Fat 2 Fit #92 – Politics of Obesity


Written on March 24, 2010 – 9:15 am | by Russ Turley

Government is injecting itself into our lives more and more. One of those areas is our waistlines. Governments around the world understand that obesity is a major problem that is not going away by itself. They are combatting it in a few ways like education and imposing sin taxes on high fat/calorie foods. These programs make a minute dent in the problem, but don’t solve the problem. On our feature section, Jeff gives us a report on what governments can and should do to help you become healthier.

Kath in Australia wrote in and wanted to know if everyone has a natural weight that they gravitate towards. This idea is called set point theory and we shed some light on it in the email and comments section. Light was also thrown on some weight training related questions. Maritza wanted to know if she should train the front half of her body with the same amount of weight as the back portion of her body. Amy asks about slow speed resistance training. Be sure to check the show notes below for some great articles on these topics.

On the Web Report, Russ shared an article that says humans now have another kind of taste, fat. Certain people are sensitive to the chemical composition of fat and don’t like the taste. Hence, they have a lower BMI. Jeff shared an article that says women that drink moderate amounts of wine are at a lower risk of becoming overweight or obese at midlife. They are also a lot more fun at parties.

Links Mentioned in the Show:
Wine, not whine, helps women lose weight
Humans can taste fat
Slow speed resistance training
How much should I weigh?
Set Point Theory
California first to ban trans fats
Taxing foods to help you lose weight
First lady takes on childhood obesity
Politics of obesity research paper

Recipe of the Week:
Homemade Chicken Soup

Homework:
The homework this week is to experience the type of eating that we talked about earlier when we mentioned how people can, over time, discover what their body’s natural weight might be. I challenge people to try only eating natural unprocessed foods, only eat when they are hungry, eat slowly and then stop when they are full.

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  1. 5 Responses to “Fat 2 Fit #92 – Politics of Obesity”

  2. By Pamela Hernandez on Mar 26, 2010 | Reply

    You are so right, education and the carrot (not stick) approach are things we need to do more of in our society. Making sure that people understand more about their foods, the long term effects of not exercising and poor eating choices and what obesity does to our society as a whole is very important. We need to keep P.E for the children with a focus on quality. Even 25 years ago I can remember having a P.E. teacher who was overweight and ate brownies and cookies leftover from lunch while we exercised. Not a good example.

  3. By Maritza on Mar 31, 2010 | Reply

    Thank you both so much for answering my questions!

  4. By terry on Apr 14, 2010 | Reply

    I too agree that education is the way to go. Remember in Supersize me when they compared the advertising dollars of junk/fast foods compared to the campaign to advertise healthy foods to kids?

    RE: slow weights – I’m a believer for anyone who is recovering from an injury FOR SURE. Not only is it safer, but it really allows you to consciously use the muscles that are supposed to be working for each particular exercise…especially if you’re having to re-learn how to use some part of your body. I intuitively felt this early in my rehab for my shoulder, but the PT’s said I needed to have quick motion ability. It wasn’t until nearly 3 years into my rehab that I met with a PT who took me back to the beginning, brought my weights down to practically zero and had me do slow subtle movements (which felt right intuitively) and this was when my function began to return. Now that I’ve gotten function back, I’ve progressed back to more standard weights and can feel myself getting stronger by the day! I still move slowly during my reps, otherwise I will start using the wrong muscles again, flaring them up in pain because they aren’t supposed to be doing the work!

    Thanks for the podcast, We love it!

  5. By Tim Hassett on Apr 17, 2010 | Reply

    Hey Guys,

    I just finished listening to this podcast while on the treadmill this morning, and wanted to comment with a few points:

    1) I live in Greenville, NC – home of East Carolina University, and the study you referenced!! I’m originally from Annapolis, MD, but have lived here for about 10 years. Thanks for the local reference!

    2) Ironically, Greenville, NC (and the greater Eastern Carolina region) received the illustrious statistic a couple years ago of having the largest number of fast food restaurants per square mile. In my time here, I have really noticed how much fried food and BBQ is part of the staple diet in this region, and the vast number of people that are sadly overweight. It is not unusual to have places like The Olive Garden and The Super China Buffet jam packed with people on a normal evening, AND to see the people here literally spilling over their chairs because they are so obese. While I am politically conservative, I think there are a couple areas where government can help. (see points #3, #4, and #5 below)

    3) It is VERY difficult to bike or walk to shopping, dining, and services in this town. There are very few “bikeways”, sidewalks, parks, and nice outdoor recreation areas. We are right here on the coast, with lots of opportunity to develop stuff like this. Let’s encourage this kind of growth.

    4) While taxing unhealthy foods is minimally effective, I LOVE the idea of requiring calorie information on ALL fast food, buffet, and full service restaurant menus. Even I struggle sometimes with trying to guess which choice is in line with my daily caloric goals. (can you say 1,400 calorie salad at Chilis?) I know that some areas like NYC have instituted this for places like fast food only, but this REALLY needs to be a national requirement across the entire food service industry. 2010 should be the year knowing exactly what we are putting in our bodies.

    5) Education. I am all for this. Many of the people who are obese are of lower economic status, and simply do not know what it takes to live a healthier life, and the long term effects of their bad habits. Ultimately, the responsibility is theirs to get in shape, and they should be armed with good information. If they choose to continue their bad habits (just like smoking), it should not be OUR tax dollars that pay for their bypass surgery, lung surgery, and fat person electric wheelchair.

    My background: I used to be 50 pounds overweight. Over the past 2-3 years, I have worked hard to burn the fat, and constantly educate myself about nutrition and exercise. I’m happy to say that I continue to maintain a low body fat %, muscle tone, and eating habits. This has been a battle, but one that I have won through constant consumption of information such as Fat2Fit radio podcasts, magazine articles, medical studies, and nutritional analysis.

  6. By Anna on May 8, 2010 | Reply

    Thought I’d share this article in case you haven’t already read:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1164232/They-weigh-80-stone-claim-thousands-benefits–work-Who-blame-Anyone-themselves.html

    It discusses whether it is reasonable that people should be able to claim benefits because they are too fat to work.

    I think it’s fair to say that the government is actually supporting/enabling the weight problem these people have. What do you think?

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