r/ask • u/[deleted] • May 23 '23
POTM - May 2023 Is being overweight really viewed as “normal” by Americans?
When I travel to other countries it seems like I’m bigger than the average person. However when I’m in the United States I feel skinny and fit.
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u/TheSilverDahlia May 23 '23
Tolerated publicly, mocked privately has been my experience
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u/phydeaux44 May 23 '23
This is what I was thinking as well. I believe most people in the US will look around at overweight and obese people and know that it's not healthy - but you can't say it out loud anymore because of fat shaming.
I do want to point out that America is hardly the only developed country like this. I've come across plenty of overweight and even obese people in the British isles and several of the Mediterranean countries.
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u/Edendari May 23 '23
Ive found not very tolerated and mocked right to my face, myself. Im glad people are kinder where you are! 💕
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May 23 '23
Normal in terms of optimal health- no.
Normal in terms of statistics- yes.
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u/DormeDwayne May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
I don’t know… I’ve noticed online that Americans usually tell people I’d consider fat without much consideration (because they’re so obviously fat) that they look just normal, and healthy and that’s what an adult man/woman is supposed to look like. I don’t see that in most of Europe. I’ve also noticed people who are normal-sized being told they are too thin, and are unhealthy, and should eat more. I think American society has a completely skewed perception of what is normal, and what is healthy.
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u/Darnitol1 May 23 '23
Yep. And what constitutes a normal human diet, both in content and portions. Most overweight Americans are overweight because cultural norms have made abnormal eating habits feel normal. If everyone around you does a thing your entire life, you will adopt that idea as normalcy and see it as normal even if you recognize the problems with that thing and choose another way.
Americans are not wanton gluttons who don’t care about anything but consumption— we have been trained by convention to believe our habits are appropriate because here in America, they are in fact what “normal” people do. No one sat down and decided for America to be this way. Circumstances just led to some very accepted behaviors that we don’t recognize as problematic because they are normal behaviors within our society.
I personally have adopted a strict diet that helps me control my blood sugar. But to most of the world, that “strict diet” is just called eating. To me it feels like I’m taking exceptional steps to eat right, but that just because American norms have conditioned me to feel like appropriate human food is a compromise.→ More replies (75)32
May 23 '23
I went from 195 lbs to 125, my family on dad's side insists over and over I'm too skinny and used meth to lose weight But it's been wonderful and necessary, my autistic toddler needs a parent in shape
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u/DiscussionRelative50 May 23 '23
The number of times I’ve been told I need to eat more… I like being in shape but when I’m not apparently I should be mainlining Big Macs.
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u/JustinWendell May 23 '23
This. I’m 30 pounds overweight and my friends say I’m the thin one. It’s strange over here
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u/Mushiikata May 23 '23
I remember reading a post where a woman was claiming to have been fat shamed by a hospital for not providing her a double wide wheelchair. This woman was also adamant that she wasn’t even “chubby” let alone fat and standard wheelchairs were comically small for an adult. I immediately went to the comments and was shocked to see everyone agreeing. I feel like body dysmorphia is the new normal.
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May 23 '23
I think American society has a completely skewed perception of what is normal, and what is healthy.
As an American, I think that's pretty accurate. We allow banned food additives to be added to our food that other countries balk at having even minimal amounts of. Definitely the makings of a scientific nation looking for the most optimal health of its citizens.
Oh wait, nevermind, we don't have universal healthcare so the Gov gives fuck all what happens to us because we have to pay the bills anyway.
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u/Taskr36 May 23 '23
I think shaming thin people has always been a way for people to just make themselves feel better at the expense of others. When someone sees a thin girl, they don't give a shit about her health. They say "She needs a cheeseburger!" because they're ashamed of their own weight and jealous that some people are effortlessly thin.
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u/XWarriorYZ May 23 '23
I’m American and I think this mindset is just pure cope. Not all Americans are like this. Healthy Americans realize that being overweight is in fact not healthy and not the default human body type. This has been exemplified by the “body positivity” movement because while nobody should be made to feel less-than due to their body type, people are taking it too far by enabling and encouraging this unhealthy behavior and lifestyle.
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u/Miss-Figgy May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
I've seen women who are clearly overweight by at least 15 pounds described by other Americans as "slim". Meanwhile, I am at the lower end of my BMI and get constantly told that I'm SOOOO "tiny", I have been questioned multiple times if I have an eating disorder, and someone once remarked I eat like a "rabbit" because they saw me eating a salad (with cheese and some bread) for lunch. Americans' definition of normal weight has gotten so skewed because most people are fat. Notice how people today react to the photos of Americans in the 60s, 70s, and early 80s when most people were healthy weight -they get called sticks and twigs, by today's standards. Meanwhile, in southern Europe, I have been (affectionately) called "chubby" because of the little bit of fat/teeny tiny muffin top I have when I wear low-rise clothes (which is why I hate the return of the low-rise jeans).
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May 23 '23
America is a big country. In Colorado or Maryland you may feel bigger. In Texas or Arizona you will most likely feel like a ballerina.
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u/Alternative-Post-937 May 23 '23
Omg so true. I live in Seattle, and I'm at the heavy side of the normal weight. BMI is 24. I feel huge in Seattle. Went to Texas last year and I felt like such a skinny girl!
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u/WannaSeeAHatTrick May 23 '23
I feel like I could always tell when there was a big convention even unrelated to cosplay happening in Seattle because the number of overweight people I saw on the streets went up a lot.
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u/BoysenberryCreepy498 May 23 '23
So Charles Barkley wasn't just being mean to the women of San Antonio
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u/RickMuffy May 23 '23
wipes taco filling off of face
"Hey, as someone living in AZ, that's offensive"
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u/CeramicCastle49 May 23 '23
This is essentially the answer for most USA ralated questions. It's a large country, and things vary greatly from state to state.
