Obesity aspirations

YeahBuddy said :

And I don’t buy your “but its my genetics” argument. I family members (ok maybe aunts and cousins) that are HUGE big fatties, but I well within my healthy weight range, and so are my kids. Its lifesyle fatso’s, NO MORE EXCUSES

There are, of course, genetic and metabolic conditions that lead to “obesity” even in the face of a healthy lifestyle. But there also those who find out these conditions exist and self-diagnose as an excuse to not try.

Which, of course, leads to further stigma for those few with genuine conditions, as the uninformed tar them with the same brush as the “dont want to” crowd.

shauno said :

I maintain for the left that want to control and regulate every aspect of our lives they may as well build a massive prison and place every Australian in a padded cell for life and their job is done. Full control will have been accomplished.

Did you read the linked document? I see encouragement, not “control”. If that’s “control”, the people have some pretty weak resistance.

(Link between not reading reference material and blaming “the left”? May be a trend. As Rorschach would say, must investigate further.)

Though you didn’t actually use the words “nanny state”, so I’m not sure if I need to take a sip in the drinking game.

I maintain for the left that want to control and regulate every aspect of our lives they may as well build a massive prison and place every Australian in a padded cell for life and their job is done. Full control will have been accomplished.

There’s also the potential indignity of computer-generated bifurcation:

http://au.totaltravel.yahoo.com/travel-ideas/news-opinions/news/a/-/19387714/airline-allocates-overweight-man-two-seats-different-rows/?Src=y7homepage

…having visions of battery-powered scooters a la Malcolm:

http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3807325-v

BimboGeek said :

Anyway as I said, the gov wants you to measure your waist for a better indicator of your overall health. Mine’s 93cm, what’s yours?

http://www.measureup.gov.au/internet/abhi/publishing.nsf/Content/Weight,+waist+circumference+and+BMI-lp

And as for judging fat people harshly, that’s not going to help. They are suffering an eating disorder and you don’t yell at anorexics or bulimics, you just gently help them see that they have a problem and it is possible for them to get better. You don’t ignore it either. When I spent a month losing a kg a week my boyfriend at the time decided that’s enough and took me to the doctor. What do you do to help when an already chubby friend gains weight at this alarming rate? I’m so dysmorphic that I’m not much good at identifying when an overweight person gains or loses a bit so I rely on you (normal people) to help them.

I wish RA had a like button.

As an alternative policy approach, I find putting on a nice pair of high heels a terrific way to improve my BMI.

Anyway as I said, the gov wants you to measure your waist for a better indicator of your overall health. Mine’s 93cm, what’s yours?

http://www.measureup.gov.au/internet/abhi/publishing.nsf/Content/Weight,+waist+circumference+and+BMI-lp

And as for judging fat people harshly, that’s not going to help. They are suffering an eating disorder and you don’t yell at anorexics or bulimics, you just gently help them see that they have a problem and it is possible for them to get better. You don’t ignore it either. When I spent a month losing a kg a week my boyfriend at the time decided that’s enough and took me to the doctor. What do you do to help when an already chubby friend gains weight at this alarming rate? I’m so dysmorphic that I’m not much good at identifying when an overweight person gains or loses a bit so I rely on you (normal people) to help them.

PBO has a point. And makes it well.

PBO said :

YeahBuddy said :

And I don’t buy your “but its my genetics” argument. I family members (ok maybe aunts and cousins) that are HUGE big fatties, but I well within my healthy weight range, and so are my kids. Its lifesyle fatso’s, NO MORE EXCUSES

I agree, if you think that it is a glandular problem then stop eating glands dammit! Its bad enough that you have to make special arrangements for fat friends due to their fatness and god forbid having to sit next to one on a bus. And the smell…….wow!

I generally find no mirth in girth because i have been there on the fat side and there is not excuse for not being able to apply yourself because you are too fat! Fat fat fat, fatty fat fat is something that echoed through my mind as a fat child and I will never go back to being unable to buy clothes right off the rack.

As a child a dreaded the possibility that one day I would be driving a tiny car to go shopping for his and hers Mu-Mu’s and having to wear crocs for medical reasons.

