Nearly a Third of the World is Obese

A new study indicates that a third of the world’s population is obese. Since Americans make up about four and a half percent of the world’s population, I’m pretty sure we’re not responsible for all of this:

The obesity epidemic is global: 2.1 billion people, or about 29% of the world’s population, were either overweight or obese in 2013, and nearly two out of three of the obese live in developing countries, according to a study released Thursday.

 

The prevalence of overweight and obese people rose by 27.5% for adults and 47.1% for children between 1980 and 2013, according to the study, led by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and published Thursday in the journal the Lancet. In 1980, 857 million people were overweight or obese.

Nearly two out of three obese people are in developing countries? I am not really understanding this. For years, everyone has been bemoaning world hunger, and how there is an overpopulation problem, and how our resources grow arithmetically though our population grows geometrically, etc. This study indicates otherwise.

For one, apparently the third world isn’t as starving as we once thought. They actually could cut back a little.

Second, we can be pretty sure our resources are keeping up with at least current population growth.

And then there is this angle. What if obesity isn’t as much about the amount of food you are eating as it is the quality of that food? Processed and Franken-foods have become ever more prevalent all over the world, and in many cases, because of their convenience and price, they have actually replaced some of the healthier staples in traditional cuisine. Could this be the real reason for obesity in developing countries? It’s hard to say. But it wouldn’t hurt to return to minimally processed food just to be safe.

50 responses

  1. Have you priced fresh fruits and vegetables lately? It costs much more to buy from the produce section than it does from the candy and soda isles. Two large Honeycrisp Apples cost as much as a tub of premium Ice Cream. I am not surprised at all about the study.

    • Frozen vegetables are cheaper and they last longer. Try comparing the prices of fresh fruit to canned fruit like peaches. Check the ingredients of canned fruit and avoid those that have added sugar. Buying fruit in season is cheaper.
      Buy bags of fruit like apples.

      It’s always cheaper to make fruit juice from concentrate instead of juice in cartons or bottles.

      Peanut butter is an excellent and healthy source of protein for those who aren’t overweight. It’s fantastic on toast for breakfast. Wait for frozen entrees to go on sale. Then stock up. Check for protein content & weight. Different frozen entrees by one company aren’t all the same weight. Look for the dinners that weigh the most. It’s a better deal for your money.

        • I’ve read a lot of books on nutrition throughout my life. One time I considered going back to school and getting into the health and nutrition field. We’re seeing a huge population of baby boomers who are in home care facilities. It looked like a promising direction for a good paying job.

          That’s why I dive into the ACA debate.

      • Another thing I do is I’ve replaced butter with hone in a lot of cases. I use honey on toast and bread, and eat Peanut butter and honey on a sandwich instead of jelly. I also like olive oil with pepper in it on my bread.

        • Honey is one of our wonder foods. It’s superior to butter. It’s great for a sore throat. There are entire books dedicated to the benefits of honey. It’s loaded with potassium. That’s why it helps a sore throat. Bacteria thrives on moisture in our bodies and the potassium in honey grabs it all. That’s why honey is considered a natural antibiotic.

      • Actually peanut butter is not that great – one of the most allergen foods there is. A much better choice is almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, filberts – any nut except the peanut.

          • I got some groceries, some peant butter, to last a couple of days But I ain’t got no speakers, ain’t got no headphones, ain’t got no records to play… (Life during wartime -Talking Heads)

          • Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
            Gonna be different this time
            Can’t write a letter, Can’t send a postcard,
            I can’t write nothing at all
            This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco,
            This ain’t no fooling around…

          • I’d love you hold you, I’d like to kiss you, But I ain’t got no time for that now… 😛

          • Do u talk to strangers in a bar like that? And then tell them you have no time for that now? Bet they’re not happy 😛

          • It’s not what I say, but facts: the Indians considered the peanut to be a poisonous weed, but then some smart ass civilized man comes along and decides we should all eat it. Kinda the same story with GMOs. And I bet you’ll never give up GMOs also.

          • I don’t have a problem with peanut butter, and neither do two of my three children. No reason for us to avoid peanut butter!

