There has been a big push lately to reduce obesity in US citizens. In Los Angeles, that push is turning into a shove. L.A. has a 32sq mi chunk with over 400 fast food restaurants. The obesity rate there is 30%, 4% higher than national average and almost 10% higher than other parts of the city. A councilwoman is working on an ordinance banning new fast food restaurants. Although other cities have placed bans for aesthetic or competition reasons, this would be the first time a city would impose a ban due to health reasons. Proponents say this will be an effective tool to curb obesity. Opponents say it's an infringement on a free market system

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HEY! Here's an idea. How about getting the people to stop eating fast food? Obviously, fast food is catering to the market conditions. The problem is that people are lazy spoiled tempted by convenience. The question is, how to convince the public to eat healthier without making the burden fall on those simply catering to demand? A food tax? A fat tax? (Look at what Japan is doing before chastising that) More stringent food guidelines?

Hey, I have an even better idea. How about our government not sticking its fucking nose in our business and let us eat whatever the hell we want to eat?

This kind of stuff just makes me

Cost is also a factor. Fast food is cheap.

Personally I think it's bullshit, because lazy people without fast food would still be fat slobs. They'd just buy Cheetos and Ding-Dongs instead. Get your ass to a gym, or go for a walk sometime. Don't punish restaurants -- WTF kind of thinking is that?

There's a lot to be said for personal responsibility.

I agree with everyone else.

And I live in LA.

I'm gonna make a phone call or write someone or something.

I'm gonna continue to sit a my desk and eat lunch while you do that.

Sounds good.

That settles it; I'm going to McDonalds right now....

*have you know I had ihop ultimate bacon and pork sausage combo...* hmmmm....bacon...

seriously it stupid to go after fast food. You see it all the time, the fat people order things like a Big Mac, Large fry and a SMALL DIET COKE! They prove that they are thinking about their calorie intake. 110 calories from a regular coke vs. 0 froma a diet. Its all good.

There *is* a reason why the South is one of the most obese areas in the US...we have a lot of poor people. And like MH was saying, fast food is cheap. When you're in poverty and aren't given a lot of options, fast food seems ideal.

So I think there is *some* merit to the idea, but only as far as making sure that people who can't afford a lot of healthier foods are presented with how to eat better...a PSA or something.

But yeah, this is stupid.

Hey, PSA's didn't stop me from becoming bulimic, or taking steroids, or date-raping that girl last week, so what makes you think it will work to make me eat right?

It's nice to at least attempt to find ways to care about people and stuff.

But, I really DON'T care about most other people. But I surely don't want our tax monies being spent on some fat fuck's 4th Triple Bypass procedure because they refuse to go for a walk and eat some god damn celery.

Who said it would?

Here is an idea for L.A. get some chefs to make some GOOD TASTING HEALTHY FOOD. Seriously "tastes fresh" translates as "bland and watery" you want people to stop eating the things they like the taste of? Well do something to make the healthy stuffs taste nicer. Heck chocolate cake tastes nicer than apples and pears, so more people are gonna eat chocolate cake. Telling people all the time "here's a really tasty healthy option" usually means "get these 20+ ingredients and 6 or 7 spices and mess around with them for 40 minutes and get a bland food". I used to be Vegan and I know that if someone offered me a salad prepared by a top chef with $40 dollars worth of specially prepared sauces OR a McDonnalds Happy Meal with Chocolate Milkshake, I would chose the Happy Meal. I used to be (17 1/2) stone = 245 pounds and am now 11 stone = 154 pounds, I exercise just as much and eat more crap than I did, hell I even eat kilos of chocolate in a single snack. Give away free Gym Membership and stop treating obese people as equal that will make fatties exercise..

It already does. How do you think the fat, McDonalds-eating welfare folks pay their medical bills?

And I really have to argue that it is cheaper to eat fast food than to make your own meals. It costs my family (myself, wife, 3 kids) almost $30 to eat at McDonalds. For $30, I can make a nutritious, home-cooked meal that fills all of us up, and we have leftovers. And we have less diahreah as well, so THAT'S a plus...

