Culture

Whenever I fly back to the United States or Canada, the first thing that I notice is not how much more affluent it is out here, but rather how fat people are: Severely obese folks, Botero style, not merely just plump, are abundant. In Colombia, my host country, I might see one such person a year.

Photo by Emilio Labrador

There’s a host of well known reasons why North Americans are so ample, including a bad diet and a lack of physical activity. A home cooked meal is more often than not something microwavable from the frozen foods section of a supermarket, or scooped-out from a can. In contrast, a typical Colombian family shops for fresh ingredients and cook their own meals from scratch, and only eat at restaurants on special occasions, when the meal likely consists of traditional dishes rather than fast food. They also generally eat small portions, and while sodas are popular, they’ll drink a small glass of it, not a quart. This is how it is, and not just in Colombia, but in most of the world, except the USA and Canada, where the supermarket has three aisles of frozen foods and one just for sodas and another for candy bars and snacks. Add to that a life of lethargy, where everything is drive thru, and you get what you get. Big department stores offer electric scooters, presumably for elderly and physically challenged customers, but it seems that most who use them seem to be neither old nor disabled, just overweight. If putting one foot in front of the other is an arduous task, should that not be a reason enough to panic and completely change one’s lifestyle? I remember a time not so long ago when people would guiltily admit that they had gained a couple pounds over the holidays, but now they add on 30, 50, 100 pounds and keep going until it becomes mission impossible to turn back the tide. A full length mirror should be mandatory in every North American home, as I can’t imagine anyone seeing their rapidly growing waistline and thinking it’s fine.

Whatever happened to “keep America beautiful”? There’s one silver lining for me in this tragedy: when I’m up here, thanks to the panorama of hanging, giggling flesh before my eyes, I totally distrust North American food and constantly mindful of what I put in my mouth! But I won’t feel safe till I get back to the so-called third world where food is still respected!