Korean Job Discussion Forums

madcap · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Location: Gangneung, Korea

BJWD Wrote

caniff · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map

"Morbidly obese". Has a nice ring to it, don'tchathink?

"I am sorry to have to tell you this, but you have gone from just obese to MORBIDLY obese. In fact, you are depressing the living hell out of me with your presence. Please leave."

huffdaddy · Joined: 25 Nov 2005

richardlang · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Location: Gangnam

igotthisguitar · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:15 pm Post subject:

stevemcgarrett · Joined: 24 Mar 2006

Jonathan Swift's ghost posted:

That graphic is quite revealing. Southern fried food, while marvelous to eat, is terrible for one's figure. It's no coincidence that states with a generally lower level of health education awareness (and education in general), including West Virginia, have such a high percentage of obese citizens. New England has lots of yuppies who are not only weight-conscious but have the financial means to buy the best organic and to indulge in spas and the best body fitness centers. Colorado fits that same demographic. Hawaii conforms to a mostly Asian diet lower in meat consumption (although local food can be fattening among Polynesians).

I'm surprised that the farm states of Indiana and Nebraska rank so high, however. A disproportionate number of Innuit are obese, and this obesity is widely tolerated, hence the Alaskan problem. And obesity in the black community is disproportionately high, again consistent with bad eating habits. In Texas, everyone eats giant portions, making it a haven for fatties.

America's secret weapon in the future will be the threat of sitting on its enemies, it would seem.

Junior · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: the eye

My formerly slim cousins emigrated to florida about 10 years back.

Over the years the family photos they've sent have basically documented their now almost complete transformation into being overweight.

Its quite insane because my family as a whole has always been slim. But when you look at the lavish parties and dinners they enjoy -and at the extravagance of the US as a whole, its unsurprising.

Personally I think obesity is down to lifestyle, not DNA. To me its a sin to be grossly overweight. An abuse of the body.

thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

Oh save the hyperbole. It isn't as if they are eating and as a result some kid in Africa starves. The world is much more complicated than that.

Americans are very social, wealthy and living in a nation with more culinary variety than any other place past or present. Last I was there, in Miami, I couldn't stop stuffing my face with the amazing Cuban/Peruvian food.

Junior · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: the eye

thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

We consume more because we produce more. The earth has a finite amount of non-renewable and an infinite amount of renewable resources. Food is renewable.

The problem isn't that we produce/consume too much, but that they produce/consume too little.

But I agree that this is "wrong". I don't think that fat Yankees are the best symbol of why this is wrong. Maybe French farmers would be a better target of scorne.

I'm quite fit. But I dislike the moralizing the world does about fat Americans. Weight is a personal choice.

Kuros · Joined: 27 Apr 2004

Junior · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: the eye

thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

Yes, food production does use non-renew. I was being too simplistic. But energy is a whole other issue...

J. I agree. All of those things are personal issues and should be treated as such. Let people be. Some will make good decisions and some will eat a big mac for breakfast. As long as I'm not required to pay for their bad mistakes then it is none of my business.

But, if we do have to pay.. Then, maybe Hayek was right?

Pligganease · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: The deep south...

The reason why people in general are getting fat is because they are eating the same amount now as people did back when they worked their asses off every day laboring at difficult, back-breaking jobs. The eating culture survived, but the hard-working culture didn't.

madcap · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Location: Gangneung, Korea

But we DO end up paying for it. Remember heart disease? All those tax dollars going into health care? I'm not saying you can or should regulate how much or what you eat, in fact, I have absolutely no solution in mind that will help the situation, but I think it is important to realize that it's a problem that needs to be adressed.

Also, I agree, the amount I eat in America doesn't affect the lives of people in Africa (the US actually pays farmers or gives them tax breaks NOT to grow crops when they think the surpluss will affect the market price) but it isn't entirely the African people's fault that they can't produce enough. African soil, for the most part, sucks. It doesn't yield nearly what we can produce in the mid west except for along the Niger and Nile rivers. Add to the fact that the population is expanding rapidly and the Sahara is expanding on both sides every year because of global climate change, there is a lot less arable land for farmers to feed a lot more people. They will need some serious help eventually. It would be nice if we could jump start their economies so that they could BUY food from us instead of us just giving it to them.