environmental causes of obesity?
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robp
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 Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:04 Post subject:
| Ms. Jenn wrote: | This guy is getting paid a whole lot of money to be everybody's mother and/or teacher.
He's hoping through regulation of fast food (limiting hours and location) and through high taxes on that food (when we all go there out of convenience, laziness or just because of a craving) that we Americans will learn to avoid those places and thus reducing the obesity problem.
It's worked great with Alcohol, Cigarette, Fuel and Gambling taxes. |
Now... in addition to being hungry... I'm about ready to drive my gas hog thru the drivethru and grab a six pack.....
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MechEngDropout
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:05 Post subject:
| cherylpf wrote: |
There is a whole lot of things wrong with nutrition in our society but I believe price an availability to be a big part of it. |
I think blaming prices is absurd. Do you go down the snack aisle? This is a huge part of the problem, people pay $2.50 for a bag of Oreos that they'll consume that night. They could just go get some popcorn for much less. Or bake their own cookies for much less (and they'd probably be much healthier). The problem isn't prices. The problem is that people are amazingly lazy and would rather die from obesity than get a healthy dose of exercise. And people are gluttons.
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sonnylax
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:08 Post subject:
| phillycat wrote: | | But then again, I have the luxury of being educated and not living in low income neighborhoods..... |
SEMI-HIJACK
The "luxury" of being educated? Care to explain that one? I don't know you from adam philycat, but it seems to me that if you work hard anyone can succeed in this country regardless of educational/income background. (Present company included.)
END HIJACK
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RexRacer
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:11 Post subject:
But Rob, there is a serious access factor. I live in a more affluent part of the city and have a lot of supermarket choices, especially because I have a car.
Those choices drop dramatically if you are carless and live in an area where the only food options are A. fast food, or B. a long bus ride with a few transfers to get to a decent market.
Most of those folks end up buying their food at a corner store, where the proportion of crap-to-whole foods is pretty high. Sure, part of that purchasing choice they make is habit, but its been widely documented that when you put a reasonably well-stocked market in an urban neighborhood, residents make better food choices simply because they have an option.
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elkid
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:13 Post subject:
| sonnylax wrote: | SEMI-HIJACK
The "luxury" of being educated? Care to explain that one? I don't know you from adam philycat, but it seems to me that if you work hard anyone can succeed in this country regardless of educational/income background. (Present company included.)
END HIJACK |
Higher education (however inferior to our international counterparts) is a luxury in this country, one which many cannot afford. Regardless of how hard you work, in corporate America you have very little chance of working into middle management or running a Fortune 500 company without a BA or BS (in actuality, without a master's degree as well).
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phillycat
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:16 Post subject:
| sonnylax wrote: |
SEMI-HIJACK
The "luxury" of being educated? Care to explain that one? I don't know you from adam philycat, but it seems to me that if you work hard anyone can succeed in this country regardless of educational/income background. (Present company included.)
END HIJACK |
What I was referring to was the fact that most of the people that suffer from high prices and rotten food at their local grocery store tend to be uneducated and low income. No, I do not think that getting an education is a luxury in the true sense of the word, especially because I struggled significantly to get mine as I was denied all financial aide and paid for my entire education on my own. Same goes for not being in a low income situation. I worked hard to get where I got. I guess what I was trying to say is that because I am educated, I don't have to shop at the stores that I have referred to.
Now, on that note, no one is holding a gun to these people's heads saying that they have to shop at these stores either. However, I think that there is a problem that throught the country grocery stores think that it is acceptable to offer sub-quality food at higher prices to those who can least afford it and must depend on public transportation, thus making it more difficult to go to another store in a more affluent neighborhood.
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Ms. Jenn
Fresh, Hot & Wild
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:17 Post subject:
| robp wrote: |
Now... in addition to being hungry... I'm about ready to drive my gas hog thru the drivethru and grab a six pack..... |
Can I ride in your Hummer? BTW, can I get some Lone Star Beer? Thanks.
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phillycat
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:17 Post subject:
| RexRacer wrote: | But Rob, there is a serious access factor. I live in a more affluent part of the city and have a lot of supermarket choices, especially because I have a car.
Those choices drop dramatically if you are carless and live in an area where the only food options are A. fast food, or B. a long bus ride with a few transfers to get to a decent market.
