not necessarily WHAT), and making sure I got enough exercise.

  • Jeanne

    Why don’t they change food stamps to not be able to buy junk food and pop (or any other sweet drinks). Maybe give a certain amount for meat,produce,etc. That’s a start! Then change our grains back to normal and do away with the way they genetically changed them to produce a higher yield but they also cause weight gain dramatically. Give us back the old way of producing our foods. If you ( the gov.) want to butt in start with that!!!

    • Adam Sternberg

      Because the current food stamp program has -NOTHING- to do with helping people. It only has to do with buying votes.

      • Jim Southerland

        I got in line at the grocery store behind a woman wearing a metro bus driver’s uniform. She bought just candy and potato chips, AND got $30 cash back. I will not tire you with her race nor ethnicity. Nuther’ Obama voter bought and paid for.

        • Dawn Harsley

          I don’t know where you live, but in Ohio you don’t get cash back. The groceries are taken off a card similar to a credit card and the balance, if any, remains on the card. Buying $10 worth of groceries with a $100 food voucher, getting $90 back is a thing of the past in Ohio, thankfully.

    • Dawn Harsley

      Although I might agree in principle, there needs to be a balance. Just because a child is poor doesn’t mean he/she isn’t entitled to a cookie once in a while.

    • RVNMike

      the professional welfare crowd know how to get around the system.

  • James

    Obesity is caused by the reaction of ones insulin hormone to the presence of sugar and carbohydrates in the bloodstream…so it IS genetic. Out of whack insulin IS a biological condition…its found within the frame work of Metabolic Syndrome. People aren’t becoming fat and lazy because they eat too much carb-laden food….they eat too much carb-laden food which THEN makes them fat and lazy as a result.

    Read Gary
    Taubes excellent “Good Calories: Bad Calories”

    • papa rick

      that is ridicules, if you can’t handle carbs you are probably a diabetic. If you are a diabetic, stop eating so much. Calories in versus calories burned.

      • James

        Wrong….its NOT the amount of calories you consume that’s the crux…its the FORM of the calorie that matters. If its sugar- carbs the insulin reacts and makes triglycerides (body fat ) with it…its its Saturated fat and protein then it doesn’t..THAT’S the point… a calorie is NOT simply a calorie…more is at work…being the individuals personal, inherited biology.

        It is perfectly possible…and proven…that eating MORE calories will NOT make you gain weight…

        http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2459915/Could-low-fat-diet-make-EVEN-FATTER-As-experts-question-conventional-wisdom-diets-extraordinary-results-mans-experiment.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

        http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

        • Dawn Harsley

          Consuming more calories than you work off will make you gain weight, diabetic or not. As for as diabetes goes, I would leave the advice up to an individual’s physician. Armchair quarterbacking in this case is dangerous.

          • James

            Nope…get up to speed with the science facts as they stand. Look at my first link…eating over 5000 calories of fat and protein produce vastly different results to doing the same with carbohydrates.

          • edthegrocer

            James gave a good answer in a few lines. Try reading the book ” Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Taubes. The information is historical rather than opinion and it will extend your life dramatically. Afterwards log on to mercola.com and learn about the rest of the critical stuff of long and healthy life. Note that a calorie is a measure of chemistry badly used in biology. It is much like trying to burn a sack of coal in your car when it should have regular gasoline. Same calories but different results.

          • Dawn Harsley

            I would agree. However, consuming 5000 calories in a day with no exercise will also add pounds. Check with any doctor. People who work outdoors in this frigid weather naturally have to consume more calories. If I went to my doctor and said I consumed 5000 calories but they were the “right calories”, he’d laugh in my face or faint from the shock.

    • Takeresponsibility

      Again making the point… THEY eat too much carb-laden food. They have a choice. There are some people that are predisposed to some challenges with their health and weight, they just have to be more conscience of what goes in their mouths. If your insulin reacts and makes you obese because of the reaction to sugar and carbs, clean up your diet.

      • James

        No…they eat too much CARB laden food…because they don’t KNOW that this is what is causing their obesity…They have been told for decades that Fat makes you fat…which is a lie…it doesn’t.

        • Scott H

          WRONG! They eat too much FOOD!!! It doesn’t matter what they eat, they are eating way too much food! Stop focusing on what detail is the problem, and focus on the entire picture! You can eat a ton of low-carb food and still get fat! How are you not getting this?! How much do you weigh!?

