Hacker News Reader

Comment by iknownothow | Hacker News Reader

My opinion, comparing Americans with Germans I see and I find two obvious differences:

  * On average Americans are likely to be obese and very likely to be overweight.
  * Fit & muscular Americans are much bulkier than fit Germans.

My conclusions

  * On average, Americans consume way more sugar.
  * On average, Americans consume way more fast food.
  * I think American meat has more steroids.

View on HN

>* I think American meat has more steroids

There's a simpler answer: Americans, regardless of whether they exercise or not, consume more calories than Germans. This means Americans who lift weights will grow more muscles than Germans who lift weights, and Americans who don't will grow more fat.

While that might depend on a particular person to an extent, I found exercise the biggest differentiator for my own health and weight. And I don't even mean workout - rather anything more than 15 minutes of walking per day.

I also never walked less than the two weeks I spent in Texas.

well, the numbers in Germany are trending in the same direction, so there isn't really a magic formula and in a decade or so it's likely to have the same obesity prevalence as the US does now.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com