Obesity - #1 Health Threat to Americans

[m477]

I think it's just simply that Americans in general consume more calories and are less active. I mean, what other reasonable explanation is there, considering the number of fat Asian-Americans and skinny white Europeans. Sure there are some Japanese big eaters, but after observing people in Japan, that doesn't seem like the norm here. The portions at most resturants in Japan are pretty modest by American standards. And Americans take their cars everywhere. In Japan, even in suburban areas, far more people walk, bike, or take public transportation (taking the train might not seem like a major fat-burner, but subways usually involve lots of stairs, and trying not to fall down during rush hour probably burns more calories than sitting in a car).

Also, you can observe the same phenomenon just within the US. Compare how many fat people there are in the Midwest to NYC, where people walk more and there aren't as many of the typical American franchise resutants with supersize portions.

 

[den4]

I guess what I should have said was "I don't think it's just genetics..." But then, what do I know?

 

[Minty]

I think it's just simply that Americans in general consume more calories and are less active. I mean, what other reasonable explanation is there, considering the number of fat Asian-Americans and skinny white Europeans. Sure there are some Japanese big eaters, but after observing people in Japan, that doesn't seem like the norm here. The portions at most resturants in Japan are pretty modest by American standards. And Americans take their cars everywhere. In Japan, even in suburban areas, far more people walk, bike, or take public transportation (taking the train might not seem like a major fat-burner, but subways usually involve lots of stairs, and trying not to fall down during rush hour probably burns more calories than sitting in a car).
Also, you can observe the same phenomenon just within the US. Compare how many fat people there are in the Midwest to NYC, where people walk more and there aren't as many of the typical American franchise resutants with supersize portions.

Yes, the Japanese walk a lot and they are very active like people in HK, Taiwan, SG...etc. Japanese food is also very light in calories and oil. People in Asia sleep very little and work for long hours so they burn off more calories just from daily work of life without doing much sport, but after they work they still go out and do activities at night and that burn more calories.

No, it's not genetics, maybe so for some Asian within the nation but certainly not the entire nation.