Christine, thanks for asking and those are fair questions. In my family it certainly is about eating habits. My family would eat fried foods, processed foods, frozen pizza's, fast food, scoops and scoops of ice cream at one sitting, whole bags of chips and etc. We were also terrible about portion controls. Oh and exercise was not something done at all. We sat around and watched Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, All in the Family, and etc. And when Sylvania introduced their 19 color Superset with a wired remote control we were in our glory, we no longer had to get up and change the channel.
I know I'm sounding a bit humorous, perhaps facetious, but this was the truth. I know there are some out there fighting genetics, and yes others are blessed with great genetics when it comes to metabolism, but in most cases it starts with little Johnny and Sally eating chicken nuggets, french fries, pizza's, hot dogs, sugary juice, soda and etc without eating fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. Once they get older the cycle is not broken and those eating habits continue into their tween years right into their teen years and right into college and beyond. And it's getting worse. In addition, many young people these days don't play as they once did; they are on the computer, on social media, playing video games, texting and etc. Here is some interesting reading from the CDC.
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm
- Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years.1, 2
- The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.1, 2
- In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.1
- Overweight is defined as having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors.3Obesity is defined as having excess body fat.4
- Overweight and obesity are the result of “caloric imbalance”—too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed—and are affected by various genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors.5,6
You also mentioned it don't seem they eat a lot; for some who suffer with a genetic predisposition this may and is often very true. But for the vast majority it may not look like a lot, but it's what they chose to eat. Eating an apple is far better than eating dried apples... Eating an orange is far better than an 8 oz glass of orange juice. Eating two cups of green beans is much better than eating 2 cups of corn and etc. Being someone that was heavy and being from a family with obesity, I do not look down or in judgement to those who are struggling with weight issues. I have been there and do all I can to help others make good food choices, encourage them to exercise even if it's only a few minutes a day or just a walk.
Sorry for the long post. Weight Watchers has helped me look at myself and realize I can change and gave me the support to succeed. It taught me proper nutrition, proper portion control and gave me hope (and still does). When I was heavy I was always hungry, or at least thought I was. While I was losing weight and while I maintain it today, I rarely feel hungry.
