A CDC survey suggests America’s obesity rate may be falling.
Key Takeaways
- Recent data shows a slight decline in US obesity rates, but experts caution it’s too early to declare a turning point in the obesity epidemic.
- GLP-1 agonists show promise in combating obesity as trials demonstrate the drugs help people lose 10–20% of their body weight and reduce their risk of weight-related health problems.
- However, the high cost and limited insurance coverage of GLP-1 agonists present significant barriers to widespread adoption, and other preventative initiatives would need to be adopted to keep obesity trends declining.
Fatty, fatty 2X4, can’t fit through the kitchen door…
That and a similar gems used to be chanted at the big kids when I was young and being big was an abnormal state.
I’ve mentioned before to my kids that it almost seems antiquated that a ‘quarter pounder’ used to be the big burger.
I’m 6’3" and float around in the 230-240 space and try to stay no bigger than that. Back when the Simpsons first started that was considered comically obese. Now it’s just ‘dad bod’.
So much of it is an overcorrection in the name of not hurting the feelings of fat people to the point where now not only have we stopped outwardly shaming them but we’ve started taking big/curvy as being natural and all-american.
So did one of my daughters. It may not have been helpful in itself but think of t as a reflection of the prevailing attitudes. That being overweight is unhealthy and should be remedied. People go to great lengths today to justify and even glamorize being obese and it’s frustrating as can be.
I think the problem is that so much of our self-worth is wrapped up in being physically attractive. People want to feel desirable, and feeling ugly or unwanted is a killer on your self esteem. It also disproportionately affects women, as a man’s value isn’t necessarily tied to his physical beauty.
If we treated obesity as a health problem, and not a beauty defect, then it would be like heart disease or eyesight. You have a daughter, so you’re probably old enough to remember when wearing glasses was considered ugly and unattractive. People would rather walk around unable to see than put on their spectacles, and contact lenses became a must-have fashion accessory.
If not for the shared social trauma of fat-shaming, there would be no need for the overcorrection. People come in all shapes and sizes, and health is a relative term. Helping people get healthy is an act of medical care, not social control. It should be treated like any other condition, without judgement or stigma.