          • James

            Hey idiot! Just how does a person OVEREAT?! What makes them consume more food than they need to be satisfied and nourished?…Work that out numb-tard and you will see what is so patently wrong with the “Calories in-out mantra”…

            Talking to the retarded….geez,,,

    • Rookie 48

      Bottom line: If you take in more calories than you burn you’re going to gain weight. If you burn more than you take in then you’ll lose weight. Pretty simple, really.

    • Scott H

      It is not genetic!!! Anyone can get fat by eating 10,000 calories a day! It doesn’t have to be carbs, or fats, it has to do with eating more food than you are suppose to!!! It’s so simple that it’s embarrassing that people can’t understand this!

  • Scott H

    I knew an obese woman who said “I’d like to lose weight by eating better, but healthy food is expensive!” and later told me how a friend made fun of her for eating enough food for 5 people at lunch…

    • Dawn Harsley

      She probably went to an all-you-can-eat buffet.

      • Scott H

        Nope, she ate at a burger joint where a burger costs $6 to $8 each…

        • Dawn Harsley

          Sounds like she has more money than good sense. Yuck. After not having a burger for months, I got one at Wendys. It was so greasy it made me sick. I’m sticking to salads and good stuff. My “splurge” is a Subway once in a while. A 12′ provides lunch for 2 days.

  • papa rick

    it’s George Bushs fault and you are a racist and a fatty hater

    • Be responsibile

      That’s ridiculous !!! Bush isn’t feeding your face you are!!!!

      • RVNMike

        I think he was joking.

    • Dawn Harsley

      Isn’t everything George Bush’s fault? It is below zero in Cincinnati today and I’m sure Bush is causing it just for meanness.

      • RVNMike

        God hates yankees?

        • Dawn Harsley

          God doesn’t “hate” anyone. He loves all of his children, even morons like you.

  • Chris Wohland

    Let’s face it we as a species are too stupid to realize that the uber-demon Republican food growers have genetically modified food stuffs to a point that makes us all want to be food stamp recipients and government housing locals. If it weren’t for that terrorist Ronald Reagan we would all be living communally in a planned eco-friendly life enhancing diet controlled gun free stuporous haven of equality and peace. And global warming would be a thing of the past because everyone knows that junk food causes gas which increases the greenhouse effect at a much more alarming rate than Air force one making three trips to Hawaii over the last four weeks to insure that Michelle gets a better tan and more time for shopping with the congressional credit card. I mean how can we allow soda to be sold in a cup that is larger than Kim Kardashian’s ass? We should stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the hamburger helper aisle to stave off the stupid shopper that is trying to feed six family members for less than twenty dollars a meal because the snap card is empty after that glut of lap dances and convenience store poverty purchases like hoho’s and tummy yummy non-fruit drinks!

    • JustanOguy

      Lol.. good one.

  • methinkthis

    I can guarantee you that no company produces a product for long that is not driven by consumer demand. Consumers need to wake up. Fast Food is a misnomer as most of it is not food. Food has characteristics that make it beneficial to the eater. Unfortunately this is not true for most of what is offered. Supersized drinks are one of the worst offenders. Whether regular or diet the effect on the body is bad! Wake up America! The typical Standard American Diet is SAD.

    • RVNMike

      Are you forced to buy those super sized drinks? Or the giant order of fries? No. You make the choice.

  • Wendy S

    It’s called self control!!

    • Matthew Townsend

      It’s called eating right. Not eat less, but eating right. One can eat right, and eat more food while losing weight by speeding up the metabolic rate.

  • KG

    We are responsible for ourselves, period! I choose to eat healthier for myself. I could care less about the guy/gal next door. If they want to kill themselves with gluttony, that’s up to them.

    • punsalot

      Unfortunately, you’ll be subsidizing their medical bills for years to come, because personal responsibility for health went out the window years ago.

      • Dawn Harsley

        We’re subsidizing health care for everyone else including the single women with no insurance, on public assistance who keep spreading their legs and having kids who don’t even know who their fathers are. That costs too. It isn’t just eating right……alcohol plays a huge role in health care costs also, both in liver problems and accidents because people drive while drunk or under the influence of drugs. We can try our best to exercise and eat healthy foods but I’ve known people who have done exactly that and have had heart attacks. In fact, I have a neighbor who recently had heart by-pass surgery and he doesn’t smoke, drink to access and they make healthy choices in their eating habits. Sometimes it is simply the luck of the draw.

        • punsalot

          Your train of thought went all the way around the tracks. I’m not quite sure what point you were trying to make.

          • Dawn Harsley

            Didn’t realize your attention span was so short. What I said, rather clearly, is that we subsidize health care for individuals who have other negative habits, not just overeating. Each incident I mentioned has an impact on health care costs. Babies born to crack mothers who are born addicted and need expensive Neonatal care for weeks or months,, alcohol related illnesses or accidents and some that just aren’t anyone’s fault but just the luck of the draw.

