h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You know, this something I know and hear Americans fussing about alot too.

I had an idea... although it's really more of I guess like a premise. Or what do you call it... like a supposition.

Maybe part of the problem involved in this "obesity epidemic" that's garnering attention for the past several years but different attention as of late is that perhaps we just aren't exercise cultures very much.

I mean, what are the National opinions of exercise?
With fears about crime and huge increases in the amount of indoor work people spend more and more of their time indoors.

Following from there I don't know if something as simple about that as policies on "cross-national exercise programs" would fix it.

Although, having it become an identifying character to take a break once in awhile and do something outside. I'd have to do more research first. Read up some more on pop-culture and anthropology.

Then, to further complicate it some people are born with certain genetic markers that make them more prone toward becoming overweight such as low/slow metabolism too.

Health is a complicated matter. There are even parts of physical well-being that correspond as a function of age.
Right now I am in my 20s. I can eat things that I probably would think better against if I were say in my 40s instead. Or at least I have heard my dad and retired people say things of that nature at different times.

I don't even know if larger scale ways of simply finding other ways to artificially speed up the metabolism necessarily would be a good idea.

Indiviuals vary in composition and body-type, yes?
A one-size-fits-all approach (please excuse the choice in words) might not be the best way about the trying to get into shape business.

What factors are involved?
Yes, many people will agree that exercise, sleep and nutrition are important things... cornerstones to physical well-being. I won't argue with that.

What of mental health though? This fixation on physical appearance could result in a very different problem. Something someone could poke fun at in a cartoon maybe. I can just picture a character going to a drive-through order window and being asked "would you like psychiatric medication with that?"

I think part of it's mental, part of it's physical and part of it's society.

But what would I know? I'm barely an adult, practically still just a kid. I should probably best leave it for other people to figure out while I go on to try and pursue other things.
...

Sorry, I'd blundered. I meant to say international up there instead of cross-national.

Woe betide anyone who makes the mistake of confusing nationality with ethnicity though.