Overweight, low-IQ kids 'a wake-up call for society'

[sumtingwong]

Obesity is beautiful?

Top 10 Countries Celebrating Female Obesity

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-countries-celebrating-female-obesity.php

Obesity, symbol of wealth and fertility

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity

[attrayant]

Milk? Sure is good for babies for calcium and bone development but overtime you really should steer away from milk. Why would you want to continuously drink something that turns a 90lb calf into a 1200# adult cow? Soy/rice milks are a healthy alternative.

There are quite a few posts in this thread attempting to demonize milk, but you're going to have to do a lot better than this. It's easy to make something sound like poison if you put a silly non-sequitur next to it. Regard:

Water? Sure it's good for hydration but over time you really should steer away from it. Why would you want to drink something that's used to flush away human waste millions of times a day?

And this nonsense about milk being "made for" or "designed for" some specific purpose is pretty meaningless too. What are chicken eggs "made" for? Should we restrict consumption to only those things that are explicitly "made" for us to eat? Who sets that standard?

[wilcopops]

Neither sugar nor fat are evil in themselves....we need both, but it does appear that a combination of these in excess is a bad idea.

Of course people like McD's and KFC in reality don't sell food, they make none from property and poverty by selling a pleasant smelling combination of fat sugar and salt.....now I wouldn't be surprised if there is sound scientific research to suggest that that was a combination with significant health risks.

[wilcopops]

We're all adults here. If we grab smokes or alcohol it's our choice. So is the choice of food/diet for us and our kids. Don't ban anything - just think wisely while shopping.

Your obesity or ill-health costs ME money!!! So damn to your "free hoice" - if you aren't going to listen to good advice then the rest of the population will need legislation to stop this unnecessary strain on our healthcare and related expenses. ...and if this is aimed at those unscrupulous companies that profit from this at my expense, so be it.

Edited June 8, 2014 by wilcopops

[Bluespunk]

Feed them soymilk and watch the katoy population soar.

Erm, why?

[sumtingwong]

We're all adults here. If we grab smokes or alcohol it's our choice. So is the choice of food/diet for us and our kids. Don't ban anything - just think wisely while shopping.

Your obesity or ill-health costs ME money!!! So damn to your "free hoice" - if you aren't going to listen to good advice then the rest of the population will need legislation to stop this unnecessary strain on our healthcare and related expenses. ...and if this is aimed at those unscrupulous companies that profit from this at my expense, so be it.

Simple solution, end taxpayer provided healthcare, problem solved.

[ppmacready]

What surprised me is the Thais IQ is ONLY 10% lower than Europeans!

And similar to the French!

The professor has spent 30 years scrutinising thousands of test results from around the world to investigate the role of evolution in IQ and has published his results in a new book.

He concludes that in Europe, adults in Germany and the Netherlands have the

highest average IQ at 107, compared with 100 across Britain. The UK is also beaten by Poland (106), Sweden (104), Italy (102), Austria (101) and Switzerland (101).

But Britons are brighter than people in Belgium (99), Spain (98), Hungary (98), Russia (96), Greece (95), France (94), Romania (94), Turkey (90) and Serbia, which finishes bottom with 89.

Adults in England and Wales have an IQ of 100.5, ahead of Ireland and Scotland, both with 97. Residents of London and the South East average 102.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-381057/European-IQ-map-proves-Brits-brainy.html#ixzz345ikfA1h
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[diehard60]

Banning the sale of junk food and running the fast food companies out of the country would be a good start to a more healthy bunch of kids.

fast food companies pay the salary of what percent of Thai people working???? It is high. so that would not be a good idea.

[Bluespunk]

We're all adults here. If we grab smokes or alcohol it's our choice. So is the choice of food/diet for us and our kids. Don't ban anything - just think wisely while shopping.

Your obesity or ill-health costs ME money!!! So damn to your "free hoice" - if you aren't going to listen to good advice then the rest of the population will need legislation to stop this unnecessary strain on our healthcare and related expenses. ...and if this is aimed at those unscrupulous companies that profit from this at my expense, so be it.

Simple solution, end taxpayer provided healthcare, problem solved.

And so many more created.

[sumtingwong]

We're all adults here. If we grab smokes or alcohol it's our choice. So is the choice of food/diet for us and our kids. Don't ban anything - just think wisely while shopping.

Your obesity or ill-health costs ME money!!! So damn to your "free hoice" - if you aren't going to listen to good advice then the rest of the population will need legislation to stop this unnecessary strain on our healthcare and related expenses. ...and if this is aimed at those unscrupulous companies that profit from this at my expense, so be it.

Simple solution, end taxpayer provided healthcare, problem solved.

And so many more created.

Groucho Marx: "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies."

[jacko45k]

Banning the sale of junk food and running the fast food companies out of the country would be a good start to a more healthy bunch of kids.

