Fat people

The US Army is a volunteer service currently, remember. They're not bringing in conscripts for a few months, but instead training people who will serve for 5+ years.
 
Invader said:
There is, and has been, considerable discussion on this topic in Finland, though obesity is just one of the factors discussed.  Overall, the "insuitaility" of young men for the army is growing every year, and the effect is amplified because of the army being based on conscription.  I think part of the reason, though, is mental issues; some people are so used to the "easy" lifestyle of today that they can't stand army discipline.

Based on my experience, though, even fat people can usually finish their service without major difficulties.  After basic training, (here) they tend to be assigned to less physical duties such as logistics (drivers, medics, office jobs and the like).  Basic training is not physically too demanding, it is just usually considered to be the worst part of your service because of the "shock" of changing lifestyles and because you're treated like shit.  

I would guess either the US army is more demanding in physical fitness, or people are fatter there than here.  Probably both.
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I think I can quite honestly say I have never seen a fat soldier (or anyone else involved in the military). I have seen plenty of fat generals, but by the time anyone gets to the rank of General, Admiral or Air Marshall, they tend to be too old to do much demanding training anyway.
 
Other than offensive linemen from the Military Schools. 

But, true, the US military is pretty specific about its standards for physical readiness.  At one time (I don't know if its still true) one could be given a 'signing bonus' if one's body fat was under a certain percentage.
 
Ardius said:
I think I can quite honestly say I have never seen a fat soldier (or anyone else involved in the military). I have seen plenty of fat generals, but by the time anyone gets to the rank of General, Admiral or Air Marshall, they tend to be too old to do much demanding training anyway.
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Yeah, people tend to lose weight in the army, but I guess the bigger reason is that people who start a career in the military are pretty good at taking care of their health and physical fitness anyway. 
 
I don't know, I know a lot of larger guys, including my dad (though to be fair, these day's he's solid muscle). But those are navy blokes.
 
My dad always struggled with weight, and the last few years of his career he got pretty fat. He didn't have to do heavy duty work the last 10 years or so before he retired.
 
LooseCannon said:
I don't know, I know a lot of larger guys, including my dad (though to be fair, these day's he's solid muscle). But those are navy blokes.
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That being said, do the navy and airforce recruits go through the same basic training as the army and marine corps over there?  I would suppose not? 
 
Yes, of course they do. Probably moreso than you do, because Canada doesn't have seperate military services. All recruits are drawn from the same pool.
 
LooseCannon said:
Yes, of course they do.
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Hmm, my thinking was that since navy and airforce tasks are mostly more specialized, in a professional army they might start professional training right away. 

As for "pool", if I understood you right you have a similar system to the one we do.  Your assignment is mostly random?  Or you can affect it to a certain extent by your own actions/wishes?
 
Here, in the US, you make the decision as to what military entity you want to join, then go through the Basic for that branch.  Air Force is kind of known for its 'less demanding' basic training.  I believe that Marines is most difficult. 
 
Not…really.

The Canadian Forces are volunteer, so you basically get to choose which branch (Air, Land, or Sea) you'll join upon signing up. But because there's no official separation, all recruits go through the same 13-week training process. Every Canadian Forces member is a rifleman. Once that's done, you split off and receive specific training for your discipline.

But because they are branches and not seperate services, it's easy to switch. That is to say, an air force captain can switch to the navy and become a naval lieutenant (pronounced leftenent). This is especially common in the purple trades (doctor, dentist, nursing, quartermaster, intelligence) for someone to switch uniforms based on their assignment.
 
This might have been brought up, as I didn't read every post, but how about people who need two seats on an airplane? Should they pay for two? I think they absolutely should and that's coming from someone who's a little overweight himself, lol.
 
My only gripe with people who are large are the ones that have to use electric conveyance devices (scooters) because they are too heavy to walk around Walmart, DisneyWorld and other places that requie you to be ambulatory. I under stand that one's weight may strain certain weight bearing joints, but unless you have a knee, ankle or hip degenerated by arthritis, then one may benefit by walking around. And also if you require a surgical procedure to make your stomach smaller......you can figure where I am going with this. And yes someone who is so heavy they need two seats on a plane should definitely have to pay or the second seat. Look at all the charges the airlines are levying against passangers these days.
 
There aren't so many fat people here. However i do see a lot of fat little kids with a double chin, etc...which is really connected to today's way of life. Tempo of life is faster, people haven't got that much time for themselves, parents don't have much time to cook, it's really hard to buy healthy, natural food. Kids are spending way much time on computers, street playgrounds are full of cars nowadays, etc...I mean, when i was a kid, we were all skinny, we'd burn all the fat instantly, 'cause right after lunch we'd hit the street and play ball, throw stones at eachother, stuff like that  :D

Regarding myself, i can't say i eat healthy cuisine (however it's much healthier than average American eats), i smoke, so on...And i don't do any "intentional" recreation to burn fat, however, i walk average 10 km a day (5 only by going to work and back), because i don't have a car, don't need one, and i like walking. I also play ball, drive bike, because i like doing it. Don't know my "fat index", or whatever it's called, but having 90 kg on 1.90m height i presume it's nowhere near critical.

Also, society should not treat fat people as disabled, adapt various stuff to them. Eg, there were a couple of cases of fat tourists getting stuck in very narrow streets in the old city core, and shouting afterwards how it ain't right etc. First, no one forced you to eat that many burgers, second, no one forced you to enter those streets.

However, we should have a clear separation between people that got fat with their lifestlye, and people that got fat because of health problems (hormonal issues, etc...)
 
I have read many books on obesity including the diet delusion written by gary taubes. Taubes looks at the science behind nutrition and shows how shaky the science has been for the past 50 years. Its a very good book and challenges conventional wisdom. I would advise anyone who has an interest in culture or science to get it.

what you have got to remember is that before the 20th century man survived on high fat foods such as meat, eggs, nuts and butter. We actually ate more back then (calorie wise) than we do know. The funny thing is we eat less fat now than we did 100 years ago and yet 100 years ago diabetes, obesity and heart disease was extremely rare. This should tell you that FAT has nothing to do with heart disease or obesity therefre why does the government reccomend a low fat high carb diet that we didn't eat fr 99.9% of our existence.
 
LooseCannon said:
Well, that, and people died when they were 40-50.
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But they didn't die from nutritional causes. they often died from infection, but since the discovery of antibiotics, very little die from infection.

I think the problem is people dont understand that weight gain and weight loss isn't just calories in calories out, hormones play a huge role. That is why during puberty boys drop bodyfat and girls increase bodyfat. It why when women go through the menopause they gain weight. The main fat regulator hormone is insulin. It is released from the pancreas when blood sugar goes up due to glucose being toxic to many cells in the body.

So basically the more sugar you eat, then higher your insulin levels go. if you contually raise insulin levels for a number of years then you will develop diabetes and we all now that diabetes increases the risk of heart disease.

The problem with todays diet is that it is flooded with sugar. You don't see fat kids eat too much meat or eggs or butter, you see them eat candy and cola. IMO this is why they get fat.
 
People, especially kids are no where near as physicaly active as they were 20-25 years ago. And all the incidental sugars from soft drinks is a major player in the childhood obesity epidemic. My kids schools all had vending machines that were filled with Pepsi and coke. When I was in school, we could'nt have soda of any kind, even if we brrought it from the outside.
 
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