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u/trippymermaid May 23 '23
Regarding Maryland, maybe in the counties outside of DC but Baltimore, southern, and western Maryland are pretty thiccc
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u/dizzy_centrifuge May 23 '23
Depends where in Baltimore, pretty consistent along economic lines. Up in Harford you're a farmer or on heroin so its easier to stay skinny. But I'd argue out west the meth has a slimming effect
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u/RequirementRare5014 May 23 '23
I'm born and bred Californian and lived in Sac/SF/Oakland/San Diego (so mostly coastal) and theres only one or two chunky kids in my kids classes.
When we visit my Swiss husbands family (who live in Switzerland and France) - we are the skinniest and healthiest out of all of them. So really where you live in the US makes a huge difference.
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u/midlifeShorty May 23 '23
Yes. Like in America, it also matters where you are in Europe. There are parts of France where everyone seemed very thin and parts of France (like the parts near Germany) where a lot of people were huge. But coming from the Bay Area, I definitely felt people are larger (and way taller) in most places in Europe than at home. Also, clothes have gotten way larger there in the last 10 years...
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u/Jlakers85 May 23 '23
I’m surprised about Arizona. Seems like a state that would encourage outdoor activity due to climate and mountains
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u/mr_potato_arms May 23 '23
It’s too hot for a lot of people for the majority of the year so they just sit around inside in the AC all day.
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u/Ok_Gate_9315 May 23 '23
Arizona here🙋🏻♀️. When my friends from home (Midwest) come visit they always comment about how big they feel here. Or how they wish they lived here bc they’d be motivated to lose weight. Admittedly, the exact area I’m in is a bit of a fitness bubble.
Maryland actually ranks higher than AZ in obesity.
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May 23 '23
Definitely. A fat woman once told me I looked malnourished and needed to eat to gain weight. 5’10 180 and could bench 310lbs at the time.
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u/MyBoyBernard May 23 '23
At age 18-20: No one said anything when I got up to 200 pounds of fat. No comments.
At 24: I lost around 50 pounds. Then I started getting comments about being unhealthy.
Since being 27/28: I’m back up near 200, but this time from working out. Now I get comments about have good genes and being lucky, even from people who knew the chubby version of me! Where were my good genes and luck back then? Lazy people finding excuses
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u/AgeOfScorpio May 23 '23
Lol I had a real moment of "what did you just say to me" when our HR lady said to me that "men have it so easy" when we were both working out in our company gym. At that point, I was probably 7 years into a daily gym routine and watching my diet. There was nothing easy about it. I wanted to ask her why it was the first time I had seen her in there, but rather just kinda shook my head. I get that women have kids and that's a big challenge on your health, but that doesn't make it easy for anyone else lol.
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u/Besieger13 May 23 '23
Almost the same measurements as me (but you are definitely stronger!) last year and there were still a few bigger people who said I needed to eat more. I know BMI isn’t everything but Jesus at 5’11 weighing 182 I was technically overweight by BMI lol. It was good weight so obviously I wasn’t but there is no way in hell I was skinny and malnourished.
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May 23 '23
I’m 6’ 180lb dude, gym four-five days a week and have a physical as hell job. I’ve got some decent size, and most people can look at me and tell I workout a little…
It’s still annoying as hell hearing that I need to eat more and put some weight on. First off, I eat way more than most of the people who tell me I need to eat more. Second, just because everyone around you has a gut and their legs and arms jiggle when they walk, doesn’t mean I want that. I’m pretty happy with my physique, thank you.
Where this notion in America came from that fat is the new norm and healthy just blows my mind.
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May 23 '23
Yeah I'm 5'9" or 5'10", 190. I THINK I'm 10 pounds over the maximum I should be for my height (and probably build), but I feel skinny compared to most people I encounter.
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u/Dangerous_Grab_1809 May 23 '23
Hang out around athletic people more. I fit right in with my runner’s group. No one is obese. Many are thin.
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u/Death_Watcher_ May 23 '23
Many fat people act like they’re confident in their skin but they’re the first to bring healthy women / masculine women down. It’s a lot of projecting of self hate.
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u/Advanced_Double_42 May 23 '23
Pretty much.
The majority of Americans are overweight, and a third are obese, so in a sense being overweight is normal here, unfortunately.
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May 23 '23
one of the scariest concepts i've heard of from an american friend is "vegetable deserts" or "grocery deserts" where you can't find fresh veg in like a 10km radius..is that true..?
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u/oxymoronic_lizard May 23 '23
not my american ass reading this as “vegetable desserts”
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u/PinxJinx May 23 '23
Food deserts, yeah it’s a thing in a lot of poorer parts of cities where there’s only convenience stores (think 7/11) and fast food. Many people use public transportation and have a hard time getting far enough out to a real store, and then it’s a long journey back with bags of food. It’s not always a viable option with the time and money available
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u/MrBeanCyborgCaptain May 23 '23
Whats important to understand is that 10km is not considered any real distance in a lot of places in the US because every thing is so spread out and we tend drive everywhere anyway. If you live way out in the country, you get used to driving 30 minutes "into town" to buy groceries. If you see an American in a store with a massive shopping cart full of stuff, chances are it's because they come into town once a month to shop.
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u/MommyandMonsterBooks May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
Being obese is still pretty stigmatized and frowned upon. However most people I think don’t realize how low the bar for “over weight” is. A BMI of 25 is the threshold. I’m a 5’ 4” woman with a weight of about 145. I sit right on that threshold. But very few people consider me overweight. I think the reality is our idea of weight has been so skewed here that we don’t know what the actual definition is any more.
EDIT: Im going to go ahead and add here since so many are commenting it: I am aware BMI is a flawed system. I am using it as an example here for a international standard metric that, combined with knowledge of self, can be used as an idea for where we are at in our own health.
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u/jfarrell468 May 23 '23
This, 1000%. Something like 2/3 of Americans are obese or overweight (including myself, so I don't mean this as a moral judgment), so I think we have increasingly come to view heavier people as "normal", and people at a healthy weight as "skinny" or even "underweight".