I was terrified of ordering a diet coke with my half a cake and I smoked to take the attention away from my ethnic fatnicity (I was a Ginger fat kid).

As a child nothing hurt more and it put me in a very dark place where I eventually put a knife to my wrist………..albeit it was a butter knife and I had butter on my wrist because I used too much butter (food lube) because I was making a sandwich because I was unhappy because I was fat because I ate too many sandwiches.

It made my life an endless cycle of sugar coated fatness with a jelly jam centre.

In the end I was lucky to have a sister who had a wicked way with words to tease the fat from my big boned frame.

Fatty boom-bah, Thunderchunks, Obese freckled different looking child with funny accent etc etc etc….

Her friends would join in and they would form a large dancing circle around me singing songs of fatness and gingerdom. It was a big circle too because I was fat and she had a lot of friends. It was easy for her to maintain a chorus with a lot of friends and it helped that she was slim and blond as well.

Now, years later, I look back and still get the idea that I am a tad overweight even though I now effectively have a mannequinns type of body and a decent jawline. I did run into some of my thinner highschool counterparts that are now all fat, divorced and packing shelves at Coles.

I walked up to them and said: Hi, Can you tell me how much this ……OMFG, Holly is that you? Damn, did you eat a hippo or did you sew your bum shut because you are huge dammit! Wow, can I get a picture with you to show my mates?

She drops her stock in shock…..

No, no let me pick that up, you’re too fat and it will be quicker if i do it and i dont want you to hurt yourself because it looks like you are going really red and i can hear you breathe.

It felt good to give it back all those years later

Now if the Government can come up with some sort of final solution involving some sort of early age teasing program to make children more aware of their phjysical shortcomings, then i think that the ACT will have a bright future because teasing works and the results of a good childhood mocking can have positive lifelong effects.

Case and point – it is a form of child abuse.

YeahBuddy said :

And I don’t buy your “but its my genetics” argument. I family members (ok maybe aunts and cousins) that are HUGE big fatties, but I well within my healthy weight range, and so are my kids. Its lifesyle fatso’s, NO MORE EXCUSES

I agree, if you think that it is a glandular problem then stop eating glands dammit! Its bad enough that you have to make special arrangements for fat friends due to their fatness and god forbid having to sit next to one on a bus. And the smell…….wow!

I generally find no mirth in girth because i have been there on the fat side and there is not excuse for not being able to apply yourself because you are too fat! Fat fat fat, fatty fat fat is something that echoed through my mind as a fat child and I will never go back to being unable to buy clothes right off the rack.

As a child a dreaded the possibility that one day I would be driving a tiny car to go shopping for his and hers Mu-Mu’s and having to wear crocs for medical reasons. I was terrified of ordering a diet coke with my half a cake and I smoked to take the attention away from my ethnic fatnicity (I was a Ginger fat kid).

As a child nothing hurt more and it put me in a very dark place where I eventually put a knife to my wrist………..albeit it was a butter knife and I had butter on my wrist because I used too much butter (food lube) because I was making a sandwich because I was unhappy because I was fat because I ate too many sandwiches.

It made my life an endless cycle of sugar coated fatness with a jelly jam centre.

In the end I was lucky to have a sister who had a wicked way with words to tease the fat from my big boned frame.

Fatty boom-bah, Thunderchunks, Obese freckled different looking child with funny accent etc etc etc….

Her friends would join in and they would form a large dancing circle around me singing songs of fatness and gingerdom. It was a big circle too because I was fat and she had a lot of friends. It was easy for her to maintain a chorus with a lot of friends and it helped that she was slim and blond as well.

Now, years later, I look back and still get the idea that I am a tad overweight even though I now effectively have a mannequinns type of body and a decent jawline. I did run into some of my thinner highschool counterparts that are now all fat, divorced and packing shelves at Coles.

I walked up to them and said: Hi, Can you tell me how much this ……OMFG, Holly is that you? Damn, did you eat a hippo or did you sew your bum shut because you are huge dammit! Wow, can I get a picture with you to show my mates?

She drops her stock in shock…..

No, no let me pick that up, you’re too fat and it will be quicker if i do it and i dont want you to hurt yourself because it looks like you are going really red and i can hear you breathe.

