Allow me to piggyback on Liz’s post from earlier today and explore another possible reason for the obesity epidemic (one that’s probably a very likely part of the equation) – The Great American Buffet Table.

According to my local newspaper, there is a new study out which suggests that sitting too close to the buffet table at a restaurant can lead to overeating. They learned some other nifty things when they divided study subjects into an “overweight” group and a “normal” group, too. Take a look:

• Heavy customers sat an average of 14 feet closer to the fixins than the normal group.
• The overweight group was twice as likely to sit facing the buffet, with all its worldly and tantalizing textures and smells.
• The heavy group started filling their plates more quickly, while the normal group sized up the buffet and considered their choices before diving in.
• The heavy group chewed their food faster, thus indicating they ate faster.
• The normal-weight subjects were more likely to choose a smaller plate.

So, what does this mean to you? If calorie counting (or just mindful eating) is on your To-Do list, sit farther from the buffet area, do not face it, choose a smaller plate to fill, and chew your food more slowly. Come to think of it, these same rules can apply to nearly any dining situation. I’m going to give it a try. How about you?

Post from: Healthbolt

That’s right, in an unprecedented move to encourage state workers to slim down, Alabama will be the first state in the nation to charge overweight workers who don’t make the effort to lighten up.

This $25 insurance fee will join the already-in-place $24/month fee that ‘Bama employees are charged for smoking. The state says it’s seen some success in getting their workers to quit lighting up, so they reason this new fee will encourage thicker employees to skinny up. Alabama is, after all, ranked second in the nation for obesity.

So how do you feel about this bold move? Would you welcome a change like this in your state, or should one’s employer butt out? Let us know…

Post from: Healthbolt

The Japanese goverment, however, thinks otherwise and has embarked on a mandatory campaign to slim it’s nation down. Two months ago they passed a national law that requires all companies and local governments to measure the waists of their employees (including family members) aged 40 to 74 as part of their annual checkups. With almost half the Japanese population fitting into this category, that makes an awful lot of waists to be measured.

The new law puts the maximum limit for male waistlines at 33.5 inches and women at 35.4 inches. Anyone exceeding this will be expected to bring their waists into line with the approved government standards through dietary advice, guidance, and education.  Failure to do so will result in the financial penalties being imposed on the employee’s company and local government.

Reducing waistlines has much scientific merit. Studies have proven that being thick around the middle increases your risk of having a heart attack, or gettng cancer, diabetes, and dementia.

So maybe the Japanese government is on the right track but somehow I can’t see the same tactics being used in the United States or England.

Can you?

(source)

POSTSCRIPT: After posting ‘Japanese Government Attacks Metabo’ I received an email from a reader who suggests that my statement ‘reducing waistlines has much scientific merit’, based on information from a NYT article,  might not necessarily be right. The email went on to say ‘ Please consider that all studies are not created equally and correlations are not causations. The facts do not support waistlines as a causative factor in any chronic disease of aging’ and included a link to Metabo — Is a small waistline a measure of health? an article that asks “While having a trim waistline to avoid the dreaded metabo and reduce medical costs has become a popular health mandate, is it evidence-based?” Have a read. Citing numerous studies, Sandy makes a compelling arguement that ‘having a small waist was not a measure of lower risks and having a larger waist size was not a measure of higher risks.’

Post from: Healthbolt

Luckily, I’ve found just the man.

Israel over at Fatman Unleashed was ahead of the game on this one. He weighed in on the subject last month with this post  ‘Fat People Cause Global Warming: Fat Isn’t Very Green.’ 

Lately, we have noticed an increasing push for “going green.” We have seen changes in everything from transportation to food preparation to the internet. This got me thinking about how I could make my life greener. My immediate realization was that I was a walking global warming vessel. I’m fat. Being fat can’t be very green. Can it? We need to reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases and learn how to use energy more efficiently.

Think about it. I’m overweight and require an above average usage of certain environmentally non-friendly things. Like what, you ask? Well, how about showering…? Being fat makes me take longer in the shower, using up more water than I should be using. So I waste water even though I make a conscious effort to “speed up” my showers. Another waste is toilet usage. I take, um, pretty big dumps and need more than one flush. I also use a lot of wipes to clean up. Don’t even get me started on my frequent urination due to all the water and green tea I consume. That equals quite a large amount of flushing per day.

Another way that being fat, or unhealthy, isn’t green is all the crap that gets consumed. I try to be as healthy as possible, but I do have my weaknesses. There are folks that eat out day after day after day. What do you think this does to the environment? That extra bag that was used to pack those 3 double cheeseburgers doesn’t just evaporate into thin air ya know. And the process of creating those burger wrappers doesn’t help either, factories and plants are needed for the creation of all of this.

How else can being fat not be very green? Clothes! Have you seen the amount of fabric needed to create some of the clothes that overweight people wear? I know you have. It’s all over television with the “I lost X amount of pounds” commercials. Think of what it takes to make that 5XL t-shirt. Think. What about all the washing that is needed for those large clothes? The water, the detergent, the softener, the dryer time…talk about endless loads of clothes.

If you’re fat you’re probably a notorious waster of electricity and gas too. It can be either watching too much television, having the air conditioning on a lot, or driving to that nearest fast food joint to pick up a “snack.” The heavier you are the more gas your car needs to carry you around. Fat = heavy = more gas needed. It’s simple math.

I’m not saying that being fat is causing global warming (need some research and scientific proof for this), but I can assure you that being fat isn’t very environmentally friendly.

(originally posted at Fatman Unleashed. Re-posted on Healthbolt with permission.)

Wow! Thanks Israel for sharing.

Anyone else want to weigh in?

We can provide the forum – you provide the words.

Meanwhile, I’m not done with this topic. Next week I move on to ‘The Skinny on Global Warming’.

Post from: Healthbolt