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I find it interesting that I scrolled through this whole thread and there has been little if any discussion of excessively poor health care in the United States. Also, things like how when people develop type 2 diabetes, the solution is often getting them on expensive insulin that causes weight gain, causing more insulin need, causing more weight gain etc. Look up Dr. Jason Fung for detailed information on how the typical approach to diabetes management actually just makes it, and weight gain, much worse. Speaking of healthcare in the US, even for those who can afford a doctor -- I personally have gone to the doctor when I had unexplained blood sugar drops and weight gain despite being active (training for a century ride at the time), counting calories and eating the oft-touted '5 small meals a day'. They scoffed at me, told me they 'couldn't give me a pill to make me thin,' told me my habits were fine and I should keep doing what I was doing. As it turned out, and I learned through my own research, my frequent eating was causing me to become insulin resistant, and once I moved to 2 meals a day and a longer fast overnight my issues reversed. From talking to others there was nothing unusual about my experience with the doctor -- in the US obesity is considered a moral issue and not a health one, and our doctors have very little to offer in terms of advice based on the underlying mechanisms of obesity or taking patients seriously when they are concerned about weight gain. We have all sorts of other things contributing to causing metabolic issues in the first place -- our poorly regulated food and ag industries have been pushing completely warped ideas of what makes a 'balanced' diet for decades -- e.g. milk and empty carbohydrates are 'a balanced breakfast,' the low fat fiasco where processed foods with reduced fat and increased sugars were touted as 'healthier', and for decades kids were taught in school the 'food pyramid' which was a suggested diet written entirely by agriculture lobbyists rather than the available science on nutrition. We have an entire populace who, if they know anything about what is actually healthy for humans, came by it through having to seek it out themselves and wade through a lot of junk science sponsored by various corporate interests. Also we are stuck in cycles of constant work, presenteeism and long hours in sedentary jobs, no sick leave, little if any vacation, etc. etc. where Europe etc. have much better work practices, not to mention less car culture, walk and bikeable and transitable cities, all things that are aggressively opposed in the US. The problem is fueled by a number of systems. Imagining it to be a matter of simple will power or portion size is inane. |