To Eat or to LIVE?

Hi, my friends! This weekend I saw just a horrifying documentary on TV and I’d like to share this information with you.

Well, I have always known that obesity is one of the insuperable problems faced by our society as every day I see many overweight people all around. However, I didn’t know the scales of this tragedy. Now I know that 65% of our population is overweight or suffer from obesity! Can you imagine that? And obesity is not just extra weight. It causes a lot of diseases, early death and many problems in personal and social lives. Then, why do we manufacture special cars for full people instead of implementing some special programs for them to lose extra weight and to stop eating unhealthy fast food? That documentary was about grammar schools in the state of Virginia, but I am sure, the things are the same in Florida and in other states.

You should have seen what those kids eat at school! Pizzas for breakfast and hamburgers for lunch! And they are only 6-14 years old! It is our future generation! When they were proposed to choose between the fast food and the meals cooked by a chef, they all chose pizza and hamburgers again as they didn’t know the taste of the true meals! And such a menu is approved by the Ministry of Health and the Board of Education! Sure, it is not a surprise that most of those kids are overweight. Moreover, the kids under 10 turned out not to be allowed to eat with a fork and a knife and they don’t even know how to use them! I remember my childhood, I was taught to eat with a fork and a knife as soon as I was able to hold them!

Well, as a result of such nutrition, we are surrounded with such big people who can hardly walk and serve themselves, who need special cars or even carts to move around, who come to the beach, take off, dip only they legs into the water as if being afraid to cause a flood and stay there for hours drinking warm beer! As a result, we have cops who can hardly get into the cars or ride bikes not to say about chasing or fighting!

As a result, we have kids who are already sick and many of them are diabetic or need transplantation of different organs and first of all, hearts and livers. It is outrageous!

After watching that film, my wife stopped eating at all as she thinks she has to lose a few pounds! A few, not 50 or 100! Hahaha! She is not full at all! Well, it is her business. The worst thing is that since Saturday she hasn’t been allowing me to eat pizzas, potatoes, spaghetti and even sandwiches, not to say about beer and desert! And for you to know, I have never had any extra weight and if I go on keeping such a diet, I will not survive for sure!

To be serious, I do feel really bad about the problem of obesity in my country and would be glad to know how things are in your countries. Do your nations face this problem, do your governments do anything? And what is your personal attitude to the problem of obesity?

Hope to hear from you!

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  • Hi Danny!

    I guess, Svitlana is right.

    Here the situation with obesity is not that outrageous. But it doesn't mean that we should forget about the problem.

    I have had some excessive kilograms, maybe till the 6 or 7 grade.

    Right now (nowadays) I do some exercises. And I am training one-handed pull/chin ups. With right hand I can do one complete pull up. But with left hand I can only bow it for a little bit, while hanging on it.

    I hope humanity will deal with overweight and obesity!

  • Dear Tanya,

    Thank you for great advice how to get rid of a husband. HAHAHA. 

  • You are right, dear Danny.

    Junk food and sedentary lifestyle. These are the worst problems in our modern life.
    Our government does nothing to solve it. But I think my nation doesn't suffer from obesity so much. Nowadays, Ukrainians have to survive in this mad world. I like one good saying "Wolves depend on their legs for a living".
    Of course we should eat less and move more in order to stay healthy and have a good shape. For me, a stadium is my favoite place for spending the time.
    And... RUN... RUN... RUN...)))

  • Hahaha I feel ashamed of myself :( I'm even younger than you that my age still 22 and my lifestyle is worst...

    Oh yea, actually I was confused the difference between "junk food" and "fast food". But I get it now. And yeah, I'm really thank to you for correcting my suck grammar. I think I should work hard on it. And do you have any tips and trick for me? 

  • Hi, dear Diah! Nice to see you here! Well, after reading your comment I feel like justifying myself! LOL! I am not one of those who prefer fast food to cooked meals. Yes, I do like pizza but I don’t have it very often. Moreover, I like pizza made by my wife as her recipes are just perfect! Besides, I train in a gym at least 3 times a week and swim every day, besides I rush all over my university all day long. So, contrary to yours, my lifestyle is quite active. My wife and I are busy people and have no time to eat at home. We mostly eat out but at the restaurants where we are served healthy just cooked meals. But a man can’t eat only vegetables! I need meat and fish and a few slices of bread every day! HAHAHA! Well, Tanya is kidding! She has a great sense of humor and likes teasing me even on EC!

    And now, let me be serious speaking about your mistakes.

    Your vocabulary is good enough. I have corrected only a few words. First of all, I’d like to pay your attention to the term “junk food”. The term is correct. It means pre-prepared or packaged food that has low nutritional value. If you refer to food as junk food, you mean that it is quick and easy to prepare but is not good for your health. It mostly means convenience frozen food we can buy in a grocery and make it ready in a microwave. But if we mean hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs, etc. we order by phone or buy in the fast food restaurants or stands is it fast food. And let me tell you that FOOD is an uncountable noun and it is singular.

