Is the human body meant to be this way?

L Sass

L Sass

Cathlete
Ok, up front, I hope this doesn't generate flames. I have a question that is based upon folks who are excessively large. The fact that they are large says nothing about their character, whether they are a good or bad person etc. They are just large. Ok - with that out of the way here is my question.

We just returned from a stay at Kalahari water park, where I would say about 70% of the people I saw were probably obese. (No I personally don't like the flaunting, but more power to folks who are comfortable in so doing. Eg - I saw a gal in a string bikini who had to weigh at least 230 pounds. The folds of her skin covered the strings and there was really not much left to the imagination if you know what I mean. She has a lot more confidence than I ever will. Good for her!)

But as I watched many of these folks walk, I noticed 3 distinct features that I really came to wonder if the human body is meant for - or has it adapted to? Very large protruding bellies threw the back and spine into a noticeable (and what looked to be uncomfortable) curvature. Secondly, very large thighs rubbed together and forced the feet to point noticeably outward instead of having the feet in line or front to back. Thirdly, very large arms, back, and torso resulted in the arms never hanging directly down by the body's side - but rather always pointing out in about 45 degrees (that may be an inaccurate estimate). I had a lot of time to people watch as I couldn't swim via doc's orders (that's a whole other story) so I got to observe.

Again, please don't take this as any kind of a commentary on the lifestyles or choices of any of these folks. I am just wondering if the body is meant to go that way, has adapted to being that way, or is it "out of sorts"? Does that make sense - I hope I'm asking my question correctly.


Lorrie

www.picturetrail.com/lsass
 
I think it points to what abuse the human body can tolerate.

I have a 5th grade student who is so obese that he cannot breathe correctly. His weight puts such pressure on his chest that it prevents proper inhalation/exhalation. The result? He can't get enough oxygen to function. He falls asleep in class every day.


It's no surprise his progress in school and overall education is impaired because of his weight. He struggles in class.

Susan L.G.
 
These adaptations of anatomical position resulting from obesity are definitely making the body "out of sorts". The anatomical norm is that the centre of gravity lies about 2 inches below the navel. With a protuding belly and goodness knows how many pounds pulling on the anterior aspect of the spine, the centre of gravity might as well be halfway to Cleveland!! The low back is being taxed 24/7, lying, sitting, standing, the human spine is not built to bear weight in that distribution.
The large thighs are causing the ball of the femur to over rotate in the socket which alters the range of motion in the 6 hip rotator muscles, most notably piriformis (which the sciatic nerve runs under/over or through depending on the person). There's a recipe for hip pain, excess wear and tear on the hip joint and burnish (cartilage) and sciatica...YIKES.
The inablility of the arms to dangle at the side of the body wreaks havoc in the upper back, chest and thoracic/cervical spine. Many obese people have a 'buffalo hump' at the junction of the thoracic and cervical spine resulting from kyphosis (a curvature of the upper spine resulting from poor posture). This causes neck pain, difficulty breathing, tightens the pectorals and causes the rhomboids to be stretched and weak and again puts the body 'out of sorts'.
Our bodies are incapable of naturally adapting to extreme obesity and sadly often results in a downward spiral can be irreversible. The extremely obese people we see at our physio/massage clinic rarely progress in their treatment plans unless they...wait for it.....exercise and decrease calories.

Take Care
Laurie
 
I think that's a good question and a astute observation on your part(Sorry you had so much time on your hands).

I think the first question should be... Were our bodies created to digest all the processed foods that are in our grocery carts? We grind everything into powder, dump chemicals in to increase the shelf life and the HFCSs to increase profitability, advertise how delicious it is and call it food. I think obesity can be tied to 'what' we eat much more so than why or how much. When the body can't properly digest the foods, vitamin and minerals aren't being supplied to the body, hunger's not being satisfied and blood sugars are spiked. It creates an unending cycle.

Education is the key to unlock obesity but because processed foods are a big money making industry it's a hard sell. And I'm preaching to the choir here because while I eat clean for myself I make sure to give my grandbabies treats and all the goodies they see on commercials. <sigh> However...Because of your observation and because I know how wrong it is, I'm really going to make a concentrated effort to curb this.

Thanks for the thread... it's very enlightening.
 
WOW - Laurie -- thank you for that answer. That was exactly the kind of education I was hoping for with my question. Your answer was fascinating - sad, but fascinating! It brings so much into perspective. We each make our own decisions, but this whole experience gives me more motivation to educate my family in healthy choices consistently. Thank you all for your input.

Lorrie

www.picturetrail.com/lsass
 
>I think it points to what abuse the human body can tolerate.
>
>I have a 5th grade student who is so obese that he cannot
>breathe correctly. His weight puts such pressure on his chest
>that it prevents proper inhalation/exhalation. The result?
>He can't get enough oxygen to function. He falls asleep in
>class every day.
>
>
>It's no surprise his progress in school and overall education
>is impaired because of his weight. He struggles in class.
>
>Susan L.G.




That is so very sad :(



[font color= purple size=+3]Catherine[/font]

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http://www.picturetrail.com/fit_fairy

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>I think it points to what abuse the human body can tolerate.
>
>I have a 5th grade student who is so obese that he cannot
>breathe correctly. His weight puts such pressure on his chest
>that it prevents proper inhalation/exhalation. The result?
>He can't get enough oxygen to function. He falls asleep in
>class every day.
>
>
>It's no surprise his progress in school and overall education
>is impaired because of his weight. He struggles in class.

