Daily chart

Pet obesity is also a growing problem (in Developed countries) that contributes to ever growing cost of animal healthcare (and a burden/drain on the economy), it sounds as easy as not over feeding your pet, but having the willpower to resist can be daunting.
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(pictures of overweight pets)
http://imgur.com/xFnZS (SFW)
http://myfatpet.com/ (SFW)
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As you can see there is a direct correalation between human obesity and pet obesity, working on solutions for pet obesity can lead to dramatically lower rates of Human obesity, things such as simply walking the dog, cat sweaters, and posting pet videos on youtube can help dramatically.

This growing problem is destined to get much bigger. To my surprise the post I did on this subject months ago is still one of the most popular I ever wrote, if you have time please jump over to my blog and read;

http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2012/06/obesity-huge-problem-for-america....

Remember that sugar, as we know it, didn't exist until the 17th century, and it is no wonder that evolution hasn't had a chance to adjust our bodies to deal with abundant calories of this type.
Self-control has a big part to play - try keeping apples in the refrigerator as the default 'snack' when you don't know exactly what you want to eat.
There is actually nothing wrong with feeling hungry and not eating straight away. In fact, research shows hunger, and mild fasting, sharpens the mind and can even 'reset' body mechanisms related to cholesterol levels.

Happy gluttonous holidays!

Obesity in South African has contributed to rapid escalation of "first world" burden of diseases such as High blood pressure (almost 1 in 2 adults over 40), Cholesterol, Diabetes and increases cost of concomitant risks of stroke, heart attack and bypasses, and premature death. Wellness Days held by corporate employers, show that up to 10% of their workforce - mainly people of colour - are morbidly obese.

On one level the changing burden of disease is attributable to a rapid rise of income arising from Black elite empowerment (BEE) policies, which transfer resources and wealth to a ruling political alliance between labour, the ANC and the Communist party. More fundamentally, however, it is a by-product of the race by fast food franchises such as McDonalds and KFC to cash in on higher worker incomes, trading dollars in exchange for saturated fats loaded with flavour enhancers, 'preservatives' and colourants.

Politicians such as SA's ANC VP, Cyril Ramaphosa who McDonalds awarded the Developmental Licensee (DL) for South Africa in 2011, leverage the changing income demographic for commercial gain, despite the inadequacy of a failed, dysfunctional public health system to cope with first world disease such as CAD.

Ironically, more than a third of South Africa's 50 million population who are reliant on social grants, face different health challenges posed by "shebeens" who sell liquor and drugs instead of food coupons. A further quarter of the population are unemployed - up to 50% in the Xhosa speaking Eastern Cape province that is the home of Nelson Mandela - and in rural areas still lack running water, toilets and sanitation, compounding chronic under nourishment.

The Gini coefficient of inequality in SA not only mirrors the failure of the ruling ANC's BEE policies, it correlates with an explosion of burden of disease and drug dependancy in many disparate directions. Fundamentally, the problem is less one of health policy, than a challenge to the ruling party to be more socially responsible than the historic orgy of self indulgence that has followed 'liberation' in 1994.

What a ridiculous article. BMI is completely useless as a way of measuring obesity. Anyone with a relatively muscular body, who plays sports, will register as overweight or even obese by BMI measurements. They cite 77kg as a limit for anyone measuring 1.75m. I'm 1.76m and weigh 86k with almost no visible bodyfat because I work out regularly. BMI also fails to take into account different body types, frame sizes, etc. It's a useless figure, along with the concept of a universal "ideal bodyweight."

The only question about obesity is how long our welfare states will last with this burden...
And I think that this question includes an answer to the obesity epidemic.

Typo!
Not "over weight", but "overweight"

As and when the Millenium Development Goals' deadline of 2015 is reached, we may want to consider some more goals. When we do, I'd like to suggest the following:
- Not confining the goals to low or middle-income countries, but making them global
- Including a goal on basic healthy lifestyles, with targets along the lines of <10% of the population smoking (or 25% lower than a suitable reference year, e.g. 2010); <10% of the population being obese (or 25% lower etc.); and >80% (or 25% more) of the population getting regular exercise.

All the more reason to move away from car-centric land use and transportation systems. Let's all aim to walk more, bike more, and take the stairs more as part of our daily routines!

Way to ruin Christmas for all of us.

This problem isn't one that is easily fixable though. We can tax; subsidize and do all sorts of things to try and encourage people to eat healthier food, but I guarantee that when it comes down to a food or drug or substance that people eat, drink or smoke on a regular basis; the government will fail every time. The issue is by and large a sociocultural one. There are many in America that are literally proud of being overweight or obese. It's so common that many accept being "fat" as part of their identity. It becomes "who they are"; and anyone who has a problem with it must be some kind of health freak.

What many don't realize is that being overweight or being obese for that matter is not a vanity issue. It's a serious health issue. It makes me sad to see parents so tolerable about their own children being overweight or obese; it's almost sickening to be honest.

