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

Processed foods, high sugar foods etc are rife here and food addiction isn't treated like an illness by the NHS so it's a mismanaged illness.

And like many mismanaged illnesses you can't break the cycle.

It all starts with culture, politics and it's a really deep and interesting topic if you actually care to look into it.

My doctor telling me to Go Vegan and then writing me a list of books to read about how it's good for the environment isn't going to break years of psychological trauma due to social or societal strains that I get comfort from turning to the foods that are available to me.

the nhs advice is for all asians though!

@Namechangetimes100 @onlychildhamster It may actually be aimed primarly at people of Indian descent. For instance they are at higher risk of diabetes or heart disease at a lower weight than a Caucasian person, or in general. www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/south-asian-background This is genetic but maybe also exacerbated by the use of ghee, which is high in saturated fat.

They're not necessarily smaller in build overall, but tend to be shorter.

@julieca

Vintage clothing is irrelevant. Frames used to be much smaller. My gran who got fat in her old age could still fit into small sizes because she had such a tiny frame.

Hah, some of us are more 'vintage' themselves. I was a young adult in the 80s. My frame hasn't grown since then! Unless you are talking 50s vintage...but even so 80s sizes were smaller.

Well some people would argue that it’s NH reasons and that’s the reason for people being overweight.

I would disagree. I think some people love the wrong types of food because it tastes so nice and they don’t have the willpower to stop eating more calories than they burn.

I do think some people are genetically able to burn fat faster than others though

Mental health

@glimpsing I agree fat shaming does not help. DP used to work in a job to help people get more healthy and lots of fat women would not go to the gym because they were too worried they would be laughed or sneered at.

About 8 years ago I was with a friend in an inner city area of London, filled with tower blocks. The high street had about three bookies, a few pubs and take aways.

A woman came out of a takeaway with her three kids, two walking one in a buggy. I watched her walk to one of the towers. I wondered how she could get good, veg heavy food up there.
She would have to take a bus (with the children?), buy some good veggies (heavy), get the bus home, push child with the extra weight of the food while also managing the other two, get to tower block but would the lift work? Would she have enough money for the meter to cook the food? It would take at least 2 hours to do that, and she would have a serious limit on what she could buy in each run.

Or would you just get chips and a burger for a few pounds and go home.

There was nothing in the immediate area or even next to immediate area to help her "make the right choices". Nothing.

I think we really underestimate how very hard life is for an alarming amount of people in this country.

@me4real thought ghee was a relatively ‘healthier’ fat to cook with as it’s got a high smoke point, compared to olive oil? Guess it’s more about the volume of oil used. Some of my in laws food, specifically wedding food is very very oily. Desserts are incredibly sweet too, think I recall reading that Asian people ( of Indian subcontinent origin) are more likely to develop diabetes too?

@oneglassandpuzzled

I think a lot of people who are overweight in the UK live in communities where they see themselves reflected.

When I go (on v. rare occasions) to somewhere like Holland Park or Kensington or central Paris, I feel like a heifer. My BMI is actually just under 21.

My BMI is 20, makes mental note to avoid Holland Park or Kensington.

@glimpsing I am in my fifties, I mean proper vintage. My gran had dresses that I could never physically fit into no matter how skinny I was.

[quote julieca]@glimpsing I agree fat shaming does not help. DP used to work in a job to help people get more healthy and lots of fat women would not go to the gym because they were too worried they would be laughed or sneered at.[/quote]
Yes, it doesn't help. I used to go running at the crack of dawn in 'disguise'. I figured no one would be up and if they were they wouldn't recognise me with my hair tied back, in a peaked cap and no makeup! Not braved a gym yet, though. I'm still a bit intimidated, although I easily run a 10k. Now I think I'd be seen as puny and uncoordinated so I do my weights at home.

They are catching up to other countries now but people in Japan are genetically a bit smaller framed, it isn't just diet.

We don't have to emulate them as a society where anything above a size ten is abnormally large .

We should look to European neighbours for an example of how to eat better and be healthier, not the far east or the US!

I am a size 12 (at 65) but my great-aunt's evening dress from the 1950s has a size 16 label in it. So vanity sizing is definitely a factor, which has become more noticeable since the 1980s. But in 1987, on holiday in Singapore when I was a US4/UK8, only the XL blouse fitted. Global companies Uniqlo, for example resize garments for the west and Asian markets.

And food culture also has a role, as does climate. I like cooking, from scratch using raw seasonal ingredients, but winter meals tend to be warming casseroles, in place of summer salads. If the temperature is 10C or thereabouts, most people want a different menu to the one they would choose in the tropics.

@CanIPleaseHaveOne there is a lot of research about how in most places in Britain, making the unhealthy choice is the much easier one.
I have lived abroad where the healthy choice is the easy one i.e. local cafe with cheap healthy food, corner shop with lots of fresh fruit and veg. You had to travel to but highly processed foods and really hunt to find a ready meal.
If we lived in a healthy country, the healthy choices would be the easy ones.

Obesity is endemic now and I agree with a PP - where you live / your friendship circles make a HUGE difference. At my children's primary there are very few overweight children; at my nieces school they are the norm.

