Surprised at numbers of overweight adults - surely more needs to be done?

[OrangeSunset]

Fully prepared for this to be fairly controversial but here goes.

We’re on holiday in the South West. I am honestly shocked at the numbers of overweight adults on the beach today. I’d say at least 50% were overweight, across all age ranges. Really it was more like 70%. DH and I are ok but being harsh I’d say we could/should each lose 5kg and be more lean. It’s just miserable and I was shocked - even more so when you see overweight kids too as we all know that sets them up for a lifetime of weight issues.

I’m not sure what my point is, other than to say that Boris cutting some adverts just isn’t good enough. The prevalence of shit food is condemning people to an unhealthy life with medical issues and challenges that us as humans just shouldn’t be subjecting ourselves to.

How do we break this cycle? Anyone who points it is out is seen as judgemental but it’s gone beyond the point of individual choice surely - it doesn’t work and is ruining people’s lives and perpetuating the cycle.

[Foodroofandfamily]

blame the food idustry as a whole. Blame the processed shite we were sold as an aid to quick dinners and fun for the kids. Blame the man who said fat is bad so took it out of foods and added a shit ton of sugar. Blame the diet industry who sell us the dream which is unobtainable in the long run. Blame the media for shoving these airbrushed images in our faces so we want to be perfect. Blame consumerism for making us want more so both parents have to work to pay for it making meal times rushed . Their is never an easy answer. If Devon is filled with overweight people, you have to ask how many are grockles? As far as im aware obesity is in every town, village, city and hamlet in the Uk. Are the obese not allowed to enjoy the beach? Stop being so judgemental. We need kindness in this world.

[chatterbugmegastar]

we don't really know what constitutes a healthy diet.

Really? So you wouldn't know how to eat healthily and keep a calorie deficit?

[justanotherneighinparadise]

@chatterbugmegastar

When someone finds the holy grail answer please let me now because fucked if I do

You just have to eat a calorie deficit

It isn't necessarily easy or pleasant if you're used to eating lots of food

But it works every time (unless you have a medical problem which needs balancing before you can lose weight)

No you don’t just have to eat a calorie deficit. Absolute nonsense and told to people adnauseum by burly men at the gym.

For all of you people that claim to be academics on here (and my god there are LOADS of you). I dare you to take the time to watch this video and then tell me it’s as simple as calories in/calories out.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=DFY0iPmzNqU

[TeamWTF]

grokles? Nice bit of othering there

[joystir59]

There are too many people on the planet so if all the fat people get covid and die the planet will not mind at all. Seriously if people can't wake up and realise they are not taking their health seriously and not taking responsibility for the quality of their own lives then it's just tough.

[Trashtara]

we don't really know what constitutes a healthy diet.

That's bollocks.

[joystir59]

And if you are that stupid that you can't work.out that eating too much fat and sugar is bad for you and making you fat then if evolutions weeds you out it is just tough. Especially in a world where children still die of starvation.

[joystir59]

Eating plenty of fruit and veg and small portions of protein and non sugary carbs will not make you fat.

[Itisbetter]

Of course there are medical reasons that complicate matters. But that alone can’t account for the sheer prevalence. I think having seen the numbers of vulnerable and/or shielded in the last few months we can probably deduce that it IS a bigger proportion than we all thought.

I think it will be massively improved by everyone working less hours in the office. We have a hideous work/life balance in the uk. Time for a shake up and happier healthier more engaged times.

[Trashtara]

I think having seen the numbers of vulnerable and/or shielded in the last few months we can probably deduce that it IS a bigger proportion than we all thought.

Not really. Not all those people are on medication which causes weight gain or have hormonal issues which cause weight gain.

Being medically vulnerable doesn't make you fat. A good diet will keep you a healthy weight unless you are on medication which causes weight gain or you have a hormonal issue.

[LunaNorth]

Modern life doesn’t work for humans.

We’re not supposed to be sedentary, we’re not supposed to be indoors all the time, we’re not supposed to be isolated.

We’re supposed to grow/raise/hunt our own food, find shelter, sleep when it’s dark and be up and doing when it’s light.

The world has evolved quicker than we have, and it’s showing in our physical and mental health.

We now live as consumers, rather than living how people need to live. And if you consume constantly, you get fat.

We’re all stressed to fuck, and it’s showing. We’re not supposed to live like this.

[SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun]

What is the difference between a ridiculous / unsustainable diet and having self control?

To lose weight you need to live by certain rules. All the different diets claim to be a lifestyle change forever but they all require a level of commitment and enthusiasm which I haven’t been able to maintain for longer than around 9 months to a year at a time.

I do think lots of us are addicted to sugar and I have had most success when I have given it up completely but once I fall off that wagon it is almost as though I make up for lost time.

Lockdown has been harder as my slimming group couldn’t meet, I had access to food in the cupboard and was stressed and bored.

I do think a cultural change away from snacking and junk food would help but it would come at a cost to the economy and would be difficult to impose.

I am about to try hypnotherapy - apparently this will change my mindset permanently. I do hope so but am sceptical that the effects will still be with me in 20 years time.

Exercise is great but doesn’t compete against snacking on rubbish.

