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

I'm actually really glad that it is more acceptable to be fat here

This does mean though that people will continue getting fatter. Because it's fine. And well if all my friends are size 24 then size 18 is positively svelte and sure I don't need to do anything to maybe adjust my food intake.

@allfurcoatnoknickers. How much do you think the cost of health care plays into being more aware of personal health?

@Southbucksldn

I have found kids tend to be much fussier eaters in the UK. Kids seem to eat more calorific carb heavy beige foods than in some other countries. Bad early habits of chips/pizza/pasta and hot dogs are quite hard to break.

I agree to a point, in most other countries the children eat what the adults eat, where as over here we tend to cook "children's food" for them. That said I know it can be difficult sometimes, my five year old will try almost any food, she will give it a go, even if she ends up not liking it. My 2.5 year old went through a phase where he would not eat anything that was not light beige, if something had sauce on he would not eat it, if one thing got on the other he would not eat it (eg if he got mash on the sausage, he would not eat the sausage, although he would eat the sausage and the mash separately) and it was thoroughly painful, he then seemed to slowly come around again and will now mix things up a little.

I'm actually really glad that it is more acceptable to be fat here - or not even fat, just not extremely slender, than in other more patriarchal countries. Let's not emulate them

You can tell this is about gender and weight, as if you look at the overweight/obesity levels of men, pretty much all European countries are above 50% even those where the women are thinner.

In a lot of European countries, being very slim when you are unmarried as a woman is expected, once you are married, it's not as unacceptable to fill out.

It's also not necessarily true that other European countries have this sorted - see the graph on this article www.vox.com/2016/8/22/12552592/italy-obesity-rate

The average UK diet is atrocious.

You can tell this is about gender and weight, as if you look at the overweight/obesity levels of men, pretty much all European countries are above 50% even those where the women are thinner

Yes, men are doing much worse I think over here too. Certainly in Gen X I think more men are overweight than women. Yet it is often framed as a problem for women.

I think it's also the constant snacking. In France, from the youngest age (ie toddlers), kids have 4 eating times a day: 3 meals + 'gouter' (afternoon tea?) at 4pm - usually a piece of fruit and a couple of biscuits or chocolate. So not always healthy, but that is IT. And Crisps in particular are seen as the devils food, and only really consumed with aperitifs!
In the UK, everyone (adults, but it starts in childhood) is constantly grazing. Little kids are constantly offered snacks, you come out of the swimming pool and just because the children have had a 30 minute swim they have to get something from vending machine/cafe (in the cafe it's chips and nuggets). I have never seen a pool in France which even has a cafe, most don't sell any food at all. My husband is constantly amazed that kids in parks who are actually playing are called away from it by their mothers offering snacks. The snacks might initially be healthy (eg Organix) but it creates this habit of grazing.
And it is totally unnecessary. If you have 4 meals a day and you are hungry outside that, it's perfectly possible to have the self control to have a glass of water and WAIT for that next meal, which isn't that far away!

I do not think the influence of alcohol should be underestimated as a link. Again, countries where obesity rates are lower drink less alcohol too. Has anyone ever seen a drunk Italian woman?

Lots of countries have an alcohol problem - just not necessarily as much an anti-social behaviour with alcohol problem. Look at the rates of liver disease in France. I was quite shocked when I was younger, getting my breakfast coffee and croissant and some old guys had already started on the brandy.

@Twolostsoulsswimminginafishbow

I don’t think weight is anyone else’s business. No one lacks awareness of their size and certainly aren’t helped by anyone else’s comments. I weigh less than 90lbs (through illness) and choose not to discuss my medical history so most wouldn’t know why. The amount of comments I get is unbelievable. It seems far more socially acceptable to comment on being slim that overweight, fat shaming has a name, there isn’t one for the underweight. I’ve even had two people contact my husband to privately make him aware of how dangerously thin I am, like he didn’t notice!

It is of course your call to make but if people did not know why you were so thin, and put a call through to your dh it plays like I a demonstration of concern (inplicit in that is affection of some sort for you) rather than busy body.

@Worldgonecrazy I don't know if it's a conscious thing, but some health insurance reimburses for gym membership and fitness programs. Plus you get annual wellness visits for free every year, so your weight is more likely to be flagged. My GP also offers a weight management and 1:1 coaching program which my insurance covers.

I don't know if anyone consciously thinks "I need to be skinny to keep my medical costs down" though.

I think there are two things.

