McDonalds, you know you love it

[aquatius]

I'm extremely anti-McDonalds, mostly because of the negative environmental effects though.

[Shiny]

It isn't just food that determines a person's weight. You have to take in account, genetics, medicines that person may be taking and illnesses. Some people tend to assume that because a person is fat that automatically means they ate alot of crap which isn't necessarily true in some cases.

Beats eating at Arby's.

I like Arby's like a druggie loves crack. Pecans and chicken wrap!

[Madame Adequate]

No, if a fat person blames McDonald's, they deserve to be ridiculed.

But if you think that's the only time fat people are attacked, I lol at your naiveté. I've no problem with telling morons when they're at fault. I do have a problem with the entire social stigma surrounding being overweight.

[Vikeve]

I hate most fast food in general even before I saw that movie but I wanted to throw up after I saw it. It was so nasty.

The only thing I actually remember from the movie was how his girlfriend or wife or who ever started talking about how she need to be on top since he was so fat and I'm sitting there like damn too much information.

[I Took the Red Pill]

I'll eat McDonald's every once in a while, but usually I feel pretty sick after it. When the bun is soggy from grease it's kinda hard to enjoy a hamburger.

[fire_of_avalon]

The vast majority of you have no idea what you're talking about. It makes me lol all over the world. Do you even know what technically defines obesity? Do you know why people become obese? Do you know obesity has more to do with genetics, depression, disease, poverty and under-education than it does with gluttony? I'm not saying individuals aren't responsible for their own health, but you people are pretty heartless. You'd call an obese person looking for support in EoEO a glutton bringing about their own ruin, but you'd work your asses off to make someone depressed feel better, wouldn't you? So what if they were the same person? Hypocrites.

I think a bigger factor in american obesity is the relative cheapness of unhealthy food. Oils and sugars and carbohydrates are incredibly inexpensive, so those on low incomes are more likely to consume them, making them more susceptible to obesity and related diseases like diabetes.

I don't agree with this, the closest fast food place I have to my house is a Hardee's. Which is a burger place for northerners.

Well me and my boyfriend will buy there and spend about 15$ on food.
I spend about 18$ at Quizno's and 14$ at Subway. 13$ at Arby's and up to 11$ at Taco bell.
When I'm by myself I try to never spend over 5$ but everywhere I go, the value meals I want are over that. And trust me, the ammount of fast food the people eat to become obesse from fast food add's up and FAST. Spending only 6$ at a fast food place monday through friday is 30$ a week, 120$ a month, and 1440$ a year. Personally my GROCERY budget isn't even 120$.

Now, until the weather prevented me, I was going to make healthy mediteranian chicken wraps for dinner. I already had the chicken and the spices and all I needed is ONE tomato, ONE cucumber, ONE bag of romaine and a small container of ceaser salad dressing.

All of that would have made dinner and more for the both of us for under the price of normal fast food and it's much healthier than fast food.

Either way, now I'll be panfrying chicken in light olive oil and eating it over rice.

After having a set limit for money, I realized that fast food eating's the worst thing for my money. So the people able to eat at these fast food places arn't eating there because they don't have alot of money to spend on food, it's for their own personal reasons that isn't about money. Fast food at this point is like gormet for me since I end up going a month or so without being about to afford it.

For the record, you're wrong. It's cheaper to eat fast food and junk food than it is to eat healthily. That's why poor people are fatter than wealthy people. Fatty meats are cheaper than lean meats. Frozen entrees are cheaper than fresh meat. Bread, chips and snacks are cheaper than fruits and veggies. If you're a single parent earning minimum wage, what are you going to choose?

[Loony BoB]

I don't know if that's completely true. I do agree that in some areas it is certainly cheaper to eat unhealthy food.

However, tell me how much a bag of chips is in your area, foa, and then tell me how much a it costs to get a bunch of around six bananas. It's certainly cheaper, without a doubt, to get fresh fruit.

The problem is that fresh fruit expires quickly, whereas a lot of junk food does not.

Also, I don't go by "technical" when it comes to obese. I go by the person who can't fit onto one seat on the bus. The kind of person who struggles to get up a flight of stairs, that sort of thing. The ones that you look at in the street and go "woah".

[rubah]

you can't get bananas at local convenience stores when you live out in the country and car-time is expensive.
</example from article about why poor rural families are so much fatter than urbanites>

[BB_blitz]

i eat at mickydees like 2-4 times a week o ya i weight like 240 for my hight and frame thats 45 pounds overweight its not the heaviest i've weighed however what i keep at home is this (you be the judge of how healthy it really is) corn dogs, beritos (<- sorry cant spell), pizza rolls, stuff to make sandwiches, cereal + milk, roman, and condiments
i can eat for $100 usd a month if i eat only that stuff and i can tell you this for sure it coast me like $180 usd a month to eat some of that and eat mcd twice a week and as far as blaming mcd for fat ppl i dont think thay should be blamed that found a way to exploit ppl and did it just like almost ever corp out there i mean look at wall-mart they have single handily screwed the worlds economy as a whole with there what seem to be great low prices and i still shop there what im saying is fast food joints know ppl will pay for fast convenient cheep food and will form habits so that will bring them in and then keep them there they finished the deal when they introduced the drive throu

[Mirage]

you can't get bananas at local convenience stores when you live out in the country and car-time is expensive.
&lt;/example from article about why poor rural families are so much fatter than urbanites>

You can get bananas in the rural "town" where I grew up, and it's got about 300 inhabitants.