[Foxinthechickencoop]

OP I live in a ‘niace‘ tourist part of the uk with lots of beaches. Obviously we’ve had a lot of holiday makers here (and non of the trouble that places like Brighton and Bournemouth have had so it’s been nice to see people enjoying themselves).

But... I have noticed this year a LOT of overweight children on the beach. I have been quite surprised. I’m talking primary school boys and girls with large rolls on their belly and boobs! And watching them even at that age you can see how their movements are already a bit laborious for them. I watched the other day and some were playing in a group and started to do some simple gymnastics on the beach (just cartwheels and handstands) and the over weight kids found it such hard work and gave up within a few minutes and went to get snacks while the slimmer ones carried in for about 45 minutes. I felt a bit sad as it seems like a self fulfilling prophecy for the bigger ones. But I’m not sure what the answer is.

[orangejuicer]

Wow some nice people on here. I was going to offer my perspective but I don't think I'll bother. FWIW I'm overweight and am trying to do something about it. I've had a difficult few years and the weight has crept up.

[justanotherneighinparadise]

Thing is we always knew what made us fat. Our grandmothers knew that potatoes for example, when eaten to excess would make you gain weight. It’s been written and accepted in literature since the 1800s. So how we’ve got to this stage where we are wandering about saying ‘everything in moderation’ and calories in, calories out is bizarre. It’s like we’re automated with no ability to critically think.

If it were that simple why wouldn’t all the people who have dieted in their lifetime lost weight and sustained that weight loss? Do you really think that all those people who skipped along to weight watchers or slimming world and happily paid them £5 a week, did so in the hope they’d put weight on? Or do you think those people might have really tried to follow the diet and yet it didn’t work for them? So we’re happy to accept that the majority of those people who failed to lose weight or lost a small amount and then no more weren’t following the diet correctly? We’re too weak willed and lazy to stick to it? Or could it be the diet doesn’t actually work because at the core of it is the flawed CICO paradigm which has no basis in science.

[whenwillthemadnessend]

I know. I went back to work yesterday for training day. 20 people.

Mixed ages from 20-70

4 men.
3 overweight one obese one very slim

16 women
6 obese 6 overweight 2 normal weight
2 slim

Lockdown doesn't help matters but it's bloody depressing.

If COVID doesn't shock people into doing it nothing will as it's now well
Documented that being obese is a risk factor.

[CitizenCandyKane]

And despite all the other horrendous shit happening in the world, fatness continues to be a source of unrivalled moral outrage on mumsnet. Ever 'twas thus. Because there is literally nothing more damning and morally reprehensible that you can be than fat.

[flowerycurtain]

@LunaNorth totally agree with you.

So many of societies ills today I think are due to lack of activity and being indoors.

We need some wholesale societal changes.

[whenwillthemadnessend]

Oh. I meant to add I'm in the borderline normal category and it's a battle to keep my weight in check. I can very easily skip into overweight.

I know some of it is genetic but I have to accept I can drink shitloads of alcohol or a load of cake etc everyday. I have to cut some stuff out. I have treats but I'll cut out a meal or fast two days a week.

I'm honestly not preaching It's just a fact of this country and I believe the sugar tax hasn't helped one bit Just pumped everything with more shit.

[Trashtara]

If it were that simple why wouldn’t all the people who have dieted in their lifetime lost weight and sustained that weight loss?

Because simple and easy are not one and the same. Weight loss is simple. It is not easy.

[frumpety]

Well it is quite reassuring from a personal point of view as I will be down there next week and in previous years have been the fatest on the beach. Size 24 swimming costume bought for this years trip

I need to do something about my weight and have been getting my ducks in a row mentally about how I am going to achieve that, I have come to terms with the fact that it will take me at least a year and will require some quite substantial changes to what and how much I eat and drink. I am aiming for a size 14 swimming costume this time next year, I have bought one in the sale and am going to keep trying it on each month to see how I am doing.

[SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun]

Having yo yo dieted a number of times in life it is quite hard to gather the motivation to try again. I think to myself that I know I can lose the weight but it will inevitably go back on again so why start. Yo yo ing is meant to be bad for you too. ☹️

[chatterbugmegastar]

Because there is literally nothing more damning and morally reprehensible that you can be than fat.

For me, I find that comment hurtful. I'm certainly not morally outraged by anyone with an addiction , food or otherwise. But I do think if I can help with a comment (eg calorie deficit) then that's great. If my comments aren't helpful then no problem but they do not come from a place of moral outrage

[CrowdedHouseinQuarantine]

i notice more and more overweight people, all ages, on the beach recently.
not elderly
but sadly children as well as adults
otoh we are in a pandemic, left to our own devices somewhat!

[Longtalljosie]

I’m living out of the UK at the moment in a country with very low rates of obesity. There’s no getting away from the fact that it is a bit shocking to return. I’m not pearl-clutching, just being honest. In the market town where my sister lives, there are a lot of young people on motability scooters. I’ve only seen one in the three years I’ve lived in my current town - an Octogenarian whizzes about the village in it.

The problem the UK has is Big Food. We know about the stuff in the supermarket - the sugar-laden tomato soup / ready meals etc - but what is more pernicious is their lobbying influence is why our health advice is so bad and outdated. Ideally we should be telling people to limit carbs / highly processed food / breakfast cereals - but the food industry bats this away each time.