Who’d have guessed?
News flash from the Amish of southern Ontario: exercise more, and you’ll be thinner.
It turns out that walking and working work wonders for the overweight. According to an NYT article, researchers found virtually no obesity within a Canadian Amish settlement. Eyewitness reports attest to similarly slim-and-trim Amish in communities all across America.
This despite one of the heartiest, fattiest, just-like-grandma-used-to-make type diets you can find anywhere. Ever tried Amish fried bologna? Amish peanut butter? Heaven-sent, yes, but calorie-heavy is an understatement.
The thing with wider society is perhaps less about the calories that people take in, than it is about a sometimes mindless addiction to convenience. For too long, North Americans have treated convenience as king. It has its price.