Easier to educate the parents than ban free food trade.

Those places have doors on them.

[MaxLee]

Thai schools for 3 quarters of the day, plus home work plus extra activities, tutor schools, traditional family meals, extra exams after extra exams after extra entrance exams, need I say more

[atyclb]

Next the beer companies will say everyone needs to drink more beer, citing the abundance of obese genius level IQ farangs in thailand.

[TimTang]

Surely the key thing is balance. Thais are genetically programmed for a high intake of carbohydrate ( by consuming rice for 5,000 years). They are NOT adapted to overlaying that carb intake with mega loads of sugar from introduced western junk. To add a further load of carb from much higher milk consumption would create more problems. A balance of traditional diet with added dairy seems sensible, but only if the junk sugar, potato, crap carbs get the flick. This is a crisis for Thailand's future generations ( and today's kids)

I may be wrong but milk is a relatively new addition to the Thai diet as well as bread and the concept of refrigeration. Bread has been common in Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam due to French colonization but not so in Thailand.

Encouraging massive amounts of milk into the diet of a group of people that have historically lived without, may result in some unintended results.

On another note...while living in Thailand for 20 plus years I've noticed Thai females always add sugar to their Som Tum Boo, Quay Teo, and what ever other dish they may partake in and most of them have figures that most western women would die for. I'm certainly not an expert in nutrition but this seems to contradict all the horror stories we hear about sugar. Can anyone explain this?

[TimTang]

I remember about 7 years ago I was working at a large school teaching M1 and M6, so 12 your olds and 17/18 year olds.

I did a little fun survey as part of vocabulary and confidence-building. I asked all classes to tell me their favourite foods.

The M6 kids almost all told me they liked 'normal' Thai foods, such as fried rice, pad krapao, noodles, etc. 90% of them were of normal Thai build, i.e., slim and trim.

The M1's, however, all said they liked McDonalds, Pizza Hut & Company, KFC, hot dogs, 'Fren' Frie' and what we would call junk food. Hardly any mentioned a traditional Thai dish.

About 75% of them were verging on the obese. The difference between their builds and the 6 years between their ages showed a marked difference - in only 6 years obesity in this small sample had become the norm - and I blame the junk food companies.

If the good General were to do anything, he should tax the junk food outlets to the hilt and use the money to re-educate young Thais that the traditional Thai diet is in fact better for them. Make a Big Mac 500 baht and a packet of their appalling little grease-laden chips 150 baht and see if that would help youngsters to eat more healthily.

While it may not be 'scientific' it certainly is an interesting observation.

[ppmacready]

Surely the key thing is balance. Thais are genetically programmed for a high intake of carbohydrate ( by consuming rice for 5,000 years). They are NOT adapted to overlaying that carb intake with mega loads of sugar from introduced western junk. To add a further load of carb from much higher milk consumption would create more problems. A balance of traditional diet with added dairy seems sensible, but only if the junk sugar, potato, crap carbs get the flick. This is a crisis for Thailand's future generations ( and today's kids)

I may be wrong but milk is a relatively new addition to the Thai diet as well as bread and the concept of refrigeration. Bread has been common in Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam due to French colonization but not so in Thailand.

Encouraging massive amounts of milk into the diet of a group of people that have historically lived without, may result in some unintended results.

On another note...while living in Thailand for 20 plus years I've noticed Thai females always add sugar to their Som Tum Boo, Quay Teo, and what ever other dish they may partake in and most of them have figures that most western women would die for. I'm certainly not an expert in nutrition but this seems to contradict all the horror stories we hear about sugar. Can anyone explain this?

I agree.

18 years ago it was easy to find a 22 year old thin girlfriend.

Now its a lot more difficult.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

We're all adults here. If we grab smokes or alcohol it's our choice. So is the choice of food/diet for us and our kids. Don't ban anything - just think wisely while shopping.

Your obesity or ill-health costs ME money!!! So damn to your "free hoice" - if you aren't going to listen to good advice then the rest of the population will need legislation to stop this unnecessary strain on our healthcare and related expenses. ...and if this is aimed at those unscrupulous companies that profit from this at my expense, so be it.

We're in Thailand, not your healthcare, you aren't entitled.

[sumtingwong]

Surely the key thing is balance. Thais are genetically programmed for a high intake of carbohydrate ( by consuming rice for 5,000 years). They are NOT adapted to overlaying that carb intake with mega loads of sugar from introduced western junk. To add a further load of carb from much higher milk consumption would create more problems. A balance of traditional diet with added dairy seems sensible, but only if the junk sugar, potato, crap carbs get the flick. This is a crisis for Thailand's future generations ( and today's kids)

I may be wrong but milk is a relatively new addition to the Thai diet as well as bread and the concept of refrigeration. Bread has been common in Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam due to French colonization but not so in Thailand.

