For the first time in decades, the obesity rate has fallen. \ stacker news ~charts_and

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For the first time in decades, the obesity rate has fallen.

2411 sats \ 35 comments \ @zuspotirko 4 Oct charts_and_numbers

Correlation and a Coincident are no proof of causation. So there is no proof this is because of Ozempic. But what else could be the difference between 2023-2022 and 2022-2021? Another aspect is that this trend is more pronounced among college educated (=people with presumably easier access to Ozempic):

Full story: https://www.ft.com/content/21bd0b9c-a3c4-4c7c-bc6e-7bb6c3556a56

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112 sats \ 11 replies \ @Satosora 4 Oct

People cant afford to be fat anymore.

127 sats \ 6 replies \ @zuspotirko OP 4 Oct

Are you suggesting obesity fell because of food prices? Like, not in 2001, not in 2005, not after the great recession in 2008, not in 2017, not in 2022 but precisely in 2023 it became too expensive to get Obesity?

25 sats \ 5 replies \ @Undisciplined 4 Oct

If that were the story, the relationship with education should be flipped.

25 sats \ 4 replies \ @Satosora 4 Oct

Maybe l shiur reiterate. People dont have the money to spend eating out as much anymore. Im not saying they are eating healthier in any way.

130 sats \ 2 replies \ @zuspotirko OP 4 Oct

I get that. And I get that food has become more expensive.

But I think it's a wild conclusion to say this is the reason for peak obesity.

Expenditure for food at home only rose to as high as they were in 2017. Americans spend more on food because they eat out more. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=76967

You're right in a sense that it's not nothing. But hard for me see to see food prices rising in 2021/2022 to cause weight loss in 2023.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 4 Oct

Americans spend more on food because they eat out more.

You have to be careful with that conclusion. The data shows Americans spent more, but fast food prices increased, so we don't know if they ate more from seeing that they spent more.

But hard for me see to see food prices rising in 2021/2022 to cause weight loss in 2023.

Weight loss itself takes time and is only going to be recorded at some sort of medical check-up. If you start eating out less in 2021-2022, it's perfectly reasonable that it would take until 2023 for a doctor to record that you are no longer obese.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 4 Oct

Especially with companies transitioning to hsa, if you are unhealthy it us very exensive.

125 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 4 Oct

Right, but that would primarily effect lower income people, wouldn't it?

Or, is the idea that it's college educated people specifically who realized that fast-food is too expensive now?

There could be a story where everyone reduced their fast food intake, but college educated people substituted to healthier alternatives, while non-college grads switched to cheaper but similarly unhealthy foods.

34 sats \ 3 replies \ @kepford 4 Oct

Its actually cheaper to eat poorly than more healthy options. This is a major reason for obesity in poorer communities. They aren't eating real food.

20 sats \ 2 replies \ @Signal312 4 Oct

I've heard that said a lot, but I'm not sure it's true.

Take drinks, for example. Drink water instead of soda, fancy bottled iced tea, fancy juices, and you're going to be much healthier and have more money left.

And if you're spending 20% of your food budget on drinks, then you're much better off.

When I see what look like lower income people in the grocery store, they don't have the truly cheap food (bulk flour, rice, oats, potatoes, etc). Their carts are almost always loaded up with expensive junk food of all kinds. Crap like lunchables, chips, sodas, etc.

One exception here is new immigrants. They will often have what I'd consider to be a fairly health grocery cart.

34 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 4 Oct

That's fair. I will say it is easier to get crap food in poor areas vs. real food. I'm not saying to excuse poor diets. Individual responsibility is a factor for sure.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 4 Oct

If we just put that fake sugar in everything, it would solve all of our problems lol

57 sats \ 9 replies \ @Undisciplined 4 Oct

One possibility is that Covid and its comorbidity with obesity was a wake up call for these folks. "College educated" is a pretty good proxy for "covid hysteric".

211 sats \ 7 replies \ @zuspotirko OP 4 Oct

Covid happened in 2020. Obesity rate made a sharp angle in 2023. Your explanation doesn't make sense to me since nothing happened in 2021 and 2022.

I think Ozempic is the more likely explanation

51 sats \ 3 replies \ @BTC_Bellzer 4 Oct

Took a little bit for the jab to wipe out quite a few

31 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 4 Oct

I don't think those excess death numbers are very significant compared to obesity numbers, but that explanation would also fit the college vs non-college observations.

29 sats \ 1 reply \ @BTC_Bellzer 4 Oct

No, I just think it contributes is all

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 4 Oct

Yeah, whatever the explanation, there was an increase in the death rate of obese people during those years.

5 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 4 Oct

That certainly might be the better explanation.

The kink point in the chart seems to be right during the pandemic, though, and the rate of increase appears to have already started declining. I'm not sure it points unambiguously towards a 2023 effect.

