Food, Fat, Obesity and Airplanes - a question

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

This conversation is definitely getting into more than large folks on airplanes, but in reading the responses it seems as though the US since the New Deal has seen a transfer of personal responsibility to public resposibility while folks still want to retain some level of personal rights. I am not so sure you can have it both ways.

The New Deal you speak of must've been oh, 20,000 years ago.

 

[rr5025]

Back to the OP, I am reminded of when our family spent a year in Germany. I bought a set of plates for the apartment before my wife and kids came over and joined me. She looked at them and said, "here are four salad plates, but why is there just one dinner plate?" I said, "no, those are four dinner plates, and there's just one serving platter." Just shows the difference between American and European sensibilities about portion sizes.

There are a lot of things going on here. Fast food and junk food, of course, is a big one, and especially sodas, which are largely liquid sugar. Another thing is that American cities are laid out so that most of us HAVE to commute by car; towns in Europe are less spread out, so it's a lot easier for Europeans to get to work or school by walking, biking, or public transportation.

I completely agree.

 

[Jim Campbell]

I'm not all that fat but I wonder if I could buy two tickets for seats next to each other?? It would still be cheaper than first class and I could actually have space to use my laptop. I'd be tempted to pay for two seats the next time I fly to Vegas My luck the armrest wouldn't go up and I'd have that up my *** for the whole flight

and your bass could avoid the rigors of the cargo hold

 

[rakirksey]

The New Deal you speak of must've been oh, 20,000 years ago.

Not exactly but point taken.

 

[ehque]

well a comment on question #2 here, i fly quite often here in the states and im about 6' 3" 250lbs. i dont consider myself fat, im not skinny by any means but im not a walking heart attck either. for me the seats are kind of tight and are way to close togther. i agree with deluxe red i shouldnt be penalized for my genes making me tall now on the other hand some 500lbs person is a different story but we in the states dont have the back bone to stand up and say your to damn heavy and wide to be on this plane, thats why its such a issue

As someone who is 6'5" and not skinny by any means, I can assure you I hate flying. I truly hate being crammed into tiny seats. It's probably just as un pleasant for me as it is for the person next to me. I already have my shoulders in everyone's business, and I have to deal with the awkwardness of that, and paying more is a lot like kicking me while I'm down

Respectfully, I think you guys are missing the point. With regards to flying (and flying only) where space and weight is a premium, charging more for big/heavy/tall people (note that i do not use the word fat) makes sense. It is as much penalising you for your genes as high shelves in supermarkets penalise short people. People are born different, deal with it.

In the same way "fat percentage" or "pinch tests" at an airport are ridiculous. Some people weigh a lot. Does it matter if it is 99% fat or 99% muscle? They are going to be taking up two seats in either case.

 

[ehque]

Oh yeah, arguing for the "right" to not wear your seatbelt is like arguing for the right to drive without a license, imho.

Depending on the way we look at it, the roads are public property, the use of which is allowed based on certain rules, some of which include whether or not you put on a seatbelt. Another way of looking at it is that a driving license is like a contract of understanding between the state and the driver which allows the driver to use the roads in exchange for responsible usage.

 

[Jim Campbell]

Respectfully, I think you guys are missing the point. With regards to flying (and flying only) where space and weight is a premium, charging more for big/heavy/tall people (note that i do not use the word fat) makes sense. It is as much penalising you for your genes as high shelves in supermarkets penalise short people. People are born different, deal with it.

In the same way "fat percentage" or "pinch tests" at an airport are ridiculous. Some people weigh a lot. Does it matter if it is 99% fat or 99% muscle? They are going to be taking up two seats in either case.

perhaps the airlines are using an unrealistic,small standard for the average passenger's size so they can cram more seats on an airplane.....the supermarket analogy is flawed.....if the short guy can't reach the product,they will get it down for him....get kicked off a plane and......

 

[standupright]

Back to the OP, I am reminded of when our family spent a year in Germany. I bought a set of plates for the apartment before my wife and kids came over and joined me. She looked at them and said, "here are four salad plates, but why is there just one dinner plate?" I said, "no, those are four dinner plates, and there's just one serving platter." Just shows the difference between American and European sensibilities about portion sizes.

There are a lot of things going on here. Fast food and junk food, of course, is a big one, and especially sodas, which are largely liquid sugar. Another thing is that American cities are laid out so that most of us HAVE to commute by car; towns in Europe are less spread out, so it's a lot easier for Europeans to get to work or school by walking, biking, or public transportation.

The other thing is that bad food is CHEAP. It used to be that being fat was a sign of wealth and skinny people were poor people. Now the cheapest thing you can buy at the store is coke and chips while fresh produce is expensive. It's the affluent who buy healthy food and have health club memberships.

i'm too drunk to reply sensibly about this

 

[bmc]

For the record, the width of airline seats hasn't changed much in 40 years. Boeing 737's have had a single aisle with 3 seats on either side since their first flight in 1968. Same goes for every other aircraft. What has changed is seat pitch or leg room. Obesity has no impact on legroom.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Essentially the airlines may charge more for extra baggage weight, but not extra weight in self-loading freight. They may charge extra for excess volume in SLF.

 

[doublestop]

Its pretty easy to find food that doesnt have all that crap in it. The problem is that its not convenient enough for everyone. People don't take their time these days to plan out their meals and actually cook a nutritious dinner, they want everything done & ready in 5 minutes.