Encouraging massive amounts of milk into the diet of a group of people that have historically lived without, may result in some unintended results.

On another note...while living in Thailand for 20 plus years I've noticed Thai females always add sugar to their Som Tum Boo, Quay Teo, and what ever other dish they may partake in and most of them have figures that most western women would die for. I'm certainly not an expert in nutrition but this seems to contradict all the horror stories we hear about sugar. Can anyone explain this?

Probably the HFCS inall the western products, as long as they stay away from western fast food places, they should be ok. Yes sugar is bad, but HFCS is poison.

[VincentRJ]

Look guys! This issue is quite straightforward. There should be no confusion about it. We have a truly massive food industry competing to deliver the tastiest of foods. Some of those industries employ highly-qualified scientists to experiment with various mixes of spices, sugars and artificial ingredients to produce an irresistibly tasty product.

The addition of fructose to most processed foods has an effect on the brain that reduces the brain's sensitivity to its awareness of 'fullness' or satiety, when eating. People can therefore continue eating for the pure sensory pleasure of the tasty food, without experiencing any general sensation that, "I've eaten enough. I'm full."

The ancient Romans didn't have knowledge of such techniques. Instead, when gorging themselves at a banquet and feeling full, they would stick something down their throat to induce vomiting, so that they could continue eating to experience that great sensory pleasure of the banquet food..

We've now surmounted such primitive techniques through modern science. No need to vomit. The excess fructose that most people ingest, added to even humble products like a can of baked beans, destroys the mind's feeling of satiety. We can continue eating till we become obese.

Of course, I know you won't believe me. You'll all continue as usual. It's no wonder that Maitreya, the Buddha of the future, is obese. (The laughing Buddha).

[MaxYakov]

If the good General were to do anything, he should tax the junk food outlets to the hilt and use the money to re-educate young Thais that the traditional Thai diet is in fact better for them. Make a Big Mac 500 baht and a packet of their appalling little grease-laden chips 150 baht and see if that would help youngsters to eat more healthily.

So, Mister Fixit, that's your fix? Have the "good General" attempt to alter behavior by taxing the fast food industry? And what would you have the "good General" do when the street food vendors start selling grease-laden chips at affordable prices? So government decisions should replace what should be the responsible decisions of the parents?

BTW, the street food vendors are already selling grease-laden food, in case you haven't noticed.

Don't get me going ...

[belg]

drink more milk, sponsored by ... a milk industry

why milk is so much more expensive overhere than in our farang countries ?

[Thaddeus]

<snip>

The ancient Romans didn't have knowledge of such techniques. Instead, when gorging themselves at a banquet and feeling full, they would stick something down their throat to induce vomiting, so that they could continue eating to experience that great sensory pleasure of the banquet food..

<snip>

Ah, that old piece of utter nonsense is regurgitated (excuse the word) one more time.

It’s been reported as true by legends, textbooks and history teachers who just want to get kids interested in Tacitus. In fact, it might be the only thing you know about eating habits in ancient Rome. But did the average John Doeus actually throw up in a vomitorium during feast times just so he could return to the dinner table for seconds of the roast mutton? The answer is no.

Source: http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/vomitoriums-fact-or-fiction

I suggest you read all of it.

[gemini81]

Surely the key thing is balance. Thais are genetically programmed for a high intake of carbohydrate ( by consuming rice for 5,000 years). They are NOT adapted to overlaying that carb intake with mega loads of sugar from introduced western junk. To add a further load of carb from much higher milk consumption would create more problems. A balance of traditional diet with added dairy seems sensible, but only if the junk sugar, potato, crap carbs get the flick. This is a crisis for Thailand's future generations ( and today's kids)

I may be wrong but milk is a relatively new addition to the Thai diet as well as bread and the concept of refrigeration. Bread has been common in Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam due to French colonization but not so in Thailand.

Encouraging massive amounts of milk into the diet of a group of people that have historically lived without, may result in some unintended results.

On another note...while living in Thailand for 20 plus years I've noticed Thai females always add sugar to their Som Tum Boo, Quay Teo, and what ever other dish they may partake in and most of them have figures that most western women would die for. I'm certainly not an expert in nutrition but this seems to contradict all the horror stories we hear about sugar. Can anyone explain this?

I agree.

18 years ago it was easy to find a 22 year old thin girlfriend.

Now its a lot more difficult.

Soon we'll have to use photoshop first, before rubbin' one off.

[tonypace02]

Fast food does not make Thai kids shorter. And the fact that there are so many more taller Thais today than twenty years ago indicates that height is controlled by factors other than genetics. However, the presumption that obesity and low IQ are the direct result of the shift toward fast food in the diet and away from the traditional Thai food that so many people rave about is not accurate. Thai food on its own is a dietary abomination. The average dish is loaded with killer sauces (nam pla - one serving = 1200 mg of sodium; oyster sauce, made with sugar, salt, cornstarch and a bit of oyster extract - one serving =2700 mg of sodium - 113% daily req.). The Thai diet is so heavy in pork it is a wonder the average age for stroke is not in the teens. And, while the Thais are particularly good at including seafood in their diet, so much of it is fried in transfats that the nutritional value of fish is often balanced by the destruction of the nutrients by the oil it is fried in.

