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.

'Fat' will never be desirable here.

I was laughing at the local primary celebrating the "annual" Daily Mile Challenge. All the DC at the school should be doing this daily, not just as a gimmick. It's the only exercise most of them are likely to get outside of scheduled PE sessions.

Time.

Time to cycle to work, time to cook, time to take the kids to the park.

I don't get your point, the daily mile challenge is indeed for some the only exercise like this they do, that's why they do it and make it part of the routine and seem fun for the children. I think it's a great initiative to be honest, really good to build that into primary school children's day as something enjoyable.

A while back bought some crockery. The side plates are the same size as the dinner plates in my 1980s crocks and the dinner plates are massive. I've ended up not using the new ones because of the temptation to fill the plate. Use the side plates instead 😁

My plates are 10" , same as my parents in the 1980s (but they bought them in the 1960s). Having 6" side plates as a dinner plate is just weird. 8" might be ok. I have 8" flat bowls which we use a lot.

My point was "annual", i.e. once a year. They should be doing it daily not just to celebrate once a year.

My point was "annual", i.e. once a year. They should be doing it daily not just to celebrate once a year.

They are doing it daily, that's why it's called daily.

It shouldn't be necessary

The thing is that they haven't been doing it daily. Only from last week!

people are getting fatter definitely

does anyone Tally Rye in Instagram- she's a PT but has gotten quite big ( fat) in last couple of years
she promotes “ intuitive eating” suddenly anything healthy is seen as obsessive and wrong. Her food choices aren’t healthy, she promotes eating what your body wants etc
what I think is wrong is a young woman about 30 putting on so much weight around her middle it must be unhealthy
might be ok to get away for now but how can that weight not affect your health, knees, energy levels etc

Oh by and she is wealthy, she’s even selling her courses for several hundreds of pounds telling people to just be themselves, eat what feels good etc

its this kind of thing that now gets normalised on insta and anyone disagreeing this is healthy is fat shaming etc

Oh sorry I misread. All of the schools around here do it daily as you suggest should be the case.

Yeah I think 'influencers' both end of the scale are harmful. There are undoubtedly some who normalise a harmful level of restriction and suggest unhealthy attitudes towards food and punishing yourself for eating basically; but the eat what you want it's fine are also bad aren't they. There aren't many truly balanced, people like natacha oceane have a decent knowledge of nutrition but on the other hand spend a lot of time on fitness which isn't realistic for most.

@Spacestace

Eating what you want is fine- if you move about.

We don't anymore, that's the problem.

I think it should be a necessary thing for schools to make sure kids do exercise while they are there and don't sit down all day, in whatever form it comes.

You could buy loose carrots and a few loose potatoes for that. You could buy some loose potatoes and a cabbage for that (make bubble and squeak). But if you want to convince yourself fresh vegetables are only for the rich or well educated then carry on eating the biscuits and thinking they’re a viable and justifiable alternative.

And it costs £5 worth of gas to cook it.

How does it work for someone like me, who's a nanny? I have to travel a distance for jobs as nannies are for wealthier people, and I don't live in a wealthy neighbourhood (obvs).

All the other things on the list I already have, well apart from education as I don't have kids but kids tend to go to school close to home anyway.

Driving halves my time, I'd need multiple buses/trains just for one journey, and with the long hours I already work I need more time for just being at home, not spending it on travelling

@runforyourdog wehad a playdate with a who doesn't eat very much. They ate about three peas. Its wildly different to what I am used to that I was confused. My child generally looks like she's never been fed. I assume as children get older they learn from parental modelling about watching portion sizes and knowing that they have to eat at least something. For now, the battle rumbles on.

@BodegaSushi

I live in an area of dense development. You can cycle/walk from poorer to richer areas quite easily. Lots of public transport too.

Everything is too spread out in some places.

I actually think there's a huge overlap. Shops like Iceland sell frozen food really cheaply.

Just one example, I used to work in a SEN school and we had a girl with Down syndrome who was incredibly overweight.

She ate pizza every night.

She lived alone with a single dad who had multiple health problems himself and possibly also an intellectual disability.

Pizza was the best he could manage and afford.

The majority of our pupils were very deprived, we had another who ate packet noddles every single night.

The free school meal was the only nutritious thing many of them ate for the day. Now think of breakfast, weekends and school holidays.

@willWillSmithsmith Plus in a lot of areas there are no places within walking distance that sell fresh veg. Only takeaways and basic grocers with a few mouldering veg.

Bubble and squeak will cost you a few quid to cook it and over an hour in preparation and cooking time. There are cheap easy healthy meals people can make but bubble and squeak isn't one of them - it's a convenient way to use up left over mashed potato to reduce food waste, but you are talking out of your arse if you give that as an example of an easy, cheap meal to cook from scratch.

It also takes a lot of mental energy that many people struggling just don't have to shop around for bargains and cook from scratch.

I agree with you, but I was just also making the point (perhaps badly) that a lot of the "just about managing" people, not necessarily in poverty, are also overweight and unhealthy because they are time poor and stressed out, and some people using food banks are definitely not obese and may have been eating very little for a long time.