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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 17 2017, @01:16AM   Printer-friendly
from the let-them-eat...-too-much-cake? dept.

The obesity rate in the U.S. is continuing to rise (slowly, off the couch):

The new measure of the nation's weight problem, released early Friday by statisticians from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronicles dramatic increases from the nation's obesity levels since the turn of the 21st century.

Adult obesity rates have climbed steadily from a rate of 30.5% in 1999-2000 to 39.8% in 2015-2016, the most recent period for which data were available. That represents a 30% increase. Childrens' rates of obesity have risen roughly 34% in the same period, from 13.9% in 1999-2000 to 18% in 2015-2016.

Seen against a more distant backdrop, the new figures show an even starker pattern of national weight-gain over a generation. In the period between 1976 and 1980, the same national survey found that roughly 15% of adults and just 5.5% of children qualified as obese. In the time that's elapsed since "Saturday Night Fever" was playing in movie theaters and Ronald Reagan won the presidency, rates of obesity in the United States have nearly tripled.

The new report, from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, measures obesity according to body mass index. This is a rough measure of fatness that takes a person's weight (measured in kilograms) and divides it by their height (measured in meters) squared. For adults, those with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered to have a "normal" weight. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and anything above 30 is deemed obese. (You can calculate yours here.)

Obesity rates for children and teens are based on CDC growth charts that use a baseline period between 1963 and 1994. Those with a BMI above the 85th percentile are considered overweight, and those above the 95th percentile are considered obese.

70.7% of Americans are overweight or obese, according to the CDC's data for 2015-2016.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development expects the U.S. obesity rate to reach 47% in 2030.

Related: Obesity Surges to 13.6% in Ghana


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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday October 18 2017, @01:26AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 18 2017, @01:26AM (#583749) Journal

    Try a little history [wikipedia.org] if you are certain it can't be done. Try a little research [youtube.com] if you're sure it can't be done...
    ...
    You're scoffing because you don't do it or perhaps don't know anyone who does it. But many people do.
     

    First at all, I'm not scoffing at all. It just happens I did and do it and know the reality (including the limitations) of doing it

    Yes, it can be done...
    I grew in an East European country and I remember very well my grandparents doing it with manual tools and using buckets for watering. It is done even now [blogspot.com.au]... if you have all the time required to do it.
    Yes, there will be plenty of time to rest and enjoy your life (if everything else is paid for or in your ownership), but if you want that plot to be your exclusive your substance source, that work will be your first priority - it take only 2-3 days to neglect your subsistence crop for it to fail during hot days and you'll be starving the next winter.

    I'm having a veggie patch in my backyard. It is good as a supplement with fresh veggies (it's more than good, it's delicious), but it alone cannot feed an entire family exclusively on that.
    Even more, it can't be done without cooperation/produce exchange - when the crop is ready, you'll have plenty of ... say... fresh tomatoes, which won't last past 2-3 weeks time; more than you can eat for a balanced diet.
    I'm simply giving them away to neighbors - it was 15 kilos of cherry tomatoes last year; since the neighbours are not doing it (well, it's either the veggie patch or the swimming pool for the kids), I get nothing in return - a good thing I don't expect eggs and chooks from them for my living.
    Last year I had 4 weeks of eating zucchinis to saturation and beyond - those two plants were producing like crazy - this year I didn't put any in, only the thought of eating zucchini again... (shudders)... it's too soon.

    ---

    Add-on subsistence is possible if you can afford it, but for sure, exclusive subsistence cannot be done:
    a. when running one or two jobs that is/are barely enough to pay the mortgage and utilities (not enough time); *or*
    b. when you don't own your plot of land and don't have at least water to keep you garden living (e.g. being homeless)l; *or*
    c. on a limited surface like you 200 sqm backyard veggie patch.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
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