Here’s the Unspoken Reason Why More Americans Are Really Obese
- Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:18pm by
Liz Klimas
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The growth of American waistlines, according to one study, can be attributed to two words: quit smoking.
According to “Socio-Economic Causes of Obesity” by Charles L. Baum, Shin-Yi Chou published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, 30 percent of American adults are obese, which is 100 percent more than there were 25 years ago. And although a number of factors can be attributed to the rise in weight gain, the authors report that quitting smoking has had the largest effect on obesity in the country:
We use 1979- and 1997-cohort National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) data, which allows us to compare the prevalence of obesity between cohorts surveyed roughly 25 years apart. Using the traditional Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique, we find that cigarette smoking has the largest effect: the decline in cigarette smoking explains about 2% of the increase in the weight measures. The other significant factors explain less.
Business Insider links several other studies that confirming the expected weight gain associated with quitting cigarettes:
Cigarette smoking may affect weight by altering “insulin homeostasis, lipoprotein lipase activity, the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, physical activity, and preferences in food consumption” (Williamson et al., 1991; see also Wack and 5 Rodin, 1982, and Hofstetter et al., 1986). Further, cigarette smoking reputedly suppresses appetite and enjoyment of food (Stamford et al., 1986; Williamson et al., 1991).
Other factors taken into account with the study as “important influences on caloric imbalance” include employment, physical activity at work, food prices, density of restaurants, involvement in food stamp programs and the influence of urbanization.
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Comments (72)
JACKTHETOAD
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:22amUh, oh. Tax revenues from tobacco must be down.
Report Post »FLDeb
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 8:40amYou are absolutely correct! I have heard (from vendor so…?) that the manufacture receives 1/3 and the government 2/3. So I wonder who has a bigger stake in this pie? I know the government pushed the health reasons on us as a way to justify the increased cost, but with so much of the money going back into the government coffers at all levels I could not figure out why so many people did not see what was going on. They care about our health? – PLEASE
Report Post »Gripes
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 11:05amThe government only cares about our health as long as it helps to push their healthcare agenda. The problem here is that this is a punitive tax. Punitive taxes have the effect of increasing revenues in the short term (which causes spending increases for the long term) and then those revenues die down because people stop doing the activity associated with the punitive tax (in this case, smoking. In more important contemporary cases, investing and creating jobs). The economic implications are easy to understand. Health wise, our government only cares as long as we pay taxes and are sick enough or well enough to favor their idea of health care.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:18amHere’s the Unspoken Reason Why More Americans Are Really Obese…we eat too much and excersize too little. PERIOD.
Report Post »Race
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 10:26amYup. Too many jobs now are sit-down. Back in the day when manufacturing played a large role in our economy you didn’t see all the fatties you do now. There‘s also the couch potato generation with their video games and ’puters. When I was a kid the folks’d say “go out & get the stink blown off you”, and I’d be gone all day playing outside. If you wanna blame something for fatness in our country, blame our changed work ethic. It‘s no longer a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. Now it’s how much can I make doing as little as I can.
Report Post »Calpurnia
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 3:54pmYes, but the point of the article is that smoking acts as an appetite suppressant.
So smokers eat less than non-smokers.
Report Post »Ouaouaron
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 7:42amOnly 2 percent attributed to smoking, kind of a non-story. Food choices and exercise are the key to most cases. Parents are foolish to give there kids lots of soda and other refined carbs.
Report Post »dictionmary
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:18amThe “spoken” reason; computer-tush.
Report Post »grudgywoof
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:17amPeople are fat in America for the same reason people are fat in Germany. They eat to much damn food! The drink too much beer! They eat too many doughnuts and drink to many double chocolate lattes! They sit on their arses and don’t exercise all the while scarfing down football food and drinking more beer! That’s America and that describes most of us men at least and we like our fatty fatso lifestyles. So bite me! Now where’s that doughnut? It must have fallen in the crack in my sofa.
Report Post »wallyworld
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:30amThat’s not the sofa.
Report Post »grudgywoof
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:45amOh there it is…….I don’t remember the chocolate frosting……….oh thats just gross sorry but Wally World made me do it!
Report Post »dallenh
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 6:52amExcuse number 999 from a society that promotes the “victim mentality” at so many levels now. It’s not your fault, it‘s McDonald’s fault. It’s because you live in a food island. Now it’s because of not being able to smoke. This is all BS in my opinion. People need to take personal responsibility for their actions at all levels.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:09amI quit smoking and didn’t gain weight. It’s when people substitute eating for smoking that they gain weight. And food tastes so much better when it doesn’t taste like an ashtray, so you eat more of it. Cigarettes have been proven to “cause cancer.” so why would the government or any lackey turn around and say if you don’t want to be fat, smoke?
Report Post »Red Bubba
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 6:28amI call BS. The reason people are obese is because they live in a spectator society. They watch activities on TV. They do not participate. It shows in everything from obesity to obamunism. Cultural suicide by subsituting watching for doing.
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:15amDead on Bubba! Most inner city environments are not places where you can just tell your kids to go out and play, thus really fat welfare recipients, sad.
Report Post »Jack of Hearts
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 6:12amGave up smoking 2½ years ago. This article says “Cigarette smoking may affect weight by altering insulin homeostasis, lipoprotein lipase activity”. BS, I’ve put on over 40 pounds because I eat far more. It’s not difficult to work out, obesity is caused by eating too much. Next question.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 6:12amThey had to do a study to figure out smoking generally keeps people thinner than they would be otherwise? There were several generations of women that smoked for almost entirely that reason.
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 3:16pmI hear ya, it’s pretty hard to stuff food in your mouth when there is something smoldering in the way. Man am I smart!
Report Post »johnnycatt
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 6:03amI have a new slogan when I see a fat kid — “his momma gotta be on welfare to afford enough food to make him/her that fat!”