It felt good to give it back all those years later

Now if the Government can come up with some sort of final solution involving some sort of early age teasing program to make children more aware of their phjysical shortcomings, then i think that the ACT will have a bright future because teasing works and the results of a good childhood mocking can have positive lifelong effects.

I think some posters dont realise that this relates to ACT Gov workers, not Commonwealth public servants.

Everyone knows its the ACT pubes that are fat s***s.

PBO said :

When I see an image like that there is only one thing that goes through my mind….

Yang chas Solo chone Wookiee, Tung ko ro yay ha yaba hahs gee!
(Bring me Solo and the Wookiee, They will all suffer for this outrage!)

Whereas I think ‘phew, it’s not me’!

farout said :

How about capping the calorie limit of meals served in a restaurant? Particularly Kids Meals – I’ve seen kids meals that are big enough to feed a hungry truckie.

And what is it with ‘nuggets and chips’, ‘fish and chips’, ‘anything we don’t have to pay too much attention to and chips’. Don’t know about anyone else’s kids, but mine eats pretty much what we do, but in smaller portions. I steer away from the kids menus if they are the ‘with chips’ kind and hand over some of our portion instead.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/active-kid-postage-stamps-yanked-over-safety-concerns-1.2021485?cmp=fbtl

How about capping the calorie limit of meals served in a restaurant? Particularly Kids Meals – I’ve seen kids meals that are big enough to feed a hungry truckie.

Wow, just wow. Why dont’ they spend some money on measures that might actually make a diference like:
Subsidise sporting fees to participants at the end of each season (if they have maintained an adequate level of participation)
As above for gym fees
Community “Cooking Healthy from Scratch” classes, and get the kids involved – MAKE IT FUN
Teach new parents about how to feed their kids healthy, especially if mum and/or dad are already overweight themselves (too much focus on birth, not enough on parenting IMHO)
Involve CPS in cases where children are overweight (controversial, yes. Maybe an agency other than CPS could work better, but have someone monitoring these kids, its CHILD ABUSE!!)

And I don’t buy your “but its my genetics” argument. I family members (ok maybe aunts and cousins) that are HUGE big fatties, but I well within my healthy weight range, and so are my kids. Its lifesyle fatso’s, NO MORE EXCUSES

When I see an image like that there is only one thing that goes through my mind….

Yang chas Solo chone Wookiee, Tung ko ro yay ha yaba hahs gee!
(Bring me Solo and the Wookiee, They will all suffer for this outrage!)

Skidd Marx said :

Smoking – it ain’t always slimmin’.

You should see the ‘before’ photo…

BMI is an index. You get a number at time t. You get a number at time t+x. You compare the two numbers and determine if it’s gone up, down or stayed the same. It’s also handy to get many, many numbers for a population quickly and easily and see the trends. As such, perfectly useful.

If there’s a problem with BMI, it’s that people are using it incorrectly. It’s like using Google Earth to take a picture of your car.

Smoking – it ain’t always slimmin’.

Based purely on observation (i.e. untroubled by anything resembling a relevant statistic) there is an obesity issue and, if anything, it is increasingly noticeable with younger people, and people of early middle years – the “I’m pleased with myself (and make no apologies for what I’m doing to myself) waddle” is quite a common phenomenon.

That said, I think a more practical approach might be more effective – reducing the numbers of staff (and making sure those employed actually have genuinely meaningful, worthwhile things to do) thus reducing the boredom factor and the time available to deal with it through tea breaks, muffin breaks, long lunches, drinking sessions etc. would be a good start. The same could be said, no doubt, for parts of the federal PS, and the private sector, although market forces and the profit motive tend to ensure that, over time, most private sector workers are kept busy most of the time.

I would also suggest that the ACT Government look at licensing (if they do not already do so) those battery-powered scooters which are an increasingly common sight in public places – a rule that licenses be restricted to people with compelling, non-remediable medical conditions, might serve as an incentive for those who have, or plan to have, a scooter essentially because they are seriously overweight and have consequent mobility problems. A time-limited, non-renewable license could be issued for those who need time to lose weight.

