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

In this country children are rewarded for having a “good appetite” and finishing their plate (ie overeating).

as far as i know, and forgive me if im off base here - the Japanese are comfortable, culturally, with commenting when someone gains weight. It is not perceived to be insulting to remind someone they are becoming larger.
and for this reason, like we do with smoking, there's an incentive to dial it back when the comments begin.
I think i am trying to say, in my hamfisted way, that they are less precious about it than we are, so more inclined to keep at a healthy weight due to this 'soft pressure'.

in the west we have made these topics rather incendiary and about self worth, so we do not approve of society telling us what to weigh. I imagine the fat acceptance movement really baffles many people in the east.

so i think it is more to do with perception, cultural norms, etc.

also a more healthy approach to eating as pp's have said. I watched a doc last year about schools in Japan, and the food staff cooked the dinners WITH the children and they learned how to participate in the creation of meals at a very young age, whilst also learning about nutrition. This is a very positive mindset that i think empowers kids and will last a lifetime. Fresh and healthy food is a priority over there, whilst fast food and treats are for rare occasions (or western travellers!)

I have thought about this a lot since moving to North Italy, where people constantly discuss their weight and health around the dinner table.

I'm 5'6 and 70kg (11st?) and I have been told several times by my Dr/DH/MIL etc etc that I absolutely must lose weight and watch what I eat to make sure my liver is kept in a good condition, I agree with them.
We don't eat anything processed every meal is made from scratch ( and I work 9 hours a day!) and butter is very much frowned upon. I love butter and a pack lasts me months, so I wouldn't say I eat much. I make a cake once a month with olive oil and not butter. I buy one bar of chocolate a week, 80% cocoa and have a cube a day. In the UK I had a dairy milk and crisprs daily as part of my 'lunch'! I've noticed that none of my Italian friends crave or even like chocolate and I'm the only one who ever orders dessert when we're out.

DH & his family are appalled at the size of some of my British friends, and how much bad stuff they eat, especially cake, he's asked them several times if they ever consider what it is doing to their bodies, they genuinely don't seem bothered they're overweight or care about their hearts, livers etc, they're usually just shocked that he's asked them.

When I lived in UK around 20 years ago I was around the same weight as I am now, in fact now I'm lighter. Then I was a size 14, now I go there and I fit into a 12, here in Italy I'm an XL-XXL and that is where the problem lies for me, clothes sizes are wrong, misleading women into thinking that they're smaller than they are and portion sizes being huge.

The weather plays a part.
Two parents working means little time.
Long working hours.
Private gyms are expensive
Councils ones are often grotty.

Ready meals, even healthier things like shop lasagna have sugar added.
Additives in food, French bread is stale and solid with in a day. Uk bread lasts a week - what are the putting in it?

It's not a simple answer but nobody wants to be fat or obese.

Losing weight is easier said than done.

Chips with everything.

A culture where for many keeping fit is seen as a punishment not a lifestyle choice.

A culture where fat is the norm?

A culture where eating unprocessed food is an abnormal choice.

A lack of understanding about how our bodies function and the ridiculous calories in vs calories out, which takes no account of how our bodies deal with calories consumed,

Vanity sizing (Primark and M&S are both particularly bad offenders)

Buckets of Quality Street for £4. This stuff used to be a treat at Christmas, now it’s relentless.

De88 Me too. It seems I'm destined to remain a fat git

I have a friend living in a country where fat people are rare. She cant really cook. She regularly posts on social media very healthy meals she has in cafes that are dirt cheap.
I admit if I could go to a cafe round the corner and have a delicious healthy meal for £1, I would be doing that every night - the rest of my family could join me or sort themselves out.

Also many cultures feed their children way better than we do here, so kids learn healthy eating habits from a very young age.

Also alcohol!!

Full of empty calories and a majo contributor to poor health both short and long term.

As an ex heavy drinker it is startling to see the normalisation of excessive alcohol consumption. I don’t think we notice when we are submersed in the culture ourselves.

@Mybalconyiscracking

Buckets of Quality Street for £4. This stuff used to be a treat at Christmas, now it’s relentless.

To be fair - the amount they've shrunk them down - there's hardly any of the good ones in them anymore. They USED to be buckets, now they're barely a spadeful.

A culture where eating unprocessed food is an abnormal choice.

I think this is key tbh and what I was trying to say in my own post.

It is seen as far more 'normal' in the UK to buy a pasta sauce (for example) in a jar than to make it from scratch. If you do, people ask you why when you can just buy one easily and cheaply. And it is the same with many things. Portion sizes are also so much bigger now, which I always notice when watching people eat on TV shows from the 70s and 80s...their dinners are the equivalent size of what children are given now.