    OK, here are my corrections and you can ask me your questions. While your vocabulary is good enough, your grammar is dramatically incorrect! The structure of the sentences is mostly wrong and you sometimes use wrong parts of speech, wrong number and so on. I am sorry to say that, but you asked me for corrections and to learn is always a good idea. So, don’t hesitate to ask, OK?

    Yes, obviously. In my country, Indonesia, we face __ such health problem_. I'm a college student majoring in Public Health so I must __know about our people's health problems. My analysis of the country you live in is that American people __like to eat junk food because there are many fast food companies there. Contrary to the USA, Indonesian staple __ is rice. Most of us cook rice at home as a side dish_ for meat, fish, etc. __. I don't know exactly how many people are obese here, but as far as I can judge, our main problem is malnourished people (especially the toddlers). They can hardly get sufficient nutrition because of the economic conditions. So, it is unusual thing to see someone obese here, it looks like his/her willing to show up on TV (if the weight is more than 100 kg). But as I know, our government concerns about the improvement of the nutrition starting with toddlers so that they can have good body resistance to ward off the communicable diseases

    There is so much international and local junk food here making our people change their preferences. People who have money to buy junk food (junk food is more expensive than home-made food here) have tendency to eat it. Nowadays, people's mobility here is limited because they are too busy with their work in offices and don't have enough time to cook at home. Such people also have tendency to buy junk food. As a result, they may still have thin bodies but their cholesterol level is increased! So, obesity is not always __ the result_ of consuming junk food here. Because their cholesterol level is high, people who have thin bodies sometimes subject to the higher risk than those who are fat. So, it is the cholesterol level that is the originator of silent killer disease causing a sudden death.

    I, myself, am an incorrigible fan of fast food because it is so delicious! I like pizza, hamburgers, coke, and so on. But I rarely eat them. I can say that I only eat them once or twice a month. I often eat home-made food like rice together with the main dishes. I realize that I never exercise and have a sedentary lifestyle, so I want my food to be healthy because I think I will get in a high-risk group for that silent killer if I eat more junk food living the same way. So, I suggest you to follow Tanya's advice. She is a great wife, because may be she wants you to live longer. You are so lucky to have Tanya. So start to decrease consuming your favorite junk food because thin body doesn't guarantee your health

  • Hey Mr. Dani hahaha I laugh before I put my comment here as I read Tanya's comment :D 

    Yes, obviously. In my country, Indonesia, we face in such health problems. I'm a student college majoring Public Health so I must to know about our people's health problems. My analysis about the country you live, people there mostly like to eat junk food because many food companies are from there. Different from USA, Indonesian staple food is rice. Most of us cook rice and its side dishes at home (such as meats, fishes, vegetables, etc). I don't know exactly how many people are obese here, but by the naked eye it can be judged that our most problem is people who are malnourished (especially the toddlers). It is because the economic conditions that they can hardly get enough nutrition. So, when we see someone obese, it will be like unusual things here, like s/he will show up in TV (if the weight is more than 100 kg). But as I know, our government concern on how to improve the nutrition started from toddlers so they can have good body resistance to ward off the communicable disease. 

    Here, so many international junk food and also local junk food that makes our people interest change. People who have money to buy junk food (junk food is more expensive than home-made food here) will have tendency to eat them. People's mobility here nowadays are limited because they are too busy with their work in office and don't have enough time to cook at home also have tendency to buy junk food. As a result, they may still have thin body but their cholesterol level will be increased! So, obese is not always be the results of consuming junk food here. People who has thin body sometimes have a higher risk than the fat one because their cholesterol level is high. So, it is the originator of silent killer disease that cause people die suddenly. 

    I, myself, is a hard-die fans of junk food because they are so delicious! I like pizza, hamburgers, coke, and so on. But I rarely eat them. I can count that I only eat them once a month, or at least twice a month. I often eat home made food like rice and its side dishes. I realize that I never do practice and have a sedentary life style, so I want to keep my healthy food because I think I'm too risky for that silent killer if I eat more junk food without do practice and live in sedentary life style. So, I suggest you to follow Tanya's order. She is a great wife, because may be she wants you to live longer. You are so lucky to have Tanya tbh. So start to decrease consuming your favorite junk food because thin body doesn't guarantee you healthy ;) 

    *correct my grammar and vocab please*

  • Tanya, hahaha!

  • Danny, if I like to find out what you do or think about, I will just visit your page and read your comments on EC. So, you are starving! Please, don't make your friends think I make you starve to death. I know, "Mr. Rabbit", you eat out whatever you like. It is not a secret as you always refuse from the late snack. It is OK, it is me who wants to drop in weight. You may go on eating burgers, pizza, pasta and so on.

    Ladies, I tell you, the best way to get rid of your husbands as soon as possible is to feed them with what they like to eat

  • Bet, I know that other countries live differently. That Is why I said "I sound like a true American."

  • Dear dan, situation differs, you know. I can write elaboratelt if you want. Here even most of the upper middle class people do not have own cars, so who do minimul work, you know what is the situation about their transportation. They wak to save their money, they ride public transport but this kind of transports are not always available.
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