American health

[Guest guest]

I don't want to get into an argument here, but most of my friends, family & acquaintances are lower class or low-middle class. They spend time on video games & watching TV/movies, rather than exercise. My daughter sits on her front porch after work, smoking & watching the neighbors, then spends lots of time on the phone with me reporting everybody's activities. I've asked her to take my grandson , who is 6 and very overweight, on a walk around the block in the evening. He loves to walk & would especially love that time with his mom. Nope, won't do it.

As far as food, it might be hard for people to get fresh grown or organic fruit & veggies, but I shop at Walmart or Kroger, where most of the folks I know shop. It's no more expensive to buy salad stuff (except tomatoes), fruit, chicken, etc. than TV dinners, chips, name brand cereals, frozen chicken tenders. It's a choice. When my grandkids visit, I have a hard time getting them to eat salad, apples, etc. because they are so used to eating junk food all the time. And they live in Indianapolis, where there is a large farmer's market, easily accessible. I used to take my kids there when we lived in Indy & they were school-age. I love my daughter, who makes just over minimum wage, but chooses to spend her time, money & energy in ways I disagree with. They have an enormous collection of movie dvd's & buy more every week. There goes money spent, time watching movies inside of exercising & junk food consumed while watching.

I know that this doesn't apply to everyone in this country, but from personal experience, I think it does apply to a large percentage.

Ramblin' Rose

Moderator

A merry heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22

Reply-To: Neurosarcoidosis To: Neurosarcoidosis Subject: Re: Re: cost of prednisone & RemicaDate: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:58:38 -0400

A big part of the reason Americans are so out of shape is their lack of free time. I am often shocked when I talk to people from other countries and realize how much more free time they have.For example, in France the entire country shuts down for an entire month and everyone goes on vacation.. Everyone...Also, urban traffic patterns are designed around cars now.. They made a conscious decision in the postwar years toforce people to buy cars (preferably a new one every two or three years) and during those years they destroyed many public transit systems that are only now being rebuilt at tremendous cost.So, the fact that we don't have public transportation and affordable housing near jobs is a conscious descision we madeyears ago to create consumption that would drive the economy. But it made people's lives more difficult if they chose to consume less. Also, affordable housing near work is increasingly difficult to find so people drive their cars to work, one person, one car.Sometimes they live as much as two hours away each way.. You can't walk to a job that is twenty or thirty miles away. I have spent long periods of my life commuting via train or bus or sometimes boththree or four hours a day. Its hard to exercise or eat well when you are chronically stressed. European cities are built with much more of an emphasis on allowing people to walk or god forbid, ride a bicycle to work.. Also, even though its better now than it was a few years ago, in many places, often many can't find healthy food to buy, especially in cities. Just premade junk food.. packaged food.. laden with preservatives and added fats..People who live in cities often don't have cars and they can't find healthy food in storesnear where they live anywhere. Its not available for any price. Its the same when you look for a place to eat .. lunch.. dinner.. near work..Fast food is loaded with trans fats, empty carbs, etc. You can bring your food to work but then often thereis nowhere to go to just sit without buying anything.. where do you eat it? Many workplaces now expect salaried 'exempt' workers to work lots of extra hours.. But where do they eat? How do they eat? We are killing ourselves.

On 8/13/07, Rose <mamadogrose (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:

I read similar articles that mentioned that authorities didn't know why US citizens ranked so low. I immediately thought, "Duh. We don't exercise & we stuff ourselves with junk food!"

Ramblin' Rose

Moderator

A merry heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22

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