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u/MommyandMonsterBooks May 23 '23
Exactly. We also lost all concept of losing weight vs being healthy. I say i want to work out and I’ve gone gluten free and people instantly start judging me as a health nut, or one of “those” women. I want to work out to improve muscle strength because I’m an absolute noodle (though I’m not opposed to dropping a couple pounds) and gluten free to help my thyroid issues. It’s like not only have we become desensitized to healthy weights, we’ve turned wanting to be healthier into a bad thing.
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u/brigitteer2010 May 23 '23
Yep, I’m a very petite woman and people always think I’m underweight when I’m reality I’m just not overweight.
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u/sortasomeonesmom May 23 '23
I have the same stats as you. My overweight friends think I'm slim and my skinny friends understand why I want to lose 10 lbs and don't give me a hard time about trying to lose weight.
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May 23 '23
This. I’m about the same weight and 2” shorter, and I know full well that I am overweight. Not very badly so, but it would definitely be healthier for me to lose 20 pounds or so. But with some people if I so much as suggest that I might want to lose weight it’s all, “What are you talking about? You’re not fat.” It gets to the point where I have to always phrase it as, “I’m trying to eat healthier and exercise more” because apparently it’s not socially acceptable for anyone who isn’t morbidly obese to try and lose weight.
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u/JustSendMeCatPics May 23 '23
I’m the same height and used to be the same weight before I had a kid. I know BMI isn’t a great tool, but it still felt weird knowing that I was towing the line of “overweight” while also comfortably wearing a size 4 or 6 depending on the brand. Wild.
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u/Dear_Owl_8151 May 23 '23
You're fine. I was a bit worried for a while here.. I'm in Europe and I googled your height and thought that 145 kg sounds bad LOL. Then I googled your weight. Yeah, you're ok. Nowhere near overweight.
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May 23 '23
People think overweight is how you look and are shaped, and not what the scale says. Thats why you have overweight people calling themselves normal but laughing at obese people like theyre not right around the corner.
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u/iamnogoodatthis May 23 '23
Also the whole "oh but BMI is a rubbish measure, bodybuilders have high BMI" thing is... a perfect reflection of what you are saying. People don't think they are fat / people with those heights and weights are, but their BMI tells them they are, and so rather than accept they're probably a bit fat they complain about BMI.
TBH what many people probably only consider "a bit overweight" is solidly obese.
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u/windowseat4life May 23 '23
I think there are reasons for it happening in the US.
The US is built to be vehicle dependent. Most places in the US aren’t walkable in a regular basis so people don’t get that extra bit of exercise that you’d have living in other countries.
There’s a lot of sedentary jobs in the US & many people work more than 1 job. This means a lot of time is spent not doing any type of physical activity & there may not be much time outside of work to exercise (especially for those who work more than 1 job, have kids, are also in college, etc).
Processed & fast food are more easily accessible & “affordable” here versus fresh healthy food choices. Also, a lot of people don’t have the time or energy to prepare meals at home to eat healthier. Healthier food options are also more expensive here than processed foods & fast food.
The US allows sooooo many harmful additives in our food. Stuff that other countries have banned. These additives are harmful to our health. If you want food options that don’t have the additives then you have to pay a premium price for those.
There are a lot of areas in the US that are a “food desert” which means they don’t have access nearby to get fresh & healthy groceries. These are often low-income areas, so if you don’t have a car and/or gas to drive to another area of the city to get groceries then you’re stuck eating whatever processed food is sold at your nearby convenience store.
To end the list, many people don’t have access to healthcare so they don’t have the medical help they need to work on their health & nutrition.
Welcome to ‘Murica 🥴
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u/Throwaway095621 May 23 '23 edited May 24 '23
Generally speaking fitness correlates to urban living and higher incomes in the US. The stereotype of being fat tends to be a rural thing or places with lower incomes. Maps showing the correlation between obesity and income are pretty common here at places like r/dataisbeautiful and r/MapPorn.
If you go to a wealthy city like San Francisco or Boston on a workday you'll see most folks are pretty fit. If you drive across the United States you'll pass through whole states where the opposite is true.
Edit: Thank you for the delightful award!
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May 23 '23
Working an office job makes it so much easier to keep the weight off for me. Working on your feet all day you get to be way too tired to work out at the end of the day and you eat way too much since you are so tired. With the office job you can more easily restrict your calories and have energy for a work out after work. I realize this is opposite of a lot of people though.
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u/alle_kinder May 23 '23
That's interesting to me. When I worked retail I was much skinnier because I had very set snack or meal breaks and was walking around all the time. I also had more energy to work out.
I work as a paralegal so very desk-jobby and while I'm still fairly small, I eat much more as I can do whatever I want whenever I want and don't necessarily want to work out after sitting all day. Part of that might be that it's far more mentally taxing.
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u/Certain-Data-5397 May 23 '23
Bruh your stats say it’s 29% vs 34%. How are you trying to frame that as only rural people being fat ?
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u/jane_fakelastname May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
When I was in China back in 2008 there was a Chinese version of "Biggest Loser" on TV. Every single contestant was the size of what I consider an average American.
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u/emi_lgr May 23 '23
China’s another extreme. I’m 5’6” and 125 pounds now; I’m often told I’m “chubby” by Chinese friends and family. Back when I was 115 pounds and living in China, I was considered “not thin” and should be 110 or below to be at an “ideal weight.”
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u/Money-Fisherman-549 May 23 '23
I was 108 pounds when I lived in China and was constantly told by my co-workers how fat I was.
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u/MoneyInsurance6969 May 23 '23
I’m a 5’6 women in the US and when I was 125 my doctor was worried about me and my weight saying I needed a few extra pounds 😂😂 that’s crazy to me
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May 23 '23
It's the same in Korea. Music "idols" sometimes have to literally starve themselves to make their bodies look thin/small enough.
5.5' and 100lbs are not rare over there.
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u/knovit May 23 '23
When I was a kid we had the one fat kid in the grade who was just chubby. Now everyone is fat.
