An interesting article

[slothlike]

I don't need to give up sweets. I need to move out of the city

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/ ... -diabetes/

[oolala53]

I think this dovetails with the experience of Anne Barone, who wrote Chic and Slim, though she was more purposeful in finding out and following the precepts of slim French women. Living in France for a year, she lost 50 lbs. but kept the habits so that she has remained slim-- and made some dough off it with three books.

Also, it's been shown many times that immigrants who come from countries where they were originally slim fatten up when they live on our shores for a few years.

It's not the only factor but it can certainly be an influential one.

[wosnes]

Also, it's been shown many times that immigrants who come from countries where they were originally slim fatten up when they live on our shores for a few years.

That's true. but as citizens of many of these countries become a little more affluent and as American foods, restaurants and eating habits move into other countries, the obesity levels in these countries is rising sharply. In places where obesity was rare two decades ago, it's now common. A friend just had me watch Sugar: The Bitter Truth on YouTube. The speaker said that bariatric surgery for children is now becoming common in Japan, China and Korea. Two decades ago obesity was rare in those countries.

A few years ago I read that scientists measured the levels of health of the people in one village in Japan and citizens from that village who had emigrated to the U.S. Most of those who had emigrated to the U.S. had settled in one general area in California, I think. All of those who had emigrated and adopted the American way of eating were heavier and less healthy than the people who remained in their village in Japan.

Over 35 years ago Dr. John McDougall worked as the physician on a sugar plantation in Hawaii. Many of the workers were people who had emigrated from Japan, China and the Philippines. He noted that the elders who maintained their traditional diets were slim, healthy and active well into old age. Their children and grandchildren, who adopted American ways of eating, were not only significantly heavier but also less healthy at far younger ages than their elders.

"FACT 1. Populations that eat a so-called Western diet -- generally
defined as a diet consisting of lots of processed foods and meat, lots
of added fat and sugar, lots of refined grains, lots of everything
except vegetables, fruits, and whole grains -- invariably suffer from
high rates of the so-called Western diseases: obesity, type 2 diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Virturally all of the obesity and
type 2 diabetes, 80 percent of the cardiovascular disease and more than
a third of all cancers can be linked to this diet. Four of the top ten
killers in America are chronic diseases linked to this diet. The
arguments in nutritional science are not about this well-established
link; rather, they are all about identifying the culprit nutrient in
the Western diet that might be responsible for chronic diseases. Is it
the saturated fat or the refined carbohydrates or the lack of fiber or
transfats or omega-6 fatty acids -- or what? The point is that, as
eaters, (if not as scientists), we know all we need to know to act:
This diet, for whatever reason, is the problem.

"FACT 2. Populations eating a remarkably wide range of traditional
diets generally don't suffer from these chronic diseases. These diets
run the gamut from ones very high in fat (the Inuit in Greenland
subsist largely on seal blubber) to ones high in carbohydrates (Central
American Indians subsist largely on maize and beans) to ones very high
in protein (Masia tribesmen in Africa subsist chiefly on cattle blood,
meat, and milk), to cite three rather extreme examples. But much the
same holds true for more mixed traditional diets. What this suggests
is that there is no single human diet but that the human omnivore is
exquisitely adapted to a wide range of different foods and a variety of
different diets. Except, that is, for one: the relatively new (in
evolutionary terms) Western diet that most of us now are eating. What
an extraordinary achievement for a civilization: to have developed the
one diet that reliably makes it people sick! (While it is true that we
generally live longer than people used to, or than people on some
traditional cultures do, most of our added years owe to gains in infant
mortality and child health, not diet.)

Old joke:

Is Speaking English Bad for Your Health?

The Chinese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British, Australians or Americans.

The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British, Australians or Americans.

The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British, Australians or Americans.

The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British, Australians or Americans.

The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British, Australians or Americans.

The Latinos eat lots of Chilli and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British, Australians or American

CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is what kills you.

[Blithe Morning]

I think this is one of those issues where the result is a synergistic combination of different factors, each of which is weighted differently depending on the individuals.

Different peer group, better grocery stores, neighborhoods with better resources: I don't think there's ONE silver bullet to fix the problem of poverty related obesity.

Regarding immigrants, I've always believed that how you eat matters as much as what you eat. Really, if we returned to our traditional model of eating which in America is No-S ish, I believe we would see a change in human health indicators.

[wosnes]

Different peer group, better grocery stores, neighborhoods with better resources: I don't think there's ONE silver bullet to fix the problem of poverty related obesity.

In some cases, Detroit for example, it's not just better grocery stores, it's grocery stores. I think I heard that some chain was going into Detroit, but at least until recently there were no full-service grocery stores in the city of Detroit. They were all in the suburbs.

I don't think the situation in other cities is that bad, but the number and quality of stores vary from neighborhood to neighborhood.

[Eileen7316]

In some cases, Detroit for example, it's not just better grocery stores, it's grocery stores. I think I heard that some chain was going into Detroit, but at least until recently there were no full-service grocery stores in the city of Detroit. They were all in the suburbs.

Wosnes, I heard that, too. The first chain ever to go into the city of Detroit is a Whole Foods. I was astounded!