How closely does this match a heatmap for poverty levels?
I live in the green part
Submitted 2 weeks ago by possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.zip/pictrs/image/40123c74-80eb-4b26-87ee-1cc633b41a4e.webp
Comments
PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Junk food is cheap so there is a correlation. It isn’t a perfect match but it is close.
What is more interesting is looking at obesity by race.
Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 weeks ago
Got it. So Colorado should be predominantly rich white people.
Oh hey wait look at that, 76% white and 10% immigrant labor. With a white poverty rate of only about 7.5% (1)
Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
An obese poor person really is a paradox!
It’s far more expensive to eat in a way that would make you fat, so maybe not poverty, but (nutrition) education levels would be a better correlation?
driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 2 weeks ago
While ingredients for healthy food are cheaper that processed ready to made or fast food, the time and energy to cook is an expensive luxury that no everyone have.
Check out this Folding Ideas video, about food, class and the cost of cooking youtube.com/watch?v=V-a9VDIbZCU
WhyFlip@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Highly processed, high sugar foods are generally less expensive.
Wogi@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s always funny to me to watch single people who have been skinny their entire life try to coach the world on how to be like them.
There is an entire world outside of your little shell, very few people will fit in to the narrow view of the world you have and those that do don’t need your advice, they already look and eat like you.
There are myriad luxuries that contribute to your, apparently quite successful lifestyle. Had you actually encountered the hardships you claim to be able to resolve with some fucking oats, you’d be able to grasp the true depths of how idiotic the suggestion is.
I congratulate you on your success, but please shut up. The poors are in no further need of out of touch advice, no matter how well meaning.
Maalus@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m eating shitty delivered food (including mcdonalds) and I am losing weight. The problem isn’t “bad food” it’s all about controlling calories intake. The only moment where that might not work is if you have some issues - hormonal imbalance or some sort of other illness. But if you eat less and can maintain / withstand that, you will lose weight.
GhiLA@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Home economics used to be an elective.
Sad to say, but I feel cooking is an essential, base skill that everyone should have at least a small grasp on, at least for their own wellbeing.
samus12345@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Coding data in color is a pet-peeve of mine. As a colorblind person, maps like this are nearly useless to me.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Dark = bad
Ellvix@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The green is almost exactly the same in value as the red.
kent_eh@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
The first 2 on the legend look darker than the following 3 .
I agree with the previous commenter. Colour coded maps are useless for about 25% of the population.
candybrie@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The green doesn’t follow that.
doingthestuff@lemy.lol 2 weeks ago
Don’t worry, this particular map is just as useless for everyone.
tempest@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
There is an ISO somewhere that sets out color blind colors for accessibility.
TachyonTele@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
That’s just cuz yo mama so fat the color wheel went all the way 'round her.
Default_Defect@midwest.social 2 weeks ago
Sorry, but when people complain about obesity and talk about how easy it is for them to be healthy, all I think about is my brother. He eats more than me and isn’t any more active than me, but hes borderline underweight and can’t keep weight on to save his life. YES, people don’t take care of themselves, I know, that’s not my point. At my most active, most healthy eating part of my life, the best shape I’ve ever been, I was still considered overweight, so forgive me for rolling my eyes at this.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I realize some people struggle more than others.
I’m mostly talking about the extreme obesity.
BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
thats just big boned
ChexMax@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, the skinniest couple I know eats candy and taco bell all day long (they’re approaching 30 so that teen metabolism is long gone). They’re not unusually active or anything, just thin. My husband is thin and has basically zero regard for his diet. Southern amounts of butter on everything. I’m much more careful than him, I enjoy plain veggies as snacks (as opposed to his pastries) and I’m ten pounds more than him at 7 inches shorter than him.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
I eat fast food a lot and people have this perception about me but the reality is I only usually eat one meal a day so overall I’m not overeating. Admittedly it’s terrible nutritionally but my living arrangement limits my options.
aceshigh@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s not hard to stay skinny/lose weight while eating sugar/fast food. At one point I was doing intermittent fasting - I had 1 slice of cake a day and it was delicious. I just ate that slice and I lost weight.
LotrOrc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Im not trying to be mean or anything, but how active and how healthy were you eating at that time?
deegeese@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Mildly infuriating you didn’t say what’s being measured.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
It is in my title
I created this post and then edited it a few seconds later. Apparently the changes didn’t propagate.
fraksken@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
Sure, but what constitutes obesity in the U.S.A.?