I feel like the norm for daily eating has changed so much and is now almost always geared towards the unhealthier/bigger choice unless you make a very conscious effort not to do that.

When I went to school (comprehensive, 70s and 80s) and took a packed lunch I was ridiculed for having wholemeal bread, no crisps or chocolate biscuits and the only 'sweet' snack raisins. I begged my mother to give me while sliced bread with marmite and sugary drinks like the others but she just laughed. Now of course I'm grateful.

In the UK there is a culture of inverted snobbery around food. If you don't eat McDonalds, ready meals or pizza frequently you are considered weird. I know some British people who won't eat fish because 'it stinks'. We are an island FFS. Other things like use of spices and garlic are 'forrin'. People claim that eating healthily is more expensive but that's because they are uninformed. Nutrition should be taught extensively in schools backed up by practical cooking lessons. Jamie Oliver tried. The manufacturers producing ultra processed food and the advertisers selling them are criminals.

@julieca

Also many cultures feed their children way better than we do here, so kids learn healthy eating habits from a very young age.

Agree with this too. Many children seem to eat from a totally separate menu these days, rather than just having what the family is having. It's all nuggets, chips and beans because they 'won't eat anything else', when the majority of the time (SN aside) it's because they haven't really been introduced to much else and always have the choice to demand convenience food.

As PPs have said, there’s such a completely different attitude towards how size/weight are discussed with friends & family; general food culture; & the utter lack of vanity sizing in “thin” countries. There’s also none of the Marilyn Monroe was a size 16! business; no endless “BMI is completely useless”; no “I’m morbidly obese but healthy” (despite what my GP has told me & the fact I struggle to walk a few metres).

It is complex picture though: the UK has serious issues with food poverty & food deserts; ever more people having to access food banks; & a desperate lack of understanding of, & treatment for, disordered eating & eating disorders that cause people to be overweight & obese (some cases of bulimia & OSFED [formerly known as EDNOS]; & of course BED, which some ED services do not offer treatment for).

A commercially and politically-supported obesogenic environment perhaps rather than being comfortable with the choices individuals make, layered with a greater proportion of working mothers compared with Japan.

Sundancerintherain
I live in forrin climes.
The main thing I have noticed is there is no such thing as vanity sizing in clothing. In the UK I was a size 14 in some shops, here I am an XXL.
Same. I'm 5ft9 and hover around 70kg. Put a couple on and no longer a size 12. Went to the local sports shop for some new hiking trousers and they had one badly fitting pair, "those are the largest in the shop ma'am." I had to order some online (well known brand) and they don't sell above a 14 (XXL). trying to do something about it now!
The general expectation is that you could run for an hour or hike in steep terrain for the day.

Honestly, so many sweeping statements on this thread it’s laughable

It is partly down to "junk food" being so available but you can choose not to eat it, or as much of it.

But it's really down to lack of exercise - a car-centric society, a ridiculous hatred of cyclists and poor infrastructure for walking and cycling so people don't do either.

If people walked or cycled more, and ate a bit less, they'd be slimmer and fitter.

British food is not exactly healthy, the traditional meals I was served up consisted of alot of meat and potatoes and bread, and then a hot dessert with custard - and school meals were very similar too. Those are the meals I was taught to cook because its what my mother made, and there was absolutely no cooking lessons in school so alot of people don't even have those skills and then rely on ready meals/freezer meals which are generally highly processed and full of sugar - which then make you crave more sugar/carbs after eating. British people are alot less active now, especially compared to many other cultures and countries where exercise is a daily part of life. It is cheaper to grab a 40p pack of biscuits and a 30p packet of instant noodles to save off hunger than it is to buy most fruit. It's also cheaper to run a deep fat fryer than an oven.

@1940s

I know a young mother struggling with money. She tends to spend her days eating biscuits whilst looking after her young children. It staves off her hunger / keeps her going and a packet of value biscuits can be 20pence from Lidl's or aldi.

So she's far from overweight then, is that what you're saying?

@A596881B

Honestly, so many sweeping statements on this thread it’s laughable

What's your suggestions if your going to criticise other people's?

One thing I'd like to see is a NHS / not for profit, Weight Watchers / Slimming World program that actually works.

Loads of people particularly women loose weight on WW/SW then pile it back on and more.
I'm convinced those diets are designed for you to fail, them to get repeat business.

So the group sessions weight ins must help motivation but the actual diets seem to fail people.

@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))

I agree. The food culture in so many places is entirely different to our own. They eat a higher quality of food. Mainly fresh and the snack culture just isn’t the same.