I hear you BKB, I hear you.

I will allow that these statistics are ~somewhat~ skewed by the measurement criteria. I am in pretty good shape and have been most of my life. But for most of my life I've been classified as obese. The BMI just isn't suited for people who work out a lot. I am also humble enough to admit that in all honesty there are very bad health consequences to being heavy whether you are fit or not. Just because I run and lift does not mean that I am not going to pay the price for coming in at 245 or even more sometimes.

But to your point I agree that it is a terrible predicament. How to get a free people into shape with so many obstacles in their way. Among which is a junk food industry that have teams of psychologists and scientists figuring out how to make their products as addictive as possible. A fat tax? One where the long term costs of being very obese are actually factored into the cost of the product? Very hard but doable. Except that conservatives have made the shift from being low tax to being unbothered with externalities. They would never go along with it. And you can bet that if the true cost of a Twinkie or a KFC extra crispy bucket were factored into the equation the fast food industry would be hard pressed to survive at all.

It's a tough nut for sure.

Another, perhaps not unrelated factor is at work here as well. I've noticed it in other rural areas I've lived and it is very noticeable here in southern WV. There are mountains and peaks and rivers and everything under the sun that needs exploring but there is very little to no access. Very little in the way of trails and parks and areas open to public activity. And there isn't a gym or workout facility within 25 miles. It makes it tough. Old people walk along one lane roads to get exercise only to harassed by mean dog after mean dog. ~sigh~

Will