WoahWoah@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Is it possible they’re expressing admiration or paying you a compliment not invoke your disdain?
Incidentally, according to the most recent CDC numbers, Colorado is no longer “green” on this map, just Hawaii and DC.
There’s only eight states under 30%. West Virgina tops the numbers at 41%.
~75% of the United States is classified as overweight or obese, which is staggering. It has to be pretty unevenly distributed even within states, because I live in a college town in a low-middle-weight state, and very few appear obese, and I’m regularly in a nearby major metro, and I don’t see a ton of obese people there either. Rural children are 10-15 times more likely to obese, so I’m guessing that is probably a major factor as well.
25-35% obesity rates covers like 80% of states, so the US is just fat and getting fatter.
ahal@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Unevenly distributed, but also statistical bias. Anywhere you go obese people are less likely to be out and about.
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
A good way to sample is a hospital or Dr office waiting room.
Anamnesis@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Is it getting fatter, though? Modern obesity drugs have got to be making a dent now.
Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 weeks ago
Well for the wealthy, sure. Can’t ever stop taking your drugs to fix your life and need the funds to do it.
Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
The new semiglutide drugs have only been on the market since about 2019, and in the best cases members in the study only lost up to 30% bodyweight (and real world data that’s been trickling in is even less, topping out at around 15-20%) so for someone who needs to halve their weight it’s only getting them part of the way there.
Additionally they work by mucking with one’s metabolism so the patient wouldn’t feel hungry. That only helps people who are overweight due to overeating. Tons of people have undiagnosed health issues that muck with their weight, and we all know the systemic challenges related to healthcare access and access to diagnosis and treatment, especially with how doctors tend to treat to patients who are minorities, female, overweight or any combination of the above.
Also most patients are not able to keep the weight off after stopping semiglutide treatment, even in studies where participants were simultaneously given personalized diet and exercise guidance and switched to a placebo treatment, as soon as treatment was stopped the weight returned.
These new semiglutide treatments are incredible and are allowing people to lose weight more successfully and more effectively than they might have ever been able to, but they aren’t the entire solution to the obesity epidemic.
If you want to learn more, I highly recommend this episode of the Maintenance Phase podcast for more details (transcript and sources also available!)
XeroxCool@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’d expect a county map to more appropriately show the trend. Coastal cities can steamroll stats for a state with vastly disproportional representation. I would expect cities to have lower obesity rates due to increased travel by walking while deep rural counties to have higher rates due to driving everywhere, including on your own property. Perhaps it’s not California and New York that’s doing the right thing, but rather LA and NYC doing the heavy lifting. A county map could also pull in variation correlated to ethnicity of people (genetics, imported cultural norms) and ethnicity/variety of food available, too (can you get fresh fare or is it all McDonald’s?). I would expect DC to be more in line with other large metro counties.
Basically the same issues with the electoral college. States are big and not necessarily a good representation of human statistics. Counties may not be granular enough, but I expect it to be an improvement. I’m not seeing date marked results past 2008.
I have no relevant comments for Colorado, I don’t get it
WoahWoah@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Agreed. A more granular map would be interesting to see.
Re: Colorado, it’s just a relatively healthy state with a general ethos of living well. I think you’re seeing some of that being the urban effect through the Denver, Colorado Springs, etc. and then you have the addition of rural areas of Colorado being outdoorsy still, as well as very often still affluent or “rural poor.” Colorado has one of the lowest rural poverty rates in the United States.
And since Colorado would be in the 25-29.9 category now, it’s comparable to many states that also have comparable rural poverty rates. The fact that the states with the highest rural poverty also have the highest weights, I’m sure there’s a relationship there. I imagine the obesity rates and poverty rates heavily overlap.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I think the main problem is that people are eating way to much sugar and salt. The problem is that a lot food you can buy at the store has way to much sugar and salt. Also some people have grown up being conditioned to eat junk like heavy sugar and grease.
MagicPterodactyl@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Do you have any source for salt casing obesity? I’ve never heard of that being a thing.
dmtalon@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
Anecdotal story about Colorado.
I visited CO a couple of times a while ago for work. I was in my mid 30’s (2007) and fairly fit. I left Cincinnati Airport surrounded by overweight people all around me where I felt pretty good about myself. I arrived in Denver, and suddenly felt like I was on the less fit side of the spectrum.
It was VERY obvious the change. It was not something I noticed / thought about in Cincinnati, but it hit me like a ton of bricks when I landed in CO.
