I don't believe the Global Obesity Observatory

[Furioso]

The Global Obesity Observatory states that just over 12% of Thai's are obese. My eyeballs tell me much more, like 50% or more, are obese. How can there be so much disparity? 

[PPMMUU]

Perhaps the Thais around you are not representative of the entire country?

[KhunBENQ]

5 minutes ago, PPMMUU said:

Perhaps the Thais around you are not representative of the entire country?

You were quicker.

Up here the elderly commons (50+) are rarely obese.

No donuts, no Oreo and similar, no coke and other liquid sugar bombs, no pizza, no KFC, no bubble tea, ....

Sticky rice is the only thing they could get obese from.

 

It's a question of age and location.

Sure the under 30s in the wealthy places might well be more than 12% obese.

Reasons see above.

Edited May 20 by KhunBENQ

[retarius]

I think it is very difficult to eyeball a whole population. If you asked me I would say 15-20% are obese as a gross (sic) estimate. I'm sure it is somewhat less in Bangkok and Pattaya, and somewhat more in rural areas (where I live).....I put this down to people in cities walking more and riding on motorcycles or in cars in rural areas. What I will say is that (I think) I see waaaaaay more obesity now than when I arrived here 15 years or so ago.....and especially among school-aged children. This is ominous for the future because an epidemic of diabetes likely looms here.

[KhunBENQ]

4 minutes ago, retarius said:

'm sure it is somewhat less in Bangkok and Pattaya, and somewhat more in rural areas (where I live).....I put this down to people in cities walking more and riding on motorcycles or in cars in rural areas.

So do observations differ

To me it looks quite the contrary for the adult population.

It's less about physical exercise but more about junk food, super sweet drinks.

My neighbor opposite is 82! years old and works alone in his sugar and rice fields daily in the torching heat.

He will never get fat. Other males opposite you could count their rips.

The younger generation is a different matter.

Spoilt by junk food AND no exercise.

 

Edited May 20 by KhunBENQ

[jayboy]

It's true that the Thais have become fatter over the last forty years, primarily for the reasons already touched on in this thread.Digging a bit deeper, the Thais, more perhaps than some other countries, attach great importance to a beautiful appearance including slim bodies.Inevitably there is a class element involved with the urban and better off sectors generally slimmer and keen to stay that way.In the past rural Thais were thin because of hard labour and restricted diet - not any more, there are lots of village fatties now.But even in the villages now there is pressure for fat children to slim down.

 

The social aspect is interesting.In London for example from which I have just returned there is a very noticeable difference in obesity between the better off boroughs and the poorer ones.It's a delicate matter but in one specific ethnic group I didn't see one woman who wasn't overweight.I should perhaps add fashionable boroughs because some like Shoreditch are now popular with the trendy young. There is also the matter of physical attraction - nobody really wants to sleep with an overweight person unless there are some powerful compensations (you know what I'm talking about Pattaya sugar daddies.) And even in Pattaya, mother lode for fat expats, there's pressure to trim down.

 

My hunch is that in Thailand and elsewhere obesity will decline over the next ten years - a combination of better awareness, souped up Ozempic type drugs and better diet.

Edited May 20 by jayboy

[Furioso]

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

My hunch is that in Thailand and elsewhere obesity will decline over the next ten years - a combination of better awareness, souped up Ozempic type drugs and better diet.

I don't know, everywhere I go they're stocking crate after crate of sugar laden junk to the ceilings of stores/supermarkets. I have a feeling obesity/morbid obesity, which is already rising at an alarming level, is going to skyrocket for the next couple of decades. 

[QuantumQuandry]

2 hours ago, Furioso said:

The Global Obesity Observatory states that just over 12% of Thai's are obese. My eyeballs tell me much more, like 50% or more, are obese. How can there be so much disparity? 

 

It's not even 50% in America (though it's close).

 

I think it's your perception.

[Puccini]

 

 

14 hours ago, Furioso said:

The Global Obesity Observatory states that just over 12% of Thai's are obese. My eyeballs tell me much more, like 50% or more, are obese. How can there be so much disparity? 

 

What, exactly, are we discussing here? In reply to what post of a member asking for information or advice about  a health problem is it? This topic should be in General Topics, not in the Health and Medicine forum.

 

@Furioso Where is the link to the source of the information you posted? Without this link, this topic is not worthy of a discussion. The first thing I would want to check is the definition used for "obese"

[HappyExpat57]

I've been teaching in Thailand since 2008. I've personally witnessed DRASTIC changes in the snacks the students eat during breaks/lunch. At first they (mostly) brought healthy snacks, but today I am very dissappointed to see the huge amounts of sugar they are gobbling down. And it's not just LOS, this is a global issue.

 

The schools love it as they get their cut of the sugar sales. Big Pharma loves it cuz they make a fortune from diabetes meds and the latest evil "one shot a week" (or several variations thereof) for type II diabetes and your weight goes down.

