If two thirds of adults in the UK are overweight...

[heynori]

Then how is everyone on MN a skinny rake? Because in the 'what have you eaten today' threads people are listing an apple and gasp of fresh air as a whole days worth of food, and when talking about clothes sizes everyone seems to say they're a size 8

FWIW I'm a healthy size 10. Always have been, and probably always will be as I've already had my DC, but I eat like a normal person!

Also, I wouldn't say two thirds of my friends are overweight at all. They're my size or slightly smaller/larger but not by much. Where are all these two thirds of overweight adults hiding?!

I don't think a 'what did you eat?' thread is going to bring out anyone who isn't proud of what they ate that day.

You'll see plenty of discussions on here about food/weight in other threads and lots of different perceptions of what's healthy or overweight. There's a womam in Style and Beauty being told off for describing herself as 'plus size' at 16-18.

I agree that to some extent if you are from a more affluent area there are reasons why the demographic tends to be on the slimmer side....BUT … not always.

I am very slim but following my divorce and sick leave I am literally watching every penny and am regularly terrified about money.

AND I firmly believe that being slim does not automatically equate with being healthy as a lot of people assume.

My hospital consultant has often commented that he thinks I am petite bordering on the underweight (not in a good way), I don't own any scales in my house, and my diet is really not good (in a neglecting myself or grazing on shit which I would not want to confess to).

I do buy things I fancy (chocolate biscuits etc) only to find my chocoholic 11 year old daughter has nicked it from the kitchen and hidden it to eat in her bedroom .

So I do firmly believe that having a higher BMI does NOT automatically mean you are unhealthy (ignoring the NHS definition of obese) - I would bet you are healthier than me. I just don't eat proper meals (too busy looking after my 2 kids) and I suspect I burn off a lot of nervous energy.

And I use public transport so yes there is a lot of exercise I do without really thinking about it I suspect.

But yes the village I live in would no doubt be deemed to be on the affluent side of the equation.

Well I'm huge and on Mumsnet.

I can easily believe it. I live in an affluent city in France, where most people are slim. In DSs class of 30, there is maybe 1 overweight child.

When I go “home” to where I grew up in Scotland (rural, close to a mixed / poor city), I am stunned by how many people are very overweight. And the kids! Other things: on my relatives FB pages and photos, the majority of them and their friends are clearly overweight. And if I watch anything on the BBC that involves the public or minor celebrities- there are generally a lot of overweight people.

I could easily believe that at least two thirds of the people I saw / see in the UK are overweight or obese.

Because they're MN threads with the OP and/or first posters saying they don't eat a lot so the MNetters (of whom there are many) who post on other posts about eating entire loaves of bread with butter or a jar of biscuit spread don't post.

Same reason why 'am I drinking too much?' posts with OP saying they drink 10 units a week and the first few posters say 2 units a month, result in mostly posts about minimal or zero drinking. But another thread saying 'anyone else drinking loads during lockdown?' attracts the posters drinking a lot.

@Whatchagotcha Are you really stunned? Surely if you now live in France vs Scotland you've probably noted the massive difference in price/availability of 'locally sourced' fruit/veg in France vs Scotland? Shipping hikes prices massively when you live in a climate that can't accomadate much beyond hardy strains of veg being grown without very expensive hot housing.

I don’t see this, on those threads I’m always astonished at how much folks eat, and I constantly see on here overweight people posting they are over weight. There are also a shit ton of diet threads. Maybe you focus on the ones where people are slim or eat less?

@Lalala205 fruit and veg are mostly expensive and if bought in supermarkets, bad quality here in France. Cauliflowers last month were €5.00! The cheapest I ever bought one was €1.50. They're 89p in Morrison's. And yet most of Europe's cauliflowers are grown in Brittany.

Potatoes are double the price of the UK.
The French eat more seasonally and fruit prices reflect this.
And I live in SW France.

Fortunately we have plum, fig, cherry, apple, pear and peach trees in our garden.
I would give anything for a Bramley Apple tree though.

Most people who say they are a size 8 aren't. They might have some that are marked size 8 that fit but the clothes aren't size 8 either.

I'm 5'7" and 10st. Certainly not tiny or skinny but about halfway in the "healthily" BMI range. My measurements make me a 12 on top and 14 on the bottom but quite often, especially for tops, an 8 in places like Next & M&S is too big and I never buy more than a 10 jeans.

I agree with others, the people who've eaten 3 bags of crisps and a deep fried Mars bars won't post on those threads.

FWIW, I eat 3 good meals a day. Try to eat food that has good nutrition more than junk, but don't worry about it too much. I don't snack and I exercise a lot.

I think our perception of what overweight is has changed. If I put my measurements into a BMI calculator it says I’m am just into the overweight category yet I wear size 12 and can fit into some size 10 clothes. I don’t think I look bigger than most people but I am actually classed as overweight.

The weight loss threads tell a different story...there are a lot of people struggling with their weight.

