The United States has an obesity problem and the South is at the center of that problem. According to the CDC, in 1960, only 10% of Americans were considered obese. Today, that number is 30% and growing.
Tragically, the South has the highest obesity rates in the United States. The average population of any given Southern state is in excess of 30% obese. Louisiana, Alabama, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Kentucky – in that order – are the most obese states in the country, with an average of approximately 36% of the population obese. In fact, the only Southern states that are not in the top fifteen are Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida. Of those four, only Florida is not in the top 25 (likely due to sunshine and the elderly). Note, this only accounts for medically obese individuals, defined as individuals with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher. This does not account for overweight individuals, which is another 30% of the population.
Let’s face it – the South’s exponentially tastier food is a major plus to our Nation, but it could also be killing us. It is time to take this matter seriously. We should all strive to be in our best fighting shape.
One of our primary issues is simply portion control. If you look at the original McDonald’s supper of the 1950s, the adult meal was so much smaller than that which we eat today. The average man would eat a regular hamburger, couple with that which we now call “a small order of fries” (regular in 1955), and he washed it down with that which we now call “a small soft drink.” Of course, the soft drink was made of real sugar, not high fructose corn syrup (which was widely introduced in 1984). The total McDonald’s meal for a grown man in 1955 was approximately 400 calories. Today, you can buy a “Baconator” at Wendy’s and immediately get 970 calories that includes 62 grams of fat and 40 grams of carbohydrates. Add large fries to that meal and you will get another 552 calories, 40 more grams of fat, and 73 grams of carbohydrates. Have that large Coke to wash it down and you get an additional 380 calories and 88 grams of sugar. Tally up the numbers, and your 21st Century fast food aficionado has consumed 1,902 calories, 102 grams of fat, and 201 grams of carbohydrates, of which 88 grams came in the form of a gelatinous substance called high fructose corn syrup.
In other words, in today’s fast food world, a single meal can provide the same caloric intake as five fast food dinners in the 1950s!
Of course, the plethora of fast food and/or ready made meal options is another major issue. When I was a boy, going to McDonalds was a rare treat. I may have gone four times a year, if I was lucky – and more importantly, if both my brother and I were well behaved. Our home did not own a microwave, so meals that were cooked by grandma were done from a stove. Not eating that which was given to us was not an option. Picky eaters starved. On Friday night, we might get the privilege of cooking up our own Jiffy Pop popcorn container before we saw a movie on television. A Coca-Cola was also a very rare treat – one that we shared. My brother and I lived off of sun baked sweet tea, Tang, and Kool Aide. Despite having enough sugar in any of those drinks to kill a diabetic upon contact, the pitcher of “bug juice” was not comprised of artificially concocted high fructose corn syrup.
More importantly, my brother and I were kicked out of the house as early as possible, only to return when the darkness made lightning bugs visible. We ran off our sugar intake throughout the day in the hot Florida sun, occasionally stealing water from our neighbor’s water hoses as we got thirsty. When we got hungry, we climbed a tree like little Irish monkeys and stole an orange. When I was not trying to feed my little brother to alligators, we were playing some sport with the other kids. When there were no sports to play, we killed communists in mock war games (“Wolverines!”). Consequently, we were skinny as twigs – which is probably why the alligators never took me up on my willingness to sacrifice my brother to them: too many bones, not enough meat.
Today, I see lethargic children munching on microwaved chicken tenders and playing video games who would be happily eaten by the alligators of Ocala.
Finally, I have to blame the collapse of the family unit as a major contributor to obesity in the South. Moms have very little time to cook in a grueling professional world. Dads have very little time to cook in that same world. Whether it is due to the fact that both have to work to make ends meet or tragically, they are divorced and sharing custody, the end of the “at home” mom has made nutrition hard for the family to regulate. The South has always enjoyed fried chicken, pulled pork, fatback, beans, mashed taters, and everything else that tastes great, but only recently began to make us obesese. Back when mom was cooking at home, she did so with care. It was not a pre-packaged meal from the frozen food section of Publix. It was fresh chicken… it was fresh oil… it was fresh crumbs… I think you get the picture.
Sadly, today’s Southern child is probably more familiar with Chinese food than he is with foods from his own Nation. You can thank modernity. The disintegration of the family unit has led to a disintegration of our health and wellbeing.
It is time to get our act back together. We cannot be both a Warrior Nation and a Fat Nation. It is time to put down the donuts and the Bonjangles. It is time to kick our kids back outside. It is time to pick up a recipe book and a frying pan. It is time to walk to the market instead of drive. It is time to retake our own vitality.
It is time to lose weight because let’s face it, we’ve gotten pretty daggum fat.
The son of a recent Irish immigrant and another with roots to Virginia since 1670. I love both my Irish and Southern Nations with a passion. Florida will always be my country. Dissident support here: Padraig Martin is Dixie on the Rocks (buymeacoffee.com)
Excellent article. What we must do is basically limit ourselves while eating fast food to a kids meal.
Good article. You can’t eat calories and not work them off whether it be through your job, through the gym, or through running.
Back when I was in the Army and at my peak fitness level I limited my calorie intake to 1,200 – 1,400 calories a day and worked out both in the morning and in the afternoons.
The fact is if you want to lose weight and keep it off you have to modify your lifestyle and your diet not just one. Your diet should meet the needs of your activity level. If this means you go hungry then you go hungry. You must train your body to be used to dealing with less food. Shocking it like this burns off stored up energy in the form of fat. At that point you can begin to match your diet for a sustained weight.
You put good in you get good out. Fresh ingredients like you said, less processed foods. Drink water.
If you are not willing to be serious about getting in shape you will never have it and that’s a fact.
The South is also wealthier than ever before meaning large portions are an option, eating out at every meal is an option, passive recreation is an option, gardens are an option but between the busy modern lifestyle, increasingly urban populace and ease of buying food not many do. Conscious effort is the only way to fitness, anymore.
The best option is simply getting back to nature, back to basics lifestyle. The vast majority, as in over 99% of our ancestors have been farm raised for the past several thousand years, and before that they were hunter-gatherers. The best approximation of our natural habitat is “down on the farm” in a small farming community just outside Mayberry and without electricity or flush toilets. (Outhouses worked just fine 100% of the time until they filled up and you just dug another hole. Today we have indoor toilets that require a water supply and only work 99.9% of the time even when the water supply is not interrupted. They also pose a drowning risk for children. You tell me if that is real progress.)
It is possible to raise children elsewhere but that will always be a make-do alternative. The BEST alternative is on a homestead, with little or no access to AC or things with a screen, such as TV, video games and Internet. They should be gathering kindling, pumping water (open wells are too dangerous and easily contaminated) and helping in the garden. When older the boys should be digging post holes, stacking hay and splitting wood or similar tasks. The burden is on people who claim you can take these things away without causing adverse effects, such as being a fatass or skinnyfat eunuchoid who wears skinny jeans and watches in the corner while Tyrone bangs the girl he has a crush on. Targetted strength training workouts are great but nothing is going to take the place of a variety of outdoor manual labor in terms of general health, ruggedness and physical confidence.
Similar upbringing also applies to girls, you just don’t expect them to keep up in terms of upper body strength or being able to go full beast mode in general. My mother and her sisters all did field labor for their sharecropping parents and other families in the community. So did my father’s sisters and not one of them grew up to be butch lesbians. I have worked alongside women at stacking hay many times and it is good for both sexes. The women just can’t stack it as high or toss bales like a man but they can certainly help. The biggest problem is that it may lead to inappropriate sexual attraction. Same or similar activity is ideal activity for married couples.