Two thirds of adults in England are obese or overweight. It would make as much sense to ask what is different about the other one third.

I've posted about this many time as I'm on NHS Obesity prevention group (in a professional capacity)

It is an interesting question but there has been so much research around what causes obesity that this part is fairly well documented. What to do about it is another matter and what we discuss with various agencies.

The number one contributory factor is poverty. If you are poor, you are significantly more like to carry excess weight. Many reasons for this but we all know processed food is cheap, it's also quick & doesn't required much preparation important as you're more likely to live in a working and/or single parent family or have parents working shifts. If you live in a deprived area you are also more likely to be exposed to higher number of fast food outlets, have less access to outdoor space, unlikely to be as physically active, more likely to have mental health problems, more likely to have a long-term healthy condition....it goes on and is thoroughly depressing.

Other factors: genetics, where you live, injuries or illness, ethnicity & cultural norms all of course play a part, environmental factors, childhood experiences, (for example neglected children often have complicated relationships with food).

People don't just wake up one day and decide to be 'greedy' or 'lazy' (inverted commas as this is not a phrased I'd ever use and so rarely the case).

I think that the sizes in your social group make a difference. I was on holiday last year and there were a big group of people from Newcastle there. They were all very overweight but the women more so than the men. What I noticed though (and was slightly envious of!) was that they really didn’t seem to care! The women were all strolling around in bikinis with their stomachs hanging over the top, and happily drinking pints and eating all day by the pool.

I came to the conclusion that they weren’t self-conscious because they were all that size so I suppose it didn’t feel like a big deal. I live in an area where most families are very sporty and live quite healthy lifestyles, and obese people stand out, and there aren’t many, as well as very few overweight DC in the schools. So, everyone in influencing each other really.

But I wonder if you're (physically) healthier, Em? Does your immune system seem to be better than others? Genuinely interested.

The food noice is there because people have got bad habits. If you have regular healthy meals where you fill up you don't get the food noice. I had it in the US because I adapted to the snack culture and didn't feel the difference between being hungry and just wanting to eat something. Put on alot of weight. Back in Europe I started walking every day (you can't in the US) and ate regular meals. It took some time to get rid of the food noice but eventually it disappeared.

I've asked my DH about food noise and cravings. He doesn't have any. I'm sure some slim people do, but I personally believe most naturally slim people go through life feeling like I feel on mounjaro. I also find it super easy not to over-eat now, look at me with my self-control!

Oops, I tried to post my own post but must have repli3d accidentally haha. Sorry!

When you don’t have much money , food shopping can replace hobbies , going for the weekly shop etc and eating become a family recreation event . It can be the start of an unhealthy relationship ie eating is a social event rather than something we do live. Exercise not always affordable.
Likewise with so many people living in emergency housing accommodation with no cooking facilities , how are they expected to eat healthily?
Basic home economics and cooking has been sacrificed under governments interference with education likewise the support for those leaving Care. These things all impact health.
The line between those with Not everything is black and white .

Some live to eat (like me)
Some eat to live (like Ds1)

Some have a medical condition which impacts weight gain/loss/maintenance (like ds2)

ds1 has to make a conscious effort to eat enough to maintain his weight.

How come this rate of obesity is a (relatively) new thing then?

I love food and have a big appetite. Have always been prone to putting on weight, and food noise is definitely a thing! I have to work every day to stay a healthy weight. Most of this work is mental not physical. I do have to miss out on some things, though I always have three meals a day plus snacks. But overall I’m happier being this size. This is not a value judgement on anyone else - it’s just about me.

What helps keep me a healthy weight:

• don’t drink alcohol
• am vegetarian (close to being vegan really)
• really like the taste of vegetables so pile up my plate with them at every opportunity
• don’t like any formal exercise but I love walking to a ludicrous degree. I would walk from dawn to dusk in all weathers if given the opportunity
• am one of life’s forward planners so enjoy forward planning meals and entering on MFP

I've slim, body fat 20.4%, age 65, same weight as when I was 20. Work out a lot and watch what I eat. No alcohol, no desserts, no UPFs, but lots of healthy food. I had quite a bit of baby weight for a while in middle age but no menopausal weight gain later on. I had a semi-thyroidectomy so am medicated for that but it's made no difference.
It matters far more to me to look and feel good than it does to eat whatever I want.
I have no ability whatsoever to fool myself I look better than I do, so a lot of it is about being honest with yourself about how you look and what (and how much) you are eating. I decided late last year that I was getting a bit old and scrawny looking so I've trained hard and gained 2 kg of muscle so that's solved that problem for now. Body fat % stayed the same.
It's just a chemical equation at the end of the day and you can't let it get the better of you. It's not some magic power.

I think I fall into the slim category (never been over a size 12).

I stop eating when I'm full, which I think is a result of a childhood being made to finish every plate and perpetually feeling uncomfortable and sick.

I'm also not afraid of feeling hungry, which many people seem to be. I'm not saying I starve for hours or days, but for an hour or so before a meal I'm hungry, and I don't snack to fill that hole because I know a meal is coming fairly shortly.