Susan, my sister teaches 5th grade and she's getting a student next year in the same physical and intellectual state. She's already worried about what she can or can't do for him.
 
Wow Laurie!!! EXCELLENT answer!! Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed explanation. Great reading!
 
You're welcome Lorrie:) It was a great question. I am fascinated by the human body, bio mechanics (like the difference between sprinters and long distance runners) and the way the body will adapt (on the cellular level as well as the musculoskeletal level) when challenged in the good way. Glad I could be of help.

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
Sadly Lorrie,

No, the human body isn't supposed to be that way, but our body adapts to the changes and at the same time these changes cause pain and discomfort.

My sister is very obese...moving for her is a chore...laying, sitting, sleeping, moving all call for more pain.

As far as a bikini...I don't know that I will ever feel comfortable enough with my body image to wear one...but some people really don't know what they look like...but some men like bigger women.

My sister's husband is one of them. Some of her bed clothes...OMG...I have to tell her I don't want to know. But they pick it out together. It's incredibly interesting, but a lot of times, more than I care to know.

Celeste
 
What an interesting discussion. When I was at my fattest my back hurt all the time. I was just thinking yesterday how long it's been since I felt back pain. Once, a nursing assistant said to me something to the effect that I was a little "knock-kneed." I explained that it just seemed that way because my thighs were so fat it made my legs "look improperly aligned(!)" I knew I wasn't knock-kneed before I got fat and, sure enough, as the weight comes off (it's taking forever, in my legs), I do, indeed, appear less knock-kneed. As someone whose been obese for at least a decade and whose been everything else before and since I can tell you that extra weight puts pressure on all your joints (causing pain), forces your body out of alignment (causing more pain) and makes doing all but the most basic exercise impossible (the body is MADE for movement and not moving makes you rusty, causing more pain when you DO move). There's nothing good about being obese just as there's nothing good about all the fake food we're ingesting and which our bodies have no clue how to process. But, since we've allowed food manufacturers to put pesticides on our vegetables, additives in our water, fill our animals full of steroids (which we ingest when we eat meat), and convince us we can't possibly survive without the latest processed-to-the-hilt snack "food (that has nothing in common with anything found in nature)" it's now nearly impossible to get away from ingesting anything our bodies weren't made to process. Read the labels. What IS all that stuff??? Of course, people with money could go organic but where does that leave everyone else. Did anyone ever dream we'd have to pay more to get food in it's most natural state?

And what do you all think about the whole salmonella contamination in Mexican-grown tomatoes? Not that there's any reason why foreign-grown food would have to be bad for you (regardless of where you live and from whence your food is coming) but if tomatoes are easily grown in virtually all of the 50 United States, why would we ever need to import them from anywhere (including other states)? We don't know what's been done to the food, the vegetables (due to travel time) are less fresh, and transporting anything drives up the cost, especially these days. I've been talking with co-workers who buy most of their unprocessed food locally and they're spending A LOT do do so. Why? Greed. And now that going green/buying locally has become fashionable the vendors are seeing nothing but dollar signs. We should never have allowed the processed/poisoned food from the start but, since we did we, as a society, are paying a high price, with no end in sight.
 
No, I don't think the human body was made to be this way. Our technological, modern life that makes it easy to burn very few calories, coupled with the abundance of calorie-rich (and nutrient-poor) food, makes for a gross imbalance in the 'calories in/calories out' equation. I can't imagine many people getting a body like that if they had to hunt and gather for food, and be active from dusk to dawn just to survive.

Summer and its fashions definitely make bodies more noticeable, for better or worse. The other day, I noticed two people in particular--one man, one woman. I saw them both from the back at first, and they had basically the same shape: a boxy upper body, with weak shoulder and huge rolls of fat in the 'bra overhang' area; a flat butt with no visible muscle tone. I thought something very similar to the question in the title of this thread.
 
>It's no surprise his progress in school and overall education
>is impaired because of his weight. He struggles in class.

That is sad. And I'm sure the other kids aren't kind to him.
This seems like a situation where the school should do something---it seems almost like a case of child abuse. Unfortunately, there may be nothing the school can do.
 
>I think obesity can be tied to 'what' we eat much more so than
>why or how much.

ITA (in fact, with that whole paragraph).
I think many people in our society are overfed and undernourished. And one reason they overeat is because their body isn't provided with enough nutrients, and they keep getting hunger signals because the body is doing everything it can to get those nutrients (especially vitamins and minerals). Its so easy to get an excess of macronutrients and calories, and a deficit of micronutrients. And soild on which conventionally grown fruits and veggies are produced isn't as nutrient rich as it once was, lacking especially in minerals.

It wouldn't be hard at all to eat a days worth of calories fully from artificial 'foods' that don't really feed the body.
 
> Not that there's any
>reason why foreign-grown food would have to be bad for you...

Actually, there is one reason: pesticides and chemicals that are illegal to use in the US (because of how toxic they are and their carcinogenic properties) are allowed to be manufactured (by the EVIL Monsanto company), sold to Mexico where they are used on crops, and then shipped up to us! (I only buy organic produce from Mexico because of this). Not only is there the risk of residue still left on the produce, but people who work in the fields are forced to work in conditions that are harmful to their health.

(I'll step off my soapbox now!).
 
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