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.

I haven’t used any of those words? Please point out where the words greedy, lazy, or stupid were used or inferred? Some fresh veg is very cheap, that is a fact (carrots are practically given away). The constant making excuses for people who seem more than capable of buying a Big Mac but can’t buy some veg is not helping them. I’m overweight so I’m not talking from a smug never had to diet viewpoint. I am currently losing weight but I have had to get my head in the right place. I feel I will reach my target weight because I am sick of looking like a sack of potatoes. The difficulty is getting in to the right head space, that more than anything is what will change people’s attitudes to food and healthier weights (it’s taken me six years to get that right head space but I’ve got it now and I’m utilising it). I was full of excuses, I’m stressed, I’m this, I’m that, but not anymore, I’m done with being porky!

But not in 15 minutes?

It would take me an hour each way to get to my work on transport.

@BodegaSushi

Less than 15 minutes in some cases.

It's an old city.

Speaking suburbia is part of the problem

I would suggest they actually do some governing and running the country rather than ruining the country by letting the markets decide everything and shirking the business of administration.

What they need to do is put individual health and wellbeing at the centre of every single policy decision and piece of legislation. They won't, because they don't want to do anything at all, unless there something in it for them or their rich mates.

Oh absolutely. I am one of those ‘just about making it’ people that you describe

*sprawling suburbia!

Cool, just wanted clarity. As the person who I replied to said 15 minute cities were absolutely doable and already being done.

Oh they are very doable and we need more.

Look at the Netherlands and Finland. Japan has always been this way to an extent- but they have very strict parking rules which are actually enforced

Oh wait that was you 😂

People definitely are. When I was in my teens I had puppy fat and was a size 14. I was considered quite plump. Now I would be considered average.

As a 43 year old i am now a size 10 but I walk a lot, use my spin bike, run after 3 kids, work and watch my diet. It's very noticeable to me how much fatter people in there 20s are than they were when I was that age. I also notice how little people walk and kids coming into nursery with bags of sweets for breakfast.

I also have noticed more fat kids. When I went to Florida in 1988 as a child I genuinely had never seen fat kids till then. Now I see them regularly. It also amazes me how little people walk. Parents than can walk to school dont (not going to work afterwards) etc

So true. I was watching Gilmore girls and I remember in early 2000s I was astonished at Melissa McCarthy (Sookie) being so big and then her storyline including getting pregnant. I didn't find it believable that someone so big would be able to get pregnant. Now I'm rewatching it and she doesn't seem abnormal, I know a lot of people that size and bigger. So it's normalised. Also, a size 14/16 was fat when I was a teen. A few decades later it's the norm.

It was! I stand by it.

Totally doable.

People don't like change though.

Well until I can afford the rents in wealthier areas, 15 min walk or cycle form work will remain a dream.

As I said, denser development and better public transport are needed.

So many excuses. I'm sorry but being stressed and time poor doesn't lead to obesity, the choices you make about your priorities do. Ive been at breaking point recently and one thing that I tried so hard to do throughout very hard times was make sure I was cooking myself a few vegetabley meals to help combat stress and feel better mentally. Its like washing hair and brushing teeth...a habit that needs to be done.

Pan frying some defrosted fish and broccoli and microwaving beetroot, then mixing in some mustard/dry dill/ cream/cheese/anything else does not cost a fiver in energy or take more than ten minutes.

Last night was chopped onion and peppers, mixed with a tin of mixed beans and chopped tomatoes in a wholemeal wrap with some cheap lettuce and cucumber on thr side (lettuce currently 7 days out of date but absolutely fine). Took less than 20 minutes and have loads of leftovers.

Another favourite is frozen veg and noodles. That takes less than 10 minutes and very little energy cost.

Butter beans with Italian herbs and parnesan plus any other veg on pasta is lovely. Very cheap to buy and cook. No preparation at all.

These can all use frozen and store cupboard ingredients so you don't need to do more than a fortnightly shop if your reason for being fat is that there is no fresh food within an hours radius. Ive done a lot of remote hiking in the uk and can't say I've even been that far from a bag of lettuce.