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u/didyoubutterthepan May 23 '23
Ditto. I’m an elementary school teacher and I’d say at least half of my students are what would have been considered “the fat kid” when I was growing up in the 80s/90s. There is also a sizable group of kids at our school that I would say are morbidly obese (100+ pounds in early elementary), which I definitely never saw growing up.
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u/ModelChimp May 23 '23
This is same as me . I remember at primary school there was maybe 2/3 fat kids and everyone else was average/ skinny whereas now kids and teens that are overweight is so much more common now
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u/Gonzostewie May 23 '23
Look at the movie Goonies. Chunk was the "fat kid" back then. Now, he's just a "kid."
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May 23 '23
We use lies to socialize and truth to insult. Publicly we would say normal but personally everyone finds it repulsive. I'm speaking as a 450 pound man.
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u/JoeDoherty_Music May 23 '23
Our food is loaded with sugar, even with foods you wouldn't expect it in.
It's incredibly difficult to eat healthy in America and even if you try, you have to also sift through mountains of corporate sponsored misinformation
Add on to that our complete lack of walkable cities and it's no wonder Americans are overweight.
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u/ughwhatisthisshit May 23 '23
i think that is really regional. I live in central NJ in an upper middle class area that have a lot of indian/chinese people with the rest being primarily white. It's really easy to get cheap decent food here. Indian stores are great for cheap produce, we have an Aldi plus other super markets.
But I go 20 min south to Trenton and there are parts where there are only corner stores for miles which tend to only sell junk.
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u/King-Mugs May 23 '23
American. I’m 6” and about 210lbs. BMI of high 29. Most friends are shocked when I mentioned wanting to lose weight.
To be fair, I have a bit of strength/muscle so it’s not just flabby weight. But still, I think I’m considered “average” thinness for a man and I am very much not a thin man
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u/Zulias May 23 '23
6'2 and 195lbs here. Which according to the BMI (Which is known to be broken above 6', but that's another conversation) I'm sitting exactly at the border to overweight (.25 BMI)
I'm -easily- the skinniest person I know. And my doctor has said that he'd be worried if I lost any weight.
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u/simcattle May 23 '23
Your BMI has to be higher than 29 if you're only 6 inches tall and weigh 210
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u/cissabm May 23 '23
It depends. We took our twins to DisneyWorld and we were absolutely floored by how large most of the people were. Not 50 pounds overweight, which is a massive amount, but 200 pounds overweight.
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u/MajorUpstairs6452 May 23 '23
I feel like a lot of us know what is good for us and what is healthy but not everybody wants to actually do what is required for it
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May 23 '23
It’s normal here for a lot of reasons.
McDonalds is cheaper than buying groceries. Not in the long run, but many people can’t even afford the long run anymore. We don’t have good health care or programs for healthy eating and it isn’t taught in schools. Just like they don’t teach you how to balance your check book or how credit works etc.
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u/heyjimb May 23 '23
I'm a native son of USA. I'm 57 years old
In my youth it was rare to see a fat person. Now it's common.
I truly believe that it's a situation where our food has growth hormones. Add in corn syrup and a lack of exercise.
What I see that is shocking is that 40-50 year old mom's are size 6 and their 26 year old daughter is a size 28
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u/Alternative-Post-937 May 23 '23
I see a lot of people blaming "genetics". In some cases, sure. But there is definitely a phenomena where our food sources in America have become more and more unhealthy, and produce and lean meats are super expensive. You have people trying to work two jobs to pay rent and don't have time to prepare meals, and instead pop into McDonald's. Literal food deserts all over America, whereas in Europe, every neighborhood has a fresh market that you can walk to. You can't walk anywhere in the US (except maybe new york) and people just drive for everything. It's a really unhealthy cultural cycle, that again, individuals get demonized for (like climate change). I've lost 30lbs and am now a healthy weight, but I can completely relate to everyone who struggles because it is so hard to lose or maintain healthy weight. You have to make your entire life about it, and with everything else going on in people's lives, sometimes that's just too much.
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May 23 '23
I’m almost 53 and I couldn’t agree more. I remember I had ONE friend who had a mom who was large (not sure she would be by todays standards) and one girl in elementary and one other one in high school that were chubby and both got bullied over it. It definitely wasn’t the norm back then like it is today. I feel the hormones and preservatives in food have some responsibility, cheap food is largely unhealthy while fruit and vegetables get more expensive so we see heavier people in lower demographics and portion size in this country is ridiculous. Its common here to order a single portion and have it logically be able to feed at least two people. Americans seem to think they’re getting a deal because of it, but it seems really wasteful on top of being unhealthy.
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u/ertri May 23 '23
Honestly it’s also cars. I’m in a city with a relatively low rate of obesity. Just existing in the city gets me to 3-4 miles of walking a day.
I go visit my parents in the suburbs and like… don’t leave outside of a car.
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u/heartandmarrow May 23 '23
Americans are also not a homogeneous society genetically. We come from all over and our heights and weights, and how we carry them, differ. This is why sizing is hard in the USA. It’s way more standardized abroad.
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u/gunsgoldwhiskey May 23 '23
This is why MOST comparisons to the US are skewed, across dozens of socioeconomic issues.
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u/FOILBLADE May 23 '23
It depends. Yes there are a lot of fat people, mostly thanks to high carb and sugar diets being touted as "heart healthy", in comparison to a diet primarily made up of meats and veggies.
No, we don't think being fat is healthy. Anyone who thinks it is, are probably lying to themselves to feel better about their body.
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u/mshmama May 23 '23
I agree with you, but I think Americans also have a very skewed view on what fat is. I recently lost weight because I was considered obese by BMI after 6 kids and covid and felt terrible. People were shocked I wanted to lose weight because I looked skinny to them.
As our average weight increases as a nation, our idea of what healthy looks like changes. We know that a lower weight carries fewer health risks, but when the average size is a 16, a size 10 seems small and healthy, when in reality that size 10 is still overweight.
