Americans "more ill than English"

Stress

1. Portion-size. Example: compare an English packet of crisps and an American pack of chips and that's only one example. American portions are huge compared to English/European size.

2. Diet/Low-Cal Foods. American stores stock up on lots of so-called diet and low calorie foods which are completely fake. They substitute one sugar for another bad ingredient. Although other countries do the fake/diet stuff too, not to the extent of the U.S. We have ourselves fooled over here thinking we are eating good when we really are not, swallowing trans fats and enriched flour etc. I would much prefer to eat a couple of squares of Cadburys chocolate and be satisfied with the rich sugary taste, than delve into a large bar of (tasteless in my opinion) American chocolate and still not be satisfied at the end of it. They say they are making the food healthier by taking out the "bad" stuff but what they are really doing is taking the taste away. BTW Diet Coke is as unhealthy for you as Regular Coke.

3. Snacking. Americans appear to eat all the time. When I lived in Ireland we had set meal times, at least our family did and I never got the opportunity to snack at work (much). Now that I live in America the culture is completely different. People stock up on snacks and food in their bags and munch on the train, walking down the street, on their way to lunch, on the way home before dinner, and the habit of everyone carrying a coffee (giant-sized) at all times of the day amazes me. I am going to go out and count the number of people I see with food/drink in their hands as they are walking along.

4. Social gatherings. Much socialising in England happens in a pub. Generally bar-food may come into play but not to extent that it does in an American pub-gathering. For the intents of not becoming ill Americans will eat a meal at the pub to soak up the booze. I've never gone to a gathering here in the U.S. where a lot of food (appetisers etc.) didn't play a part. When I went to the pub in Ireland I, of course, smoked in the pub and didn't eat. Of course that can go the other way in that I drank far more living in Ireland than I do in America.

5. Driving. Everyone (practically) in America drives to the grocery/local stores. When I lived in Ireland I walked a LOT more than I do here. I never realized it until I got here and became so lazy that I would drive to the local store (a mile away) to pick up milk and drive back. I used to walk everywhere when I lived in Ireland or jump on the bus and walk a good distance still.

4. Social gatherings. Much socialising in England happens in a pub. Generally bar-food may come into play but not to extent that it does in an American pub-gathering. For the intents of not becoming ill Americans will eat a meal at the pub to soak up the booze. I've never gone to a gathering here in the U.S. where a lot of food (appetisers etc.) didn't play a part. When I went to the pub in Ireland I, of course, smoked in the pub and didn't eat. Of course that can go the other way in that I drank far more living in Ireland than I do in America.

Kids are fat because nobody's allowed to make fun of them anymore. Kids should be able to point at other kids and say things like "hey fatty, put the twinkie down you fatty fat bastard." Then everyone would laugh at the fat kid, who would go home and burn off some calories crying.

Ok, I have nothing real to add to this topic. I think Heeven brings up good points. Over-processed and "diet" foods aren't necessarily healthy. Eating a small amount of antioxidant-loaded chocolate for a snack is probably better than eating a bunch of "low-fat" chips or crackers.