          • punsalot

            Fine I have a short attention span, but what does your neighbor who doesn’t smoke or “drink to access” having a heart attack, have to do with subsidizing people who make poor choices regarding their health. First you’re saying that there are all sorts of people making bad choices that negatively impact their health, then you turn around and say it really doesn’t matter what choices you make because sometimes it’s just luck of the draw.
            Oh I get it now. Sorry,. I’m a little slow. So what you’re saying is that you don’t like me focusing on overweight individuals like yourself because all sorts of other people have health problems too.
            You could have just come out and said that instead of beating around the bush.

          • Dawn Harsley

            Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not overweight. Through diet and exercise, I lost 60 lbs. and intend to keep them off. Lots of salads but that’s fine because I love them. You still don’t understand……we subsidize health care for a lot of reasons, some the fault of the individual and some simply genetic. That’s what I can’t seem to get across to you. I guess you didn’t like the part about the alcohol. I’d hate to see you stop guzzling from the bottle.

          • punsalot

            Unlike you being overweight, I don’t drink and never have. You’re very funny though, and yes we subsidize healthcare for many reasons. Is that all you were trying to say? Ok. You could have just said, “we subsidize healthcare for a lot of different reasons”, and spared me the embarrassment of thinking you were trying to say something more profound.

          • Dawn Harsley

            You wouldn’t know “profound” if it bit you in the ass. You don’t take my word for the fact that I’m not overweight. Why should I take your word that you’re not a drunk?

          • punsalot

            I took your word that you lost 60 lbs, which means that you were either overweight, or you had your legs amputated. Being overweight like you were has made you hypersensitive. I didn’t say that you were still overweight, and why would you care if I had? I don’t care that you assume I’m a drunk because I know better. You can assume I’m stupid and wouldn’t know a profound thought if it bit me, and that I have a short attention span, or whatever you like if it makes you feel better about yourself. You might want to address your self-esteem issues though, and you might want to reconsider engaging in banter on the internet with individuals who so easily ding your self-image.

          • Dawn Harsley

            There’s nothing wrong with my self esteem and your idiotic remarks certainly aren’t putting a dent it in. I’m through dealing with you. You’re just too stupid to bother with. Crawl back in your hole with your bottle.

          • punsalot

            And yet you continue to bother with me. So long gordita! I’ll have a drink for you. Skim milk, or water?

          • Dawn Harsley

            I’m sure you’re a “rotgut” straight out of the bottle dude. Bye.

          • punsalot

            You’re killing me Smalls.

  • Be responsible

    People are responsible for their own actions!! Not the fast food places or the government !! People are just getting lazy!! Quick to place blame on others !! Suck it up look in the mirror that’s who’s at fault!!

    • Dawn Harsley

      I agree and disagree. I agree we are responsible for our own actions and that the government needs to stay out of it. Where we disagree is on the “mirror” comment. I’m all for looking in the mirror, but not to suck it up, but to tell yourself that you are worth whatever it takes to lose weight and be healthy. We want to build self-esteem, not tear it down. It’s hard work and we have to feel we deserve it. It is also better if family members and friends don’t keep harping about someone’s weight. It only makes them feel worse about themselves. It is something that has to come from within…when we wake up, look in the mirror and like what we see as an individual. Believe me, I know. I let my weight get out of control, decided I’m better than that, exercise, watch what I eat and I’ve lost 60#….not for my husband, not for my friends, but for me.

  • 762×51

    check out the documentary from the guy who lost a bunch of weight eating only mcdonalds for like 4 months. Yeah disproved the lie that eating healthy is hard and more expensive. He lost weight by eating crap but walked 45 minutes a day. So to all you morbidly obese people out there, the secret is EAT LESS FOOD, and get off your rather fat ass.

    • Matthew Townsend

      Not eat less, but eating right. One can eat right, and eat more food while losing weight by speeding up the metabolic rate.

  • http://www.marketingtechblog.com Douglas Karr

    Perhaps it’s time for the government to take a look at its subsidies in the food industry, or the regulations they have to meet, or the failed food pyramid, or the lack of controls with SNAP that could require healthier eating. As an obese man, I take responsibility for my own intake and activity, but the way our food industry is impacted by the government needs to be the first step in improving and promoting great eating and exercise habits.