          • Are you still mad at me about the GMOs?
            Never gonna forgive me?
            (I really like my GMOs…)

        • Peanut butter is only bad for those who are allergic to it. A person can be allergic to anything; that doesn’t mean that we should avoid everything! Just FYI, my daughter is allergic to almonds and walnuts as well as peanuts and a lot of other foods that most people have no problem with. That doesn’t meant that everyone should avoid those foods!

  2. Minkoff, ya got it pretty right. Let me fill in an important detail for you: hydrogenated fats/oils. These toxics are more like motor oil than anything the human body can digest – ban hydrogenated fats and oils and I bet anything within 10 years there will be a real difference.

    • It is not the government’s purview to ban any food. It is none of the government’s business what we put into our own bodies, nor to make sure that we are healthy. That is up to the individual, and for minors, up to their families.

  3. What I’ve come to understand about liberals over time is that when you can’t manipulate people with facts, you manipulate them with prose…
    Tell them anything and if you repeat it enough, eventually they’ll come to believe you… (ie global warming, starvation, pollution…)

    • Jessica, you’ve got it backwards. The right actually believe that inperson voter fraud is wide spread, Obama wasn’t born in this country, is a Muslim, communist, socialist, Marxist, fascist… in spite of a vast amount of evidence that disprove their believes. BTW, Some 842 million people roughly one in eight suffer from chronic hunger

      • Ok, Bob – you’re right!
        World hunger is a huge problem! But how do we solve it?
        Have you ever gone to a “Feed My Starving Children” party?
        Instead of a normal birthday party, the kids go to FMSC to pack the protein meals for underdeveloped countries and donate the $ they would use to buy a present. It’s so cool to watch the kids and see how much they care about the hungry children elsewhere.

        There are so many problems in the world today. I just don’t want the govt trying to solve all of them… it’s not their job!!! People are responsible to help people. Our govt should be like a good boss… underutilized and minimally involved… letting each department coordinate their own duties. The federal govt should simply provide national defense and let the other stuff be handled by the states. Bureaucracy is a terrible thing!

        Even though you’re not Christian, you may have heard that Jesus said, “the poor will always be with you”. I think He meant that, while we need to always help others, we can’t get discouraged because we can’t help them all. We just need to keep trying…

        Btw your avatar really brings out your eyes… cool!!

        • What I find odd about Christianity is god allows children to be born in a place like sub saharan africa in which they live a horrible life until they starve to death & because they happen to be born in a place that is not Christian at the end of their miserable life’s they get to spend eternity being tortured in hell & yet Christians believe their god is “loving”

          • Ye have little faith.
            It hurts to think of those suffering kids, starving, in pain, sick..
            Why does God allow this? That’s a question you’ll have to answer for yourself. My words are only words to you.
            But I have my theory…

            When you say those innocent people will spend eternity being tortured in hell, I really worry about what they’re doing to people at NYU. You don’t honestly believe a good and loving God would send those innocent people to hell for eternity, do you?

            I really try to figure things out like you said. But it seems all I can do is trust my One, True God and know he will always be there when I need him.

          • Well, I know most Christians don’t actually believe the bible means what it says but in the bible their IS a place called hell & that place is reserved for ALL “non believers”. Personally I don’t believe in god but if the story is true he’s certainly not “good & loving”

          • Oh… I believe in hell – it’s a permanent separation from God. Fire and brimstone are historical symbols of it, not necessarily a literal depiction. Hell (separation from God) is a choice by the individual, not by God. When a person truly believes in God and is sorrowful of their sins, God forgives ANYONE. That’s what I was raised to believe.
            What Christians do you know that don’t believe the Bible means what it says? You need new friends! Maybe they’re talking literally? Some Christians believe the bible is literal; I’m not one of them, nor is Roman Catholicism. It takes study to get the full meaning of the Bible. But learning the Ten Commandments and the Nicene Creed pretty much sums up all you need to know.

            How have you lived a life with so much academic learning and yet be so naive?