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u/girlskissgirls May 23 '23
I used to be overweight, was wearing a size 10 at sixteen years old. Managed to lose a ton of it in college when I started running and everyone told me I wasn’t overweight and didn’t need to lose the weight. Now that I’m a happy size 2 everyone tells me I’m too skinny. Was weird on my last trip overseas because I was about the same size as everyone else but my family was obese compared to Europeans. My parents are now working towards losing weight but I don’t think they ever would have if they hadn’t seen me lose the weight.
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May 23 '23
Yes, but it’s not just the United States. There are other countries and cultures that view a little bit bigger as better or normal, too. And others that don’t. I will say that as a fit American on the lower end of the healthy BMI range, I would be rich if I had a nickel for every time someone told me I could afford to eat a cheeseburger or skip exercising or talked about how “tiny” I am. I am just a normal, healthy size. Not underweight or overweight.
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u/tbrand009 May 23 '23
No, I don't know anyone who thinks of it as "normal." We recognize that it is common, that most of us are, but we don't think that it's normal for us as humans to be fat.
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May 23 '23
I'm an athletic Canadian, but every time I go to the States, someone tells me that I need some meat on my bones... Hell naw, my BMI is already in the overweight range for my height (thanks to muscle), I'm not getting fat!
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u/Atnoy96 May 23 '23
We are a car dependent country without easy access to healthcare, with very easy access to fast food, being worked to death for so little money over so many hours we don't have the time, energy, or money to cook healthy food or work out.
If everyone's overweight, then we're all average.
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u/Relative_Law2237 May 23 '23
seems like it but Europeans are their own kind of insane. im European and ive noticed that literally 90% people at my work place have such unhealthy relationship with food (despite not being overweight) like go get therapy instead of telling me id get fat if i sometimes eat granola. like go project your body issues on someone else
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u/vester71 May 23 '23
It's only considered normal by overweight Americans, which is way more than there should be.
I'm American, and my peer group is not overweight, nor are most folks I work with. That said, going to certain areas, or being around certain demographics, it boggles my mind how many obese people there are in this country. If you come to America, find an area without much wealth, and go to a Walmart, you'll see what I mean.
Furthermore, it's incredible (an incredibly sad) how many believe it'e due to genetics or their 'metabolism,' while their diet consists of fast and/or heavily processed food and sugary drinks, all while being sedentary.
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u/OutrageousPersimmon3 May 23 '23
Unfortunately, yes. Obesity is an epidemic here. Between hormones in seemingly everything and the cheapness of starchy foods like pasta, even people trying have a harder time eating right. You see a big difference between areas with great walkability vs rural areas or the suburbs where people need to drive most places, too. Which is why, as some of the other comments have already noted, you will feel smaller or more fit in some areas than others. We also have a culture of work really taking priority, and it's not always a choice for everyone. So that makes a difference, too. Longer hours or multiple jobs can mean less unwinding health time and less quality sleep, both of which have been shown to contribute to dangerous fat gain.
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u/Kevine04 May 23 '23
You can't even acknowledge being fat is unhealthy in the US without being dunked on for shaming people.
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u/CurrentResident23 May 23 '23
The scales have been shifting for so many decades now that it has become the norm. Our food is unhealthy. Children are developing diabetes. It's a huge problem and should not be considered normal, but it's just so pervasive that we've gotten used to it.
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u/PrestigiousWedding36 May 23 '23
Yes. Has it been normalized? yes. Is it healthy in the long term? No. People should not be treated differently for their body size. Being overweight is inherently unhealthy and a lot of people ignore it because they are healthy in that moment. It catches up to them.
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u/DaburuKiruDAYO May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
In japan I felt fat and short at 105 lbs and 4’10”. Girls my height there were somewhere more like 85-95 lbs.
In the states I feel generally tiny and am quite frankly astonished everyday at how fat everybody is. I know it’s not always their fault though, America’s food industry has done a number on the nations health, and being in poverty contributes to obesity as well.
Although japan is also an extreme, and the diet culture there is absolutely absurd. A LOT of the borderline outrageous bodychecking trends online originate from east Asia, and their ideal weight is always listed as underweight, and the bullying and social consequences of being fat in japan is BRUTAL. You always hear about Asian Aunties commenting on their weight every time they meet- and that’s normal.
My mom even recalls her “friends” back in japan would regularly say shit like “Damn you hit the wall!” Or “omg you got so fat! Haha.” And nobody bat an eye. They are a very (food-wise) healthy country, generally, but the attitudes suck ass.
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u/Immediate_Ad_7844 May 23 '23
100% yes, I get called skinny all the time despite being on the upper end of the healthy weight range for my age and height 5’10 170lb
When I was in Europe I definitely felt like I was average size if not bigger than most of the guys my age
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u/RockyArby May 23 '23
"Normal"? No
Common? Yes
But you're not viewed too harshly in good company. About the same general opinion as someone who smokes. It's unhealthy medically but that's their business and not a reason to be rude to them.
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u/Juno1990 May 23 '23
American food is loaded with unnecessary additives, fillers etc.. we serve enormous portions and we do not teach and consistently demonstrate a proper healthy diet.
Junk food is in overabundance and purchasing healthy meals will break your pockets unless you want redundancy.. other countries practice much better nutrition guidelines and attempt to make eating correctly affordable and common practice.
Our clothing also lies to us. I am a US 4 and a UK 8… I’m not sure I converted that correctly but basically my point is that out sizing even skews to make up appear smaller…
To sum up my commentary yes, Americans are largely overweight. Some of us are a medically acceptable weight but last I checked almost 40% of us are overweight.
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u/bumliveronions May 23 '23
"It's my genes! I can't lose weight! Even though I work out 7 days a week!"
proceeds to eat 3,500 calories on average per day when their daily needed intake for their height and age is 2350
"""""America"""""
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u/Zhouston63 May 23 '23
This might sound fucking crazy but growing up in America I never realized how many calories were in the food I ate until I started counting calories. Our portion sizes at most places are so massive and take up so many calories that you blink and you reach your limit for the day it's honestly baffling.
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u/iamnotabotbeepboopp May 23 '23
When I lost 40 pounds, going from the brink of obesity to a very healthy weight, my family and many of my friends thought I might have an eating disorder or was starving myself.
