The Thin Got Fat and the Fat Got Fatter

Published on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, by James Norton / Edit Post

How fat, as a nation, are we? We're so fat that the fattest states on a 1991 map of obesity map would, by comparison, be the skinniest states when stacked up against a 2007–2009 map featuring similar data. West Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi are at the vanguard of the heavy, running less than 20 percent obese in 1991, and reporting 30 plus percent obesity in recent years.

A Treehugger comparison spotlights a national defense problem that's going from bad to worse: The U.S. military is worrying about its long-term ability to find enough vaguely in-shape young people to fill its ranks. True, many modern military jobs are of the joystick and word processor variety, but there's something admirable about preserving the idea that anyone in one of the armed services should, you know, be capable of actually participating in combat. The Washington Post reports:

"[An] April study bluntly concludes that 9 million 17- to 24-year-olds—27 percent of all young adults—'are too fat to serve in the military.' The report by the nonprofit organization Mission: Readiness calls this trend 'a threat to national security' and notes that 'being overweight is now by far the leading medical reason for rejection.'"

Meanwhile, the one guy who can actually handle overeating and keep the weight off, six-time hot dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi, was arrested on July 4 for crashing the party at the Nathan's hot dog eating contest. It's a long story, but it's a good one. Apparently professional eating is becoming just as grubby as every other national sport. Plus vomiting. Well, more vomiting, anyway.

Image source: Flickr member rogerimp under Creative Commons

ALLFood Media
POST A COMMENT |2 Comments

COMMENT

  • JohnE O—I agree that we encourage personal responsibility, but the federal government has a role in ensuring the giant food corps don't pull the kind of crap they've been pulling for decades—they should be held responsible too. As for "useless" programs—that's a bit of a blanket statement.

    As for the findings—come on. That obesity has gotten worse over the past few decades in this country, and...+READ

    JohnE O—I agree that we encourage personal responsibility, but the federal government has a role in ensuring the giant food corps don't pull the kind of crap they've been pulling for decades—they should be held responsible too. As for "useless" programs—that's a bit of a blanket statement.

    As for the findings—come on. That obesity has gotten worse over the past few decades in this country, and for that matter in other countries exposed to processed snacks/fast food, is hardly debatable.-COLLAPSE

  • There are two major problems with these "findings". The first is that the alleged obesity is based solely on BMI which is an inaccurate measure since it doesn't measure fat, just the height and weight. Well conditioned athletes can be found to be overweight on the BMI even though they have lower % of body fat and higher muscle mass.
    Secondly, and most importantly, the findings all demand massive...+READ

    There are two major problems with these "findings". The first is that the alleged obesity is based solely on BMI which is an inaccurate measure since it doesn't measure fat, just the height and weight. Well conditioned athletes can be found to be overweight on the BMI even though they have lower % of body fat and higher muscle mass.
    Secondly, and most importantly, the findings all demand massive federal action to correct a problem that may or may not be getting worse. God forbid we encourage personal responsibility. Instead, let's have the federal government ban nasty foods and waste billions of dollars on useless programs.-COLLAPSE