We can fight this epidemic by restructuring our values and perceptions of obesity and lack of physical activity. How about education that teaches teenagers how to read a food label, the differences between carbs, fats and protein, and the effects of certain ingredients on the body? Maybe even teach kids how to cook something healthy instead of relying on pizza and other fast food chains. We need to promote fitness as well. Get more people interested in not only watching sports, but playing sports as well.

More excerpts from 'What is the Primary Fundamental Right?'

"Obesity can also be tenuously linked to the War on Drugs. Fear of 'criminals' is the main reason people vote for 'Tough on Crime' politicians and it is usually the news media that conveys this fear which in turn helps sell their product. People pay the most attention to things that scare them and this fear keeps the symbiotic relationship between the media and the politicians profitable for both.

This fear is usually delivered via television. Scared people vote for the politicians who will give them more police to keep them safe in their homes and in front of their TV's, and that's usually where they put on all the extra weight, eating and drinking the sweet things they see advertised. No pleasant night time walks for them, it's much too dangerous out there.

It's unlikely scared and depressed people seek attention so unconsciously they could be making themselves unattractive by becoming fat thus reducing the amount of attention they produce and also reducing the amount of time spent outside their homes. For example the sexual attack of a fat child or woman is probably quite rare simply because rapists probably don't find them attractive enough to produce an erection.

Professor Richard Johnson at the University of Florida announced in December 2005 that he and his team had found a new correlation between fructose sugar and obesity. In trials using rats they found that fructose caused the rats to continue eating even after they eaten enough. The researchers managed to stop the rats from getting fat by interrupting the way their bodies processed this simple sugar and the uric acid it produces that apparently causes a reduction of nitric oxide in the blood vessels causing high blood pressure and from there Metabolic Syndrome, otherwise known as Insulin Resistance Syndrome.

Over the last thirty odd years fructose consumption in the west has increased over 1000 fold with much of it going into soft drinks. This probably all came about because in 1982 in a vote buying move the Socialist US government restricted sugar imports thereby forcing up the price of cane sugar and making corn sugar a cheaper alternative. Because of the price both Coca Cola and Pepsi changed to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in November 1984. Now most processed foods world wide supposedly use HFCS. Human eating disorders have about tripled since then. This means that the possibility exists that the US government is responsible for the western world's obesity epidemic and that Socialism always interferes with the natural ecology of human development.

When finally the War on Drugs is over then 'crime' should fall around 80% seeing as this is about the percentage the so called 'drug crimes' make up in the jail statistics of western societies. Possibly this could bring about a similar percentage reduction in the amount of over weight people if the two problems are linked by expensive Socialist governments. Once the fatties fear levels drop they should no longer feel the need to protect themselves by staying indoors and eating all those sweet things in front of their fear inducing TV. Especially all those foods made with large amounts of appetite stimulating HFCS."
http://www.primaryfundamentalright.org/index.php?pageName=pfrWhatIs

Whenever I come back to the States I always find it extraordinary watching all the fat people at Walmart, its like they're a different species, really bizarre.
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People think Japan and Korea are weird, but the US looks like some dystopian future with massively oddly shaped mutants wandering about.
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TL;DR
The US is a strange place.

Its not that we are eating too much food, it is that we eat the wrong types of food. Just some food for thought :)

Is the BMI also valid for all ages? When you're over 50 and your BMI goes down to 20, I think it is rather a sign of serious illness and not of health...

Although I studied physics, something puzzles me. I'm eating a bar of chocolate of 100 grammes and I gain 500 grammes. How's this possible?

Wait a second, at 0:44 you tell us 2/3 of American adults have a BMI of 25-30. Then at 0:46 we see that 36% of American adults have a BMI of 30+. Are we so large that there are more than 100% of us? <(o.O)>

The figures just don't pass the sanity test. Have you been to Mexico and the USA recently? There is just no way that Mexicans are fatter than Americans. It is not even close. Yes, as the country has become richer one does see more overweight people than before down south, but it is still no where close to American levels.

Statistics from third world countries are highly unreliable and often made up to serve some political purpose.

Facts on obesity: http://www.facethefactsusa.org/facts/but-we-do-have-the-worlds-best-barb...

Facts on Sugar consumption: http://www.facethefactsusa.org/facts/the-sweet-life-and-what-it-costs-us/

Some think the cure to obesity is in science, technology, gene manipulation or a miracle drug that an undiscovered fungus growing on the back of a rare beetle in the Amazon forest.

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Gluttony is a problem of behavior and self control.
And it is as old as humanity.

The Solution is known.
And within our hands.
And can be implemented immediately
And cost nothing.
And is available world wide.

And the solution is simple:
EAT LESS AND EXERCISE MORE.
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We lack self discipline.
Cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and illegal drugs--we just can't help ourselves.

Now add ice cream, coffee frappachinos, fried foods, soda pop, steak, pastries, and cake.

Each of those obese calories were voluntarily brought to your mouth, place on your tongue, chewed by your teeth, and swallowed by your gullet with no terrorist holding a gun to your temple.
There is no Ossama bin Lard Cooking.
Or Al Qaeda Cult of Deep Frying.

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Blame the person in the mirror.
And that person is the only one on the planet who can solve your problem.

We see the enemy and it is us.
And they are devilishly crafty--beware.