Originally Posted by
408Mike
Meh, firstly the standards by which obesity are measured need and overhaul and secondly technology improves so fast you never know what is around the corner. I would say by 2020 either nothing will have really changed (meaning the rise in obesity will basically be countered by emerging technologies as well as a trend shift away from unhealthy food etc). I am a big proponent of Le Chatelier's principle and I find it applies rather well to a complex system such as the community type that humans live in. As the populations weight increases other factors will also rise to counter it and thus balance is maintained.
For those who have never heard of it-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chatelier's_principle
^^^^What He said
The typical method used to determine obesity, BMI, is as useless as GDP is for determining the strength of an economy. Without looking at each individuals' bodyfat % and the distribution of their bodyfat (if two people have the same bodyfat % but one has a smaller waist than chest and the other has a smaller chest than waist one is far more likely to have health issues --I'll let you figure out which one) you really can't say one person is healthier than another. I know plenty of people who are considered obese that are much healthier than their slimmer counterparts.
When I was 25 I was 190 lbs, worked out 5 days a week, had a 31 inch waist, had perfect blood pressure and cholesterol levels and was considered "overweight" when I got life insurance. At 35, I work out once or twice a week, weigh 165 lbs, have a 32 inch waist, blood pressure is still perfect and cholesterol is still good (although not as good as it used to be) and I'm considered ultra-preffered or whatever the term is. Basically, the whole thing is so bassakwards that I'm getting a better rate at 35 than 25 for Term Life, and there isn't a chance in hell I'm healthier! All because my BMI.