What a terrible picture, she looks like she is melting in the heat.

rosscoact said :

Hurrumph, hurrumph, yairs, I’m a lard arse and I object to anyone saying I cannot be a lard arse. It’s my business if I have type 2 diabetes, mobility problems and heart disease.

Anyway, I have a scooter supplied by the those nice people at the hospital which gets me to Maccas whenever I need to (How could anyone survive without those McMuffins to start the day?).

How dare the government try to get me to be healthier? The downhill slide started when they tried to stop me throwing rubbish out the window. Then they tried to stop me from driving after I’ve had a few port and lemonades. Then the damn smokes were suddenly bad for me. I mean, these are the things that make my life worthwhile and yet the damn government insists on poking their noses into our freedoms.

I’d like to nominate myself as the poster-child for a campaign to turn back the tide on the attack on the civil liberties we hold dear. Getting fat, drink driving, smoking and chucking crap into the street. I’ll need your donations but I see that most of you see sense in this so can you send your money to RiotACT and I’ll collect it from them.

Awesome rant. 🙂

Hurrumph, hurrumph, yairs, I’m a lard arse and I object to anyone saying I cannot be a lard arse. It’s my business if I have type 2 diabetes, mobility problems and heart disease.

Anyway, I have a scooter supplied by the those nice people at the hospital which gets me to Maccas whenever I need to (How could anyone survive without those McMuffins to start the day?).

How dare the government try to get me to be healthier? The downhill slide started when they tried to stop me throwing rubbish out the window. Then they tried to stop me from driving after I’ve had a few port and lemonades. Then the damn smokes were suddenly bad for me. I mean, these are the things that make my life worthwhile and yet the damn government insists on poking their noses into our freedoms.

I’d like to nominate myself as the poster-child for a campaign to turn back the tide on the attack on the civil liberties we hold dear. Getting fat, drink driving, smoking and chucking crap into the street. I’ll need your donations but I see that most of you see sense in this so can you send your money to RiotACT and I’ll collect it from them.

Madam Cholet said :

I reckon that I am part of the last generation who know how to make a meal from scratch without opening a box or packet or calling a take away joint. I’ve said this before on this site, but for a long time I was convinced that judging by the contents of supermarket trolleys, that everybody must be having parties every week. I realised finally that they aren’t – this is how they eat normally. And this is why they are fat. They have no will power to stop buying rubbish. The crime is that they feed it to their kids and clog up hospitals.

This is very true. I like to think that I eat “healthy”. But my extent of cooking skills is opening boxes of food, jars of sauces etc or picking up the phone. Luckily I’m really good at chopping up veges for salads and stirfries (and pushing start on the microwaves to cook frozen veges)

I tend to skip what I call the “party aisles” at the supermarket but it appears that most people only shop in those aisles.

As for clogging up hospitals. They release countless reports on how obesity puts a strain on the health system, but they don’t seem to be interested in outting prevention measures in place.

BimboGeek said :

Are you guys actually body builders or are you making excuses for yourself? BMI is a first order estimation to help you figure out if you should have that looked into by your doctor. Another example is your absolute waist measurement.

While I would not call myself a body builder, I do spend a considerable amount of time on resistance training. I prefer to be a little more scientific in determining my fat content and regularly take myself off to the dietician for a body composition analysis which tells me what percentage of my body weight is fat (both visceral and subcutaneous and where it is) and what is muscle, bone or other unidentified pink and purple wobbly bits. Whilst my BMI is above 30, my body fat content is within the “good” range of 8 – 20%. I know I still have some lard to shake off, but I am not morbidly obese as my BMI would categorise me.

johnboy said :

If they’re worried about the workplaces better look hard at the morning teas!

Don’t even go there JB ! don’t take our morning teas away !!!

Although on a more serious note.. prevention is the best cure.

Katy needs to be focusing on encouraging more exercise at a younger age. I’ve never heard my nieces once comment that they do PE in school and when I was in primary school we did PE maybe once a month, if we were lucky!

On the grown up side – My current employer offers alot of healthy rewards. We get reimbursed a certain amount per year for the money we spend on a healthy lifestyle (gym memberships, running shoes etc) and they encourage the participation in lunchtime walks or sports, fun runs etc. We even have incentives for staff to quit smoking.