22 sats \ 1 reply \ @tomlaies 4 Oct

The kink point in the chart seems to be right during the pandemic, though, and the rate of increase appears to have already started declining.

2023 was the first year with a decline

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 4 Oct

The previous data point appears to be 2020, though. You can't say from that when the decline started.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 4 Oct

👀 #710708 during covid

141 sats \ 0 replies \ @nym 4 Oct

Ozempic

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @tomlaies 4 Oct

Being physically fit will be an even bigger status symbol. Like being pale in the 1800s or being tan in the 90s. You're either in the social class that can afford Ozempic or one of the poors that can't

7 sats \ 0 replies \ @023ad18700 4 Oct

Obesity has fallen and so has McDonald’s sales could those go hand in hand?

35 sats \ 0 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 4 Oct

Obesity and Severe Obesity Prevalence in Adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023 (Published: 9/24/2024)

Key findings:

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

During August 2021–August 2023, the prevalence of obesity in adults was 40.3%, with no significant differences between men and women. Obesity prevalence was higher in adults ages 40–59 than in ages 20–39 and 60 and older.

The prevalence of obesity was lower in adults with a bachelor’s degree or more than in adults with less education.

The prevalence of severe obesity in adults was 9.4% and was higher in women than men for each age group.

From 2013–2014 through August 2021–August 2023, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity did not change significantly, while severe obesity prevalence increased from 7.7% to 9.7%.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db508.pdf

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @wingalt 4 Oct

High cost of food, starvation is good for your health

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @unkempt 31 Oct

“It’s fascinating to see the U.S. obesity rate finally dropping, but are we giving too much credit to drugs like Ozempic and rising costs? I think a major factor is the massive shift in attitudes toward wellness. People are increasingly aware of the impact of lifestyle choices on long-term health. Sure, economic factors play a role, but does it really take inflation or a new ‘miracle’ drug to make us prioritize health?

Could it be that the ‘quick fixes’ — whether fad diets, surgery, or now injections — are a short-term solution to what is ultimately a lifestyle issue? Maybe we need to look at the societal pressures that promote unhealthy living in the first place. What’s going to happen when Ozempic demand outpaces supply, or when food prices stabilize? We might just see these rates climb again if we don’t shift our focus to real, sustainable lifestyle changes.”

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @IamSINGLE 4 Oct

It's good for USA. It's good for the food prices as well. I just wonder if it's the result of Yoga.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @crrdlx 4 Oct

No question in my mind: this is due to the high inflation rate. In other words, the lower value of money means they can buy and eat less.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Signal312 4 Oct

Aha, found the article I was looking for. It's a great one. The Great Ozempic Hustle: The GLP-1 saga epitomizes the unsustainable corruption within our medical system

Here's a couple quotes from the summary. Emphasis is mine:

•In early 2023, a private conference with pharmaceutical industry leaders and investors highlighted anti-obesity and Alzheimer’s drugs as the next big money-makers and had the FDA head as its keynote speaker.

•Since then, the FDA has taken questionable steps to promote these drugs, particularly Ozempic, an anti-obesity medication. There's been a massive push to get everyone, including children, on Ozempic, using shockingly aggressive marketing tactics.

•This rush is eerily similar to the fen-phen craze, a temporary weight loss drug later pulled from the market for causing severe heart and lung issues.

•Worse, Ozempic comes with serious side effects, including paralyzing the digestive tract. This article will address the above controversy and explore the common causes of obesity, including those rarely discussed.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Signal312 4 Oct

Here's the unpaywalled version:

https://archive.vn/XRS8k

Also, yeah, it's widespread. I have a number of friends and acquaintances that are doing it, and all have lost weight. One stopped for a year, because of the gaunt "ozempic face", but is now back on it again, because she gained weight back again.

And there's digestive upsets that happen as well.

I fully believe that the long-term dangers of these drugs. are slowly but surely coming into view. Actually I recently read an article on the dangers of these drugs and was going to link it, but now I can't find it anymore.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @jakoyoh629 4 Oct

A temporary dip before the upward trajectory resumes. Or has it plateaued?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheWildHustle 4 Oct

If I walk around the corner to 7/11, 7 out of 10 people I see will be obese.

And is ozempic some sort of miracle pill with no side effects? What's going on?

Hustle just did some quick online research

1k a month for the ozempic shots. Imagine dca'ing into ozempic

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BTCLNAT 4 Oct

The association between variables requires correlation or association measures, in this case since a drop in the prevalence of obesity was determined and it could be due to factors such as diet, schooling (university or non-university), the use of Ozempic. Then a case-control study must be developed, where people who have reduced their body weight and others who have not are evaluated, then the variables DIET, SCHOOLING AND USE OF Ozempic are controlled in both groups and according to the OR value and taking into account the confidence index and the alpha error, the association or not between these variables and weight loss can be determined. It is as easy as that.