Report Post »Cat
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 5:58amGluten.
It’s found in wheat or wheat byproducts.
Look around and read labels.
90% of the food goods have gluten.
America has been force-feed wheat for years.
Try a gluten free diet and watch what happens.
Report Post »Try to quit smoking, and watch what happens … Yikes!
tbear44
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 5:31amNo two people are the same. Some can eat all they want and not get fat. Some can’t. Some exercize and some don’t. Smoke all ya want, and eat and drink all you want. I hate to tell you this but no matter what you do, you and everyone else is gonna die someday.
Report Post »Lonescrapper
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 5:54amAccording to this study, you can also attribute the rise in obesity to food stamps…
Report Post »MeMadMax
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 5:03amI can totally relate to this article, as I have recently quit smoking.
Now, when I make love to my wife, she say’s im too heavy ^.^
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 4:31amFood Stamps cause obesity??? It’s like the whole nation has become a comedy show….”
“Big Mama goes to the White House and slurps BBQ sauce wif da fust lady”
“Wettie” Murphy on Pennsylvania Ave.
“Tim ‘n Barry”
“Good Times-The Formative Teen Years of B.O.”
Watch a community celebrate welfare on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o64Fz-KW1Dk
Can you find a stupider time in history? Dis moron and his b****es gots to go.
Report Post »lketchum
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 4:23amI feel really skinny when I go out in public. I went to Wally-World the other day and felt like a stick.
I was astonished at the number of people who are both young and very overweight/obese.
It’s nuts. What do they do all day and how do they live? Who would fire them for anything? They are ticking time bombs that will end up costing their employers huge amounts of money in healthcare premiums.
Report Post »martinrnelson
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 4:04amPeople are fat because they eat more calories than they burn. It’s plain and simple. I don’t care what genes you have or who your dad is…if you burn more than you eat, you lose weight. However, we as American’s hate taking personal responsibility for our actions and must find an alternate reason for our fatness. There’s not!! No that you know the truth, have a good cry and go for a walk.
Report Post »dallenh
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 6:53amTotally agree.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 3:00amYou need to quit smoking, it’s bad for you! OMG! Quitting smoking is making you gain weight, that’s bad for you! OMG! I can’t smoke, and I can’t eat, what the hell are we supposed to do?
Report Post »the hawk
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 3:53amDrink and multiply !
Report Post »motherof18
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 2:33amWe need to get our kids to **** more. The more they **** the less they’ll weigh. If they eat 4 pounds of food a day they should **** out 3 1/2 pounds of poo. I recommend putting dirt in all their meals.
Report Post »Minefield
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 2:24amFAT people over eat! They eat twice what they need. They don`t work it off! You can take that to the food bank.
Report Post »scout n ambush
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 2:09ama great number of people get outside an do things alot less then they used to and that is the real cause with children even more so then adults.Back in the day there was a whole lot more you could do outside than there was for you to do inside.I wonder how many parents tell their kids to go out and play or is it just easier to keep them inside glued to the tv or video game so you don’t have to keep an eye on them?
Report Post »RA0725
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:48amI think the SNL skit summed up the real problem. “Burger, fries, soda, do you want us to fat ass size that for you?”
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:40amIfrastructure shipped overseas. Less money coming in. Crap food is cheaper. =FAT
Report Post »ProbIemSoIver
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:38amThis Study is BS. GMO’s cause weight gain.
Report Post »oldoldtimer
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:48amAnd high fructrose corn syrup chemical sweeter in every food made by man and even some that are not.
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 2:40am@ old old timer,
Bingo! I was one who had trouble gaining any weight when I was a child, although I drank RC Cola practically everyday. That was before the cane sugar was replaced with the much cheaper high fructose corn syrup. After many years of trying to weigh more than ninety-eight pounds, I finally started to gain weight. However, I took it too far. Now I drink Coke Zero. I became overweight, but I did lose 40lbs, simply by exercising for thirty minutes everyday.
A major food chain in my area is now offering sodas with cane sugar. They call them Mexican sodas. If I still had young children, I‘d would buy the Mexican soda instead of the one’s with high fructose corn syrup.
Report Post »Speed Racer
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:29amSo really, they are simply proving once again that STARTING SMOKING is the real issue.
Report Post »AnAppealToGod
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:40amI guarantee TV and INTERNET allow more people to get fat than smoking or quitting smoking combined.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 3:02amCome to think of it, Obama is still skinny as hell. Which means he didn’t quit smoking.
Report Post »NOT A CRAZY
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 3:37amIt means B.O. did not quit smoking alright…he didn’t quit smoking crack.
Report Post »survivorseed
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:27amThat doesn’t explain why childhood obesity has tripled from 5% to 15%. If we could just get the kids to light up, all our problems could be solved
Report Post »oldoldtimer
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:51am3 to 5 cans of soda a day will amke any kids fat. So will all the junk food passed off as healthy by a profit driven industry that will sell any thing no matter what it does to the human body.
Report Post »survivorseed
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 2:01amDon‘t tell me I can’t feed my kids McDonalds everyday and replace milk with Coke, what are you, a commie or something.
Report Post »/sarc
jb.kibs
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 2:08amthey can tell you all they want, when they force you… that is when someone puts themselves in “the wrong”. (it isn’t the person being forced) …
don’t force people to do anything, lead by example, teach… if they mess up, PUNISH.
Report Post »InfiniteSolutions
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 1:24amLeft a message on this subject earlier and hopefully it gets posted. I’ve lost the stamina to rewrite. Also noticed this site and GBTV having issues today, not sure where the intervention is coming from? I was watching 5pm video and at about 24 mins into it the video breaks up and then crashes. I didn’t know where to write this to customer support and hope this finds its way.
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