I’ve talked about that experience through the years. I have to watch what I eat, and work to be ‘as fit’ as I am, it definitely does not just come natural or anything remotely like. I drove around / hiked pretty much every moment I was not working and both trips were amazing. Such a beautiful state!
CodeHead@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
When I moved to Colorado from the midwest in the 90’s, my weight started to drop. When I left Colorado for Arizona, my weight went back up.
Partly it was the food, but really it was the outdoor activities… if you wanted to hang with friends, you spent time outside. (Though restaurants seemed to have healthier options, there were just less restaurants overall so I ended up cooking more too)
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I think there is a lot less of a sugar culture here. People drink water and seek fresh food. If people are seeking junk companies will serve junk. When the general population wants fresh healthy meals that is what companies will sell. In my experience many people in Colorado want healthier food which creates a demand.
I think it has to do with the population
dmtalon@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
Ya, the amount of people outside bicycling, hiking, rafting I saw out there was awesome!
Malfeasant@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Arizona…
I was skinny when I lived in Boston, but blew up like a balloon when I moved to Arizona.
itsnotits@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
in the '90s*
sailormoon@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
When I went to Japan in college for 2.5 months I felt kinda big (I was normal weight), but then my flight back home stopped in Texas and…WOW the absolute SHOCK. I felt like a twig. This was many years ago and I still remember it so clearly.
dmtalon@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
I got to experience Japan too, but I was even younger but 6’ tall. So my experience there was mostly around how I could see over everyone :)
TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
Is this OP’s way of asking the rest of us to send OP snacks ?
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I would like others to care for themselves
Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
I’m a pretty healthy person. I work out regularly, this summer biked up to 8 very hilly miles every day and I’ve been actively reducing sugar in my diet. It’s nice to let loose for holidays and indulge in more sugary and savory foods than you normally would. It’s part of the fun of holidays.
Also stop fat shaming. There’s a million and one reasons for people to be fat and there’s a million and one reasons for people to be thin. Would you judge less if you knew your super skinny cousin was only skinny because he starves himself and purges after the pendulum swing back and he binges? Or that your fat aunt was fighting with an idiot rhumotologist who insists the tests he ran that indicate an autoimmune disease which also causes weight gain don’t indicate that same autoimmune disease? Or how about a fat uncle who only eats one meal a day, tons of salads, walks multiple miles but never sees his weight change no matter what? Or your grandmother who periodically goes into an expensive commercial starvation diet so close to the edge you aren’t allowed to excercise in order to lose weight?
These are all real experiences of people I know, and I know these experiences because I stopped to listen instead of jumping to judgment. Of all of the people I know who struggle with either gaining or losing weight I only know 2 people who found changing their diet actually affected their weight
TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
I’m good. I’m a 150 lb six footer. But holiday cookies are still welcome into my hutch. People used to die from just winter coming and starving. Don’t be too disappointed at us for falling for biology.
Enjoy the winter celebrations, my kind OP. And I will continue to work on it, too.
OCATMBBL@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Time to add another hole to the Bible belt.
thisisdee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’ve only visited Colorado once, during my cross country road trip maybe 10 years ago (I’ve since left the US) and loved it there. I did notice how much healthier/thinner everyone was. I was in Boulder for 2-3 days and did a couple day hikes. Everyone was very friendly. I would love to live there. As someone who’s on the higher side of normal weight, I’ve never felt so unfit.
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 weeks ago
The colour scheme exaggerates this a little bit. 20-some isn’t that different from 30-some.
Bonesince1997@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Nice, I live in insufficient data!
baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Kentucky: “don’t bother asking”
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
If you look at the KY state numbers is dark red
SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
When I returned from Asia and landed in Denver by how fat everyone was now. I swear I could’ve counted the number of obese people in East Asia on one hand but in the Denver airport I think it would be safe to say about 80% of the people there were noticeably obese. It certainly isn’t due to a lack of food in Asia, they practically force feed you in China.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Are you Asian? (Don’t feel pressured to answer this)
The reason I ask is that according to the CDC Asian obesity is almost non existent. I think this has to do with culture and racially motivated pressure. In the US there is a stereotype of Asians being perfect and smart. That actually comes from the time right after the US interment camps. The idea was that Asians coming out of the camps should be “good little Asians.” I wonder if the pressure put on Asians has to do with them not being overweight. I personally used to know an Asian kid in high school who was almost driven to suicide because all the teachers expected more from him because of his race. He was extremely ADHD but couldn’t get any help as he was told that Asians are smart.
NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I think that stereotype is also partially driven by immigration selection pressures: those that were able to immigrate would statistically skew towards higher income earners or those that have had higher education. The parents themselves are going to hold higher expectations of their kids due to their own achievements.
Sorry to hear about your friend. I’m not sure to what degree you knew him, but that’s horrible :(
AstridWipenaugh@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It very much depends which gate you’re looking at. There are a whole lot of people flying through Denver to get somewhere else; not everyone in DIA is from Colorado. As someone from Denver, I can say for sure that the airport has a whole lot more fat people than you see out and about.
BallShapedMan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I also live in a green state and think of myself as a bit overweight. Visited family in MS, I’m a Mississippi 9 at least!
skeezix@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You sound like tons of fun.
BallShapedMan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m not sure why you’re getting down voted but I like the joke.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Username doesn’t check out?
BallShapedMan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It used to. 2014 I almost passed out at the top of pikes peak due to me weight and how out of shape I was. I fixed that!
Lost 80lbs over 2 years and feel younger now than I did in 2014.
Gladaed@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
How did CO do that? Free lunch in school? This does not seem to be something you can do by having more virtuous people.
Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Coloradans typically live a very active lifestyle. Outdoor recreation is a huge part of people’s lives. Therefore they’re moving a lot more and typically thinner
Gladaed@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Ok, but what makes them this way. All of their neighbors have above average obesity.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Culture of healthy thinking
inv3r510n@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
High elevation makes the body work harder because there’s less oxygen. Elite athletes train in the high country for the effects.
meyotch@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
Colorado has a good set of policies that support consistent and long term public funding of outdoor recreation, such as trails and parks. The level of connectivity among local and regional trail systems is very good and always improving.
greenhorn@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
I’m wondering what bias there may be for people from a place versus moving to a place. Many have noted the culture of activity in Colorado, and that may be pulling non-obese people from other states to Colorado. Not that it would sway the numbers that much, but as an anecdote, everyone I know in Colorado moved there from a different state and fit, and moved there for activities.
BmeBenji@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Well obesity according to what metric? The notoriously outdated BMI?
doingthestuff@lemy.lol 2 weeks ago
BMI is honestly a terrible tool for individuals, (meh but I get it for larger societal groups). Everything on me is bigger than average. Size 14 US shoe, size 3x helmets. 2x gloves. My wingspan is significantly wider than I am tall (6’5" vs 5’10"). Even my bones are far wider than average. I’m no bodybuilder but I hike extremely steep hikes for fun and at least my ass and thighs have a bit of muscle.
My weight has varied over the years but even when I’m so thin I’m constantly getting questions of, “Are you alright? You’re way too thin.” I’m still just into the overweight category. For me to get to a "healthy"BMI I’d have to be sickly thin. So I just take care of what I think makes me healthy. And at 51 my only medication is a Zyrtec every day but I’m still technically solidly overweight.
WhyFlip@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m a red dot in Colorado. 😕
BodePlotHole@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Me too. Don’t sweat it. Develop a good personality. Enjoy your life.
wolfpack86@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’d like to see this on county level like voter maps.
Curious how cities and rural look compared to each other within a state, and how rural in low average states look across.
For example is LA just so skinny and populous it hides that rural California is as bad as rural Oklahoma?
NABDad@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I see that “snitches get stitches” is still in effect in Philly.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 2 weeks ago
Living in a green state can’t be that bad. It’s green!
mhague@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
When people comment about my weight I just turn it back on them. I’m not anxious about my weight so it’s easy to just be like, “You look like you’re eating enough for both of us!”
SARGE@startrek.website 2 weeks ago
I was going to mention how “first world problems” this is, but then noticed it’s in mildly infuriating.
Same thing, basically.
youngalfred@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Area covered by lava?
GBU_28@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Walking through the Denver airport, and seeing who lines up at what gates is startling.
In reverse, lining up for Denver from say, Houston.
Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I live in a maroon state. I’m definitely overweight, I literally just checked a BMI calculator and apparently I’m a hair away from obese (that doesn’t feel accurate, but that’s what the numbers say).
I’ve been told so many times that I’m a healthy weight and I don’t need to lose weight.
fritobugger2017@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m really surprised Georgia is not darker red.
UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
How does your 20% compare to other nations?
jollyrogue@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Another reason to get out of this state.
CuddlyCassowary@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I like this trend of throwing other states into the ocean. For too long Alaska and Hawaii have been floating around out there on their own!
whodatdair@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
They made Rhode Island into an island, it’s perfect