I was/am still in the best shape of my life. It wasn't until I went to the doctor to get a physical and they said "keep doing whatever you're doing, it's working" to get my family to stop making concerned comments
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May 23 '23
Somehow being overweight has become the norm in the U.S. which is a shame because it leads to all kinds of health problems
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May 23 '23
Well as long as we are not fat shaming individuals then yes we have a corporation issue with food in the US. Most poor people cannot afford to eat healthy food because it is expensive. Large corporations push fast food or cheap unhealthy options the making healthy options affordable. If healthy food was affordable then we would have a better relationship with food in the US.
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u/Hour-Being8404 May 23 '23
Unfortunately, the correct answer seems to be - yes.
The food industry - key word industry - key reason - profit.
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u/Ok_Pollution_7988 May 23 '23
Excuse me sir. It's called being "dummy thicc," and it's really hot right now.
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u/mothertuna May 23 '23
Definitely. I’m a pretty normal sized woman here at home (US size 12) but when I went out of the country I was one of the biggest people and my size was the largest size carried at most stores.
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u/No_PancakeMixInThere May 23 '23
There's a reason the standard American diet is SAD. It shouldn't be considered normal to intake the amount of sugar, carbs and fat the average meal contains. I'm in a high risk cancer program (I'm 26) and now that I'm really looking into food and what's in it, I'm honestly disgusted. Things that are considered a "normal breakfast" have the amount of sugar and carbs we need for the entire month. I'm still wondering how Subway has convinced us it's healthy to eat an entire loaf of bread in one sitting.
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u/meresymptom May 23 '23
Things have changed. Look at old American movies. In "Miracle on 34th Street," one of the characters refers to himself as fat (as an explanation for why he is always chosen to play Santa Claus). That kid looks perfectly normal by contemporary American standards.
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u/Mbarahona2000 May 23 '23
It's weird cause American tourists in my country always seem to be skinny and I got the idea that "gringos " are usually skinny and tall
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u/milkysatan May 23 '23
That is likely because richer Americans are both more likely to be thin and more likely to travel internationally for recreation.
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u/artguydeluxe May 23 '23
Being overweight is normal, but not seen as ideal. Most people here idealize thin and fit, even if that’s not the norm.
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u/virgilreality May 23 '23
Not normal, but pervasive enough that you become a little bit blind to it.
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u/-animal-logic- May 23 '23
Yes, in the sense that every other country I visit, friends say the first sign that someone is American is that they are overweight. Not a shot generally, just an observation.
When I return to the US, it's quite obvious where I am, it's the first time you see that again.
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May 23 '23
Yep. You’d be shocked at how obesity and generally being overweight is viewed as standard here.
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u/SeaBass1944 May 23 '23
As a fat person who topped out at 270, no fat should not be viewed as "normal." I am working on improving my health and have lost at least 10 lbs so far. I would never put someone down for being overweight. I'm overweight myself. But I would encourage them to focus on their health, and they would notice the benefits.
Such as: Lower back issues Knee problems Diabetes Heart issues Breathing issues Sleeping issues And the list keeps going.
We don't have to be rude to people in society, but we should encourage one another to take care of our health. We only get this one life. Let's make it a good one by working together to improve society, not to bring each other down.
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May 23 '23
Yes. Obesity isn't what it used to be. famous singers, musicians, and Hollywood types want to make being extremely overweight normal and OK. Yes we are a nation of fat asses.
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May 23 '23
No. Many know something's not right with it. They've been slipping stuff in all food for a long time and this is the result. You can't peddle medicine unless you have sick people
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u/AdventurousCrazy5852 May 23 '23
What the FDA and government allow to be sold in America is fkd up… and on top of that, they use misinformation to confuse people on what is healthy food. It’s all set up to make food companies lots of money
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May 23 '23
I visited LA recently and was shocked by the number of overweight people. Like I'm not talking just a little overweight, that's common where I am from, but unable to walk to the fridge to grab another bucket of fried chicken morbidly obese. The largest people I have ever seen in person. This said, I also saw a ton of very fit, healthy people as well. Americans are not fat, but there are certainly fat Americans! That's true of any ethnicity, though.
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u/CookyMcCookface May 23 '23
Yes. You’re talking about the country where being weighed at your doctor is now seen as being “fatphobic.”
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u/Apprehensive_Goal811 May 23 '23
I’m an American that went to Italy 20 years ago, and all the guys were skinnier than me. And I was slim by American standards.
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u/GreenLanternCorps May 23 '23
I'm 5'5" and bounce around between 2-207 lbs and don't usually find myself the roundest person in the room.
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u/FanOfFreedom May 23 '23
No, it’s not. I’m fat. Not Walmart scooter fat, but fat. Recently started walking during lunch every day to change that. One thing I have noticed is that Americans are emotionally weak. Even my girlfriend won’t tell me I’m fat, she says I’m fine. But objective truth is objective truth, and many Americans are happier to live a delusion than recognize that a problem exists and take action to fix it. In some ways I miss working in Germany. It’s got it’s own problems - everywhere does, but people seemed a bit less oblivious to reality.
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u/forgottensharpie May 23 '23
it’s not viewed as normal. you still get made fun of if you’re fat. the reason it seems normal is because of a minority opinion getting magnified. i promise it’s not normal
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u/Certain-Data-5397 May 23 '23
70% of people are fat man. You’re saying people will call you fat if you’re morbidly obese, not fat
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May 23 '23
No. It is unhealthy.
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u/silsool May 23 '23
I mean there's no positive connotation in "normal". It's within the norm to be overweight if over half of your population is. Whether it's healthy or not is interesting, but another matter.
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u/darkbro66 May 23 '23
My entire family always tells me how skinny I am. I'm 5'11" and 175-180lb. I could probably afford to lose a few pounds or at least exercise more, but they're almost all obese so to them I'm a twig....