They forgot:

– encourage the consumption of vodka rather than beer by all poets.

neanderthalsis said :

While I do applaud efforts to encourage people to be more healthy, I don’t consider it a role of government to tell me what I should eat, what exercise i should do and what I should weigh.

But you do consider it government’s role I bet to subsidise via the PBS the lifestyle disease medications for cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes.

neanderthalsis said :

While I do applaud efforts to encourage people to be more healthy, I don’t consider it a role of government to tell me what I should eat, what exercise I should do and what I should weigh.

Given our socialised medical system we’re all going to be paying for this in the future one way or the other. I can’t see what the harm is in trying to nudge the problem now rather than waiting till the train wreck.

neanderthalsis said :

And as for the BMI, it is a ridiculous and highly inaccurate measure of weight related health. It basically ranks any individual with above average muscle development, including a great many elite sports people as obese.

The problem with BMI is that it underestimates how many people are obese. Half the obese people in this study had a BMI in the “normal” or “overweight” categories.

Altakoi said :

BMI has some limitations but, really?, the problem is actually that 2/3 of the population are suffering from elite athletic muscle development>

+1
Only 5% of non-obese men have a BMI > 30.

It’s all about education. My son is 5 and is very active – at his tender age he does swimming, footy, tennis and runs around the back yard like a loony. He also knows, because we tell him often that the food that he gets at a party (not our parties btw), and in the party bag is not everyday food, and that lack of exercise will make you fat. Just because it’s there does not mean you have to buy it.

I reckon that I am part of the last generation who know how to make a meal from scratch without opening a box or packet or calling a take away joint. I’ve said this before on this site, but for a long time I was convinced that judging by the contents of supermarket trolleys, that everybody must be having parties every week. I realised finally that they aren’t – this is how they eat normally. And this is why they are fat. They have no will power to stop buying rubbish. The crime is that they feed it to their kids and clog up hospitals.

Put physical education on the curriculum in a serious way – make it compulsory through the whole of school. It was in my school, and I hated it, but I had to participate.

There is no point in trying to lobby governments to legislate against junk or to battle supermarkets to stop selling crap anywhere in their aisles.

thebrownstreak69 said :

Perhaps we could let the grown ups choose what they eat, how they exercise and then let them bear the consequences of those choices.

While I strongly agree that the government should not be attempting to control these things (as has been said “the more government tries to do, the less it does of what it should be doing“), I can understand why they might be tempted to (apart from the hunger for ever more control over every aspect of our lives) – obesity increases the risks of a number of other serious health issues which increase the burden on an already struggling healthcare.

And as for the BMI, it is a ridiculous and highly inaccurate measure of weight related health. It basically ranks any individual with above average muscle development, including a great many elite sportspeople as obese.

BMI has some limitations but, really?, the problem is actually that 2/3 of the population are suffering from elite athletic muscle development>

Are you guys actually body builders or are you making excuses for yourself? BMI is a first order estimation to help you figure out if you should have that looked into by your doctor. Another example is your absolute waist measurement.

My BMI is presently about 24. If you’re heavier than a six and a half months pregnant lady you’re probably aware why.

Anyway if you rtfa you’ll see nobody is trying to force anybody to do anything, just addressing the concerns of many desk dwellers who complain “this job is making me fat!” I ended up getting out, better if they can keep their talent.

Perhaps we could let the grown ups choose what they eat, how they exercise and then let them bear the consequences of those choices.

I love the ad for Pizza Capers on this page 😀

Here’s some ideas:
–Replace all chairs with exercise bikes which partially power computers, if you want to spend time on e-bay, facebook or RiotACT, then you have to work for it.

–Deactivate all lifts so they have to use the stairs.

–Install vending machines that only have celery, carrot and water.

While I do applaud efforts to encourage people to be more healthy, I don’t consider it a role of government to tell me what I should eat, what exercise i should do and what I should weigh.

And as for the BMI, it is a ridiculous and highly inaccurate measure of weight related health. It basically ranks any individual with above average muscle development, including a great many elite sportspeople as obese.