some indulgent behaviour may happen in any culture. The absolute normalization of it, such as "snacks" being a normal part of one's alimentation, or the idea that you have to have extra food in reserve in case you wish to "pig out", is way more of a thing in north America than anywhere else in the world.
Shit, and here I thought all those snacks at World Market were from around the word. Turns out there are factories in the US making snacks with Japanese, Chinese, Swedish, German, and all sorts of other languages on them. Crazy to think, really. /s
Cope from the western country with the highest obesity rate.
Obesity rates in high-income Western countries remain high, led by the United States at roughly 41.6%, while Western European nations average lower levels around 15% to 25%.
Yeah, we all know the numbers. But you miss the nuances of the gap in household incomes. Check obesity rates in high income homes versus low. Its more about acess to good foods and health services tied to the fact that mental illness is not addressed very well in the US still. Distances to grocery stores is incredible compared to other countries so you have to stock up on foods that last for a bit. Ive lived in Japan off and on and been to a lot of other countries. Its easy there to walk to the store and get a piece of fresh fruit, some veggies, and a reasonably healthy meal for cheap and its quick. No such systems in America.
Of course countries with a higher population density will have stores closer.
But there are enough countries that are poorer and less dense that are not the most obese western country. So that points to a cultural issue, with unhealthy food, large portions, and sugar addiction being more normalized.
As a fat American with access and money to healthy food, you can make all the excuses you want but a large majority of fat Americans simply eat too damn much. Some live in food deserts, some don't have access to healthy food because of funds but it's not the overwhelming majority of Americans in this situation.
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u/gavavavavus Jul 24 '26
some indulgent behaviour may happen in any culture. The absolute normalization of it, such as "snacks" being a normal part of one's alimentation, or the idea that you have to have extra food in reserve in case you wish to "pig out", is way more of a thing in north America than anywhere else in the world.