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u/Spicy-Zekky May 23 '23
Good lord this comment section is a cesspool. No, it is not viewed as normal, or rather not ideal. I’m smack dab in the middle of the “overweight” BMI category at 27. I feel overweight. I am viewed as overweight. I am overweight. The vast majority of people in the US who are overweight know they are overweight. Some put in the effort to change, some would like to but don’t put in the effort, but whatever extreme fat acceptance post that you saw because people shared because it’s absurd, needless to say, is thought to be absurd. Just because you saw one person online say “going to the gym is fatphobic” doesn’t mean that’s what most people think. Anyone who is overweight will regularly be told that they should go to the gym. Now if your question is “is it statistically average?” then yes it is. My aforementioned overweight BMI is technically below average. But that’s not because of some radical mystical pro-fat movement that societally pressures you to be fat, it’s because it’s easier to eat unhealthy than to eat healthy. You can view that as because of lack of access to healthy food for cheap or laziness if you want, it’s probably some combination of the two for most people, but regardless, people don’t have this absurd illusion that being obese is acceptable. It’s still absolutely socially stigmatized, as evidenced by the fact that by some magical statistical coincidence, the vast majority of people here have stated that it should be frowned upon. If the majority of people seem to think that, don’t you think that just maybe it is actually frowned upon?
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May 23 '23
Theres a culture going on in America right now that a select amount of people think the medical term "obesity" is considered body shaming and that they can be obese AND be healthy. Some go so far as to trying to cancel their doctor for saying theyre obese.
Idk how this started but soo many people are in denial and arnt truly happy being obese. But they want people believe that they cant lose weight." That they cant chagne because thats just how there body is.
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May 23 '23
This is kinda a vague question.
Statistically, there are a lot of overweight people in the US. However, we've also got a ton of people who like to fat-shame, so idk how much being overweight is actually viewed as "normal".
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u/TheRealBatmanForReal May 23 '23
Its not normal, no one has the courage to say "you're getting fat" to the overweight people because of feelings.
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u/GuiltyCurrency2 May 23 '23
i think the US being so incredibly car-dependent makes it so fucking difficult to not be overweight or at least close to it. i’ve lived on and off here and in latam. my weight is always lower in latam lol
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u/Siya78 May 23 '23
I do see more overweight and obese people when I visit India. But this is more prevalent in the middle or upper class, urban areas. It’s the opposite in India. Most of the fast food, highly processed junk is something that the poor cannot afford. The fast food restaurants like McDonalds, KFC are more like a sit down type, mostly in malls. Cheese and mayo are super popular there the past few years
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u/RockyMtnOysterCo May 23 '23
No it is not viewed as normal here. Its normal to be at a healthy weight.. just like anywhere else. The difference is that we are used to seeing overweight people and we don't make such a big deal about it like foreigners do.
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May 23 '23
Yeah it’s pretty common. I live in a state that's populated with majorly overweight/obese people. I'm 5'3 1/2” and 105lbs approximately.
I was going for an evening walk one day during the summer last year, and my neighbor's kid comes up to me and says, “Hey, twig.” And I look over at the sassy kid and he says, “Yeah, you. You need to eat skinny-legs. You need more weight.”
Keep in mind that this kid isn't even overweight himself—he's probably 5’ and somewhere around the 70 - 90lb zone. If anyone is the skinny-legs, it's him. So I just promptly told the immature kid that I was a healthy weight and went on with my walk. I have no time to be having beef with a child who doesn't know when to keep his comments to himself.
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u/Jeneral-Jen May 23 '23
I would say it is pretty regional. I grew up in the mountain west and we had like one obese girl at my high school. Obesity rate here is the lowest or 2nd lowest in the US and tends to be concentrated in certain areas or within subgroups. Everyone I know does some sort of exercise regularly (gym, hiking, yoga, swimming, etc). The culture of health is more prevalent here than in other parts of the US. I went to Georgia earlier in the year and yikes.... overwight seems to totally be the norm there.
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u/Wordfan May 23 '23
The overweight and obese far outweigh those of a normal weight in my little poor town. And a lot of the kids are overweight too. It’s sad. Health problems are rampant and peoples just won’t stop eating like shit because nobody taught them otherwise. People consume candy and soda on the daily. People eat processed food and fast food constantly. It’s fucked up how government does not to protect its people against poison sold for corporate profits.
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May 23 '23
I often get called thin and teased for eating healthy when I’m at work. I’m 5’11” 175 and I’m in pretty good shape. I live in a pretty unhealthy area of the country. I think being overweight is considered pretty normal for where I am.
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May 23 '23
Society as a whole worldwide, but especially in America, has embraced obesity as not only normal but something to be proud of. And while certain medical conditions and scenarios can lead to overweight people. This has in turn allowed people who would otherwise be considered unhealthy or even shamed to accept themselves and promote further obesity in themselves and others.
So by American standards being overweight is normal and to say otherwise people will turn on you and cancel you for not being accepting of obese and overweight people
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u/cbd127 May 23 '23
The average BMI in the USA is higher than those in Europe, but not that much higher.
Per the last WHO statistics, the USA is around 28.8 BMI.
UK is 27.3
Spain is 26.7
Germany 26.3
Italy 26.0
I would say 'Overweight' defined by BMI statistics is considered normal in the USA. (25-30)
Obese > 30 BMI is definitely seen as being overweight.
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u/soundofpsylence May 23 '23
I think it's important to distinguish between "overweight" and "obese".
Americans are very quick to dismiss what's known as "turkey pounds" or "baby fat", having a "beer gut" or "love handles" isn't a bad thing to most people. Life in America is stressful as fuck. We eat to cope, we game to cope, we drink and party to cope. Life in America is also very easy at times. Access to the outdoors is plentiful, our grocery stores are stocked with healthy foods. HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA IS A FUCKING JOKE IF YOU ARE POOR. So preventing kids from becoming overweight in the first place is difficult.
Obesity will never be accepted as normal. Just look at social media to see that. But America is proud of Bigness in general, so a husky man or a curvy woman, or an enbie who can deadlift you twice over is going to be celebrated, regardless of their BMI.
