Why are the British so comfortable being overweight?

[lookforthespace]

When it seems there is a lot of chit chat about now 'oh, you've lost weight!' People obviously want to be slim. But they can't do it?

Yet so many people, including myself,
seem to fluctuate and remain overweight

Is there a psychological difference between us and Japan/South Korea? It is it just because those countries will outright tell you 'You are fat'. And it isn't seen as rude or impolite to say so

@julieca

Interesting. Maybe we have a very idealised view of other countries then?

As seen on a HUGE number of mumsnet posts

See also ‘why is (insert random country) so fashionably and classy and well dressed compared to the British slobs.’

@Kanaloa This, definitely. Also, I see this most often when talked about French people. I used to live in France and 99% of people were not the classy/elegant men and women from fashion magazines more like normal people in jeans and second hand blazers...

As has already been said I think It's food norms, a lot of it.

I eat things nobody else I know does, because I prioritise my health and weight, no judgment on anyone else, all my friends and family find it baffling that I eat how I do. I'm called vain for wanting a smaller slimmer body. I've decided to be this way, but it is very much agsinst normal British culture where eating chocolate, fatty sugary pastries, sugary cereals etc is just what we do as part of our daily intake. Anyone who doesn't is weird.

And as others have said, long working hours and poverty really doesn't help, also the norm to spend leisure time eating and drinking, which can be put down to the weather as well as culture and our basic industry being hospitality nowadays.

Wow. Just wow. Another why is Britain so (insert negative trait of your choice. I suppose we could start another thread entitled "why is Britain so maligned" but I don't think there's enough room for all the haters to have their say.

@Sherryandbright

As has already been said I think It's food norms, a lot of it.

I eat things nobody else I know does, because I prioritise my health and weight, no judgment on anyone else, all my friends and family find it baffling that I eat how I do. I'm called vain for wanting a smaller slimmer body. I've decided to be this way, but it is very much agsinst normal British culture where eating chocolate, fatty sugary pastries, sugary cereals etc is just what we do as part of our daily intake. Anyone who doesn't is weird.

And as others have said, long working hours and poverty really doesn't help, also the norm to spend leisure time eating and drinking, which can be put down to the weather as well as culture and our basic industry being hospitality nowadays.

What do you eat day-to-day and what do you eat on special occasions and when out with friends?

@lljkk

According to Wikipedia, Brits are barely in top 20 for daily calorie intake.

Ipsos Mori has ~2021 data on who does the most exercise (not a lot of obvious correspondence between those 2 league tables). Brits came out as very average.

Is it that we have more of a notable poverty or class difference than other countries so obesity is very common in certain areas but middle class areas are thinner bringing our average down.

"Is it that we have more of a notable poverty or class difference than other countries so obesity is very common in certain areas but middle class areas are thinner bringing our average down."

Yes, could be. More inequality. Also a huge problem in the US.
I was with a friend from the continent in Merthyr once. He was just staring and honestly couldn't believe what he was seeing - most people obese.
I think that in some poor countries, they see things like McDonalds as aspirational though so it might be the other way around in some countries.

[quote Nomilkinmycoffeeplease]@Kanaloa This, definitely. Also, I see this most often when talked about French people. I used to live in France and 99% of people were not the classy/elegant men and women from fashion magazines more like normal people in jeans and second hand blazers...[/quote]
Oh of course. If you believed mumsnet everyone in every other European country is spending the day in ‘well fitted’ and ‘tailored’ slacks with smart shirts and blouses/sweaters made of ‘natural fabrics.’

My experience in these countries is that they know what leggings are just the same as we do. Whether you’re in London, Rome, or Paris, you’ll see some people dressed very sharp and trendy in lovely clothes, and some dressed a bit scruffy or more relaxed. It’s not a British thing.

Another thing I notice is that , very rarely, posters from other countries say where they’re posting from. You see “ I’m in another European country “ or as earlier in this thread “southern Mediterranean country “….. why not actually say where you’re posting from, which country you’re comparing Britain to?

Gwenhwyfar Most days I low carb,very little dairy, eat huge salads with olives, seeds and faux meat pieces, no sugary carbs. I drink black coffee or have it with low-carb creamer (££ but I sometimes just can't cope with black coffee)!

If I feel weight on me, I do 5:2 alongside low carb.

I never buy bread, cakes, biscuits, dairy,breakfast cereal, apart from faux meat (as I just morally wouldn't ever eat meat itself) nothing processed at all. I wouldn't eat (or buy!) most things that are a staple in most households, I just don't look at that sort of stuff as food.

On my days 'off' this is another story!Still no meat but if out with friends I do quite often just eat what I want. Last time I went out for dinner I picked a sweet potato curry and left most of the rice, but that was because it was an option in that restaurant and I felt it didn't veer from my usual diet too much. The time before that we went to a gastropub and I had a plant-based burger! So lots of crap in that. In my defense I did swap chips for a jacket potato-chips are just so calorific, but I don't always do that. And I am a bit of a sucker for a lovely white wine.

If I am having a 'sod it' day at home, I'll make home made bean dips or hummus and eat them with crackers, sometimes allow myself bread products, still not really unhalthy but I guess what I am saying is, because I prioritise being slim, I eat unlike anyone else I know-and I am guessing unlike the majority of people who eat 'normally' for this country, most of the time.

Surely this is the answer:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10327037/Britons-taste-junk-food-Europes-worst-rank-second-Sweden.html

Surely this is the answer:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10327037/Britons-taste-junk-food-Europes-worst-rank-second-Sweden.html

Britain is second only to Sweden for eating junk food?

Rather at odds with what somebody said at the start of the thread…

I am Swedish and people are getting bigger there too but the diet is much better than here and people are a lot more outdoorsy and active so it’s just happening slower there than in the UK.

[quote Nevermakeit]Surely this is the answer:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10327037/Britons-taste-junk-food-Europes-worst-rank-second-Sweden.html[/quote]
The headline of roughly 40% of our food intake being highly processed food is bad enough. Even more chilling is what it says further down…

that ultra-processed food makes up about 70% of the diet of British adolescents.

Rather than whinge about England bashing being unfair we all need to buck up and take a long hard look at ourselves and, whatever we are doing that promotes or contributes to this harrowing statistic; change it, even if that means changing oneself.

@1940s

Food culture is entirely different in Japan and the UK for example.

As a rule they don't have the 'bad' food that we do.

Look at school packed lunches / hot meals in school across different countries and look at special / National / cultural foods. You'll find ours are much 'worse'

Also if I had £10 to feed a young family I'd be tempted by the super cheap nuggets / sausage rolls / chips / white bread / processed ham etc. decent fruit and veg and good meat / veggie proteins are either more expensive and/or require skills to cook them.

I could bung nuggets and chips in the oven for pence per meals (if value brands) I'd need time and some level of cookery skills to turn dry lentils and veg into a meal.

((To caveat I actually don't eat any of the foods above or struggle with bad nutrition or weight - but that's how I understand it))

Hahaha as someone who lived in Japan for many years I can tell you that's just not true, there's just as much 'bad' food as there is here, people just consume it in a different way.

@Georgy12 “ Hahaha as someone who lived in Japan for many years I can tell you that's just not true, there's just as much 'bad' food as there is here, people just consume it in a different way.”

Could not agree with you more 👍👍👍