Australia's Obesity Epidemic (2 Viewers)

[blue_chameleon]

Nah, just ban fat people from buying it. You must have a BMI of under x to purchase this product.

You don't need to obese to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure (to name just a couple), which are contributing a lot to the major health issues a growing number of australians face.

Skinny people had have 'fatty' organs too. So I don't think the concept of using BMI to judge would be a viable option.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

You don't need to obese to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure (to name just a couple), which are contributing a lot to the major health issues a growing number of australians face.

Skinny people had have 'fatty' organs too. So I don't think the concept of using BMI to judge would be a viable option.

Yeah that's true.

Maybe some kind of portable machine that measures your body fat percentage (I'm sure they exist). And if you get a reading over X, you can't buy certain foods.

I dunno. Prohibiting fat people from buying stuff seems a bit harsh...maybe instead of banning them from doing things we should be making it compulsory for them to do other things. E.g. You can eat those chips but you also have to go for a run afterwards.

Then again, we couldn't regulate something like that. And I'm sure a lot of fatties out there would be getting all outraged and taking their outrage to today tonight and bla bla bla and "this is who i am why won't you accept me waaah" and I just don't want to hear it tbh.

The only way forward that I can see is through education but like we concluded a few pages back, that's also really hard to do effectively.

Meh. Maybe the problem will fix itself when we run out of food on account of obese people having consumed it all.

 

[scarybunny]

Yeah, it's a pity you can't force people to get healthy.

It's their loss. They're the obese ones. Watch me run up the stairs! Envy my flat stomach! Observe my lack of diabetes! See me buy clothes in a normal shop!

 

[Towelie]

Yeah, it's a pity you can't force people to get healthy.

It's a pity you can't force people to get high!

 

[TacoTerrorist]

Make fat people pay more tax because fat lazy people with preventable illnesses are keeping young Tiimmy-with-cancer from a hospital bed.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

Yeah, it's a pity you can't force people to get healthy.

It's their loss. They're the obese ones. Watch me run up the stairs! Envy my flat stomach! Observe my lack of diabetes! See me buy clothes in a normal shop!

hahaha you could make a children's book from that idea. like the whole "See Spot Run" thing, only with fatties.

 

[Gay Captain]

Hey I just had a cool idea

You guys know Ruddkip is going to use messages on a bottle to deter teens from drinking (lol) right?

Well why not employ terrifying advertising of big scary fat people eating children during kids' shows to make kids deathly afraid of getting fat?

 

[JaredR]

Just lessen the welfare payments.

It seems that the obesity epidemic is in the poorer suburbs which can suggest a few things:

1) Parents are working 2 or more jobs, and are rarely home for their children, providing them quickfix meals - perhaps they should have purchased a condom after the first child?

2) A large portion of their welfare payments are going into fast foods because of the fact they are lazy fat slobs who contribute little to our society.

3) They lack the education to know what's good for them and bad for them.

[End overt cynicism]

Or alternatively, the government can subsidise healthy food options, such as sushi, salad bars etc. and maybe instill a bit of culture into those living in the poorer suburbs.

 

[TacoTerrorist]

^ Nice suggestions.

It is unfortunate that you are pro-Israel child-slaughter.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

I'm not sure I entirely agree with the notion that a lack of education leads to becoming obese (due to a poor lifestyle etc)...how much education does it take to work out that junky processed sugar and fat laden foods are BAD for you?! I don't see skinny people walking around with their Bachelors of Healthy Eating from the University of Salad, or whatever. It is not a difficult concept to grasp.

The financial argument doesn't sit well with me either. If you shop around it is surprisingly cheap to eat healthily. Nobody ever said you have to eat all that expensive organic vegan ultra health bullshit. You can get cheap fruit and vegies at markets. The fresh food section at Woolies does not exactly break the bank either. I would imagine that for every fast food/junk food item you put in your trolley, it could be replaced with a cheaper (or at least equivalently priced), healthier, fresher item.

 

[Gay Captain]

1) Parents are working 2 or more jobs, and are rarely home for their children, providing them quickfix meals - perhaps they should have purchased a condom after the first child?

Rising cost of housing thanks to the ultra-capitalist Howard government that only cared about the economy instead of human beings. Average family has no choice but for both adults to both work full time. Kids suffer, economy drives on, like. Same thing causes aging population, who has time for a family when there's interest rates to contend with.

