[−]CharlieDigital · 2026-10-10 Sat 11:32 UTC ·
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In Taiwan, many people eat out because it is quite cheap and convenient to do so (and for other cultural and social factors). Most homes have very small kitchens and refrigerators. Yet the rate of obesity is quite low for a high income country (Japan even lower) [0]
But something that is different is how much of the food is prepared at the vendor from whole ingredients. Ingredients often acquired whole day-of from nearby markets. Ingredients that have a shorter supply chain and higher freshness due to the smaller geography.
Reading this study, I wonder how much cheap ease of access to less processed foods contributes to the lower level of obesity and higher lifespans.
Do Taiwanese get as fat on average as African Americans on average when they eat an average American diet?
>In 2017–March 2020, non-Hispanic Black adults had the highest obesity prevalence (49.9%) followed by Hispanic (45.6%), non-Hispanic White (41.4%), and non-Hispanic Asian (16.1%) adults.
When comparing ant asian country to the US we should always keep physical activity and portion size in mind. A single cookie here in the US is massive and you always drive around just to get that cookie in the first place
Exactly. If you are eating chips it’s very hard to stop until the pack is over.
There are 3 options in order of effort: eat the next snack from a pack in your hand, decide and stop eating the cookie that is in the pack; get another pack to continue eating.
It requires more effort to get another pack and that biases towards the “stop eating” outcome.
If packages are large the the easiest action is continue eating.
This is why I always put the amount of chips I want to eat on a plate before I eat them.
[−]ButlerianJihad · 2026-10-11 Sun 05:57 UTC ·
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In designing my own portion-control diets, I found this to be an important lesson. The very size of our dishes and plates and glasses control for how much we are served, to begin with. So, if you've got a family-sized bag of chips or cereal, dole it out into a small bowl. Even if you overeat, you will consciously see how much you have eaten during that sitting, and it should have a psychological effect on you. In contrast, sitting on the sofa with the Netflix on and plunging your hand into a bag of Doritos while you gulp directly from a 2L Cherry Pepsi bottle, not going to win any diet awards. Seeing how much you will eat, seeing how much you have eaten, and reaching the bottom of the dish, needing to get up and refill it, these are all inflection points, and opportunities to pause and consider.
Dieting as a bachelor presented challenges. Your frozen meals and pizzas are often one size that's too large or small. Your recipes are not going to be calibrated for one person, one meal, one sitting. Literally, every can in my pantry is too much soup or fruit to prepare for a single meal...
Restaurant eating makes portion control so difficult. Delivery, doubly so. The only recourse is to find a place that has tapas, appetizers, small plates that can be likewise doled out.
And yes, I am certain that food is engineered to foster addiction and dependencies. It's right there in the slogans, yes? "Once you pop, you can't stop!" "Betcha can't eat just one!"
[−]icantevenhold · 2026-10-11 Sun 02:06 UTC ·
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n=1 but when I was visiting the US I was amazed how expensive real food ingredients were and how cheap fast food. I was kinda broke back then and could rarely afford real food and mostly ate fast food.
Where I live it’s mostly the other way around.
Never really understood how that works
[−]CharlieDigital · 2026-10-11 Sun 02:21 UTC ·
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not just you.
whole and fresh prepared foods are pricey in the US.
Processed food ingredients in the US are highly subsidized by the US government. The resulting processed foodstuffs are shelf stable, widely distributed, and trounce local options in the market place through sheer scale. More often than not, "real food" == "health food" == "luxury item". It's unfortunate and unhealthy.
But something that is different is how much of the food is prepared at the vendor from whole ingredients. Ingredients often acquired whole day-of from nearby markets. Ingredients that have a shorter supply chain and higher freshness due to the smaller geography.
Reading this study, I wonder how much cheap ease of access to less processed foods contributes to the lower level of obesity and higher lifespans.
[0] https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/
>In 2017–March 2020, non-Hispanic Black adults had the highest obesity prevalence (49.9%) followed by Hispanic (45.6%), non-Hispanic White (41.4%), and non-Hispanic Asian (16.1%) adults.
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult-obesity-facts/
That site does control for diet. E.g., my Korean-born wife has always had home-cooked Korean food growing up in North America.
Which is the second argument of OP, regional/fresh/not long distances etc.
There are 3 options in order of effort: eat the next snack from a pack in your hand, decide and stop eating the cookie that is in the pack; get another pack to continue eating.
It requires more effort to get another pack and that biases towards the “stop eating” outcome. If packages are large the the easiest action is continue eating.
Dieting as a bachelor presented challenges. Your frozen meals and pizzas are often one size that's too large or small. Your recipes are not going to be calibrated for one person, one meal, one sitting. Literally, every can in my pantry is too much soup or fruit to prepare for a single meal...
Restaurant eating makes portion control so difficult. Delivery, doubly so. The only recourse is to find a place that has tapas, appetizers, small plates that can be likewise doled out.
And yes, I am certain that food is engineered to foster addiction and dependencies. It's right there in the slogans, yes? "Once you pop, you can't stop!" "Betcha can't eat just one!"
whole and fresh prepared foods are pricey in the US.
The government subsidizes the crops used in processed foods, specifically corn, soybeans, wheat, sugar crops.
But these crops also supply animal feed, fuel, exports, and ordinary foods.