Home Daily Infographic Infograph: Obesity In America

Infograph: Obesity In America

by Erika Nicole Kendall

From MedicalBillingAndCoding.org, I present you “Obesity In America:”

As usual, a few notes:

“Being overweight is infectious. Friends of those who become obese risk a 57% chance of also becoming overweight.”

Really? Oh.

“Studies have shown that binge eating of sugary sweets can cause an addictive response in the brain similar to illegal drugs.”

Again, really? Oh.

“Stress and depression can be temporarily alleviated by eating. Cortisol, a stress hormone, also causes weight to be retained in several key areas. At 9.6%, America has the highest depression rate in the world. 75% of the population considers itself overstressed, up from 59% last year.”

I wonder why that happens.

“The closer a school is to a fast food restaurant, the more student obesity it has. The average American school is only 600 meters away from a fast food restaurant, a seven minute walk or a far shorter cruise to the drive thru. This may be the reason why childhood obesity has quadrupled in the last forty years.”

“Still not worried?” 10% of national medical costs are spent dealing with complications and disease brought on by obesity – roughly $147 billion tax dollars every year.”

Brought on” by obesity, or “coupled with” obesity? The two are very different. Type 2 diabetes occurs in “skinny” people, too. Not only that, but the same things that cause type 2 diabetes are the same things that cause obesity, so…. just like a person can be overweight and not have diabetes? A person can be diabetic and not be overweight. The longer we continue that stupid philosophy, the longer we continue to deal with these problems because we insist on attributing it to obesity instead of food.

It’ll be a hilarious day, indeed, when we’ve “cured” obesity and people start to realize that type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure are still around. “Well what the hell happened?” “Gee, buddy, I don’t know…”

“The Obesity Olympics…”

…seriously? [insert confused face]

“Still, we choose what we put into our bodies, right? Not entirely – food deserts, areas with little to no access to healthy foods, exist throughout America, eliminating the option to eat healthily entirely.”

For once, a infographic doesn’t completely ignore this issue.

Your thoughts?

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14 comments

Daphne May 16, 2011 - 4:51 PM

I thought this was interesting:

“10% of national medical costs are spent dealing with complications of obesity and disease – roughly $147 billion tax dollars every year.”

Well, that’s a lot of money, sure enough. And nice marketing there with the alarmist of the numbers. But more importantly, for me, the quote states that 10% of medical costs are related to obesity related complications. So……what is the other 90% spent on? Because the obesity = poor health brigade posits that being fat is taxing our healthcare system because of the medical issues. However, the statement above seems to contradict that. So, either the “health” aspect of obesity is being skewed to suit an agenda, or the graph is incorrect. Because 10% isn’t significant enough for me to accept otherwise.

Curlstar November 18, 2011 - 12:03 PM

You know, I noticed that statistic as well. The amount does make me question about the other 90%. What exactly are those other conditions/diseases that make up that 90%? The graphic makes some great points mostly, but that one and the obviously incorrect one regarding the rankings (Canada has the silver according to the graphic, not Mexico) makes me wonder about the messengers.

Frankly, I notice that many of our illnesses are a result of the highly processed frankenfood that we have here. I agree with Erika, you can be at a healthy weight and have one of the diseases that are supposedly linked with obesity. When you get rid of obesity, and you still have the diseases it shows that the assumption of the illnesses being linked to obesity is way off.

Adrienne June 21, 2012 - 12:26 PM

Frankenfood!! haha Highly processed foods are doing serious damage combined with the fact that most American’s don’t move around at all. Obesity, HBP, type II diabetes are all symptoms of a poor diet and bad choices. People do need fat on their bodies for the synthesis of certain nutrients, brain function and to have insulation in the winter. I hate low fat foods (not fruits and veggies) stuff like “low fat ice cream” you read the label on it and there is a laundry list of chemicals on the back! You are better off sticking with a smaller portion of the full fat stuff..at least you know what’s in it..

Catherine August 16, 2011 - 1:07 AM

Well, the tax dollar thing is kind of bad because you’ll have reactions like, “What? My tax dollars are at stake? Okay. You all need to stop being fat!”

Then we’ll have tons of ads and shows for low-fat, healthy living and eating. People doing all they can to ban fatness around them.

Odd, I believe that’s already happened.

LBrooke June 21, 2012 - 5:13 AM

Sad— what the freak is wrong with this country…

Adrienne June 21, 2012 - 12:20 PM

You have to marvel at the fast food companies at their incredible ability to pack so much fat and meaningless calories into such small packages–it defies logic!…Creating ways for people to have access to better food choices is the way to go.

Shannon June 21, 2012 - 9:27 PM

“Being overweight is infectious. Friends of those who become obese risk a 57% chance of also becoming overweight.”

O…K. I’ve often heard it said that for anyone to successfully conquer overeating, food addiction, or any other hurt, habit, or hangup, he/she needs support and a sense of community. This lame statistic is saying “hey stupid, stay away from lard butt. She’ll make you fat!” WTC! How can any of us win? 🙁

Erika Nicole Kendall June 22, 2012 - 8:45 AM

I think you might’ve answered your own question – people who are alike hang together. If someone has the same hang-up or bad habit as the one you’re trying to give up, then chances are high that they’re not going to be able to support you through getting over your own habit.

It doesn’t mean it’s impossible – that’s why it says “57%” and not 100% – it just means it’s a challenge.

Shannon June 22, 2012 - 11:12 AM

So are support groups like Overeaters Anonymours and Celebrate Recovery bad then? How can I do this alone?

Erika Nicole Kendall June 22, 2012 - 9:48 PM

Are support groups bad? Hmmm….my answer to this would be SO long. Wow.

Shannon June 21, 2012 - 10:29 PM

Another observation, on the pie graph they have obese, overweight, and normal (!?!) What about the underweight and anorexic? Are they considered “normal”? SMH

Erika Nicole Kendall June 22, 2012 - 8:38 AM

“Anorexic” isn’t a size, and “anorexics” do come in all sizes. I also suspect that “underweight” is a far less prevalent status in this country than “overweight.”

L. Fortune August 28, 2012 - 5:14 PM

This is a great website and I will be visiting regularly for support in my quest to control what goes in my mouth and gaining my ideal weight. For the last three weeks I have tried the South Beach Diet and have dropped 12 pounds and it was relatively easy. This from a serious sugar junkie!!!

I do have one question. Why do you have an ad for Betty Crocker brownies on you front page? I know you have to pay bills but, gee! LOL! Otherwise, thanks for your great work and inspiration.

Erika Nicole Kendall August 29, 2012 - 10:07 AM

“I do have one question. Why do you have an ad for Betty Crocker brownies on you front page?”

…because I don’t control which ads are placed on the blog. My network does.

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