To be a bit envious of this lifestyle? (USA)

A good percentage of people have washing machines in utility rooms in the uk. 🤔 A lot of US homes are hard to put character into.

I feel the same way. Their houses are huge and the scope for decorating beautifully seems so much better than here. I’m sick of washing machines in kitchens…

My DD 12 is encouraged to play sports, she’s in football and netball teams albeit in her slightly rundown secondary school 😂 there are also art, drama and homework clubs I believe, they have student of the term for different lessons.
in juniors she was actively encouraged in cricket, athletics, football, netball and academically.
being outdoorsy can start as simply as finding a local woods and taking a walk.

North America is a continent. South America is another one. And even if you just take the US, it's functionally a continent due to its size. You get the same diversity as a continent because it's continent-sized.

The UK has far, far more types of crisps, cakes, and chocolate bars than the US does. In the US, you can't get Smarties, Fry's chocolate cream, Turkish Delight, chocolate buttons, Crunchies, Twirls, Flakes, Wispas, Picnics, Milky Bars, Minstrels, Maltesers, Lion bars, Boost bars, curly-wurlies, and god knows what else. These don't exist in the US, and there are no equivalents. We have about five chocolate options. For crisps, it's Lays (Walkers), Pringles, or Doritos. You can't get Discos, Skips, Frazzles, Wotsits, Hula Hoops, Monster Munch, or Walkers Sensations. And there are virtually no cakes, not like the UK where we have Kipling's etc.

Last time I was home, I took a photo of a couple of aisles of Sainsbury's to show my American friends. An aisle packed top to bottom, end to end, just with crisps. Same another with chocolate. You do not see that in US supermarkets, which isn't surprising since the UK has way, way more options in crisps, sweets, and cakes.

In the US, the snack aisles are full of peanuts and other nuts, and SO many different types of crackers.

i think you can have an outdoor lifestyle in UK if you dress for the weather. However the weather is a limiting factor when it comes ro some activities such as school sports eg rugby being cancelled due to frozen pitches and cricket due to rain …….

Personally I think hunting is vile so that would be a big no.
I’m also concerned that the quality of education isn’t great for some people. Outdoor life- rather be in Australia thanks where they don’t have guns.

I mean, come off it, the U.S supermarkets don't have the aisles of junk the UK does! We have literally imported the bad habits from the U.S since the 1980s. Incidentally, I visited the U.S for a long period in the mid 80s and my lasting memory as a little child was the endless sugary, highly coloured cereals, sweets and drinks that were available in the supermarkets as I was constantly pestering my Mum for them.

I know what Whole Foods is, they have some stores in London, lets face it, it isn't going to be frequented by many of the population so it isn't an accurate depiction of the quality of food available to middle classes let alone the majority.

There might be availability but the fact remains obesity is more of a problem for the US which isn't a continent, it's a country, if you go with your thought process and compares it to Europe which is bigger the average rate of obesity is 23%.

America is amazing, shame about the government

I've been here 18 years, and I concur wholeheartedly with the above.

The supermarkets are bursting with healthy food here, just like at home in the UK. Food is more expensive in the US, that much is true. But organic beef and bananas are cheap, because they're produced here, and a plant-based diet with legumes and pulses is very inexpensive. Oats are also cheap. I don't look around me and see 42 percent of people are obese, far from it. I don't know if people in the South are larger because their culture includes a lot of fried food.

You can make dishes with lentils, pulses, legumes, and get a gym membership at Planet Fitness for $10 a month. The majority of people here are not obese. The 40 percent that are, according to stats, I don't know why that is, but it's not because we don't have lots of healthy food available at different price points - we do!

I’ve not watched it but I have experienced the outdoorsy life in America.

we went to Sedona once and watched as young kids stripped down to their underwear and jumped off cliffs into a lake below - parents eating picnics along the side of the lake cheering the kids on - fairytale style scenery - it was amazing.

Another time we were in a part of California where it was normal to just jump on your horse and go off exploring for the day. Utah - off for a gallop through monument valley - Wisconsin - hire a boat and go off sailing for the day, might see a bear or two …

America is amazing, shame about the government

I personally don't know anybody like that but TBF it may be the case for a different demographic. The facts are that 42% of people in the U.S are obese as opposed to 26% in the UK, I mean it isn't great but the statistics don't suggest it is as bad as almost half the population!

You have to have the money for all that travel, though - flights, accommodation, food, and spends aren't cheap for many people!