Over here is going that way too. We have ads on TV that say

"Drink this Fruit Drink if you don't have the time to eat 2 pieces of fruit every day"

And I think: if you don't have the time to eat an apple and an orange (or whatever) on a day, you have a SERIOUS time management problem.

Of course we're all busy. I sometimes cook for several days, and put the food in the freezer. Sort of 'home made convenience food'. Cheaper and healthier than that fat, sweet and salt stuff you buy in the supermarket.

I have to watch my blood pressure - good luck finding processed food without salt ..... For some reason they put lots of salt in everything, together with sugar (not as bad as in the USA though - where the taste of a 4 year old seems to be the standard for the food industry: fat and sweet)

 

[doublestop]

charging more for big/heavy/tall people (note that i do not use the word fat) makes sense....

Agree. Unless - we would decide that we have a 'solidarity' in which sometimes I pay 'too much', and the next time someone else pays 'too much'. If we were to accept this, I'd say that heavy people would have to accept some interference with their weight/lifestyle in return.

Either you decide for yourself how you live and how big you want to be - and you pay the bill; or you let someone else pay the bill, and accept less freedom when it comes to food and weight.

 

[Simo98]

You can be as cynical as you want, but the American government does not have the right to keep people from smoking for their own good.

To be honest if they decided to make them illegal there is probably little you can do about it, the percentage of voting non smokers likely outweighs the amount of smoking voters.

The reason they are not going to make them illegal anytime soon is the same reason they won't do it over here, Taxes.

In Australia they make some stupid percentage on ciggarettes, something like 70% tax, thats hundreds of millions they would be giving away, and they can't afford to do that anytime soon, not to mention the compensation they would have to pay to the companies they are putting out of business.

I agree, fat people should be charged more to flights, but then again im a 68 kilogram 17 year old, why would i care if other people get charged more. In the long run i can see a 'Total weight charge' been phased in, when airlines figure out that they can charge you a rate per kilogram, both for your luggage and how much you yourself weigh, and make a fortune off the less fortunate people who weight more than the average person, they are going to do whatever they can to start making an extra quid.

They already often charge less for children, and they take up the same amount of seats as an adult, so there is no loss their (especially with childhood obesity going the way it is) and baggage allowances will be a thing of the past, just drag your suitcase onto the scales and pop your credit card in the machine.

 

[doublestop]

The other thing is that bad food is CHEAP. It used to be that being fat was a sign of wealth and skinny people were poor people. Now the cheapest thing you can buy at the store is coke and chips while fresh produce is expensive. It's the affluent who buy healthy food and have health club memberships.

Yes, but - if you go to the market you can buy fruit and vegetables for low prices. Potatoes, rice, tomatoes, apples, aren't super expensive is it?

Tea is cheaper than softdrinks.

Healthclubs are expensive, but you can buy an old used bicycle for $ 25 if you look well, and walking is free.....

 

[Moonbot]

Anyone who willing chooses to drink/eat any artificial sweetener/no added sugar/sugar free food and drink, really needs to become educated about the additives used.

Aspartame, if there is one to say no to its this.

Apart from the fact that it rots your brain and lowers your IQ (fluoride anyone), there are many other side effects.

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

As many have said already, it's not Americans fault they have so many obesity problems, and it is no accident either.
All their meat is pumped full of hormones that are designed to feminise the people who consume it, your pesticides do this as well by contaminating the ground water.
There is a good video on google called "Flow", worth watching if you are interested (explains this much better then I could ever hope to).
The pesticide is manufactured in Europe, but its use if banned here, yet it is used in America incessantly.

A dumbed down populous with a lack of testosterone is the best way to keep people easily manageable, otherwise there would have been a revolt in the US by now.

All this leads to the general public being more susceptible to advertisement and influence, and therefor fall victim to unscrupulous corporations such as McD etc not to mention big Pharma which is raping the US citizens.

Don't get me wrong though, I see the same happening here too. Its just that it has been happening in America long enough now to easily see the toll it has taken on the population.

 

[emor]

lack of testosterone

Have you ever actually been to the U.S.?

 

[Moonbot]

haha, yea I have and I understand why you might think this.
You must not confuse testosterone with
irreversible brain damage,
irritability,
aggression,
anxiety,
personality changes,
high blood pressure.

All of these are notted effects of Aspartame.

Heres another site with some good info on Aspartame

http://www.aspartamekills.com

In a nutshell

 

[emor]

WHAT? YOU CALLIN' ME STUPID? HUH?
WANNA STEP OUTSIDE AND SAY THAT?

 

[Moonbot]

I take it that's a joke yes.
I mean absolutely no disrespect to any one who is unlucky enough to fall prey to big business so called "ethics", and have nothing but empathy for every human I see suffering.
It pains me to see people being poisoned on a mass scale. I know I could much more easily keep this information to myself and avoid a lot of flack but that's just not how I do things,(probably a good indication of how much I have been dumbed down over the years haha)

 

[FL Knifemaker]

and your bass could avoid the rigors of the cargo hold

Seriously.......

If I could work on my laptop for the entire time I was on the plane, it would easily pay for the second ticket and I wouldn't be such a miserable MFer when I got off the plane. I really think this would be a more popular service or request. I would GLADLY pay for 3 seats in a row when my daughter and I fly on business. That would work out perfectly for both of us.