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bluesmom913 OP t1_jajdrzb wrote

This data comes from the self reporting of members of 23 and Me ancestry services.

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maxhinator123 t1_jajhck9 wrote

I was a bit surprised moving here. I came here for the mountains, I guess not many others did :/

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Burger-King-Covid t1_jajlbrq wrote

It’s winter we all be hibernating like a bear right now. Of course we’ll be a little thicker then the average Joe in California.

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Odd_Salary7432 t1_jajqbgf wrote

So the majority of Americans are overweight? Holy shit

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[deleted] t1_jajrrth wrote

Replying to maxhinator123 (#2,140,501)

I did as well, but just to look at ‘em, not climb up them like you lunatics! No worries, y’all enjoy, I get to watch all you fit people hiking up the picturesque mountains while my fat ass eats another burger.

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buddaycousin t1_jajrrz2 wrote

It correlates pretty well with pppulation age. Maine is the oldest state and NH is pretty close behind.

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deadliftothersup t1_jajt185 wrote

Replying to No_Suggestion_8234 (#2,140,818)

BMI was designed for population health and even blood pressure has plenty of outliers in terms of individual predictive power. Some doctors are lazy, but that's not really the fault of the metric. Anyone doing a competent exam is going to use multiple metrics anyway to assess health.

On that population scale, it's completely fine. The nation is not populated with linebackers and bodybuilders.

Although 6'6' 210lbs doesn't put you at or above 25, the category cut offs are largely arbitrary and it, like blood pressure is better thought of as a dimensional variable anyway.

Edit: because I want this to lean educational. When I've used other quick adiposity measures like waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, they all more or less have limitations on the individual level, but weren't head and shoulders better predictors of long term health compared with BMI.

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Shade_Nap0405 t1_jaju5zd wrote

I'm partly to blame for this, damn snacks get me all the time. Trying to do better ...

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MindlessHousing t1_jajulet wrote

Replying to deadliftothersup (#2,140,932)

> BMI was designed for population health

BMI was just observational data collected by a French statistician in Paris in the 18th century. It’s not even remotely scientific

It compares mass to surface area which is absurd since the volume of a shape increases faster than the surface area and mass = density * volume

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AvianQuill t1_jajvlc6 wrote

I’m banking that my move from Indiana to Vermont will make me thin.

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deadliftothersup t1_jajwth4 wrote

Replying to No_Suggestion_8234 (#2,140,980)

Sure, I'll start with a basic muticohort mulitcountry study but it is one of the most used health metrics in population health, so I could dog up thousands depending on what you specifically want to know.

Diabetes

Here is a meta-analysis of 143 studies on mortality. Notice that there is a relatively wide range of where folks are not passing early, but in general, the higher the more problematic. Now if we are talking joint health, the point at which BMI is a predictor of pain is likely a lot lower than mortality for most folks.

I'd be happy to talk about the limitations of BMI as well. I've published papers on issues of self-report as well as the the bidirectional nature of some health issues with obesity, but hopefully that's at least a baseline to show that I'm not just making things up.

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Loud_Ad738 t1_jajya5i wrote

Apparently whoever drafted this hasn't left the state. I've been here for two plus years and New Hampshire s fattest is skinny in comparison to most other states. That's a fact.

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Flineki t1_jak13w3 wrote

I agree and also let's get moving America. It's been profit over health for far too long.

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deadliftothersup t1_jak27i4 wrote

Replying to No_Suggestion_8234 (#2,141,202)

So my hope and assumption is that they were likely saying "for individual use it's not great" which of course is PCP's bread and butter and on that note I would agree (with some caveats).

Unfortunately I'd like not to doxx myself by showing my own published stuff and having my name out there, but I actually got frustrated at one point in grad school by looking for something novel to say about the predictive value of WHR, circumference, and BMI and after a lot of hours on a really big longitudinal study I came away with "meh, use whichever".

Of course, if I wanna be super accurate, I'm doing a dexa scan or something, but geez human research is already expensive and I could rent this multi thousand dollar machine or just have a cheapo scale and wall height measurement and have it be good enough for research purposes.

Lastly, I think it absolutely must be said that regardless of size, moving more can counteract a ton of this stuff to the point where the negative cardiometabolic effects are hugely diminished. A lower bmi person is absolutely not 1:1 healthier.

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GKnives t1_jak5idr wrote

walkable towns and cities would help a lot, I imagine

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Live-Breath9799 t1_jak8ca0 wrote

This data would be a lot more helpful if it was done by county. People who live closer to major metropolitan areas tend to have lower bmi's.

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CheliceraeJones t1_jaka48k wrote

Must be something in the water. That's why I only drink soda and chocolate milk.

