Are people still getting 'fatter'?

[NiceSausage]

Or has it plateaued?
I've done a bit of mooching for studies but only find conflicting articles. I am used to hearing people say we are all getting fatter as time goes by, but wonder what the real stats are for this.

I then thought, since we are all more aware of nutrition that we used to be, with so much info available online, etc, it seems strange that we would be getting fatter if more and more of us are cutting out carbs, bread, sugars, sat fats and so on. If knee jerk articles are to be believed It seems as if the more we exclude the worse it gets?
Simple dietary moderation rarely creates a buzz, unlike exclusion diets and fads (at least in the popular media), but if any of these contemporary/popular diets work, surely we would all be getting thinner?

Or is it something else? I understand that there are obviously strong connections between unhealthy diets and poverty, but taking a good look around me both online and in real life, people across all social strata appear to be as concerned with dieting as ever.

Are there any good sources for info on this? The tabloids and media will always over hype such issues so I would appreciate some unbiased, up to date news, if possible.

It’s not the same. The body has to work harder to digest unprocessed food.

I'm not, I'm actually tend to be at least 5kgs lighter than I was ten years ago (which is pretty good going between the ages of 37 and 47) and do the same amount or more of exercise that I did in my 20s when I was slim, BMI 20-22, but am still slightly overweight. Maybe by the time I'm 67 I'll back to normal BMI again. 😆

CateringPanic · Yesterday 20:56
I definitely think people are getting fatter. People who 20 years ago would have been seen as fat, are now seen as normal sized. Just because it’s average to be a size 16, does not mean it is normal or healthy. A size 16 is very likely to be obese.

Couple that with the fact that sizes are just larger in general - a size 8 now is not what a size 8 used to be - you can infer that yes, as a nation we are very fat”

Agree. Most people I see are larger than I am (NW). On the plus side though, it’s a rarity to see anyone smoking cigarettes here now and I wonder whether the two are linked? I initially put on a lot of weight when I stopped smoking years ago.

I like all these suggestions, it’d be interesting to see which food get a warning as it bet it’d be most of them. When people suggest making it harder for cars it winds me right up as people will get takeaways and the majority would suffer for it to make no difference.

I eat frozen meals all the time, within my calories. If I ate twice as much I’d be obese. People don’t realise how little food you need to survive on, it’s a depressingly small amount.

I agree we don't need much food to live on but the frozen meals you are eating doesn't necessary mean you are healthy. If you read the packaging its what the load it with UPF. You could buy a whole chicken cook that and if you are on your on it will last a few days. It will be healthier for you with vegies and a little bit of carb.

My dad hardly ate anything himself and he ended up as a diabetic he needed food. He was very skinny and tall.

On the plus side though, it’s a rarity to see anyone smoking cigarettes here now and I wonder whether the two are linked? I initially put on a lot of weight when I stopped smoking years ago.

There is a huge link I think. I don't think that it's necessarily ex smokers putting weight on (though there may be some who add to the statistics) but that as a nation we have always self-medicated in some way. It used to be fags and booze and to some extent the cigarettes kept people's weight down. I think there is a direct appetite-suppressant effect of the chemicals but also a habit effect where people would have a fag whereas now people might have a biscuit or crisps. Also people didn't used to drink at home so much but drink at the pub, which probably meant for most people, especially women, actually drinking less overall.

I remember at primary school in the mid 80s there was one overweight girl in the class. Looking back at school photos of her age wasn't really that big. A little tubby perhaps. Her weight was taken very seriously by her doctor and she was on a strict diet. I remember her saying she had to eat boiled fish and steamed vegetables for dinner every night. Poor child! The teachers also had to ensure she didn't eat any unhealthy foods at school.
On the one hand I think this is awful! I imagine it had a huge impact on her self esteem and she probably developed an unhealthy relationship with food.
On the other hand, it's interesting to see the contrast between then and now. Being overweight was seen as a serious health concern, a problem to be solved. Now schools are full of overweight children and no one says or does anything about it. It's been normalised.