I'm not especially active, I do Parkrun and Pilates and walk a bit. Not sure if it's genes as my immediate maternal family are / were largely overweight. Not sure about Paternal family as we're not in touch.

I am overweight. By about 10lbs. When I do get in to the right weight category I look like skin and bone on my top half, properly like skeletor, while my bum and hips remain enormous.

So I’ve decided to stay a 10 on top and a 12 bottom for aesthetics. So I could be out of the category and choose not to be. You have to live happily in your body, don’t you.

Yes I agree with this.

I don't have food noise other than when I'm hungry and the noise is for literally something to fill me up so I can keep going.

My joy in life doesn't come from food. I am not bothered about eating out, it always seems like such a faff.

Genes. I eat like a horse and don't put on weight (am a vegan though so perhaps that's helped keep the weight off heading towards 40, not sure).

Hi have a cheque for $50k (actually dollars not sterling).

This is unexpected and more money than I would have ever expected to randomly get.

Any ideas what would be a good use of it?

I am going to loss my Uc as soon as I cash it. Which means most will potentially go to making up the loss. So any advice?

It’s common sense, surely — not overeating. I maintain a size 8 and have always been by eating whatever I like in moderation. I’m not crazy active but I’ll walk between 5-10K steps a day. I believe in eating anything including junk food and not overdoing it. I do not snack and, this is probably unrelated but personally I hate eating breakfast and generally eat one large meal a day as it’s convenient to my schedule and lifestyle.

Came here to say this. Also Dr Karan Rajan recently did a video on Oprahs interview and explained complexities of how metabolisms vary and it really isn’t about just having more/better willpower than the next person.

I’ll admit to being quite overweight at the moment, for me it’s a combination of a lifelong condition and the medication to treat it, Co-morbid conditions that go along with my main condition, usual life stresses and an injury…. Should I be judged better or worse than someone who apparently just can’t stop cramming their face with food? On the surface we look and act the same so how can anyone tell why someone is overweight?

There are as many reasons/explanations for people to be overweight as there are fish in the sea…

Although I'm reasonably slim and so are most of my friends, I don't know anyone who stays like that without making an effort.

Unlike those who found it easy to be slim when they were young, I was overweight in my late teens and early twenties, not surprising perhaps as my mother died of cancer when I was eight. Eating for comfort meant eating stodgy food.

At some point I realised that I hated being overweight and how clothes looked on me and changed my eating habits. That doesn't mean I don't have a sweet tooth or enjoy some stodgy food, but if I put on a few pounds over Christmas I cut back on the extras immediately, before I go up a size.

One advantage I had was spending some time in a couple of European countries where eating habits were more moderate. I learned a lot there.
Once you get used to eating mainly healthy food and not too much, you feel so much better that it makes the effort worthwhile. I'm convinced that a lot of people in this country don't know what that feels like.

I know I can put on half a stone in a week and keep going but I don't let myself because losing several stones would be so hard I don't think I could do it.

I wait until 4pm to eat most days, a cup of coffee with sugar when I wake up, another at 11. I don’t think about eating before early afternoon. Then, it’s only a couple of hours to
wait, not too hard, but I think it’s essential to switch from having “food noise” to being really hungry. After 4pm, anything goes and I m a snacker, but I overall eat less than with a regular 3 meals diet.

Interesting thread. I think a lot is down to genetics. My friend does at least 3 hard gym classes a week, walks everywhere & has a reasonably physical job. She cooks from scratch & is still overweight.
Thinking back to when I was a child ( 50's) now. We didn't snack between meals & sweets, crisps etc were a treat. Now they're part of a meal, think meal deal. I remember being shocked when my friend asked if I wanted crisps with my sandwich!
I think the emphasis should be on health rather than Bmi. A lot of skinny people eat crap too, no fruit, veg etc. Remember that program Super size super skinny.
This will be a debate until the end of time.

FFS - I’m amazed at the level of wilful ignorance of some people on here. Perhaps they could be encouraged to do a bit of reading on science and psychology.
Your size is not just determined by ‘eating less’.
Yes, personal responsibility does come in to some cases, but you surely understand that for some people eating less does not simply result in losing weight. It can depend upon genetics and insulin resistance, medication etc….
I say this as someone who only tipped into mildly overweight in my 40s due to my body suddenly refusing to process carbs in the same way. Once I learned the reason, I was able to go back from a size 12 to a size 8. Never ate big portions, junk food or stopped moving.

Lots of slim people having eating disorders too- that’s just the reality. Orthorexia is epidemic amongst gen X/ millennials

For me it was realising I am an emotional eating. That was 90% of the battle.

I’m slim - A UK size 6.

I don’t over eat
I don’t drink excessively
Takeaways are a once a month thing but I can go months without one
I’m active and exercise

I often see what overweight people eat in a day on TikTok and it can be 3-4 meals out/takeaways in ONE DAY. Becki Jones I’m talking about you. You must be very miserable to eat to the excess some do.