March 27, 2008
New Yorkers Gaining Weight at Rapid Rate, Survey Says
Between the 2002 and 2004, New York City residents gained 10 million pounds, becoming Rubenesque at a rate nearly three times that of other Americans, according to a survey by city health officials. Obesity and diabetes rates in the city soared 17% between 2002 and 2004, compared to a 6% rise in obesity rates nationwide, where there was no marked increase in the rate of diabetes.
The biggest obesity increases are seen in the city’s fast-growing immigrant populations and low-income groups. But other classes are also pulling their weight; the obesity rate among the middle class grew 27.6% and the city’s fat cats grew 14% fatter between ’02 and ’04. Health officials are mystified by the stats, but Audrey Silk, founder of a smokers' rights group, is quick to blame Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-smoking crusade, because people who quit gain an average of 12 pounds: “While they're trying to save one segment of society… they're getting nowhere because it has a negative effect elsewhere.”
It’s also worth remembering that life in New York in the wake of 9/11 was particularly stressful, which may have contributed to overeating. Some health officials are also blaming soda consumption for the fattening, because 27% of adults drink one or more sodas a day. Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is huge: Over 1.7 million city residents are obese, while over 700,000 have diabetes. Gretchen Van Wye, a city health department official, says the study proves “we need to move forward with initiatives like the green carts to make sure New Yorkers are getting their fruits and vegetables.”
Photo: Polish Sausage Queen
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I thought I've been noticing more fatties.
I read that Manhattan has the lowest obesity rate of county in America - is this still true?
I'm trying, very hard, to get the mental image of that photo out of my mind.
Correlation is not the same as causation.
The collective weight gain could be caused by the growing size and number of corporations in the city hiring people for jobs which require little physical effort beyond walking to and from the mail cubby. The people who take these jobs could be native New Yorkers, or they could be moving to the city from other (larger with more room to grow) parts of the country.
The article doesn't specify if these fat "suits" are domestic or imported, so we can't really know.
i'm part of the problem, i gained 10 pounds since moving here.
:(
I don't see any fatties in manhattan except black busdrivers. Everybody here is still superskinny. I think I gained 3 pounds though.
Maybe people need to do more Coke.
It's ironic to me, because as many fat people as there are in NYC, there are also a very high amount of extremely scrawny people as well. Unhealthy crackheads...who think they look good no less!
It's sad, Jerry. It's a sad state of affairs.
you're all fat. I hope you all get distorted body images and eating disorders. mwaahahahaha
actually everyone in manhattan is skinny. at least from a chicago perspective.
Yes CR I'm pretty sure it is. We don't need any statistics to tell us that.
I'm for charging extra for obese people using methods of public transportation, as well as on the airlines. The amount of money thats being wasted on carrying around people's excess flab is incalculable.
Say 'Bob' weighs 160 pounds and pays $2.00 for bus fare. 'Bill', the obese lardass, comes in weighing 280 pounds and pays the same fare.
160 / $2.00 = .8 cents per pound
280 / $2.00 = 1.4 cents per pound
Bill is paying less per pound of his large ass to ride the bus than Bob, which is unfair to Bob, not to mention costly for the MTA as they need to burn more fuel to carry Bill's ass. A study was also done by the airlines stating that overweight passengers cost the airlines hundreds of millions of dollars in extra fuel costs.
I hate studies like this. I'm a mid-30's American who consumes at least one soda a day, and I'm not obese whatsoever. Maybe people need to learn moderation. All food is unhealthy when consumed in gluttonous quantities.
sakebalboa where did you move from? With all the walking in this town its tough to gain when moving into the city.
Big is beatiful I want some of that polish sausage queen.
I can honestly say that I've gained alot of weight since 9/11 and part of that was my "oh well, we won't make it past the next week"
I'm just waiting for my fatalistic attitude to catch up with me.
"Maybe people need to do more Coke."
Drinking large amounts of Coke will definitely not cause weight loss. Did you mean coke?
there are plenty of fat people in the city. i see them all the time taking up two seats on the subway.
I got on the scale the other day and I was 9 pounds heavier than I thought I was. Deceptive, since my clothes still fit, but that's how it catches up to you.
Good to see I'm not alone. No fatties.
speaking of, its time to eat...
maybe we've all gained muscle weight!
on the scale, i've gained about 5 pounds in my first year of living in new york, yet my waist is actually an inch smaller than it used to be. most of us walk a lot, go up and down lots of stairs in the subway, and some of us (aka me) live in 5th floor walkup apartments. i assume that i've built muscle in my legs and lost some fat. don't they say that muscle weighs more than fat anyway?
regardless, we new yorkers have much better habits than most of suburban america, who walk 3 steps to their car (err, gas-guzzling suv), sit in an hour of traffic to their parking lot at work, and then walk 7 steps to their office. and go to the mcdonalds drive-thru for lunch. ok, sorry, i'm done.
come up to the bronx, the hospitals actually have a whole new classification of obest--the Bronx Obese.
Too many plantains, too much rice, not enough good grocery stores so you can give your kids OJ instead of Sunkist.
I'm surprised no one mentioned NYC's "official" drink Snapple as one of the culprits considering how each bottle has more calories per serving.
i wonder if one of the contributing factors is the general level of economic affluence. maybe more people are eating out? that can be pretty unhealthy even if you're not eating fast food.
Eating out is a huge reason for obesity regardless if its McDonald's or an upscale restaurant. The portions are too big and everything is cooked in butter. Also, if rice and plantains were the cause for obesity, then everyone in the Caribbean and Central America would be obese. The culprits are too much soft drinks, not enough veggies and no exercise.
I blame the advent of the unlimited-ride Metrocard. It's too easy to take a bus or subway for a brief trip now. In the old days, you had decide whether to walk or waste a token on a relatively short distance. More often than not, it was worth it to walk.
Whoa! Is that one of those Wicked Models?