And THIS:

Is really quite true. I am VERY thin (6'4", 150 lbs. on a heavy flow day), and yet am VERY healthy. I eat well and exercise more than the average person, I'm sure. And yet still to this day, I am constantly ridiculed by the average joe-pesser-by about how thin I am. My kids are the same, and they get picked on for it just like I did. And it's usually the fat kids doing it. And yet, when I turn the guns on them and ridicule them for being huge, hippo/walrus-like sloths, they get all victimized and say, "I have a disease!!!"

Since when is eating a tub of Haagen Daaz with Mayo a disease? Since when is completely giving up on that whole mobility thing and riding around in a Rascal Power Scooter a disease? It's not. Put the fucking fork down, fatty! It's no one's fault but your own!

We all know fast food is bad for you, yes, but banning it wont solve obesity. I'll admit that I used to eat Wendy's a lot but I love to walk so I'm slim. A lot of people get fat because they are lazy.

Still, I'd prefer a nice, healthy, home cooked meal as opposed to throwing grease down my throat.

I second this. We spend about $100 on groceries, which usually lasts us about a week.

We just got back from vacation where we ate half our meals at either a fast food restaurant or at a "family-style" (read: entrees less than $9.99) restaurant, and I know we spent at least twice that for a 5 days (a single meal, at that. We ate breakfast and lunch or dinner at our condo and spent about $50 on groceries for that.)

I don't think fast food restaurants are so predominant because they are cheap. I think its because it's "fast" (e.g. requires less effort). I'm not saying that this is necessarily good or bad, just a part of our modern American lifestyle where we're lucky if we're able to sit down at the table and share a meal as a family (I'm extremely lucky.)

I eat at McDonalds about twice a week, Asian grilled chicken salads and diet coke but that's me.

if you look at it, this whole "FOOD IS HARD WURK" thing started with the women's lib movement and the mom (or whichever parent had up until then been primarily at home) all of a sudden having to go to work. The food companies/manufacturers preyed on that exhausted parent feeling and said, "just go grab a bucket of chicken/bag of burgers, it's easier."

Next thing you know there is a mini-backlash against it, but by then the food companies/manufacturers figured out how to cut their costs by adding corn syrups (high fructose, and otherwise) into their foods, wich has NO NUTRITIONAL value, it's just a filler. But it tastes good, and it's sweeter!

SO now, you really have to look at the food you are buying in the store, and you have to pay more for the food wthout all the garbage in it, thereby making more work for yourself and making you think, "Screw this, let's just grab a bucket of chicken/bag of burgers. It's easier."

I was only trying to make the point that fast food is some of the cheapest, most readily available, highest calorie food out there. Obivously, personal responsibilty is the goal here. But people who don't have enough sense to think like we do will always reach for what's easiest. Our current culture doesn't really reward the idea of healthy eating; just drive down a main thoroughfare in your town and look at the most prominent restaurants and billboards. I know it's easier to say "hey, fuck other people who aren't bright enough to know to eat right," but that doesn't really solve anything, does it?

With all due respect to those who struggle with their weight: it's not my problem to solve. If you have an unhealthy lifestyle it's your issue. I have enough on my plate and I don't need my rights restricted because of you.

I've dropped about thirty-five pounds in last couple of months because my blood pressure was too high. I didn't need LA to ban all the fast food joints in my neighborhood, I just needed to stop going to them.

Personal responsibility is a wondrous thing.

Exactly.

Speaking as a fat load, I can say that I find it insulting that someone would have to regulate my health. My health is my responsibility and I know it isn't perfect but I'm trying to improve it. The idea that the city council or whoever has to step in and stop construction of certain restaurants just to get me to eat right is an insult to my intelligence.

Yeah, you know... there is truth in this. I got myself off my ass and started going to the gym, and lo and behold I'm like, not a fatass anymore.

And just to mention it: I have known exactly one person who had a genuine physical problem related to his weight (he had hypothyroidism). Most of the time, people don't have any real physical impediments to being in shape other than inertia.

