Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

GKnives t1_jak5idr wrote

walkable towns and cities would help a lot, I imagine

97

HerrHoopla t1_jam4ijh wrote

Working on it!

Am a planner.

28

GKnives t1_jam59yl wrote

Aiming for a certain area?

2

HerrHoopla t1_jam61c8 wrote

I work for a certain municipality in NH, so that is my concentration at the moment.

10

sje46 t1_jam7mqj wrote

Seems like there's a societal trend to making cities and towns more walkable. I'm excited for the future if that's so.

17

reddituser6213 t1_janigb9 wrote

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

3

HerrHoopla t1_jaqsni4 wrote

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...

3

nowhereman1223 t1_jantter wrote

The problem with a lot of these ideas is they take money.

NH has none.

2

smartest_kobold t1_jam5shf wrote

Using your legs is communism. Only by burning fossil fuels can you truly live free.

16

mmirate t1_jam7pdu wrote

Burning fossil fuels is no excuse to not also take some time to use your legs (and arms etc). u/GKnives, have you ever heard of this thing called "personal responsibility"?

−5

smartest_kobold t1_jameyu1 wrote

What if you could get exercise AND transport yourself simultaneously?

3

mmirate t1_jamf6in wrote

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

smartest_kobold t1_jamgmuc wrote

You should actually do the math on that. Once you count driving time as a health and financial liability, those numbers are going to add up fast.

4

Kylenarkum t1_jamp3g2 wrote

Or get this, go enjoy some nature. Go for a fuckin hike and get some fresh air

2

GKnives t1_jay3m24 wrote

Spending free time walking will definitely do the trick on a broad scale, long term

1

pahnzoh t1_jamlx5e wrote

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

ILeftMyBurnerOn t1_jamnu5h wrote

Not sure how you got "non-walkable towns and cities are the root cause of this issue" from a suggestion that more walkable places would be a part of the solution.

5

pahnzoh t1_jamrgdf wrote

Says help a lot.

Not true. Just leftist fantasy.

Stop eating your trash diet and hit the gym. You can walk or run on country roads.

−12

ILeftMyBurnerOn t1_jan0mcv wrote

Lol wtf did i just read

4

pahnzoh t1_jan1udp wrote

The truth.

−2

z-eldapin t1_jajezhp wrote

Can't til happy hour is over

89

Consistent-Winter-67 t1_jajfw8c wrote

We barely get happy hour!

11

Different_Ad7655 t1_jaobjo2 wrote

Ahh. But the secret is to park the car a mile and a half away from happy hour and walk it.. and in the return gets you about 3 mi in about 8,000 steps depending.. there you go

2

No_Suggestion_8234 t1_jajfz2p wrote

We're fat as fuck. Have you looked around?

61

WeeTeeTiong t1_jakqtzg wrote

I have. Also I've noticed Japanese whaling ships off our coasts. Lots of whaling ships.

15

foodandart t1_jalqvjh wrote

:snerk!!: Lots of whales..

(I'll let my self out now...)

−1

AnythingToAvoidWork t1_jajnb1e wrote

For perspective, being 164 at 5' 8" is 24.9 BMI.

40

No_Suggestion_8234 t1_jajqcwx wrote

BMI charts are also incredibly outdated. You can be 6'6 and weigh 210 and it's considered "overweight"

89

deadliftothersup t1_jajt185 wrote

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.

27

MindlessHousing t1_jajulet wrote

> 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

18

deadliftothersup t1_jajx3x9 wrote

I've posted links to meta-analyses on BMI as a predictor of various health outcomes. I'm not even coming close to scratching the surface on what is available.

8

sje46 t1_jam7j9q wrote

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.

10

deadliftothersup t1_jamlkrk wrote

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.

2

-cochise t1_jan1nyr wrote

IQ tests predict health outcomes too though. They’re not really culturally biased any more.

1

No_Suggestion_8234 t1_jaju15x wrote

And you have a source for any of this?

−6

deadliftothersup t1_jajwth4 wrote

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.

25

No_Suggestion_8234 t1_jajzqeu wrote

Interesting, thank you for your response. This is contrary to what I've heard from my PCP so I was curious

4

deadliftothersup t1_jak27i4 wrote

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.

15

UncleBen94 t1_jal0ojn wrote

Dude I'm like 6'2, 250 and I've been mistaken for a pro athlete before but I'm apparently "obese"

3

Legitimate_Gap_5551 t1_jamdxrf wrote

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 😂😂😂

2

veed_vacker t1_jam0p05 wrote

waist to hip ratio is used more often when judging health.

3

ItsAllBeenDoneBe4 t1_jam1kdb wrote

This BMI is only worth so much. At 23% Im overweight with a 4 pack, lol roger that.

2

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.

25

CheliceraeJones t1_jaka48k wrote

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

18

bluesmom913 OP t1_jajdrzb wrote

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

14

nina_rae_ t1_jajw1ow wrote

There are so many more robust/legit data sources for this

29

akmjolnir t1_jakbn54 wrote

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

14

SlothFactsBot t1_jakbo9h wrote

Did someone mention sloths? Here's a random fact!

Sloths can swim and hold their breath underwater for up to 40 minutes!

13

akmjolnir t1_jakc91t wrote

Sloths would do well in space, minus the vacuum.