 

Focus needs to be placed on diet and exercise. I've been keeping my own type II diabetes in check this way for years.

[Sheryl]

Obesity rates are rapidly escalating. Collection, analysis  and reporting of data takes time. Quite likely the reported figure is based on data collected a couple of years back. 

[Furioso]

18 hours ago, QuantumQuandry said:

 

It's not even 50% in America (though it's close).

 

I think it's your perception.

The stats may say America is 42% but I think it's much higher. For example I went to one busy supermarket in Las Vegas and I counted 32 out of 33 people in a row that looked obese. 96% obesity rate. That was a poorer neighborhood, I then went to a richer neighborhood supermarket and instead of everybody looking obese they just looked overweight or obese. Skinny people? forget it. 

 

There's only one relatively healthy state in the U.S. and that's Hawaii. 

 

I've been here in Thailand just a year and a half. There's a big difference in just that short of time. 

[Furioso]

5 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

I've been teaching in Thailand since 2008. I've personally witnessed DRASTIC changes in the snacks the students eat during breaks/lunch. At first they (mostly) brought healthy snacks, but today I am very dissappointed to see the huge amounts of sugar they are gobbling down. And it's not just LOS, this is a global issue.

 

The schools love it as they get their cut of the sugar sales. Big Pharma loves it cuz they make a fortune from diabetes meds and the latest evil "one shot a week" (or several variations thereof) for type II diabetes and your weight goes down.

 

Focus needs to be placed on diet and exercise. I've been keeping my own type II diabetes in check this way for years.

I don't know why people don't fight the government on this issue. Billions of lives(yes, Billions not Millions) are being destroyed but very few people care and even fewer people take any action. 

[QuantumQuandry]

1 minute ago, Furioso said:

The stats may say America is 42% but I think it's much higher. For example I went to one busy supermarket in Las Vegas and I counted 32 out of 33 people in a row that looked obese. 96% obesity rate.

 

No offense, maybe it's your perception that's off, rather than the stats?

[Furioso]

1 minute ago, QuantumQuandry said:

 

No offense, maybe it's your perception that's off, rather than the stats?

I know what you're saying but maybe nobody is noticing. I suggest going to a local supermarket and count the first 10 adults you see. I usually see 4-6 out of 10 that look grossly overweight.  

[QuantumQuandry]

2 minutes ago, Furioso said:

I know what you're saying but maybe nobody is noticing. I suggest going to a local supermarket and count the first 10 adults you see. I usually see 4-6 out of 10 that look grossly overweight.  

 

4-6 out of 10 would average 50%, which is a lot closer to the stats that I mentioned (less than, but almost, 50%)

 

So 50%, instead of 42% might be hard to notice any difference.  Or just a matter of the area.  Maybe in your area, it IS 50% and in Colorado, it's 38%.

Edited May 21 by QuantumQuandry

[Furioso]

1 minute ago, QuantumQuandry said:

 

4-6 out of 10 would average 50%, which is a lot closer to the stats that I mentioned (less than, but almost, 50%)

Yes, but this is in Thailand. The Global Obesity Observatory states that 11.6% of Thai adults are obese. I'm saying they're off by at least 300%!

 

https://data.worldobesity.org/country/thailand-214/#data_prevalence

 

 

[QuantumQuandry]

1 minute ago, Furioso said:

Yes, but this is in Thailand. The Global Obesity Observatory states that 11.6% of Thai adults are obese. I'm saying they're off by at least 300%!

 

https://data.worldobesity.org/country/thailand-214/#data_prevalence

 

 

 

But I am saying if America isn't even 50%, do you really think Thailand is?

 

You are saying that Thailand is almost leading the world's obesity?

Edited May 21 by QuantumQuandry

[Furioso]

5 minutes ago, QuantumQuandry said:

 

But I am saying if America isn't even 50%, do you really think Thailand is?

 

You are saying that Thailand is almost leading the world's obesity?

Oh yeah, it doesn't take long Quantum. I'll say America is 60% obese and Thailand is at least 40%. 

 

Thai stores are stacked to the ceiling with sugar junk. Thailand will be over 50% obese soon, if not already. 

[QuantumQuandry]

9 minutes ago, Furioso said:

Oh yeah, it doesn't take long Quantum. I'll say America is 60% obese and Thailand is at least 40%. 

 

Thai stores are stacked to the ceiling with sugar junk. Thailand will be over 50% obese soon, if not already. 

 

Yeah, I am not seeing that.  At all.  But cool, you do you.

[GarryP]

20 minutes ago, QuantumQuandry said:

 

Yeah, I am not seeing that.  At all.  But cool, you do you.

Up here in north Kalasin I have only seen a few obese and clearly overweight people. When in the local 7/11 I see less than 5 % (very rough guess) of customers that are overweight. What I have noticed is an increasing number of overweight kids, which is probably down to them spending so much of their free time playing on their phones while snacking, instead of being more active and playing with friends.