On the other hand, a conscientious dieter who is willing to put some effort and money into his eating choices, has numerous choices of nutritious foods to select from in the Thai market. Fresh fruits and vegetables abound year round. For those who prefer fried foods, most Thai markets stock coconut oil, the one vegetable oil that is not converted to transfats by high heat. Milk for prepubescent kids, fine; after puberty, herbal teas, waters, and fruit and vegetable juices are adequate (ever see a pubescent bull sucking on a cow's teat?). Processed Thai food, even fruits and vegetables processed at home, is often lacking in the most essential nutrients, iron and iodine for example. One could argue that Thais have been eating this way for centuries. But a counter argument could be that they have been short and undernourished for centuries. The introduction of fast foods into the diet simply alters the complexity of the problem.

[VincentRJ]

<snip>

The ancient Romans didn't have knowledge of such techniques. Instead, when gorging themselves at a banquet and feeling full, they would stick something down their throat to induce vomiting, so that they could continue eating to experience that great sensory pleasure of the banquet food..

<snip>

Ah, that old piece of utter nonsense is regurgitated (excuse the word) one more time.

It’s been reported as true by legends, textbooks and history teachers who just want to get kids interested in Tacitus. In fact, it might be the only thing you know about eating habits in ancient Rome. But did the average John Doeus actually throw up in a vomitorium during feast times just so he could return to the dinner table for seconds of the roast mutton? The answer is no.

Source: http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/vomitoriums-fact-or-fiction

I suggest you read all of it.

Of course the average Roman couldn't afford to gorge himself at banquets, and I imagine that only a few extreme gluttons would ever vomit in order to be able to continue eating.

As a matter of fact, most Romans would probably have only one meal a day. Eating 3 meals a day, as most people do nowadays, would have been considered excessive and gluttonous in ancient Rome.

The point I was making is that the modern food industry panders to people's desire for tasty food and makes it too easy and affordable for people to put on excessive weight.

One solution would be to introduce Diet and Nutrition courses in all schools as a standard subject, but I foresee problems in getting suitably qualified teachers. I suspect also that the food industry in general would be very annoyed at such a proposal. They would (and do) employ their own dieticians to refute any arguments that their highly processed food, with added ingredients such as fructose, have any harmful effects.

[chongtak]

They drink lots of milk in USA, but they're still obese and kids have lower IQ than kids in the past. So how will milk improve things here? Are they now trying to say you get fat by not drinking milk, and that drinking it makes you slim. Whole article is sadly lacking. Just a advert for milk, which Asian people should'nt be drinking anyway. Thailand is too hot for cows. It's not natural for humans to drank baby food of another species. Babies should be drinking their mother's breast milk not suckling a cow.

We drink a lot of milk and eat a lot of cheese and use oil but we are not obese. Why? Because we rarely eat junk american food.

[danbradster]

They drink lots of milk in USA, but they're still obese and kids have lower IQ than kids in the past. So how will milk improve things here? Are they now trying to say you get fat by not drinking milk, and that drinking it makes you slim. Whole article is sadly lacking. Just a advert for milk, which Asian people should'nt be drinking anyway. Thailand is too hot for cows. It's not natural for humans to drank baby food of another species. Babies should be drinking their mother's breast milk not suckling a cow.

I have seen real research that shows milk versus sweetened drinks leads to the same body fat, but milk leads to greater muscle mass. Since muscle mass burns energy every day, it's the more healthy option of the two. Just don't pick lactosoy or the other 90% of milk products that are extremely sweetened.

[plachon]

Feed them soymilk and watch the katoy population soar.

Erm, why?

Unfermented soybeans are reputedly packed full of oestrogens and progesterones. It actually might explain a lot about the preponderance of gatoeys in LOS. And earlier puberty amongst girls.

[jucel]

Where I live, there are no American fast food joints, and I don't live in the boondocks! 180kms south of Bkk in Chaam. Every time I go to Hua Hin, I think about a Mcd's or Bk or KFC, but always end up having something else!!

[jucel]

Feed them soymilk and watch the katoy population soar.

Erm, why?

Unfermented soybeans are reputedly packed full of oestrogens and progesterones. It actually might explain a lot about the preponderance of gatoeys in LOS. And earlier puberty amongst girls.

I've come to the conclusion that most are groomed to become ladyboys, as families have seen how much their daughters can make. Cynical, but with a anecdotal evidence from various people I am assuming this is the case!