          • You version of hell is more Jewish then Christian. EVERY Christian I know doesn’t believe the bible means whet it says (otherwise they would be doing what Christians have done throughout history & kill all non believers) the Nicene Creed? Isn’t that where they invented the bizarre concept of the trinity 325 years after the fact?

          • The trinity was invented. 1st century & 2nd century Christians didn’t believe it. I would not say my parents were “devout atheists” I think they believed what Napoleon believed that “Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich”

          • No, the Trinity was not invented.
            Christ himself made this truth of the Trinity known to the 12 apostles as a process. He taught them that he was the Son of God. Near the end of his ministry, he promised that God would send another divine person in his place. 50 days after his death, God sent the Holy Spirit, as an advocate to Christ’s disciples. Jesus actually baptized the apostles and commanded them to “go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” The term began being used in the 2nd century.

          • The trinity isn’t mentioned in the bible & if it the basis of the Christian movement why wouldn’t it be clear or why didn’t 1st & 2nd century Christians know about it?

          • You ask “Why wouldn’t it be clear?”
            Bob, you have a brain; you’re an adult. Figure it out!!!
            It’s very clear to me.
            How easy is it to understand Old English (Shakespeare or Chaucer)? Often it needs to be studied to comprehend it.

            Did you even read my initial response?
            Yes, the Trinity IS mentioned in the bible.
            Matt. 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (also see 2Corr 13:14, Heb 9:14).
            It’s evident in the earliest Christian writings. They understood that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are 3 divine persons making one divine being.

            Put that overly-educated brain to work figuring out things that really matter!!!!

          • Backward thinking.
            “Your ways are not my ways…….”
            God tells you right up front that the way you think is NOT how He thinks. How do you know what He has in store for those who die at an early age. Have you asked Him what the next life is like and what it takes to go and be with Him when we die? Have you considered that HE does not have to tell you ANYTHING about what He does or how he is going to judge?
            Why do you think that YOUR FINITE limited intelligence is going to be able to understand the Very God who created protons, electrons neutrons, quarks and all of the other building blocks up to the point of DNA which prescribes WHO you are.
            YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND. And you would not understand IF He told you in detail. YOUR mind, nor mine can grasp such information.
            Tell me how the three main forces in the universe: gravity, magnetism, and electric field operate accross a distance where there is NOTHING. How can that happen? And how are they similar or different, since they ALL operate across those open spaces?
            YOU DON’T KNOW. But you still pretend that YOU can criticize God for not doing things the way YOU think He should have.

          • Your ignorance of science is astounding. I am sorry but
            making up a magic story with an invisible magic man to explain things you do not understand is intellectually lazy. Smart people do not do that. Evidence + reason that is the only formula to truth.

      • Look. Everyone but LABOB is out of step. Everyone else is wrong and he is the ONLY ONE who is right.
        Don’t believe me. Just ask him. LOL
        And as to IN PERSON voter fraud, it has been proven and is known to be wide spread. The problem is those dead people, dogs, cats, cartoon figures being allowed to vote IN PERSON by those HONEST poll watchers.

        • where is this proof of wide spread voter fraud you speak of? I hear you people speak of it but NOBODY has been able to provide a single shred of evidence.

  4. When I was a kid we could run and play outside from morning till nightfall without a worry. How much does genetics play is being overweight. . .and is it really overweight or big boned? Not everyone is shaped like a twig and all cannot be classified into one category by height and what their weight should be. Muscle weighs more than fat. . .are these people fit for their body structures? Maybe we need to dump all that genetically processed food and get back to the basics of real food.

  5. I do not know about the fat people of the world, but I do know that we have a bunch of ‘fat head’ politicians in Washedout, District of Corruption.

  6. I see morbidly obese people every day and I wonder how they can stand to carry around the weight. It has to be uncomfortable. People should get more exercise and eat in moderation. It’s not hard.

  7. Define your terms please.

    What is the definition of overweight?
    How does this differ from obese?
    When does obese become morbidly obese?

  8. I assume that these people who came up with this information would also claim that the other 2/3 are all starving to death.
    According to them, no one is NORMAL.

  9. I think this article has earned the dubious distinction of the greatest ever thread diversion for off-topic discussion.

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