Study: Americans sicker than English

I don't think this guy really cares and neither do I. I suspect he'll continue to eat crap and die from it, and that's what he wants.

 

Some people care about their apperance, and some dont. Nothing you can do really, to stop a full grown man's eating habbits.

 

Well, there is. ON TV these people were gonna run the London Marathon and had their health assessed beforehand. This girl was told she had the average aerobic capacity of a 60 year old in a coma or something like that. She then broke down in tears while they all stared at her lol

 

America: The Fat is in the middle...

I moved from middle america to NYC and began to excercise more as well as walk an average of about 7 to 10 miles per day. I lost about 40 lbs in 3 months.
Now, after a few years, I left NYC due to working over 70 hours a week on LIGHT weeks, but continue to excercise and eat healthy. I was also glad to see that NYC does not have a lot of smokers as compared to the rest of the country.
Um...eat less and better, work out, walk a lot! Gee, not hard. Also, when I talk NYC -- I mean Manhattan as I rarely went to queens, et al. My impression...the east/west coast have it right and middle america is just wrong.

 

That's why i suggested Aquarobics (sp) a lot of pools have it is basicaly low impact aerobics in the water, my Mum and Dad used to do it (my Dad was 60 at the time, he has quit doing it as he has taken up mountain biking since he retired).

 

If it hurts to swim, as much as it does to jog, then work I would suggest going to a college or high school swim coach and ask for there help. Most likely the reason your joints hurt from swimming is due to the wide range of motion required and the muscles needed to swim. You likely have not used them and a coach could help you slowly adopt your stroke so that your joints and muscles will get used to the range of motions.

 

And some people just need a good kick in the 4$$.

 

Don't forget the South. Them boyz have buckets of fat everyday, and smoke worse than the pioneering trains. Yet thier labs are good.

 

Oh, yes. Eating out, in general, is much cheaper in the States than in England. There are so many more places to go and eat at and many of them are extremely convenient; drive through is prevalent and lots of venues that you might have expected to be proper restaurants actually operate as a fast food joint, with service at the counter.

Portion size is somewhat out of control, and I find that I often leave as much as 50% of what I'm served on my plate - not because I don't like it, but because there's so much!

Portions of fries and soda tend to seem larger in the US than in UK fast food restaurants, but I have no proof other than my perceptions of it. A small drink certainly seems larger than I'd expect, here, and there is greater opportunity for increasing the portion size of certain elements of your junk food meal.

 

True, there is defiantly not a lack of calories in America.

But,

What about the health care systems?

From what I've found it looks like Britian has a National Health care system.

The National Health Service Act of 1946 made a health care plan that went in affect in 1948 because citizens were deemed (to judge or consider) to have a right to free health care, it provided free medical care for all of the people in Britian. The system covered a physician, dental care, prescription drugs, hospital care, eyeglasses, and dentures. It provided a better health care system than most people could afford."
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112187/england_way_of_life.htm

There isn't a National Health Care System in America...unless you are talking about Medicare and Medicaid.

If you went to the doctor....you would have to pay with either cash, or insurance.
If you have a medical plan through your employer, then you have to go to certain doctors.....and pay a percentage (depends on plans)

So lets say one of those Chav fellas gets in a fight with a MAP member and gets his arm and glasses broken and a couple of teeth knocked out.

Does all he has to do to get medical treatment...(doctor visit, x-rays, cast, pain medication, new eyeglasses and dental care)...involve he just go to the nearest hospital??

 

Pay towards dental care and specs maybe, probably not, Hospital free.

 

Thousands of medical experts telling us to eat better can't compete with media trends, specifically fast food and instant gratification habits.

This is apparent in other countries as well, the UK and mainland Europe are poking fun at the U.S. for getting fat, but are falling into the same trends that led us here in the first place.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/obesity/index.shtml

Back to media trends though. With extreme diets hitting the news (Atkins, South Beach, etc.), people are paying more attention to what they eat, but trying to do it in as simple a way as possible to fit the instant gratification lifesytle (which, in and of itself, is a rather unhealthy one).
So, the media starts advertising as healthier (fast food would sell Atkins approved meals) and unhealthy places get pummeled (Mc Donalds is trying to rebuild their image to a healthy adult market. Everyone, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, etc., are advertising their salads more and more.)

Note, that salads drenched in dressing, filled with ground beef, or even refried beans are, by far, selling more than simple garden salads, so its kind of defeating the purpose of trying to eat healthy.

I know its sad, when people's will power is limited to being able to order the Beefy Supreme Salad instead of Quarter Pounder value meal, super sized, but that seems to be the way everywhere. People are creatures of habits, and bad habits tend to b easier than good ones.

Few parents have the will to instill good habits onto their children when they were raised with, or even obtained in adulthood, bad habits themselves.

Recently though, there seem to be T.V. shows dedicated to humiliating the obese. "Honey, We're Killing the Kids" is one in the U.S. that points out, in overly dramatic television ways, bad eating habits of certain families, and does a composite of what the kid will look like when they're adults.

Oh well, maybe there will be a media trend to stop being a bunch of mindless, will-less zombies, and take responsibility of one's own life. Probably not.

I guess my point is that while it seems to be happening predominately in the U.S., other countries are following the obesity trend as well, which tells that this is a human condition, as food becomes cheaper more processed, and more calorie packed; and not just an American one.

 

I think this comes down to it. Thanks for all the input to this thread.

It doesn't matter which country is fatter.

Doesn't matter which country is richer.

Doesn't matter who smokes and who doesn't.

English people are healthier than Americans, because their health care system provides for them. Simple.































Now my other question....is......what is up with Black Pudding?

 

That doesn't necessarily make us healthier! It gives us treatment, but I'm a firm believer in 'prevention is better than cure'. Better to have a healthy lifestyle and good diet, etc.

What do you mean?

 

yup, the NHS doesnt make us healthier. infact being in an NHS hospital quite often makes you worse <cough> MRSA <cough>.

its a simple case of consumer over indulgence in both countries. its only a matter of time before the UK catches up on the US's head start.

 

How do they have a "head start"?

We used to have only private medicine in this country, but it was rubbish, so we introduced the NHS. It might be underfunded, but it is still something to be proud of, and has been an example to many other countries.

 

I was checking out traditional English food. To see what the menu is like "across the pond" I saw Black Pudding for breakfast and went

Traditional English Food Dishes

 

Black pudding is traditional in many European countries I believe, but seems to be mostly popular mainly in Britain and Ireland nowadays as far as I can tell.

Have you never had it? It's delicious. (Or decent brands are, anyway!)

 

It is called Blutwurst in Germany, allegedly invented by the ancient Brittons and taken all over Europe by the Romans, it is called blood sausage in the USA, if you have an iron deficiency get some down your neck, you make it by mixing, blood grain seasoning and fat and cooking it till it congeals.

Just because swe ahve treatment available still does not make us healthier, it's lfestyle, anyone in treatment is going to be unhealthy anyway.

 

consumer fast food culture started earlier in the US than it did over here.