Most of those folks end up buying their food at a corner store, where the proportion of crap-to-whole foods is pretty high. Sure, part of that purchasing choice they make is habit, but its been widely documented that when you put a reasonably well-stocked market in an urban neighborhood, residents make better food choices simply because they have an option. |
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phillycat
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:19 Post subject:
| elkid wrote: |
Higher education (however inferior to our international counterparts) is a luxury in this country, one which many cannot afford. Regardless of how hard you work, in corporate America you have very little chance of working into middle management or running a Fortune 500 company without a BA or BS (in actuality, without a master's degree as well). |
Ok, this is kind of off topic but I am curious to get your viewpoint on this. Part of me agrees with your comment about education in the US being inferior to our international counterparts, however, since I have been working in higher education I am suprised at how many international students chose to come to school here as opposed to their native country. One thought I have is that it is easier to get into many schools here than it is oversees....thoughts??
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robp
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:30 Post subject:
| Ms. Jenn wrote: |
Can I ride in your Hummer? BTW, can I get some Lone Star Beer? Thanks.
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My Hummer is really an '84 Dodge 4x4.... and I don't even know if they sell Lone Star in these parts.
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elkid
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:35 Post subject:
| phillycat wrote: | | Ok, this is kind of off topic but I am curious to get your viewpoint on this. Part of me agrees with your comment about education in the US being inferior to our international counterparts, however, since I have been working in higher education I am suprised at how many international students chose to come to school here as opposed to their native country. One thought I have is that it is easier to get into many schools here than it is oversees....thoughts?? |
It is sooo much easier to get into our schools than foreign ones. Part of the ease comes from the fact that in the US we firmly believe that a college education is no longer a privilege, but a right, so we have colleges for everyone. We've really dumbed down higher education to accommodate this belief. There's a program for special education students at Eastern U right around the corner, in education no less, and there's no delineation on the transcript. Their BA looks, and is, just the same as anyone else's. This would never fly internationally. Whereas internationally you have to take ridiculously hard tests to even QUALIFY for college. Take China and Japan - you take the test, they hand you a short list of colleges to which you can apply. You wanted to go to Beijing U but didn't get the scores? Tough luck. And you can't buy your way in, like you can at say Harvard, Yale, or Berkeley. I know several people who came here to start an education and switched to the schools of their choice (Oxford, Sorbonne, Universität Main in Frankfurt) simply because they had a few years at Princeton or some other ivy league. I know many more who "settled" for our institutions of higher learning because they had no chance of getting into those in their own country.
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robp
Pyromaniac
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Joined: 26 Jul 2002
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Location: Waiting in line at the beer store...
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:36 Post subject:
| RexRacer wrote: | But Rob, there is a serious access factor. I live in a more affluent part of the city and have a lot of supermarket choices, especially because I have a car.
Those choices drop dramatically if you are carless and live in an area where the only food options are A. fast food, or B. a long bus ride with a few transfers to get to a decent market.
Most of those folks end up buying their food at a corner store, where the proportion of crap-to-whole foods is pretty high. Sure, part of that purchasing choice they make is habit, but its been widely documented that when you put a reasonably well-stocked market in an urban neighborhood, residents make better food choices simply because they have an option. |
Okay, so the folks stuck in the inner city have some problems with access to decent groceries. I'm not going to argue that point because I don't live there and haven't experienced it. My overall point is that it isn't just people in the inner cities that are having weight issues - it's ALL of America. Crappy eating habits are a way of life for a lot of people that do have access to excellent grocery supplies and can afford them. I see that every single day in my little niche of middle America.
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RexRacer
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:38 Post subject:
| robp wrote: |
My Hummer is really an '84 Dodge 4x4.... and I don't even know if they sell Lone Star in these parts. |
But no doubt you can get Little Kings Cream Ale. Which, I'll have you know, Michael Jackson (the international beer guru not the pedophile) gives his highest rating, actually. Good stuff and wicked cheap. And having lived in both TX and OH, I can tell you it's gobs better than Lone Star!
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cherylpf
crazy cat lady
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:39 Post subject:
| robp wrote: |
Okay, so the folks stuck in the inner city have some problems with access to decent groceries. I'm not going to argue that point because I don't live there and haven't experienced it. My overall point is that it isn't just people in the inner cities that are having weight issues - it's ALL of America. Crappy eating habits are a way of life for a lot of people that do have access to excellent grocery supplies and can afford them. I see that every single day in my little niche of middle America. |
Good point.
What is the problem and solution? Education? Self control? Home Ec in schools? Less crap food for sale? This guy getting paid millions isn't telling us what we don't know.
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phillycat
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Posted: 10/21/04 - 14:43 Post subject:
| cherylpf wrote: |
Good point.
What is the problem and solution? Education? Self control? Home Ec in schools? Less crap food for sale? This guy getting paid millions isn't telling us what we don't know. |
I vote for education. Both at home and in the schools. I think that schools should also provide only heathy options and portion control. There was something to this point mentioned in Supersize Me.
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