@orangegato

They're doing it: 15 min cities.

There's tons of evidence that it works. Many other countries are doing it. But we're all "sick of experts".

Yet people seem to want to sit in traffic jams everyday. As I said, Stockholm syndrome .

They all get driven to school because their parents need time to sit in the traffic jam.

The whole point of making it harder for cars is to get people out of them! It's only harder if you don't change your behaviour, which is what we are trying to do!

Oh come off it! An iceberg lettuce is 70p, mostly water and has barely 100 calories in the entire thing. I counted 17 different packets of biscuits cheaper than that on the Tesco app, all

All would keep you fuller and more satiated than an iceberg lettuce. Tell you what, if I had 70p to my name and a hungry belly I know I wouldn't be headed for the salad aisle.

Isn't it a funny (strange) world where we've got people starving and struggling for food and an obesity crisis at the same time? I can't make sense of it in my head, somehow.

Iceberg lettuce doesn't really have a nutritional purpose, you might add it for crunch and texture.

Isn't it a funny (strange) world where we've got people starving and struggling for food and an obesity crisis at the same time? I can't make sense of it in my head, somehow.

They aren't necessarily the same people, plus poverty can mean poor nutrition rather than no food at all.

”madeinmanc · Today 10:36
Isn't it a funny (strange) world where we've got people starving and struggling for food and an obesity crisis at the same time? I can't make sense of it in my head, somehow

Because cheap, fatty, salty and sugary food is all that struggling people can afford. Healthy eating is must more costly. Even the Aldi/Lidl Super 6 each week have double or tripled in price.

Yes I think so. I'm five feet and 6 inches and a standard size 12, and I'm very often the slimmest woman in the room.

Blimey I'm pretty lazy and could do with losing a few pounds but this is unbelievable! How can someone be that slothful?!

I live in an area when I often feel a bit podgy being quite tall and a fit, hourglass size 12-14 as it's a wealthy area where there are lots of really lean fit people who take a lot of exercise and can spend time taking nutrition to the nth degree. Outside of this bubble I feel rather slim in most parts of the country, even though I am a bit overweight BMI wise.

Basically people at the high end of the wealth scale are often time rich too - that's the key difference.

I am 5'2 and weight 7st 10Ibs. 20 years ago there were lots of people like me .I see very few women my size these days, it's now normal to be a bit overweight.

Your socio-economic background and genetics play a huge role in my opinion.

DH and I are slim. Sometimes we put on a few kilos but it’s relatively easy to lose them. For either of us to be obese would take extreme effort. As a result the kids are skinny. They could probably eat better but we get away with it. They do eat good meals but the snacks aren’t great.

Another child on the same diet might be overweight to be perfectly honest, although our kids are also very active with each playing 3 sports, with training and games and then they are jumping on the trampoline when they are home.

Everyone agrees that in richer areas, people are slimmer. So what are the key differences? What exactly about being rich or well-off means you are more likely to be a healthy weight? And is this just the case in the UK or does it apply to other countries, too?

I think more time. Or you can outsource it to someone else. You can very cheaply make a healthy meal (beans, Lentils, veg) but it won't be very dopamine inducing and likely you'll want a hit of pleasure from something convenient and more delicious.

Yes, it is true. Your DD has helped you see that losing some weight isn't a bad thing. My son is learning about empathy but from a completely naive attitude he just finds it hard to believe people eat so much junk food. He is fed home made cooked meals most days and doesn't really eat much crap. However I had recently fallen into that trap and have stopped as I know I need to lose weight. He seems to have a really healthy attitude to food, probably better than I do😬

It's amazing how a child/teenager can remark on something like weight and for a parent to take action. We need to be there for them when they have their own offspring in the future.

It's less accepted to be fat too, I'm not saying people discrimate as such but it's definitely noticed more than in other communities. Not saying that's a good thing, but lots of wealthy people still have to have self discipline- money might buy 'better' food but it can also afford an abundance and excess of food.