Lifestyle Ishoos
There was just a list released, probably by Forbes - they seem to do all these listy things - ranking the fattest and thinnest cities in the United States.
Five of the ten fattest were in Texas. In fact, the only city in Texas to make the top ten slimmest list was Austin.
While that's bully for us and all, I noticed that all the other cities in the top 10 were also in "southern" states, like Alabama and Missouri.
Now, it's a pretty well-acknowledged fact that folks in the South tend to live "slower" than most, so I doubt anyone is really surprised by these results... I'm just wondering about underlying issues - poverty and undereducation among them, but also other environmental and cultural factors - things like traditional regional cuisine, and the way the prevailing infrastructure in the South assumes travel by car everywhere. Everything's really spread out, and given the option of air-conditioned transport, it's generally too damn hot to walk or bike in the summer, unless you're going out of your way to do it as a lifestyle choice - and then you better watch what time of day it is and how much water you have on you, or you could actually wind up in trouble.
I guess what I'm getting at is that in some places it's actually easier to stay in shape as a matter of course, as an effect of environment and culture. If you live in San Fran or New York you may well walk, use public transport, and eat sushi and locally sourced produce. You'll have easy access to vegetarian and vegan cuisine, and fresh seafood. I don't remember seeing a single fat person when I visited New York, and after the first day I was actively looking for them. You're not going to get that in Dallas, where culturally it's pretty much expected that you drive everywhere you go (in as large a car as possible) and eat fried chicken with brown gravy, or steak. The corner restaurant isn't Thai, it's a burger stand. Cows ARE the local produce, unless you want to eat sorghum or cotton.
It's like recycling - some places make it easy for you to do and others don't. If it's easy, a lot of people will do it - if not, most won't.
I never really considered the extent to which your location can influence whether healthy lifestyle choices are easier or harder to make and follow through on - assuming you're educated, motivated, and well-off enough to consider your options to begin with.
Five of the ten fattest were in Texas. In fact, the only city in Texas to make the top ten slimmest list was Austin.
While that's bully for us and all, I noticed that all the other cities in the top 10 were also in "southern" states, like Alabama and Missouri.
Now, it's a pretty well-acknowledged fact that folks in the South tend to live "slower" than most, so I doubt anyone is really surprised by these results... I'm just wondering about underlying issues - poverty and undereducation among them, but also other environmental and cultural factors - things like traditional regional cuisine, and the way the prevailing infrastructure in the South assumes travel by car everywhere. Everything's really spread out, and given the option of air-conditioned transport, it's generally too damn hot to walk or bike in the summer, unless you're going out of your way to do it as a lifestyle choice - and then you better watch what time of day it is and how much water you have on you, or you could actually wind up in trouble.
I guess what I'm getting at is that in some places it's actually easier to stay in shape as a matter of course, as an effect of environment and culture. If you live in San Fran or New York you may well walk, use public transport, and eat sushi and locally sourced produce. You'll have easy access to vegetarian and vegan cuisine, and fresh seafood. I don't remember seeing a single fat person when I visited New York, and after the first day I was actively looking for them. You're not going to get that in Dallas, where culturally it's pretty much expected that you drive everywhere you go (in as large a car as possible) and eat fried chicken with brown gravy, or steak. The corner restaurant isn't Thai, it's a burger stand. Cows ARE the local produce, unless you want to eat sorghum or cotton.
It's like recycling - some places make it easy for you to do and others don't. If it's easy, a lot of people will do it - if not, most won't.
I never really considered the extent to which your location can influence whether healthy lifestyle choices are easier or harder to make and follow through on - assuming you're educated, motivated, and well-off enough to consider your options to begin with.