Well...I would like to find better ways to educate people on the issue who won't bother helping themselves. Because it affects me- that's right, I'm talking to you, fatty in the seat next to me at the IMAX Dark Knight screening Saturday night. Keep your flabs in your own chair.

A separate movie theater for fatties? With half as many seats so they have to fight over them? The competition might help them to burn a few calories.

But really, we could also get the restaurant industry to stop "super-sizing" everything, and I don't just mean fast food restaurants. Half of the time when I go out, I'm given enough food to feed two to three people.

What you have to keep in mind is that this really isn't about the people and their healthy (or unhealthy decisions). This is about L.A. being pissed that they're being called a bunch of fatties by the statisticians. Moreso, I'm willing to bet this is also about the Feds coming in and threatening sanctions against L.A. if they don't get their health in shape. And why not? They do it with our highway funds.

I don't want any of my tax money going to "educate" fat asses. They are lazy and do nothing, and as a result, they are fat f*cks. This will be another huge problem if health care is socialized.

This is roffles but probably not too off the mark.
I think many cities, Los Angeles included pay attention to image.
For example I be Beverly Hills would never let a "Big Lots" in.
Furthermore Los Angeles proper has been against Wal Mart for years.

Many businesses have to curtail their practices to the area they are in - For example there are many Mc Donalds in So Cal that aren't allowed to have their Golden Arches due to the building codes.

Is that oppression? Meh.

I think this is probably a way for the city officials to guide LA in a more positive direction. Its silly and its shallow in its image consciousness to be sure. But the city does have the right to govern the types of business (and there for clientele) that it endorses.

This is probably as much Economical as it is health based.

And lets be clear - its not like LA is shutting down McD's or anything - they are simply suggesting that enough is enough.

I always find it kinda funny (in a sick way) when people's kneejerk reactions are to side with the evil corporations.

LOL!


Although things like that are certainly an annoyance, we can't really do much about it because everyone chooses their own lifestyle. If someone wants to eat crap all day, we can give advice but nothing more, really. It's up to them to decide what they want to do.

Regardless of how unhealthy something may be, there will always be customers. People just don't care and they'll keep dishing out the cash to buy junk and if they can't get it from one place, they'll find another place to get it from.

This is idiocy, nothing but idiocy.

At the same time, this won't help people who have health problems that cause them to be fatties(Myself and my mother fall under the category, though I could be maybe ten pounds lighter at most.).

It's just stupid.

Yeah, but fat people are all....fat and stuffs. And they sweat when they stand up. And sitting back down makes them wheeze. And then there's the farting...

Wait, why don't we just outlaw fat people?

u know that some poor but not too poor people who barely make a livinng eat fast food because its cheaper and that makes them fatter but then again if they cant get it because its banned well...

I like how everyone is just jumping to the conclusion that there is NO FAST FOOD EVER in Los Angeles.
I think the city is just saying - you know, enough is enough... lets try class or something for a change.

They aren't shutting down the restaurants that are already there. They aren't picketing the clown out of town or anything.

This

I always take home half of whatever entree I get at a restaurant...portions are too large too often nowadays at many places. But that's just a response to consumers.

FYI I just got back from the YMCA *and* from McDonalds

win-win?

Did you get one of their new salad-yogurt-fruit shakes?

Actually, their fruit & yogurt parfaits are quite yummy... (and sugar-laden, I'm sure) but no, salads are for either a) appetizers or b) pussies

hmmm salad for pussies...a whole new twist on the cucumber idea. twat ranch dressing anyone?

Well, the government doesn't need to be regulating my classiness, either, thank you very much.

Try putting a Big Lots up on Rodeo Drive and see how well that goes.

I'm against regulating that, too. If the people in the neighborhood don't want it there, they won't shop there, and it'll close up and go away.

Pretty simple.

Seriously, if someone tried to regulate what I eat and/or tell me what I could or could not eat, that someone would get broken.