@workistoomuch I tend to agree. According to this threat it’s too much to expect anyone poor and/or stressed to do anything other than reach for the junk food or beige freezer food. Not only is it a bit patronising, do we really expect so little of people?

WRT 15 min cities - fewer cars on the road leads to better public transport because there is less congestion. It’s taken 40 years to bake in car dependency into our culture, it won’t be unravelled overnight.

Of course it will take time, but it can be done.

Even Amsterdam wasn't always Amsterdam.

People are mentioning low income families earing more junk food because they're time poor. I absolutely agree with this. Working long hours, shifts and nights is exhausting and a struggle. These people will have less time to plan meals and cook.
However, I haven't seen anyone mention the poorer people who aren't working and still survive on junk food. I think this is a cultural issue - SOME people were raised on junk food and really have no clue how to cook. No idea how to prepare a nutritious meal with lots of vegetables from scratch. They've never been fed this type of food, never been shown how to cook it. It's completely alien to them. They probably think it will taste disgusting compared to a burger and chips. When I go to Portugal where my in-laws are I see that even the poorest people eat healthily. They eat home made soups full of vegetables, lots of fresh produce. It's such a difference. Somehow we need to help those who don't know how to cook, who've never eaten healthily in their lives and don't know where to begin. I have no idea how this can be done.
There's also the fact that deprived areas are full of these fried chicken places where you can get chicken and chips for just over a pound. Of course they'll go there rather than spending a lot of money on fruit and veg.

I only really struggled with my weight from my thirties onwards, after having kids. I've lost 1 stone 9 since December and it's bloody tedious hard work and I'm still fat.

I look at young women in their 20s, they wear what they like, they often have hair and make up skills like a pro. And a lot of them are already really fat. It's not going to get better after kids, and it's not going to make their pregnancies easy.

Regardless of what they think their rights are, their body might not cooperate in medical terms. There might not be an NHS to pick up the pieces of their diabetes, obesity related cancers, high blood pressure, fatty livers, and gallstones.

However, I haven't seen anyone mention the poorer people who aren't working and still survive on junk food. I think this is a cultural issue - SOME people were raised on junk food and really have no clue how to cook. No idea how to prepare a nutritious meal with lots of vegetables from scratch. They've never been fed this type of food, never been shown how to cook it. It's completely alien to them.

I am originally from a dirt poor developing country with no gyms, no mental care, no health care, no benefits, long working hours.. no support whatsoever. Most people still know how to make cheap, delicious food.

Cooking has been forgotten here.

Yep, exactly my point. I think this is a UK cultural issue (probably the same in places like USA too).

We are also these days told/ taught not to be judgmental. Unfortunately, being judged by others for many is a driver of behavioural standards.

Those looking at pics of men in the 1940s/50s, I wonder what the eggect smoking had? Its a known attitude suppressant, my grandad lived on fags, strong tea and 10 pints a night at the weekend!!

(Very slender, died of a heartache in his 60s)

It’s very much area based also.

I have lived overseas now for around 7 years. It’s a very outdoor lifestyle and I don’t really see anyone day to day who’s overweight. That’s across age groups and wealth. I would say most people cook from scratch 99% of the time as there isn’t really much convenience food even sold in supermarkets. We buy most food from local markets.

I have recently been back in uk. My own childhood town is pretty poor. The food sold is awful and almost everyone is overweight. ie ie fried food and fizzy drinks is main cusine.
We then went to dh childhood town where hardly anyone is. In London it’s very area dependent.

Is this a joke? Do you think fat people don't know they are being judged? We are being judged all of the time for everything. No matter what you do these days some body will come along and tell you that you are doing it wrong. 90% of threads on mumsnet are devoted to judging people, with access to the Internet there is really no escaping just how much we are judged about our food choices, where we shop, how we dress, how we do our garden, how we work, how we spend our money, how we raise our children, spend our free time etc the list is endless.