GOOD on Bicycle Commuting vs. Obesity
Solid infographic by GOOD which takes a look at the correlation between bicycle commuting and obesity rates in several industrialized countries around the world. Can pedaling reduce America’s societal weight?
I agree — there is the health issue that has been pervasive in our country for some time and then there is the advocacy aspect you mention.
I suspect many of the notions pushed on those particular sites are skewed to preach to the choir, so to speak (i.e. those who already subscribe to the ideas you mentioned like superiority and purity).
Like walking, riding should be presented as another means that has some positive health benefits, solid environmental impacts and enjoyable once you can get up to a certain level of comfort with it.
I’m curious, what sort of sites you have come across recently with the messages you talked about? Were there some URL’s you could share?
I will look for some specific posts, but my difficulty of thinking of them off the top of my head comes from there being so many of such discussions and casual comments. The idea of “being a cyclist” (and therefore being “good”) is juxtaposed with the idea of “being fat and lazy”, and it bothers me to read stuff like that.
Though obesity is a health problem, in my view this does not give one part of the population the right to tell other people how their bodies should look and how they should lead their lives – which is kind of how I am seeing this issue framed in many of the bike activism blogs. I think that even to focus on obesity itself is generally a mistake, as being overweight is a symptom of larger underlying problems: depression, frustrations, the lack of sources of fulfillment in life, loneliness, self-esteem issues, etc., etc.
Will try to find some links to illustrate the kinds of comments I am referring to.
The only way you can manage obesity is throught Proper Diet and lots of exercise. The human body is designed for work so we should always get some form of physical exercise to stay fit.
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I’m behind Velouria here…I’ve been commuting to work for 5 years now, every day, winter, rain, summer heat, and I’m still fat. A few pounds short of morbidly obese to be exact.
People keep telling me that their lifestyle is some awesome cure for fatness, and therefore an awesome cure for being ugly and nobody loving you, and an instant cure for being healthy.
Of course biking and walking are good for you and increase your fitness level, but fitness does not equal thin-ness… and fatness should not equal shame… Because I *could* use all the above and more to become thin, but the amount of time (3hrs per day in the gym) required to make the change and commit to lasting weight-loss, I would also become unfulfilled in other arenas of my life… but hey, I’d be thin, and then people would love me and everything in my life would be perfect. /sarcasm
Some links:
Feeling fat is worse that being fat:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTON07906120080130
How the scale used for the “Good” study is problematic
http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/
Separating “unhealthy” and “fat”
http://kateharding.net/faq/but-dont-you-realize-fat-is-unhealthy/
Obesity and diabetes is a growing problems nowadays. It is caused by todays lifestyle which does not involve lots amount of exercise. Most people are just happy sitting in their office chair and they do not even want to sweat.
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I am all for being concerned over people’s health, but I’ve got to tell you – all these comments about “the obesity problem” make me a bit uneasy, especially since many debates on pro-cycling websites use weight and health as a tool to express ideas of superiority and purity. Does not sit well with me that people should be shamed into cycling “because they are fat”.