I do wonder if it's a problem in name only though. Govts aren't willing to tackle the root causes (which I know are varied, layered and complex). But honestly - we probably cannot support a healthy body / broken mind generation any longer. We know that illnesses related to brain deterioration - eg dementia - and complex cancers cost the health service / tax payer. Die younger of a heart attack = less costly? in which case bleat on about obesity / poor choices blah blah but do nothing and let this generation be the first that dies before their parents??

not a nice thought I know but I think it's a possibility

@CanIPleaseHaveOne

About 8 years ago I was with a friend in an inner city area of London, filled with tower blocks. The high street had about three bookies, a few pubs and take aways.

A woman came out of a takeaway with her three kids, two walking one in a buggy. I watched her walk to one of the towers. I wondered how she could get good, veg heavy food up there.
She would have to take a bus (with the children?), buy some good veggies (heavy), get the bus home, push child with the extra weight of the food while also managing the other two, get to tower block but would the lift work? Would she have enough money for the meter to cook the food? It would take at least 2 hours to do that, and she would have a serious limit on what she could buy in each run.

Or would you just get chips and a burger for a few pounds and go home.

There was nothing in the immediate area or even next to immediate area to help her "make the right choices". Nothing.

I think we really underestimate how very hard life is for an alarming amount of people in this country.

Great post. That's exactly it, there are lots of areas like that. And often very calorific highly-processed food is relatively cheap.

In 2019, the value of the United Kingdom's savory snack market came to 3.2 billion British pounds. Sales of crisps were worth 1.08 billion pounds that year. Nuts, popcorn, and baked snacks made up smaller parts of the market value.

@Starcup

Well some people would argue that it’s NH reasons and that’s the reason for people being overweight.

I would disagree. I think some people love the wrong types of food because it tastes so nice and they don’t have the willpower to stop eating more calories than they burn.

I do think some people are genetically able to burn fat faster than others though

How can you not see that as a mental health issue though @Starcup, granted it’s not the same nature as bipolar or schizophrenia but then there is some mental process (that’s probably a learned response from childhood) that is actively choosing to deprioritise long term health over short term satisfaction.

I actually think the genetic argument though is a weak one, yes some people have marginally slower metabolisms but it’s not by a huge amount. Lots of studies have shown that, i think channel 4 even did a documentary where some overweight people were convinced they undereat compared to their slim peers/ friends and have ‘slow’ metabolisms but it was basically perception and they were burning more calories just by being than their slim counter parts

It's not vanity sizing, it's shops just adjusting the normal range of sizes they sell for the range where they have the majority of customers.

It’s diet mostly. Eating processed junk makes you crave more processed junk. If you eat healthy unprocessed foods then your appetite is satisfied and you don’t need to snack. I cut out all processed food for a year and then had a Chinese takeaway. The cravings were insane! I was starving within half an hour of eating it. Same with sweets, chocolate and biscuits. I don’t believe people are fat due to laziness, but the constant cycle of junk, cravings, more junk etc.

@ElftonWednesday

It's not vanity sizing, it's shops just adjusting the normal range of sizes they sell for the range where they have the majority of customers.

I thought that was vanity sizing?

@CanIPleaseHaveOne My DH's mum has 4 children and has never owned a car/knows how to drive. She always cooked everything from scratch and gets takeaway a few times a year. She also lives in London but not in a tower block, in a victorian terrace. She takes the bus to the Aldi/Lidl armed with a trolley and she has always done that including when her kids were tiny. My DH said he was carrying bags of shopping from the youngest age!

But the difference is, she keeps kosher, so esp when her kids were tiny, there weren't that many kosher restaurants/offerings as there are now. Certainly even now most are unaffordable. She became pescetarian because there wasn't even space in her kitchen to keep meat and milk separate and she couldn't afford kosher meat. She also grew up in a middle class family where daily sit down home cooked meals with plenty of conversation are a religion. Poverty isn't just about the lack of possessions/time i.e. lack of car, lack of space etc, its also about learned habits. Someone who has always been poor and whose mum always fed them £2 Sam's fried chicken is going to take different choices to my MIL, even if they may both have the same amount of disposable income (my MIL earns below full time minimum wage but she does own a house). my MIL's children are also very different; they mostly don't eat unhealthy food either as they don't like it. My DH is the only one who eats meat.

@KirstenBlest

So much of it is what you eat.

I have noticed over the years that slim people and overweight people eat different foods and different portion sizes

Another is the attitude we have here that a 'size N is not fat'. N could be 12 or 18 or 8 or whatever. It is just a number

How fascinating. So you’re suggesting that what you eat has an impact on how much you weigh?

I never knew it was as simple as that.

Anyway, yes lots of British people are fat. I believe obesity rates are rising in Japan though as well - fast food is taking over the world. It’s harder to eat fresh.

How is a Chinese takeaway processed junk? I have King prawns with ginger and onions, a bit of boiled rice and some stir fried broccoli. It's a bigger portion and more calories than I'd normally eat in a sitting but it isn't junk food.

I eat really healthily, plenty of veg and plenty of protein but still want crisps and snacks because they taste nice.