    • Dawn Harsley

      Keep the government out of it. We are responsible for what foods we consume and how much exercise we get. Rather than making excuses, take a look in the mirror, not at your waistline, but at your face. Keep telling yourself you are worth the effort. It works. Sometimes we get so down on ourselves because we’ve gained weight and that only makes it worse. You want to build the self-esteem necessary to get it done, not make excuses or get down on yourself.

      • http://www.marketingtechblog.com Douglas Karr

        @dawnharsley:disqus quite the opposite of an excuse, it’s in line with what you’re saying. If you want people to take personal responsibility (as I do) - perhaps start with getting government out of our business.

        • Dawn Harsley

          Sorry, I misread your original comment. Just make sure you continue to feel you’re worth any effort and sacrifice it takes to be healthy and fit.

    • angel_e

      I respectfully and vehemently disagree. The first step in promoting good dietary & exercise habits is personal *desire* to be healthy and fit. Period.

      You gotta want it. Really, really want it. No amount of government regulation (nor ease of regulation) on the food industry will ever change that.

      The second step is to educate one’s self on exactly what constitutes “healthy diet” and “good exercise program”. So much misinformation runs rampant among the “experts” in the fitness industry.

      If I had a dime for every time I hear one of my pet-peeve most widely accepted “diet & exercise tips” I’d be rich.

      And finally,
      The old Nike ad had it right. Its not just a silly cliche’. No better advice has ever been spoken: “Just do it”.

  • Rick Thompson

    Perhaps it is time for people to take RESPONSIBILITY for themselves.

  • Jim Tucker

    No one is forcing you to buy junk food, or taxing you for NOT buying junk food.

  • RVNMike

    A feel good society that never takes the blame for anything. Led by a feel good president who never takes the blame for anything.

  • Janice O’Neil Field

    I cannot comprehend that people want the government to interfere even further into the lives of Americans’. The fat people who feel this way should be sent to a third world country where there isn’t enough food. That should solve their overeating problems. The bottom line is you are fat because you CHOOSE to stuff crap in your mouth all day long . They will find a way to do this no matter what. Until fat people realize WHY you are fat and decide you don’t want to be that way anymore, nothing is going to help. I say this as a former fatty myself. I am now thin and have been for many years.

  • Juliet Bravo

    How does this make sense to anyone? Seriously, Liberals are so damn stupid that if a stroke of common sense bit them in the ass, they would tax it, regulate it, blame it on the media, corporations, and Republicans, and brand it as bigotry! WTF!?

    • Matthew Townsend

      It’s been a success for them up to date. They have profited from it.

  • Emily Williams

    It doesnt matter if its genes or business (both which play a role- absolutely… commercials and types of ingredients are often used to psychologically induce need for consumption). But business and genes can be mitigated… not by the government but by teaching parents how to teach their kids how to eat healthy. Healthy eating habits start in youth. People are too quick to grab whats easy (I.e., mcdonalds). The governments role in school lunches… I appreciate bc given the choice, kids will often make unwise eating decisions. Nutrition should be taught in highschools. There is a lack of education and emphasis on this very important topic. America is getting larger and larger and government seeks to intervene as the population is becoming more and more unhealthy. Perhaps Americans should get off their butts and take care of themselves so government wouldnt feel the need to intervene. Seems ridiculous for them to do so, but imagine both the cost and losses to our nation as a result of obesity each year. So… governnent is paying the health bills while private companies get richer. That is prolly the reason. Soo… take away the need… AND PUT DOWN THE JUNK FOOD AND MCDONALDS. educate yourself! Information is now available on your phones… if only people would use it!!!

  • Jim C

    Consume more calories than you expend and you gain weight. Vice versa. It’s really simple. I lost 100 lbs in 2013 with that simple approach. I was responsible for becoming overweight and responsible for doing something about it.

  • http://home.comcast.net/~tomleem BigGoofyGuy

    I read of a man who ate at McDonald’s for three months and lost over 30 pounds. He made healthy choices at McDonald’s. I think one makes healthy choices and moderation are good ways to lose weight in addition to exercise. I think it is up to the person to make the right decisions and blaming companies is just a way to shift blame.

  • Ashley

    I can’t believe we don’t have a Calorie Czar already. This government appointee could have a staff of thousands …..lawyers and calorie cops who could issue FATwahs and EATidcs about what you and I eat. The calorie cops are there when you overindulge. But it’s not your fault. You just need re-education in a government controlled cafeteria.

  • the truth

    its none of the above its what is put into our food ok take all the crap out we will get better why dont you think that they dont want our products in the country.duh.
    also why does we get 15 to 41 mpg and they get 35 to 90 mpg for the same thing.
    yeah you all so dumb..