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Shakti
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19 Dec 2017, 5:10 pm

I'm an American who has lived in Holland for the last 6 years. I know this sounds so superficial, but when I came here, I realized I could go weeks without seeing a genuinely obese person! In the US, you see at least one, if not several, genuinely obese people per day.

What would really help the US, not just with obesity but also with the air pollution issue, is to do like the Europeans and have bike paths everywhere, and give people incentive to cycle. This keeps Dutch people really fit compared to Americans, even though the average Dutch person eats a diet just as bad as the average American person. They don't call it SAD (Standard American Diet) for nothing.


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starkid
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19 Dec 2017, 5:48 pm

Shakti wrote:
What would really help the US, not just with obesity but also with the air pollution issue, is to do like the Europeans and have bike paths everywhere, and give people incentive to cycle. This keeps Dutch people really fit compared to Americans, even though the average Dutch person eats a diet just as bad as the average American person. They don't call it SAD (Standard American Diet) for nothing.

I'm skeptical of that. The Dutch eat tons of processed junk?

Also many USians are too out of shape to comfortably cycle even a mile or two. They wouldn't use the bike paths. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Dutch have a culture of cycling, not just the paths. We don't have that culture here in the U.S., and people being so out of shape and accustomed to driving everywhere would make the creation of such a culture very difficult.



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19 Dec 2017, 6:48 pm

Shakti wrote:
What would really help the US, not just with obesity but also with the air pollution issue, is to do like the Europeans and have bike paths everywhere


Where I live there are tons of bike paths. Probably the only thing we have more of than bike paths are fat people who don't use the bike paths.



RetroGamer87
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19 Dec 2017, 7:02 pm

FunkyPunky wrote:
Shakti wrote:
What would really help the US, not just with obesity but also with the air pollution issue, is to do like the Europeans and have bike paths everywhere


Where I live there are tons of bike paths. Probably the only thing we have more of than bike paths are fat people who don't use the bike paths.

Same where I live. To be fair, when you have a lot of suburban sprawl, you can't expect people to bike an 80 kilometre round trip to work every day.

Part of the reason why we have so many fat people is because suburban sprawl discourages cycling and walking.


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FunkyPunky
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19 Dec 2017, 10:41 pm

RetroGamer87 wrote:
Part of the reason why we have so many fat people is because suburban sprawl discourages cycling and walking.

I live in a small town close enough to work that I could probably bike there if I had one (I want one but can't afford it) but then my coworkers would complain about how bad I smell.



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20 Dec 2017, 4:02 am

RetroGamer87 wrote:
FunkyPunky wrote:
Shakti wrote:
What would really help the US, not just with obesity but also with the air pollution issue, is to do like the Europeans and have bike paths everywhere


Where I live there are tons of bike paths. Probably the only thing we have more of than bike paths are fat people who don't use the bike paths.

Same where I live. To be fair, when you have a lot of suburban sprawl, you can't expect people to bike an 80 kilometre round trip to work every day.

Part of the reason why we have so many fat people is because suburban sprawl discourages cycling and walking.

Yes, European towns and cities are denser and with more public transport. Even the suburbans often work the way: you walk/bike to the train/bus station, then make the 80km round trip with public transport. Part of the reason for it is not enough room for cars (cities are dense). Another reason, at least in my country, is - only recently almost everyone became able to afford a car. For generations the majority had to rely on the public transport, so it had been invested into and using it is seen as perfectly normal.


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Shakti
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20 Dec 2017, 3:14 pm

The American version of unhealthy, is more greasy, the Dutch version is more sugary, and way too much dairy and gluten. They regularly eat hagelslag, which is basically cake sprinkles, on bread. Even to kids: https://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2011/03/06/hagelslag/

I regularly bike 15 minutes each way to go to the city, to work out, etc, and the main thing that makes it easier is that drivers know to look out for cyclists. They don't know to look out for cyclists in the US, it was pretty stressful when I was living in Florida and cycling everywhere. I miss having a car sometimes, though to be honest biking here is way faster, cheaper, and you get in a few extra workouts a week, which has made me way fitter now than when I moved here 6 years ago.


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28 Dec 2017, 9:12 am

RetroGamer87 wrote:
FunkyPunky wrote:
Shakti wrote:
What would really help the US, not just with obesity but also with the air pollution issue, is to do like the Europeans and have bike paths everywhere


Where I live there are tons of bike paths. Probably the only thing we have more of than bike paths are fat people who don't use the bike paths.

Same where I live. To be fair, when you have a lot of suburban sprawl, you can't expect people to bike an 80 kilometre round trip to work every day.

Part of the reason why we have so many fat people is because suburban sprawl discourages cycling and walking.


Australian distances make my head fall off :D



RetroGamer87
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28 Dec 2017, 7:34 pm

fluffysaurus wrote:
RetroGamer87 wrote:
FunkyPunky wrote:
Shakti wrote:
What would really help the US, not just with obesity but also with the air pollution issue, is to do like the Europeans and have bike paths everywhere


Where I live there are tons of bike paths. Probably the only thing we have more of than bike paths are fat people who don't use the bike paths.

Same where I live. To be fair, when you have a lot of suburban sprawl, you can't expect people to bike an 80 kilometre round trip to work every day.

Part of the reason why we have so many fat people is because suburban sprawl discourages cycling and walking.


Australian distances make my head fall off :D


Yeah it's great :lol: We have some of the biggest cities in the world, not by population but by area. The state I live in South Australia. It has about 4 times there area of Great Britain. It is not the largest state in Australia. The distances are vast but there are some benefits to having a continent to ourselves.


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29 Dec 2017, 6:19 am

RetroGamer87 wrote:
fluffysaurus wrote:
RetroGamer87 wrote:
FunkyPunky wrote:
Shakti wrote:
What would really help the US, not just with obesity but also with the air pollution issue, is to do like the Europeans and have bike paths everywhere


Where I live there are tons of bike paths. Probably the only thing we have more of than bike paths are fat people who don't use the bike paths.

Same where I live. To be fair, when you have a lot of suburban sprawl, you can't expect people to bike an 80 kilometre round trip to work every day.

Part of the reason why we have so many fat people is because suburban sprawl discourages cycling and walking.


Australian distances make my head fall off :D


Yeah it's great :lol: We have some of the biggest cities in the world, not by population but by area. The state I live in South Australia. It has about 4 times there area of Great Britain. It is not the largest state in Australia. The distances are vast but there are some benefits to having a continent to ourselves.


ImageImage


Yes you have a lot more space to practice your cricket in :cry: