Obesity in Ameria

[Fitman's Brother]

One thing that sports can promote is the reduction in obesity in people. The United States is the country in which obesity is the most prevalent. Attached here shows how serious this problem is, and it's only going to get worse.

Some of you may ask "who cares about obesity? Let people live their lives the way they want". I agree with you, people SHOULD be able to live how they like. But if you ARE fat, you should be able to take care of yourself. So if you are too fat and out of shape to work, then that should be on you and you shouldn't expect people to take care of you.

Numerous statistics have shown that obesity has lead to a reduction in the productivity of people. So, obesity not only harms our economy as a whole, but it also makes it so that healthy people have to pick up the slack and take care of those who do not make intelligent, healthy lifestyle decisions.

Of course, sports aren't the only way in which we can have a healthier world. But they are indeed a path, and they are a fun way for many people to stay in shape and live longer, healthier, and more productive self-sustaining lives without taking resources from others.



On a side note, what I find kind of interesting about this graph is that it is the South which is more prevalent with obesity. El Paso, Texas is in the South. Coincidence? Possibly.

[Fat Man]

One thing that sports can promote is the reduction in obesity in people.

Oh really???







Gee! I didn't know that!

Well, I guess we learn something new every day!

Thanks for the info

Yeah, it's good to know that competitive sports helps to reduce obesity and promotes physical fitness.

I gotta make a note of that.

Uh huh! Some really good information we can all use.

[Earl]

Fat Man, you should have gone out for football!

[Fitman's Brother]

The obesity rate is still lower among athletes than the rest of the United States.

Suck on that, fatty.

[Fat Man]

The obesity rate is still lower among athletes than the rest of the United States.

Suck on that, fatty.

Yeah, maybe slightly lower, very slightly lower.

But I have seen a lot of fat football players, and fat baseball players, and fat hockey players, but not very many fat basketball players.

Competitive sports really doesn't do jack shit to reduce obesity.

So, go suck a jock cock!

You probably do anyway.

The only reason why you had more privileges in high school was because you gave blow jobs to your PE coach!

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

I don't deny that sports can help a person stay in shape, however promoting sports any more will not decrease the obesity rate. There is no shortage of opportunities for people who are interested in sports to play sports. Anyone who is interested in playing sports has the ability to play them if they wish. Also, the sports-based PE hasn't seemed to slow down obesity. The obesity problem can't be solved with sports, it must instead be solved with promotion of healthy eating and exercise (not specifically limited to sports). If you play sports all the time but you eat the worst foods, you'll still be fat. Additionally, I believe working out (when done properly) can be even better for fitness than playing sports. As Earl has said before, there is no single sport that works every single muscle.

Promoting sports to people that aren't interested in sports will not help them get in shape. When I was in the mandatory sports based PE, I was never in good shape at all. I was never overweight, but instead I was always very skinny with little muscle. I wasn't trying very hard to stay in shape because I associated that idea with sports, as I had never been exposed to the idea of going to a gym and working out instead of playing sports. Very shortly after my last semester of mandatory PE, I developed an interest in staying in shape through working out, and I've been very passionate about working out ever since. I don't want to sound narcissistic, but I'd say I'm easily in better shape than most of the people on my school's sports teams.

[Earl]

Despite the predominant theme of this website, I certainly don't begrudge anyone's participation in a sport, as I realize that dedication and self-discipline is involved in the mastery of a sport. But I think one major reason why there may be less obesity among athletes than there is among nonathletes is because most athletes were never fat, to begin with.

People may not care for his flamboyant personality, but Richard Simmons has the right idea. Speaking as someone who's never been overweight, I'm appreciative of the fact that Simmons condemns people who ridicule those who are obese. There must be a two-pronged approach to losing weight. Overweight people really should work with a medical doctor or a nutritionist. First, there must be a change in the individual's diet. Often the problem is not caused by eating too much, but is caused by eating the wrong kinds of foods. And the cause of obesity may not even be related to diet, which is why I say an overweight person should work with a physician.

I agree wholeheartedly with HugeFan about mandatory "sports only" P.E. Nonathletic students in decades past actually would have been better off if they had not been required to take a course that was essentially useless to them. The same holds true for nonathletic students today who are required to take the "old P.E." in the absence of genuine fitness programs, such as PE4Life. The history of mandatory "sports only" P.E. is absolutely shameful, especially concerning the way scrawny boys and fat boys were (and have been) mistreated. I applaud those who support genuine fitness programs for nonathletic students -- which can be quite demanding, actually -- but have no respect for those who want to force nonathletic boys to participate in competitive team games in mandatory P.E. classes, a surefire way to encourage some of the worst forms of physical bullying.

One of the problems with the "old P.E." is the fact that it fails to recognize individual students have different exercise needs. In other words, the "one size fits all" approach doesn't work here. For example, the best exercise for the overweight is constant, fast movement, such as Richard Simmon's dancing to the oldies. A fat boy standing out in the baseball field when the other team is at bat is just going to stand there for most of the time and not get any exercise (not that I'm putting down the sport of baseball). The best sort of exercise for a scrawny boy who wants to pack on muscle is, of course, weight training. He also needs to modify his diet since his metabolic rate is most likely higher than the average. In both of these instances, sports is not the best answer. In fact, the worst thing you can do to a nonathletic boy is to force him to participate in a sport. The "old P.E." never took into account these differences.

There are times I wonder if the dunderheads who came up with the "old P.E." must have really hated nonathletic boys. Not only were they bullied and humiliated, but because of their bad experiences these kids came to associate health clubs and any sort of exercise with sports. Is that the way to promote physical fitness? As I've said in this forum over and over and over again, I get more exercise in a single workout at my health club pumping iron than I ever did in an entire year of mandatory "sports only" P.E. I don't believe most people who profess to be concerned about school students not being physically fit, whether they're obese or otherwise, are truly concerned about the nonathletic kids; otherwise, if they were, they would support a program like PE4Life. No, all they seem to really want is to promote sports, even to the point of being coercive about it and making the lives of nonathletic kids miserable at school.

Supporting the "old P.E." (which should be retained as an elective for the athletic students and others who want to participate in sports) will also have the effect of continuing to serve as a source of support for this website.

[Earl]

(See above.)

I forgot to add ...

Fitman's Brother is solid muscle. Not any fat on him!

[Fat Man]

(See above.)

I forgot to add ...

Fitman's Brother is solid muscle. Not any fat on him!

Except in his head!!!