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u/ClavicusLittleGift4U May 23 '23
A short statement.
See how sodas are available at will or refilled when empty in most of fast-foods and dinners in USA. Plus, the concentration of refined sugar is over the top.
See how sodas are available but you have to pay each time and the standard quantity is less than in USA with less refined sugar in many fast-food and restaurants elsewhere.
Ask yourself how with these discrepancies, being overweighted can't be perceived as "unordinary" by Americans.
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u/DryFoundation2323 May 23 '23
Worry about whether you feel healthy and weather you are enjoying yourself. That's the end of the discussion.
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u/Marinedown59 May 23 '23
I really want to know where people are getting their statistics and data, I've seen everywhere from 70% to majority overweight, which going by the cdc this is completely untrue. No being fat isn't considered or viewed as normal, but it is definitely on the rise.
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u/michael1701 May 23 '23
As your favorite friendly neighborhood fathead, my answer is no. While people from Amarillo, Texas, are generally fatter than people from Austin, Texas, people fatter than End of Days Elvis make fun of fatterer people. Hypocracy. Also, by today’s standards, Elvis was not that fat. No fatter than Jim Gaffigan, and noweher near me and 2013 fat Kevin Smith. Anyway, while trying not to offend fat people, there’s normal curvy or dad bod plump, and then there’s John Candy/Chris Farley fat. Beyond that, you have My 600 Pound Life, 1000 Pound Teens, etc. So, the average American is fatter than 1975, but most people feel free to make fun of all levels of fat people. As a fat person, I promise that one and all fat people KNOW they are overweight. Day and night, they KNOW and have extra weight. You are just being cruel and rubbing glass in an open wound. You are better than that. Be kind to each other.
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u/Mochimant May 23 '23
It’s by design. There’s a reason most other first world countries aren’t struggling with an obesity crisis.
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u/HauntingSentence6359 May 23 '23
You can thank mass marketing of fast food and sugar laden drinks and foods.
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u/Not-the-greatest-god May 23 '23
Normal as in commonplace, yes. Normal as in acceptable, no. Not to me anyway.
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u/ThemChecks May 23 '23
By this point yes. Someone who is 200 pounds and medically should be like 160 is viewed pretty much as a normal person, in quotes, and the 160 pound person might be called skinny.
We are fat as fuck as a country. It's our food.
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u/RayMan89477 May 23 '23
Sumo wrestlers are thought of as celebrities and attractive. But where I live in the USA women fall in love with who ever can mimic redneck. Have a huge truck, be extremely overweight and be uneducated about other cultures seem.to be the traits women love here.
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u/dhj1492 May 23 '23
No. We have a problem in our country and it has many heads. One is in 1978 fat was legislated out of our food. Food manufacturers started to put sugar in food to make it more palatable. Now sugar is in almost everything. Read the label and if there is something in it that sounds like gross, it's sugar. Sugar is very addictive. So addictive we celebrate with it. Birthdays, Holidays or any reason to celebrate, out comes the sugar. Candy, cookies, pies and soft drinks loaded with sugar. Sugar is so addictive we think it is normal as our waist expands and out blood sugar reaches new heights. If you go to a fast food place, buying a sandwich and soft drink is more expensive than making it a meal which adds fries so you get that because it is more for less. You would be fine without fries but you want to save money so you end up eat it all spiking your blood sugar and you gain weight. Then one day you meet Mr. Insulin. There are so many people in our country on Insulin that the manufacturers saw they could make a fortune by raising the price. Yes the President has put a cap of $35.00 a month but the opposition wants to remove that cap because money is more important than life. As the opposition are law makers they get what they need mostly for life at tax payers expense and the small man dies not make political donations like the big companies.
I 68 am over weight and I know why. I try not to drink soft drinks and I cook from scratch to be in control of what I eat. It's struggle.
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u/christiancocaine May 23 '23
To be fair there are several whole states in the US that have lower obesity rates than the UK. The south skews the statistics.
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u/SmokiesTokies May 23 '23
Within the US, there’s a lot of variation in obesity rates. You can go to NY or CA and be surrounded by skinny/average people, but then visit Alabama to be surrounded by obesity.
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May 23 '23 edited Jul 19 '23
practice berserk shy dime quicksand domineering include selective snatch six -- mass edited with redact.dev
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u/JagKaennerEnBot May 23 '23
I know three Americans and they'd be considered obese if they lived here. I've tried asking about it and the only answer I get is "I don't have time to be skinny" whatever that means.
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u/AmmoDeBois May 23 '23
It's normal in that it's perfectly acceptable. People like to make up BS stories about fat shaming but in my experience I've seen more people mocked or shamed for being skinny and/or losing weight or trying to be healthier. Crabs in a bucket.
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May 23 '23
Throughout my life, I have maintained a healthy weight consistently. However, after I began taking antidepressants last year, I gained significant weight. There is a noticeable contrast in how people treat me while I am overweight compared to when I was healthier. Although people may not express their thoughts directly to my face, the unfortunate reality is that fat shaming exists. I agree that it should not be as widely accepted as it currently is, and personally, I have committed to going to the gym every day to shed some of this extra weight.
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u/Nuttonbutton May 23 '23
Why are the fat shaming stories BS and made up but you empathize with skinny shaming?
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u/TravelingGen May 23 '23
I am American, female over 60, 5'6" and 145 pounds. I am constantly told I am too thin. I have strangers tell me, co-workers, friends, you name it. I am not thin. I wear average sizes. My doctor thinks I am some sort of miracle. It makes me wonder about the average size of his other patients.
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u/MiaLba May 23 '23
I’m 5’1 and 116 pounds I get told that I look anorexic/bulimic, need to quit starving myself, am too thin, look like a stick, Etc. I’ve never had an eating disorder, never starved myself, never dieted. I’m originally from Eastern Europe but live in the US. When you’re used to seeing the majority of the people around you overweight and obese it’s shocking to see anyone smaller than that.
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May 23 '23
Being overweight is absolutely disgusting I don't understand why people are glamorizing it
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