Again, I don't know what you mean. Everyone is super-healthy where I am. The gyms are packed at 5 am. Low rates of obesity in Boston, I think. The US is a continent, something that Brits seem determined not to understand. It's way, way too big and diverse to say that it's this or that.

The stats seem to say 40 percent obese, not 42 percent. Still a lot, I agree. Probably because they are choosing to eat the bad stuff (and many more factors - I know it's not that simple) but it's not through lack of healthy food available. You go into a supermarket here and there are fruits, vegetables, organic meat and fish, pulses and legumes, just the same as in the UK. 🤷‍♀️ And we have Whole foods, which makes Waitrose look like Lidls. In Boston the fresh seafood is incredible, and in the States as a whole, organic high-quality beef is quite cheap due to it being raised here. Bananas are also very cheap, oddly.

US supermarkets have NOTHING like the aisles full of crisps and chocolate that we have in the UK.

There are people in the UK who eat nothing but crap, just like in the US.

ETA: No one is forcing anyone to eat a bad diet in the States. There is plenty of very healthy food available if you want to eat it.

Yes, because walking across farmland could be dangerous. Plus it is trespassing.

there are acres and acres and acres of public parks with trails of all kinds for all abilities in every region of the country. There is absolutely no reason to walk onto farmland.

Like I said I visit family in Scandinavia regularly, it doesn't take me 3am until 1pm to get from the south east of England to Copenhagen. Equally, the argument isn't about the cost which isn't astronomical, it is about accessibility to culture and if you live in Europe, you have that access. Even if you get the early flight you are there for an 8am start- it takes less than 2hrs to Copenhagen so the fact remains it isn't that far away whatever time you travel to experience many different cultures and museums and galleries!

Spain's system is not insurance-based. It's actually very close to the NHS, at least in principle: financed by social insurance contributions and/or general taxation, and free at the point of use. In practice it's brilliant for A&E and serious illness, reasonably OK for primary care (you can generally get a GP appointment the next day), and a bit slow for elective treatments because there are waiting lists. A friend has been waiting 6 months for physio for plantar fasciitis and it has resolved itself spontaneously (so maybe it was not a bad idea to make them wait...).

There is also a private healthcare network in Spain, but again it's like the UK with something like Bupa. People get cover for elective treatments, or so that they can get scans or blood tests done a bit quicker if they are in the middle of cancer treatment. There is no real joining up between the private or public systems.

Much of Wales is very rural, although obviously most Welsh people live in the less rural areas.
However, I wouldn't say it's a great place to be outdoorsy just because of the weather.
If I had to think of somewhere for being outside all the time, I'd say Australia, despite it being so hot sometimes that's probably an issue in itself.

The US is a massive country with a much lower population density than the UK. So are most other countries as it happens (France for example has roughly the same population in roughly twice the land area).

@Goldenbear because in my experience there good quality food is actually expensive , and loads of people it seems don’t cook on a regular basis as it’s actually cheaper to grab cheap un nutritious crap - in all fairness plenty are like that here too but portions not as massive

No, if you're going on holiday and your flight leaves at 6am, you have to get up in the middle of the night to get to the airport 2-3 hours before, etc etc. Not leaving the house at 6am.

Yes, from the UK, and yes, visited Europe. Flying always means lots of extra time. Ferries too, because you have to actually get down to the port. Eurostar probably best, but the tickets that get you in at lunchtime are the most expensive.

So why is 42 % of the country obese not just overweight, obese?

Leaving at 6am is not the middle of the night not if you are used to commuting. Like I said, I do the trip regularly so I do know what I'm talking about. In terms of geography it makes sense that this is possible. Just as if you were driving across state you'd have to set off early but the difference is you don't have the cultural landmarks and heritage of different countries across states. I mean look at a map and you'll see how this translates into reality for many Brits! Are you from the UK, if so did you actually visit much of Europe when living here.

IMO the economy of a country should be to improve the lot of everyone and in U S there is a shocking difference between the poorest and the rich. This is capitalism red in tooth and claw. No social security net to help the poorest, no NHS, education starved of resources and no way out.

A lot of crowing on M N saying my relatives don’t live like that nor do they as US citizen currently living there but you judge a country by the way it treats its poor and its children.

None of US presidents apart from Obama who tried to introduce basic social security, mostly this obsession that social security is communism is put forward as reason.

And it’s going to get worse

Britain has more public footpaths than anywhere in the world (suggest to an American that it might be possible to walk across farmland where they are and they'll look at you like you've grown another head). Check it out:

UK footpaths, bridleways and byways online map | FootPathMap.co.uk

I've often walked for hours without seeing a soul.

I think you’ve been going to the wrong places.