The world's bulging waistline

[OriZ 3,157]

Other key findings of the report include:

Japanese men and women had the lowest BMI in the high-income world.

American men and women had the highest BMI of any high-income country.

The lowest BMIs in Europe were among Swiss women and Bosnian men.

Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Eritrea have the lowest average BMI in the world.

The country with the highest average BMI was American Samoa (average BMI of 35 kg/m2 for women and 32 kg/m2 for men), where the average individual is classed as obese.

Morbid obesity, where a persons weight interferes with basic physical functions such as breathing and walking, now affects around 1 per cent of men in the world, and 2 per cent of women. In total, 55 million adults are morbidly obese.

Women in Singapore, Japan, and a few European countries including Czech Republic, Belgium, France, and Switzerland had virtually no increase in average BMI over the 40 years.

Why America bmi so high? Bad food I suppose?

Too much fast food. Americans consume alot more fast food than most places around the world - and it is also cheaper in the US than in most places around the world, not to mention cheaper than healthy food. And there-in lies the problem. Take the cost of fruits and vegetables for example. In America they are pretty expensive compared to most places, partly because some of them have to be imported due to the weather in some areas, and partly for other reasons. Especially in poorer families, if you want to feed your kids you can't afford good food, you have to go to Mcdonalds or Burger King etc. I remember in Israel where fruits and veggies are pretty cheap, fast food is actually quite expensive, Why? Simple - places like Mcdonalds are considered imported, so naturally the price is higher. Just like Middle Eastern restaurants there are incredibly cheap yet here it's like this "authentic food" type deal so it's very expensive. My wife and I are still trying to find a good one in VT and we went to a Turkish restaurant the other day, ordered some falafel hummus stuff like that, would have been mayb $15 in Israel we ended up with a bill over $100 here lol...conversely, we went to Mcd in Israel once just to get fries and a soda...when they gave us the price, my wife who often has no filter uttered "holy S". Everybody kinda stood and looked at her wondering why this American is using such language lol...but she's like in America that's a dollar menu item...I don't remember what the price was but it was quite high compared to here...but I'm getting off topic, so in short I think part of it is education, it seems many are not fully aware of what they are doing to their bodies like people in some other countries are, some just can't afford anything better, and some just really seem to like it.

Also lifestyle - doesn't always allow for enough time to exercise. If you compare Europe where they take siestas during the day to the work most of us have to do here, with the exception of maybe VT and a few other states where you see people outside running all the time and riding bicycles and where people don't work as hard(most places here close by 5-6pm) - there is simply no time or energy left to do any healthy activities.

Portion size plays a factor I think. I have noticed a big increase in the size of servings in the UK over the past decade. Also education. Over here the kids get a monthly menu showing what they will be served for lunch-it is broken down into various food groups and the amount of calories per meal is indicated. Also exercise...

I don't know if portion size per se is a factor. I like big portions, but I try not to eat too much unhealthy food. Some is ok sometimes, but I also normally don't get to eat more than 1-2 times a day, so when I do I want a big portion lol

You know Mrs. Obama tried to introduce healthy meals in schools and people were ticked. What are your thoughts? I thought it was a great idea. Especially for poorer areas because there is a correlation with poorness and poor health

While I do think kids in school need to eat healthier food, I am not sure about Obama's program. For one I just saw the other day that now they are going to start fining schools that aren't following it. I don't think that's the right approach, I think kids should get more educated in school about the importance of eating healthy, I also think you could possibly incentivize schools to offer more healthy food by raising their allocation instead of lowering it by 10% to those who don't offer food that is as healthy, as they seem to be wanting to start doing now.

I wish that they would use something other than bmi to determine health/obesity. My bmi is in the overweight range because of muscle that I've put on by working out. I had a baby 8 months ago and naturally some of the weight is stil coming off. However the muscle that I've added will likely keep me in the overweight portion of bmi. I'm healthy, my doctor isn't concerned about me. That's the most important thing:

That is true. I am also not a huge believer in BMI I think they need to use something else. For some people like you it's muscle, I know some people(like my wife) where it's just heavier bones or people with a bigger build. I've heard of many many people that are not obese but their BMI is over 25, including myself(mine is 26.1).

Edited April 1, 2016 by OriZ

[ExPatty 502]

Not only do Americans have no knowledge at all of proper eating but there are so many fat now that there is no shame about it. You're shaped by your peers. This is for example why a husband and wife can both balloon up at the same time; an unspoken pact that they will just get fat together. Go to japan and you will feel the shame of being fat. They just don't entertain it as a viable lifestyle like we do here.

[Jacque67 7,328]

Not only do Americans have no knowledge at all of proper eating but there are so many fat now that there is no shame about it. You're shaped by your peers. This is for example why a husband and wife can both balloon up at the same time; an unspoken pact that they will just get fat together. Go to japan and you will feel the shame of being fat. They just don't entertain it as a viable lifestyle like we do here.

Like you know Japan, lol.

[Umka36 781]

Just eat rice and noodles?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Legit question. Aren't sumo wrestlers revered in Japn?

[Jacque67 7,328]

Legit question. Aren't sumo wrestlers revered in Japn?

yes they are. However less and less Japanese males are prepared to enter this very strict world, so wrestlers are being "imported" from Mongolia, Hawaii and even Hungary!!!

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

We need more fat shaming... Do your part.

... And once again Asians making the rest of us look bad... The chart showing we tend to lose weight on average in our later years is because fat people die sooner.

[TBoneTX 46,416]

An unnecessary personal dig has been removed, along with replies. C'mon, guys.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Too funny.

[smilesammich 10,727]

Like you know Japan, lol.

why would you question such a thing? expatty is thee consummate smarty pants.

Not only do Americans have no knowledge at all of proper eating but there are so many fat now that there is no shame about it. You're shaped by your peers. This is for example why a husband and wife can both balloon up at the same time; an unspoken pact that they will just get fat together. Go to japan and you will feel the shame of being fat. They just don't entertain it as a viable lifestyle like we do here.

might i suggest you revisit your usage of the word 'no' in this sentence. both times. factually inaccurate. i know you like facts.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

CORN SYRUP in every freaking thing you can think of. Why ? It is idiotic.

Fresh foods, less grains, no processed foods with more walking is the thing to do.

[OriZ 3,157]

CORN SYRUP in every freaking thing you can think of. Why ? It is idiotic.

Fresh foods, less grains, no processed foods with more walking is the thing to do.

Yes but corn syrup is cheap

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Yes but corn syrup is cheap

And a common pancake syrup substitute

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Corn Syrup, High Fructose Syrup, blah blah blah...

Consume less, exercise more. Its not tricky.

[Jacque67 7,328]

I am sure corn plays a role in this...the fat butts I have had to walk behind , climbing Diamond Head seem inflated in a weird way-different from European fat...