[fire_of_avalon]

you can't get bananas at local convenience stores when you live out in the country and car-time is expensive.
&lt;/example from article about why poor rural families are so much fatter than urbanites>

You can get bananas in the rural "town" where I grew up, and it's got about 300 inhabitants.

Good for your rural town. In my rural town the closest store that sells food is about 10 miles away, and it doesn't sell fresh fruit. Just because things are a certain way for you doesn't mean they're like that all over.

[Mirage]

you can't get bananas at local convenience stores when you live out in the country and car-time is expensive.
&lt;/example from article about why poor rural families are so much fatter than urbanites>

You can get bananas in the rural "town" where I grew up, and it's got about 300 inhabitants.

Good for your rural town. In my rural town the closest store that sells food is about 10 miles away, and it doesn't sell fresh fruit. Just because things are a certain way for you doesn't mean they're like that all over.

The same can be said about your statement. Unless we've got some decent statistics over how easy/hard it is to get fruit and vegetables in rural towns, we won't get anywhere :p. I can't seem to find that article that's being mentioned here either.

[rubah]

Penn State College of Education : Childhood Obesity May Be More Prevalent in Rural Areas

That is not the article, but it says the same thing. See the third and fourth paragraphs.

I don't think this was it either, but it also says the same thing: Healthy Food Choices Scarcer in Rural Areas, Study Says | Daily Yonder

Living in Junk Food County | Newsweek Health for Life | Newsweek.com
Changing lifestyles to fight obesity in the Delta—a tale of three communities | Agricultural Research | Find Articles at BNET.com

Mirage, it's practically impossible to find fruits and vegetables in rural areas. We aren't talking towns. We're talking settlements of people living miles apart who live 20 or more miles from any place that could sell them anything resembling healthy food. People will put gas stations out there, and that's where some people go for food. There is just not enough population to support mass grocery stores (they still wouldn't buy there as they'd have to spend way more money. Even gas is more expensive out there). You're thinking of this with a european perspective, I'm sure, so maybe it's hard to imagine miles and miles of trees and pastures where there simply isn't civilization past one street towns with a gas station and a church.

These are the areas where people used to be self-sufficient, you know, farming the land and stuff. Except times changed and it wasn't self sufficient anymore unless you owned a lot of acreage and had a mass operation. There are no facilities there because they were the facilities and now they aren't.

[Mirage]

Penn State College of Education : Childhood Obesity May Be More Prevalent in Rural Areas

That is not the article, but it says the same thing. See the third and fourth paragraphs.

I don't think this was it either, but it also says the same thing: Healthy Food Choices Scarcer in Rural Areas, Study Says | Daily Yonder

Living in Junk Food County | Newsweek Health for Life | Newsweek.com
Changing lifestyles to fight obesity in the Delta—a tale of three communities | Agricultural Research | Find Articles at BNET.com

Mirage, it's practically impossible to find fruits and vegetables in rural areas. We aren't talking towns. We're talking settlements of people living miles apart who live 20 or more miles from any place that could sell them anything resembling healthy food. People will put gas stations out there, and that's where some people go for food. There is just not enough population to support mass grocery stores (they still wouldn't buy there as they'd have to spend way more money. Even gas is more expensive out there). You're thinking of this with a european perspective, I'm sure, so maybe it's hard to imagine miles and miles of trees and pastures where there simply isn't civilization past one street towns with a gas station and a church.

These are the areas where people used to be self-sufficient, you know, farming the land and stuff. Except times changed and it wasn't self sufficient anymore unless you owned a lot of acreage and had a mass operation. There are no facilities there because they were the facilities and now they aren't.

Im not sure what you mean by "European perspective... The population density is lower here in Norway than it is in the USA. I always imagined my town (and calling it a town is an exaggeration imo) to be small, even by Norwegian standards, and theres more people in Washington than in all of Norway. I suppose it was just hard to imagine that there would be a lot of places smaller than that in the US. I mean, I realize there would probably be a few, but not a whole lot of them.
-edit-
I mixed up the state Washington with Washington DC. Fixed now.

[Rostum]

I don't blame McDonalds for making people fat. If they weren't there, then there'd just be another way for people to eat junk food.

I'm in the general opinion that eating junk food in moderation (what I mean is, you also eat healthy and exercise), isn't a bad thing. I don't really have much junk food, but I don't mind the newer stuff at McDonalds (like the ceaser chicken wrap or the snack wraps).

I'm still very much healthy and fit, and I can still enjoy junk food. Obviously this may change as I get older, but for now I really don't see a problem with myself eating it.

I would generally blame obesity that is caused by eating, a general lack of will power (if nothing medical can explain it) and I seriously have no time to feel pitty for those people.

Oh, by the way, I'd have to say KFC and Hungry Jacks (I think it's Burger King in America), is a lot more fatty and disgusting than any other junk food I've ever had.

Also... Around here in Melbourne (inner city), it's much easier to just go to a cafe and get healthier and better tasting food. It only costs a little bit extra, but it's worth it.