Poor processed food diet and US style snacky food culture means it's easy to overeat.

Dieting (calorie restriction ) doesn't work for most people, who eventually regain weight even if they lose it, sometimes more. So a lot of people are stuck being overweight and need to get on with life without being shamed as lazy/stupid/slobs.

So it's better not to get fat, or go on a diet, in the first place, but that's not much help if the ship has sailed.

I think the food industry/supermarkets are the villains here. No money in healthy unprocessed food is there?

@Lockdownbear

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.

Someone embarking on an organised diet plan has already fallen into eating habits that lead to being overweight. Those habits are not necessarily going to be permanently changed by the diet plans as if by magic. It takes making the eating right choices over and over again until it becomes the new habit. The organised diet plans show people what and how to eat (encouraging cooking from scratch and raw foods such as salad and fruit etc) in order to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. Some of those people won't know even the most basic elements of healthy eating because they haven't ever been exposed to them from childhood onwards. The diet plans aren't a magic wand in themselves though.

@ElftonWednesday

I do not think the influence of alcohol should be underestimated as a link. Again, countries where obesity rates are lower drink less alcohol too. Has anyone ever seen a drunk Italian woman?

Lots of countries have an alcohol problem - just not necessarily as much an anti-social behaviour with alcohol problem. Look at the rates of liver disease in France. I was quite shocked when I was younger, getting my breakfast coffee and croissant and some old guys had already started on the brandy.

Very true but the big binge drinking countries also have high obesity rates. Australia, USA, Ireland, Germany, Denmark and so on.

I am not a scientist but to me it seems like there could be a link.

Some countries just don’t have the constant junk food we eat here every day. It’s ingrained into daily lives and the daily lives of our children and if they attend school, parties or other kids houses it’s hard to avoid.
Try cutting out sugar and all wheat for 3 months. I promise you will he astounded

[quote allfurcoatnoknickers]@Worldgonecrazy I don't know if it's a conscious thing, but some health insurance reimburses for gym membership and fitness programs. Plus you get annual wellness visits for free every year, so your weight is more likely to be flagged. My GP also offers a weight management and 1:1 coaching program which my insurance covers.

I don't know if anyone consciously thinks "I need to be skinny to keep my medical costs down" though. [/quote]
I had a bit of time in Manhattan (I miss it - you lucky thing!!).

Agree with all you said and would add one bit - some of the older, often rich women who look positively starving/anorexic/ill/frail walking around in their leggings look like they could do with a burger!

I think part of it is the food.

When at university I had a housemate who said- when she was in Malaysia she had no difficulty maintaining her weight. But in the UK she used to put on loads but did not eat any differently.

Same with me. When I'm abroad in Pakistan I eat more but lose weight.
I think it's the food. The additives affect how much weight you put on, and how easily its processed by the body.

Does the NHS have something to do with it? Something which was created with such noble and idealistic aims, but which has possibly had the ultimate effect of people knowing they don't need to worry too much about their weight/health because it will be looked after for free?

And that's not a judgment, it's a suggestion.

As well as the awful standards of processed food of course.

A relative was on Slimming World. I couldn’t believe the portion sizes and poor dietary advice being given.

Slimming world is designed for rapid quick weight loss, to hook people in. I don’t know a single person who has kep the weight off unless major lifestyle changes have also been incorporated, ie a move to eating healthier foods, not relying on low fat or low calorie processed foods.

@Starcup of course not every overweight person has diagnosable mental health conditions BUT there are many complex reasons why people are overweight and many of them as psychological. I.e. learned behaviour from childhood, low self esteem, all or nothing mentality, deprioritising health over convenience, poor impulse control etc. These aren’t mental health conditions of course but they are psychological reasons as to why one might be overweight.

The comparison you draw between criminality and being overweight and ‘we might as well let criminals go if they have mental health sides’ is such a straw man and generally speaking a poor comparison (kinda offensive too) we acknowledge that external factors like socio economic status, home life etc affect development and can contribute to criminality, it doesn’t excuse it (obviously obesity is different as if really only affects the self rather than criminality affecting others) But the same principle applies external factors mould and shape psychology and thus behaviour.

We eat too much and am happy to include myself in that.

I lived in Aus, US, U.K. I think they’re all quite similar in terms of level of obesity

Similar cultures, heavy marketing and food consumption

We love cake and chips basically.

Actually just on Google US is higher, then Aus then U.K.

worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/obesity-rates-by-country