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Smirkly t1_jakaz8o wrote

What, Vermont is better than us? that sucks. But Massachusetts, Connecticut, rhode Island, and even New York are better than us. We really suck.

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akmjolnir t1_jakbn54 wrote

OG Tea Party sloths in rusted Dodge Rams make up 36% of the NH fatties.

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craigawoo t1_jakf8lh wrote

This is false. Have you actually walked the streets of Massachusetts?

−4

underratedride t1_jakrzai wrote

Holy fuck this country is doomed. But y’all will keep shoveling “fda approved” crap down your throats.

Your food. Corn.

Your meat. Fed with corn.

Your corn. Well, that one’s supposed to be corn.

Your corrupt, bribe accepting politicians keep allowing corporations to poison us while big pharma feeds us medications.

STOP FIGHTING LEFT VS RIGHT

POLITICIANS HATE YOU. FIGHT THEM

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kkpc t1_jalczq5 wrote

Lol has anyone even been to San Antonio?

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[deleted] t1_jalea1f wrote

Alcohol is a lot of empty calories and the winters slow most people down unfortunately

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Odd_Salary7432 t1_jaljj03 wrote

Replying to Wtfisgoinonhere (#2,141,463)

Yes, I mean I knew we had a problem with obesity in our country, but I didn’t realize that it was the majority. It’s just wild to think that with all the negative health effects associated with it that you don’t hear a thing about it anywhere being the majority of the country.

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InNh_LeaveUsAlone t1_jaltvxw wrote

Replying to AnythingToAvoidWork (#2,141,723)

Then your one of the few exceptions. i have hiked 36 of the 48 have yet to see one. I’m not being mean but if you have the energy and strength to do that why be obese? It opens you up to so many other health conditions later in life. I eat i drink beer but i constantly move i feel like if your active it takes an effort to be obese. Again not trying to sound like a dick and awesoem for you for still killing the mountains as a bigger person

−7

WhoWhatWhereWhenHowY t1_jam50en wrote

Replying to InNh_LeaveUsAlone (#2,143,631)

It's not that hard to imagine. Obese can be a 30lb difference from a healthy weight. That's basically some people's pack weight on extended trips. I have done the 48 and the AT. And it's not about strength and energy like obese is an option, good is delicious and generally it's more of a time issue.

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sje46 t1_jam7j9q wrote

Replying to deadliftothersup (#2,140,932)

Anyone who disagrees with the above comment: yes, it's probably not the most perfect measure, especially for individuals but it's a very quick measure and let me ask you one very important question:

One town has an average BMI of 23.5. Another town has an average BMI of 28.4. In most other ways they're comparable (similar age range, poverty level, etc) Which town do you expect to have a lower death expectancy? Which town will have more health problems overall? What is the quickest way to determine this factor? Looking at average weight alone is also a good indicator, but seeing how different people groups have different average height (especially different sexes), the BMI isn't that much harder to get information for and provides just a little more information.

I don't see the problem with BMI at all. I see much bigger problems with IQ testing (which are culturally biased) and Flesch Kincaid (which is complex, very difficult to measure and ill understood and greatly misinterpreted) and pretty much every psychometric test ever. BMI is a quick and dirty way of determining which places have weight problems.

Rejecting it will just make tracking this stuff harder, less intuitive, and people more likely to embrace a more extreme version of "healthy at every size" which turned from actually pro-active health stuff for overweight people to just apologia for passive unhealthy lifestyles.

See a doctor to determine if you're actually overweight. BMI is fine.

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Lordofthebeer t1_jam7tgf wrote

Wow, only one greenish state in the entire country.

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sje46 t1_jam7ulx wrote

Replying to Smirkly (#2,141,618)

This map groups everything into only five broad colors. For all we know, Vermont could be .1 better than us, and within the error margin.

But as others mentioned this is from 23andme so is probably not a reliable source of data anyway.

1

Odd_Salary7432 t1_jam8q0u wrote

Replying to hamakabi (#2,144,028)

Yeah true, I guess once everyone got overweight, they got sick of it and made it accepted. Funny how that works. Damn I’m definitely overthinking but that’s why suddenly I started to see overweight guys and girls in popular groups. And it all started happening when the body positivity movement started. Before then if you were overweight you were ostracized or bullied by popular kids.

−2

Legitimate_Gap_5551 t1_jamdxrf wrote

Replying to UncleBen94 (#2,142,692)

Same. I’m 6’ 200, lift weights at a pretty high level five days a week, have recently ran a 5K in around 21 minutes, and box/train Muay Thai at a pretty consistent rate……last year at my employer health screening they told me I was borderline obese 😂😂😂

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danmac1152 t1_jamehtx wrote

It’s not just being sedentary. I’ve been a butcher most of my life and and I can’t even tell you how often I get a customer that I get chest pains from just looking at them, tell me the want the fattiest cut of this, or put some extra fat on that, or just buy straight up fat.