2

maxhinator123 t1_jajhck9 wrote

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

13

AnythingToAvoidWork t1_jajnkwa wrote

Overweight people still hike lol

33

InNh_LeaveUsAlone t1_jakaloe wrote

not that high up tho. never seen one on top of lincoln or kinsman or any of the 4000 footers

−13

AnythingToAvoidWork t1_jakdqoq wrote

I've done several 4ks including Washington and I'm solidly obese

21

chunky-guac t1_jao5szf wrote

I've got a 20.5 BMI and some of those hikes make me feel like a pussy. Kudos to you

1

AnythingToAvoidWork t1_jaokl7b wrote

Im surprised I don't affect local weather patterns with all the wind I'm sucking when I hike them but the break at the top is always worth it.

1

InNh_LeaveUsAlone t1_jaltvxw wrote

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

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.

2

Opal_Pie t1_jan3119 wrote

I guess you never heard of chronic illnesses that contribute to weight gain despite diet and exercise. Or even of medications that cause weight gain. Being obese isn't always a choice.

1

InNh_LeaveUsAlone t1_janewtm wrote

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?

3

No_Suggestion_8234 t1_jak04yh wrote

When you grow up here, the mountains lose their appeal pretty rapidly unfortunately

11

[deleted] t1_jajrrth wrote

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.

5

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

12

peabut_nutter t1_jam3qoc wrote

Can’t fight, too busy eating and being fat.

7

underratedride t1_jamdvhh wrote

> Can’t fight, too busy eating and being fat.

You and most of the population. It’s sad because it’s true.

2

Ok_Low_1287 t1_jak3a92 wrote

How many fat 93 year olds have you seen?

10

DiabolicalGooseHonk t1_jao3rs4 wrote

How many 93 year olds have you met that aren’t ready to die because 93 is way too old to live an enjoyable life? I have a lot of geriatric patients who are very blunt about being ready to leave this earth lol

0

Odd_Salary7432 t1_jajqbgf wrote

So the majority of Americans are overweight? Holy shit

5

Wtfisgoinonhere t1_jak6wio wrote

Does that surprise you lol

20

Odd_Salary7432 t1_jaljj03 wrote

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.

5

Wtfisgoinonhere t1_jaly67l wrote

Sometimes I’ll notice other peoples carts in the grocery store and just feel for the kids. Parents buying nothing but trash and thats their diet, its a shame

4

hamakabi t1_jam6hmv wrote

We used ho hear about rising obesity a lot. Then the majority became obese and decided they didn't want to feel bad about it so everyone stopped talking about it.

4

DiabolicalGooseHonk t1_jao43ub wrote

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

Odd_Salary7432 t1_jam8q0u wrote

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

WhoWhatWhereWhenHowY t1_jam58g5 wrote

Also note that it is an average not median so there could be a few normal weight people and one heavy as hell person to skew the data.

2

Odd_Salary7432 t1_jam6k65 wrote

Ahh thank you, didn’t see that, it’s still depressing to know that on average Americans are overweight.

1

[deleted] t1_jalea1f wrote

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

5

EmeraldMoose12 t1_jajxqaa wrote

I doubt this is accurate data

4

bonanzapineapple t1_jakp6ut wrote

Why?

BMI itself may be a questionable measure of health but that is a different conversation

5

WhoWhatWhereWhenHowY t1_jam5fpx wrote

OP said it's from 23andMe. As someone else noted there are better sources like CDC. That said I am sure they generally tell the same story.

3

kkpc t1_jalczq5 wrote

Lol has anyone even been to San Antonio?

4

Flineki t1_jak13w3 wrote

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

3

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.

3

sje46 t1_jam7ulx wrote

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

Smirkly t1_janzxjq wrote

Yeah, I'm just kidding and am skeptical of anything I get from the net; except, of course, reddit which an absolutely reliable source.

1

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?

3

Shade_Nap0405 t1_jaju5zd wrote

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

2

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.

2

jgren91 t1_jak7k3j wrote

Hey! I resemble that

2

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?

2

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.

2

Maldonian t1_jaosu5u wrote

Walking, as pleasant and healthy as it is, burns very few calories. It’s usually excess intake that’s the problem.

2

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.

2

buddaycousin t1_jajrrz2 wrote

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

1

AvianQuill t1_jajvlc6 wrote

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

1

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.

1

Lordofthebeer t1_jam7tgf wrote

Wow, only one greenish state in the entire country.

1

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.

1

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

reddituser6213 t1_janj2ux wrote

What about fruits that come in those plastic cases or vegetables in bags? Are those bad?

1

enrique-sfw t1_jb0w6tn wrote

No, obviously. However, fruit and veg that comes locally is far superior from a nutrition perspective.

2

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.

1

xKrator t1_janeg9h wrote

I don't wanna

1

chi_rho_ t1_jangggf wrote

What’s the criteria for classifying overweight and obese?

1

blackcatspat t1_jangv6o wrote

It’s winter sis. 😂😂 I’m hibernating

1

Captain-Stunning t1_jao3ftn wrote

Welcome to Pawnee-first in friendship, fourth in obesity

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.

1

_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

craigawoo t1_jakf8lh wrote

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

−4

retromullet t1_jakhjvs wrote

Yeah, it’s full of fat people from NH amazed that there’s restaurants other than Applebee’s and the 99.

12

vexingsilence t1_jak8a5k wrote

Look at you with your body shaming.

−6