Shocking revelation - eating too much causes obesity

From The Heart:
The obesity epidemic in the US is due solely to increased food intake
The amount of food Americans eat has been increasing since the 1970s, and that alone is the cause of the obesity epidemic in the US today. Physical activity�or the lack thereof�has played virtually no role in the rising number of expanding American waistlines, according to research presented at the 2009 European Congress on Obesity in Amsterdam last week.

The finding is contrary to the widely held assumption that decreased physical activity is an equally important driver of overweight and obesity in the US, said lead author Dr Boyd Swinburn (Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia).

If Americans want to get serious about winning the battle of the bulge, they are going to have to cut down on the amount of food they eat, Swinburn, who is director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, told heartwire.

But, he warned, that won't be easy. "The food industry has done such a great job of marketing their products, making the food so tasty that it's almost irresistible, pricing their products just right, and placing them everywhere, that it is very hard for the average person to resist temptation. Food is virtually everywhere, probably even in churches and funeral parlors."
Makes a lot of sense -- portion size has grown incredibly and with the super-sizes available, you can stretch your stomach for under five bucks (and consume more than your normal daily 2,000 calories). People lie to themselves and say it's a thyroid problem or some such but no, it's just basic overeating. Take this lovely woman for example -- from the London Daily Mirror:
leanne_salt_obese.jpg
Junk-food fans need a carrot... and stick
If you saw a character like Leanne Salt on Little Britain, you'd think the writers had lost the plot. This girl is beyond parody.

But Leanne Salt isn't Matt Lucas in an XXL track suit. She's as real as the McDonald's chicken nuggets she stuffs into her eight-month-old triplets. She's as real as the trays of microwave lasagne and packets of Wotsits her babies tuck into when she can't be bovvered to wheel them down to Maccie D's.

Leanne Salt is the Health Department's worst nightmare and the DWP's biggest problem. How bad? This bad...

Leanne first hit the headlines last August when she became the fattest-ever mother of triplets, weighing in at 40 stone. She was so vast the NHS had to provide a specially-made operating table for the delivery.

It finally took a 68-strong team of medics and an NHS bill of �200,000 to safely deliver her babies, Deanna, Daisy and son Finlee.

You'd think after that national humiliation you'd make an effort to look after your health if not for your own sake, then certainly for the sake of your babies.

If you'd spent your life being called "fattie", surely you'd move Heaven and Earth to make sure your children didn't suffer the same fate.

But instead of doing everything in her power to make sure her babies would grow up to be happy and healthy, Leanne condemned them to her future.

At just six months old when most babies get their first taste of pureed vegetable, Leanne was wheeling them down to McDonald's. And as she gleefully told Closer magazine, "they had chicken nuggets and chips and loved it!"

Loved it so much, they now tuck into it once or twice a week, bringing their calorie intake up to 1,249 a day nearly double the recommended 765 for their 17lb weight.
And it is not her fault:
Of course none of this is Leanne's fault. She blames her weight on a "thyroid problem" rather than the cakes, crisps and chocolate she inhales every day. While her mother goes out to work as a carer every day, Leanne says she's simply too busy to cook or tidy up the house which is brimming with piles of dirty laundry and toys.

Once a week Leanne makes an effort to get herself and the babies dressed to go out so she can collect the benefits that pay for her fast food and fags.
40 stone is 560 pounds... Fags are the English term for cigarettes - fagot has a Latin origin meaning a stick. The Hackers Diet is really popular.

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This page contains a single entry by DaveH published on May 21, 2009 6:50 PM.

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