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mmirate t1_jamf6in wrote

Replying to smartest_kobold (#2,144,396)

Sure it's valuable, but not valuable enough to outweigh the inherent unprofitability of working in the same town I live in; nor to outweigh "my fair share" of the costs of changing things to work that way.

−1

ThePencilRain t1_jamga4p wrote

I moved here last fall and was told at my first Dr appt that I am "significantly obese, per BMI."

I'm in really good shape, run every day, gym every other day, don't have a gut, eat right.

I was then told by the same Dr. "don't worry - BMI is bullshit for people who are actually active."

So...yeah. Sorry for adding to the statistical problem?

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deadliftothersup t1_jamlkrk wrote

Replying to sje46 (#2,144,067)

Thank you, this more of less boils down the issue. New Hampshire likely doesn't have a meaningful level fewer bodybuilders than say Mississippi in a way you will see on the population level. I get folks' aversion to BMI. Fat shaming has unfortunately only increased despite it being more and more likely to be overweight which has negative impacts and doesn't lead to positive behavioral change on the whole. There is also no need to throw out metrics where they are useful and when we understand the limitations.

Similarly, as a person that used to be in cognitive performance research, it's both fine to be skeptical of individual results and realize that these tests are very useful for studying cognitive decline over time.

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pahnzoh t1_jamlx5e wrote

Replying to GKnives (#2,141,411)

Doing actual physical resistance training or cardio where you maintain an elevated heart rate is what matters. And diet.

Creating walkable cities is not the problem.

−7

enrique-sfw t1_jamn2ih wrote

It has nothing to do with "moving" and everything to do with what people are eating. Just eat real, whole foods, no vegetable/seed oils, and nothing processed and you'll be fine. If you eat food from a box or a wrapper, you're fucked.

1

GoreFucker t1_jamnmcu wrote

jsyk bmi is a super outdated and inaccurate way to judge someone’s health as it doesn’t factor in things like muscle mass, bone mass, waist size, etc. the creator of the bmi formula was a mathematician, not a physician who said that it shouldn’t be used to indicate how fat someone is or isn’t.

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_6zero3_ t1_jams6eo wrote

What's the difference between a girl from NH and a Moose? 40lbs and a flannel shirt.

−1

Sea-Complaint-6759 t1_jan1rtp wrote

America is fat as fuck. My body fat percentage is consistently literally 5-7%.

−1

nudgetravel t1_jan332s wrote

With suburban sprawl we're not far behind. I'm sure more unnecessary car journeys because we can't have more walkable picturesque New England towns will get us there in time.

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ifukkedurbich t1_janeq38 wrote

Here's a fun little anecdote: when we lived in greater Boston/ North shore, my mom was lean and fit. When we moved to NH and nowhere was walking distance, she put on weight and became less fit.

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InNh_LeaveUsAlone t1_janewtm wrote

Replying to Opal_Pie (#2,145,505)

Sure I have but what percentage of obese people does that apply to? Go to a grocery store and look in an obese persons cart. 9 times out of 10 its not full of salad. The USA obesity rate is over 30% and over weight rate is close to 70% they all have a condition?

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chi_rho_ t1_jangggf wrote

What’s the criteria for classifying overweight and obese?

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reddituser6213 t1_janhzpu wrote

It would be helpful if some of the fun athletic stuff wasn’t reserved only for toddlers. What if I want to go to a trampoline park?

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reddituser6213 t1_janigb9 wrote

Replying to HerrHoopla (#2,144,006)

Are you able to make places that cater more to the young adult population? Like other cities have special gymnastics places and trampoline parks and stuff like that but the demographic is for older people. Here, all those places are only for little kids I’ve noticed but I’m 23 and I want to go to those too

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DiabolicalGooseHonk t1_jao43ub wrote

Replying to hamakabi (#2,144,028)

Everyone talks about it constantly. Why do you think plans and products related to diet is a billion dollar industry?

The sad truth is that nothing would reasonably change without massive government regulation and what most would consider gross overreach.

1

redrunsnsings t1_japx51g wrote

I actually take offense to the idea that we aren't moving. I am heavier than average and training for the Mini and Hoosiers out run cancer. It's not about moving many people in this area can't afford even basic aca insurance and are sitting on several issues keeping them from losing the weight besides being super active.

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HerrHoopla t1_jaqsni4 wrote

Replying to reddituser6213 (#2,146,167)

Not directly. Municipalities can zone for, even incentivize with tax breaks the sort of amenities you are talking about, but it would take a private developer to build it. Unless of course it was a municipal project, but then the tax payers would foot the bill. You think NH's aging population would want to pay for a trampoline park? Throw in a shuffleboard court and you might have a chance...

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