Just wondering what the Canadian T-people out there thought about our general attitudes towards health and physical fitness and how it compares with are neighbours to the south?I tend to think that since they have a more sport oriented culture.Having said that Im amazed when ever im in the U.S about number of fatties I see walking around.Anybody care to comment?
When we drove through Yakima to see The Who @ the Gorge, there were fat people everywhere, all over the place. I might have noticed only because my U has the hottest girls anywhere (I’ve heard that they’re even better than Montreal girls). Maybe people are just more into being healthy or in shape, that’s the usual thing Canada?
Having lived on both countries, i would say that Canadians are generally in better health. this is not due, however, to attitude, but rather diet and exercise. i think Canadians generally eat a better diet, if only because we have not seen the proliferation of fast food joints they have States-side (this is slowly changing though). children in Canada are quite active in sports and general fitness, but it does seem to trail off in later years compared to the population in the U.S. As far as the amount of fat people, you have to remember that the U.S. has ten times as many people as Canada, so it’s only logical that they’d have at least ten times as many fat people.
Being from Montreal I’ll have to disagree with you 
haha
You must attend Western as well then!
The American diet is a national embarassment. We are, as a country, eating ourselves to death. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
That’s a tough call. I think it’s more of a regional thing than a nation vs. nation issue. I’ve noticed that out in B.C and in the Western provinces in general, there are fewer fatties and many more active people. Here in Ontario, fatties are everywhere. I also find that a lot of Ontarions smoke as compared to out west. I would imagine it’s similar in the U.S, differing from region to region. If the U.S. has the most out of shape people in the world than Canada is not very far behind.
Cardiovascular disease is the #1 cause of death here just like it is in the States. There is no big difference at all in health. Our population is getting more obese as well, especially children, and the incidence of diabetes is markedly increased. The government is however trying to promote a “healthier”, more “active” lifestyle due to the health care costs of being sedentary etc. More money from the health care budget goes towards treating mostly preventable diseases than probably anything else.
I heard from a guy who went to Montreal after the Royal Canadian Henley regatta & after seeing the babes @ UVic, he said they’re as good or better. I must have picked the right schools because all the guys in town said my high school had the best girls also.
I just returned from Europe and in two weeks I only noticed one fat kid and very very few fat adults. US is loaded with fatsoes and I’ll supersize that.
I heard all western / developed nations are heading in the United States direction with regars to health problem and overweight people. You can even see the news from in developing nations where there are alot of over weight people. I live in CT and we have our far share. Wow do we have some hippos (as my old grandparents would call them). But I must be blind by now all I notice or care to notice is the cute athletic girls lol. I guess at some point people just tune it out.
My family is from Argentine, and let me tell you there are drop dead gorgeous girls and few fatties there. Then again they have an eat disorder problem in that country.
My last note: From what I heard a few years ago. The most fit nation in all of the world was New Zealand. I heard that 8 yrs ago so it could have changed in McD’s invaded their shores. But it was reported that 3 out 5 where in a gym and 4 out of 5 ran. THATS fit people.
One question to all. The goverment (US) wants to allow overweight people to have a write off in their taxes for diets and what not! Shouldn’t it be the other away around, shouldn’t they give healthy active people who spend big money to be at a gym to stay in shape the write off? Or at least give anyone (both fit and overweight) the chance to have it as a write off.
We have exchange students stay with us for a month every year. We get one from Spain and one from France each August. They come for an english program at the local university. One of the most interesting things is to see there reaction to all the fatties here in Canada. Some of the kids from rural parts of France or Spain honestly do not know any fat people personally. It’s one of the biggest culture shocks for them when they come here.
I had to point this out. Have any of you lived in Europe? I have. I can tell you that the biggest difference is PRICE – not cultural superiority, not even lifestyle. It is $$$. For example, try buying yourself the equivalent of a $5.50 U.S. sandwich lunch in Stockholm – you will pay at LEAST $10 for the local tona fisk special. Buy some basics like fish, eggs, or even ALCOHOL in Ireland – I consistently paid at least 35% more than I did in the U.S. I even occasionally tried to go to MacDonald’s or Burger King (which is not my thing) when I was there to see if I could get a good meal at what in the US would be a reasonable price – if you ever have the opportunity, you will be amazed at the price difference on even the basic barfburgers.
The American diet definitely sucks, I’m not disputing that. But so does the diet of many European nations. In my opinion, the biggest difference is that I can get many times as much of almost any given food in the US for the same price. I guess that’s one thing to be said for the welfare state semi-socialized economy – at least it keeps you skinny.
I’m over in Europe right now on assignment for work. I have been absolutely amazed at the lack of fat people here. A couple of observations:
- Very very few fast food joints. And the ones I did find were mostly patronized by visiting Americans, and families with kids (not a good thing).
- People here in Italy don’t have equivalent eating habits of Americans. Dinner is a major meal with several courses, meant to be eaten over a longer period of time. You’re mistaken if you think you’ll go to a sit down restaurant and be in and out in less than an hour.
- In Spain, the meals weren’t such a big deal as in Italy, but the schedule for eating was definitely different.
- I didn’t actually see many people out running in the streets in either place. However, seeing how the people in Italy drive, it’s probably more for safety reasons.
I would say that I was more sensitive to looking at the fast food issue over here because I just finished reading “Fast Food Nation”. But I definitely think there is something to be said for the fact that Europeans eat significantly less processed, high fat food. Much more clean carbs, fresh meat and fish. Actually, they don’t eat all that much chicken. And they don’t stick to a strict “three large meals a day” regimen like Americans do.
When I was in Paris this past summer, I saw a total of exactly one “fat” person over the course of 3 days! Amazing! Especially since the French people are pretty fuckin’ lazy and laid back, even by American standards.
I also concur with what was said about food prices over there. Even the god damn McDonalds fast food types stuff is served in what seemed like smaller portions. However, I could not help to notice that a bottle of wine can be had for 4 Euros while a 1.5L bottle of Pepsi will run you, at best, about 2 Euros. Hence, I’m not all that convinced that it’s not culture that’s making an impact on their food prices.