Fairly obviously all the fat (you could almost describe it as an index relative to the necessary daily intake of energy necessary to sustain healthy life) comes from our wealth. Unless you're homeless in which case you starve to death.

Essentially if the world were a fair place all the energy stored in obese people would be being used to stop the ultra-poor in other countries from starving.

Think about that next time you wolf down a Big Mac you fat western decadent cunts, maybe donate that $400 you spent on DVDs to charity next time.

 

[TacoTerrorist]

Fairly obviously all the fat (you could almost describe it as an index relative to the necessary daily intake of energy necessary to sustain healthy life) comes from our wealth. Unless you're homeless in which case you starve to death.

No, fatty fast food is cheaper than healthy food. That's why people in poorer suburbs buy fast food too often and are thus fat.

 

[Gay Captain]

No, fatty fast food is cheaper than healthy food. That's why people in poorer suburbs buy fast food too often and are thus fat.

They're ultra-rich compared to people who don't live in the first world in any case. Plus even people from low-socioeconomic background in Australia can afford enough food such that they eat more than they use and get fat, without going to KFC every day.

If you look around a supermarket a bit you'll find McDonalds isn't the greatest value for money anyway.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

No, fatty fast food is cheaper than healthy food. That's why people in poorer suburbs buy fast food too often and are thus fat.

No it isn't. If you buy enough healthy food in one go to last you a week (assuming you do not eat obesity-causing amounts of food) it'll work out cheaper than buying 3 fast food meals every day for a week. Trust me on this.

 

[Evan11]

No, fatty fast food is cheaper than healthy food. That's why people in poorer suburbs buy fast food too often and are thus fat.

no, fast food is more convenient (spl). fresh groceries cooked with time and effort will work out cheaper than the equivelent fast food meals.

 

[Gay Captain]

I'm not sure I entirely agree with the notion that a lack of education leads to becoming obese (due to a poor lifestyle etc)...how much education does it take to work out that junky processed sugar and fat laden foods are BAD for you?! I don't see skinny people walking around with their Bachelors of Healthy Eating from the University of Salad, or whatever. It is not a difficult concept to grasp.

Interesting question this.

People tend to assume that things they understand well are "obvious", when they're not. So there are undoubtedly some people out there who don't know better. There are probably even some who don't realise that being fat is bad for you in the first place.

The education argument follows from the study we've seen earlier that showed people in poor parts of Sydney and Aus as a whole were fatter than the richer ones. And we (you're doing teaching aren't you? I can't remember) both know poorer people are less educated on average. So you have to ask which of (x, y, z) causes the other 2, if at all.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

Interesting question this.

People tend to assume that things they understand well are "obvious", when they're not. So there are undoubtedly some people out there who don't know better. There are probably even some who don't realise that being fat is bad for you in the first place.

The education argument follows from the study we've seen earlier that showed people in poor parts of Sydney and Aus as a whole were fatter than the richer ones. And we (you're doing teaching aren't you? I can't remember) both know poorer people are less educated on average. So you have to ask which of (x, y, z) causes the other 2, if at all.

Hm, this is true.

Yes I'm doing teaching. Poor people are less educated on average - I guess I just find it difficult to understand how, with all the media attention it gets (and let's face it these poor bogans watch a lot of TV on those plasma screens they bought with their baby bonus, lol generalisation), that there could still be people out there who just...don't get it. It baffles me.

I live in the region which I believe was the focus of the article that started this thread (or was it the other one floating around, I dunno). Anyway, there are a lot of uneducated (I assume), poor (again, assumption based mostly on their demeanour and visible possessions) people around. Most of them are fat. I suppose there is or could be a correlation there.

 

[TacoTerrorist]

Hm, this is true.

Yes I'm doing teaching. Poor people are less educated on average - I guess I just find it difficult to understand how, with all the media attention it gets (and let's face it these poor bogans watch a lot of TV on those plasma screens they bought with their baby bonus, lol generalisation), that there could still be people out there who just...don't get it. It baffles me.

I live in the region which I believe was the focus of the article that started this thread (or was it the other one floating around, I dunno). Anyway, there are a lot of uneducated (I assume), poor (again, assumption based mostly on their demeanour and visible possessions) people around. Most of them are fat. I suppose there is or could be a correlation there.

My theory is that fat, poor people are just stupid.

 

[scarybunny]

I suppose, there aren't that many fat people at uni. Probably because of the walking, maybe because you need a UAI to get in.

 

[TacoTerrorist]

^ Lmao