DAMN YOU NEWTON!!

speaking as a fat person and a poor person, this is just ridiculous. fast food and laziness are probably the least likely reasons for people being obese.

i've always been a big person. when i was a kid i wasn't all that over-weight. you've heard the whole big boned cliche, well, that cliche applies at times. in kindergarten nobody cared what you looked like. you always had friends and playmates, but starting in 1st grade all of these social standards start to apply. i was chubby, ugly, and a nerd. these things in combination leads to sever ostracizing from you're peers. i had no friends and was constantly bullied. this led to me becoming a social shut in, and developing a hatred for my peers. that in culmination with a family history of depression and anger problems made me a pretty farged up kid. the only playmates i had was my niece and nephew, and as time progressed and social pressure increased those playmates drifted further into oblivion. being left to my own devices there wasn't that much i could do that was very psychical. i stayed in doors, playing with toys and video games. on top of that i come from a country location, with country parents so i was eating hearty country meals. ta-da, i began to increase in size. i never had real friends until the 9th grade, then i was introduced into the "order of misfits". you know these groups, every school has them. we didn't fit in anywhere, had strong personalities, and frankly didn't care. i was severely depressed and found that food helped to comfort that (as did the old cliche of doing physical harm to one's self).

monetarily i had it really good when i was in elementary school, but those times didn't last. mom was practically killing herself going to work at a local sewing factory, and dad was disabled from a steel mill accident. so we slipped into poverty, and with poverty comes a lack in nutrition. which obviously leads to further health problems, which leads to more mental problems and so on and so forth. all of this working it's magic on me. i started having anxiety attacks when faced with large crowds. school became an increasingly uncomfortable situation, and with my social problems, my friends, though good, where kept at a distance. so much so that i didn't even spend the night at somebody's house that wasn't a family member until i was 17. all of this came to a head while i was in my senior year at high school.

as of now i'm trying desperately to lose weight. i've tried dieting, but it only aggravates my mental problems. i become increasingly self destructive and lash out at others. on top of that i just can't afford it. due to mental problems and physical problems i draw SSI, my wife does too. as a married couply we can make no more than $945 a month. we only get $90 in food stamps a month which brings our monthly food budget to a whopping $290 a month. even if we took all of our spending money and added it to our food budget we'd only have $390. we're lucky to get one good cooked meal a week. even if i didn't have the social problems i have we couldn't afford to really go out and do anything, and really, it gets tiring being looked down on by society due to things out of your control. i've even talked to my doctor about getting lap band surgery, but theres no way i can afford it, and the medical card won't even consider paying for it unless your severely diabetic. i've got chronic back pain due to fractured discs, and thanks to my weight, i have some really wicked knee pain. so most exercises i'm unable to do. i can't afford work out equipment or a gym membership, and i can't afford to eat a healthy diet.

i do have lazy moments, but i'm not what you'd call a lazy person. when i'm doing a job, i put my all into it and don't stop until i get it done weather i'm hurting or not. however, i'm not your average fat person. i have a really high tolerance for pain. alot of fat people don't. most of the time what is perceived as laziness, isn't. when your fat, and especially when you live below the poverty level, every day you find fewer and fewer reasons to really care. you try to go out, but you can't afford anything so you're stuck day dreaming. every where you go people and children laugh, snicker, and point at you. occasionally somebody will have the gual to insult you. so what do you do? stay at home continuing to be un-active as your problems begin to snowball. then you start to experience health problems that you can't treat because you can't afford to treat them. you try to diet, but take it from some one who knows, it's harder than quitting cigarettes. it's even harder when you've got several mental disabilities that cause you to be suicidal because over-eating is the easiest form.

EDIT

did i beat goki for longest post evar?

This is yet another absurd thing I'm not the least bit worried about ever happening, hahaha. And if it does, whoever allowed it to happen will deserve all the hell they get.

needs moar pictures

On these forums? No. I've done that, but it was years ago before Goki even showed up.

I've lost 8kg over the last couple of months, just by eating less and exercising more. I don't go to the gym, but I do things like take the stairs instead of the lift. The obesity epidemic in the western world pretty much boils down to the stupidity in the following strip.

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