I live in a northern city and for sure I can eyeball a street and it’s clear 67% of adults are overweight or obese. Easily. I’d say it might even be more.

I work in city centre London a lot and there is a marked difference. Many more slim people. But then fitness has become the new thang for ‘highly successful people’ it’s no longer the ‘fat cats’, I mean if you are in the ‘elite’ and you’ve not done an Iron Man, who even are you?

The average wedding dress is a size 14, and they probably slimmed for it.

I just don't eat proper meals (too busy looking after my 2 kids)

You need to make yourself a priority and ensure you eat properly. Having children isn’t an excuse not to eat (especially an 11 year old, they don’t require constant care?). Every other mother manages to sit down and eat regular meals, it can be done.
I don’t want to sound critical at all, I hope you start taking better care of yourself. You deserve to be healthy.

Look at any thread on eating / food on mn and the nastiness and lies come out. People won't be honest because people will basically call them a pig.

I was on a thread about buffets and said I go up and get some food but then go back later for some more. One pp accused me of competitive under eating and was making passive aggressive remarks about me on other threads weeks later. She was batshit.

It's been interesting reading the "things that were weird in your childhood" thread. Theres a lot about food. In the 70s and 80s food was relatively expensive and in the UK quite dull . Your mum might have done a good Sunday roast but it was plain food the rest of the week. You didn't eat between meals because if you "spoiled" your dinner that was wasted money that mattered. There wasn't the same choice of food everywhere, eating out and takeaways much less. I think a generation has grown up, discovered that there is an abundance of affordable and actually nice food (whether healthy or not) and we have just gone for it. And the people who sell fast food/lunches/bakery/ ready meals etc are quids in. It's a culture shift now not to overeat, there's a lot of conscious ignoring and turning away needed, not everyone has time choice or willpower to fight the fight.

I agree with others, the people who've eaten 3 bags of crisps and a deep fried Mars bars won't post on those threads

You’ve clearly not read the threads. They do.

This is no different to the ridiculous threads that pop up saying “everyone on here earns over a hundred grand a year” but when you look at the threads the majority of posters are low to average.

My bmi is 25.6 so I am classed as overweight. I am a size 12 (10 in jeans) and I work out 5/6 days a week. I've got toned, slim legs which make me look a lot thinner than I am. I'm an apple shape so I carry most of my weight on my tummy, which I hide well with clothes. I could definitely do with losing a stone to get into a healthy bmi but I just know that it would come off my legs and bum, making them skinnier and then I would look even more out of proportion, so it puts me off.

I think that there are probably a lot of people, like me, who are slightly overweight but don't necessarily look overweight.

5’8” and size 16, and I live in London. I am not that unusual size wise in my professional job either. Long hours at a desk do that. I am actually losing kgs in lockdown as I get to walk the dog for longer!

I also eat a lot of vegetables and minimal sweet stuff because I am vegan and gf free. Don’t care enough about my weight to eat less than 1500kcal a day, which is probably what ai should be doing to lose more weight.

I think it’s definitely the case that there are some pockets of the U.K. where obesity is rife. I have a family member in one of them. The number of mobility scooters - with young people in them - was quite shocking. I’m not in the U.K. at the moment and the only scooter I’ve seen belongs to a man from the local retirement home who whizzes around the local area every day for fresh air. I don’t know what the answer is.

People tend to get more overweight as they get older so if you are looking at a youngish friendship group you might get a false impression. Take a look at your parents or grandparents social circles too. Also, you might be surprised at what overweight looks like. I've always been a healthy weight - typically a bmi of 21-22 throughout my adult life. However post partum I weighed myself and was shocked to find my bmi was 24.9 - right on the borderline of overweight. I could fit back into many of my size 10 pre-preg clothes and was a very comfortable size 12 (at 5'6). I doubt anyone would have looked at me and thought I was overweight.

I'm always surprised at the "what have you eaten" Thread because I am in the obese category and don't eat anywhere near the amounts a lot of people seem to. Also I am pretty fit and exercise most days. That said, in order to maintain any level of reasonable weight I have to exercise pretty intensely and eat almost nothing. My DM is the same. I have friends who eat McDonald's breakfasts every day and aren't as fat as me (or as active) whilst I eat either a light breakfast or lunch and a meal in the evening. I just think it's one of those things. I'm just trying to
Make better choices eg no butter/bread/pasta etc I am losing weight. Lost about a stone in 6 weeks, and will continue to do so until my bmi is normal weight (as long as I don't look odd as I am very broad shouldered and at 10st 9lb I may look ill).

The mumsnet demographic tend to be middle class and southerners who are less overweight. Also the only people posting in those threads are those who want to show off how well they've eaten. And if you're bigger you dont know what you've eaten.

*by southerner I mean London and surrounds

It tends to be more accurate if people give their weight in stones (or kg) and height rather than clothes shop sizes which are very variable. I am at the very top of the healthy weight for my height on NHS charts. I would like to be further down.

As for people on MN - I think there are loads of diet threads and lots of larger women wanting to lose weight as there are everywhere.