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.

How dare the staff sit about and EAT at lunchtime!

Oh, they'd already eaten. Plenty of time for boxes and boxes of biscuits though.

@manontroppo the UK is a very liberal country and inclusive and as much as that is deemed good it absolutely has its drawbacks.

All the be kind and body positive movement has made everyone feel scared of offending anyone.

dontlookbackyourenotgoingthatway
madeinmanc

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?
Time.

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

This doesn’t make sense, most people I know are commuting for 7 in the morning and home in the evening, have kids etc, exactly the same as anybody else.

Perhaps they are superior humans.

More pressure to stay slim and fit? More money so more options to "trade" in husband or wife for someone slimmer? More fashion conscious? More people slimmer and into sport and that's normalised so their kids are the same and peers feel the pressure to do the same etc. Just thinking out loud

I think it's as simple as most cheap food these days is highly processed and lacking in nutrients

A poor family buying beige easy to cook food is likely to get fat - and simultaneously be deprived of vital vitamins and nutrients.

The middle or upper class family has a lot more options for quickly cooked food that is healthier I.E. steaks, chicken etc.

Cooking skills for using cheap cuts of meat and ingredients seem to be more the preserve of the middle class these days, rather than thrifty households.

Yes I agree with this. My daughter has friend who's from a low income family. She's very overweight. Her mum is a single mum of 5 and she's unemployed. When my daughter goes there she's given meals such as a big plate of pasta with mashed potatoes. I was surprised by this but then I suppose if you don't have much money you try and fill the kids with cheap carbs. Meat, fish and vegetables are seen as too expensive. Couple this with the fact the girl's mum was never taught to cook. She told me her mum just fed her on beans on toast when she was a child. She has no understanding of nutrition or cooking. It's easy to see why her children are overweight. The food they're eating is calorific but lacking in nutrients so they're always hungry.

More kids should walk to school. Or cycle.

She told me her mum just fed her on beans on toast when she was a child.

I understand the sentiment and it's definitely not your DD's friend's family's fault. But some classic simple meals - things on toast included - aren't inherently unhealthy. Beans on toast contains a shedload of fibre, lots of nutrients and slow release energy from the beans. Add a small sprinkle of grated cheese and a glass of orange juice - with brown bread if possible - and it's a decent meal. Scrambled egg is even better as it avoids the ultra-processed beans.

Similarly, pasta even with a ready made, ultra-processed Dolmio sauce (or passata which isn't UPF), is neither particularly calorie-dense nor lacking nutrients. Served with a bit of brocoli, some sweetcorn - even frozen veggies or a bag of steamfresh - and it's a decent meal.

I think it's such a sad state of affairs that this basic information isn't more widely shared. Maybe then it would stop some of the guilt or the 'all or nothing-ness' of "we don't have time to eat healthily."

Over the centuries for working class people our portions sizes have increased but we no longer working 12 hour shifts in the cotton mills or down the mines.

I'm too young to remember the 70s, however, I've Googled Roland and he still looks pretty fat by modern standards.

Yes, poorer people now have lower quality and processed foods, but the reality is they can still afford too much of it. A small burger only and a apple and a day of running, cycling, kicking a ball, imaginary games running around would burn it off, a skinny child would still be seen not obese, it's the large burger, large fries, giant coke, cakes, biscuits, crisps that are the problem and sat inside on screens. Inappropriate portions of junk foods.

Yes this is true also. Some families who buy the beige foods for dinner would still spend as much on their food overall, as those who buy less but better quality foods. The spend on their main meal is less, but it's also not even necessarily to do with the cost, many just like that food, it's easier, or they're addicted to that kind of thing.

It's obviously very unhealthy to smoke. However, if we are thinking solely about the obesity epidemic: a lot of people who comfort eat now would've been heavy smokers back in the day. We've replaced one hand-to-mouth activity with another. So yes, smokers do tend to be thinner.

@AzureBlue99 yes I think so. It depends what day it is and what I've been doing. Some days hurt more than others but I've been determined to keep walking or running or whatever I can do. But yes carrying less fat has helped. Unfortunately I have pretty fat thighs so I have to keep going

@BodegaSushi sorry maybe I worded that wrong. I meant the comments about glad you used a real woman etc. curves are great god knows I have plenty so I didn't mean anything. It's just it's being seen as it's normal and it's a woman's shape. Some are. There's a particular woman on there who's curvy and looks amazing but a lot of them are very obese. I wrote a similar post when I discovered I was obese and was sure I didn't look it then I saw a picture of myself and I looked massive.

The 'real women have curves' line is bullshit, and harmful.

Apart from that type of comment though, which unfortunately we can't control, there's actually nothing wrong with having obese models. They make clothes for fat women, many brands don't. So it's good for fat women to be able to see what their products would look like on them.

They don't have to look amazing. They're doing their job.

The question was why are richer people slimmer? Of course there’s other things you can do rather than eat but also you can listen to birds and eat ice cream and have a packet of crisps with your herbal tea.
If you have money its one less stress you don’t have plus you have options.
I stand by my post.

They are slimmer because they can afford to buy the best cuts of meat. Have you ever watched Nigella Lawson and the cuts of meat she uses eye watering. They don't need to get fat when they can afford the best food. They don't need to worry about bills where as we do and we tend to comfort eat or drink our way through it.

What cuts of meat? Noone got fat from eating fatty meat. Are you assuming all rich people eat fillet steak every night?!

If you had money would you buy from Tesco or from your local farm?
You know that meat hasn't been injected and the cow, pigs and chickens lived reasonably well.

They still have self control though, by the same token they could be throwing expensive chocolates, crisps, calorie heavy rich food stuffs into their trolleys without worrying about the price- that sort of financial freedom would cause a lot to go wild. There are invariably things that make it easier for people, but at the end of the day most people need to exercise self restraint and whatever else to maintain a healthy weight, expensive cuts of meat or not.

Well, obviously that's nice, but higher welfare meat still has the same calories in it as cheap meat if its the same cut 🤷‍♀️

People I work with or whatever in one breath say omg you're so lucky and then in another mock what I have for lunch because its nutritionally balanced. I've just been out for a run, and they make a thing of how they roll out of bed in the morning at the last possible moment
As hard as you try to break free of the fat-fate the other crabs in the bucket will try harder to drag you back down into the fat👀
They probably don't even realise they are doing it ....it's just instinct

Strange that so many people got dogs during covid and yet don’t do physical exercise
Typically the dog owner will drift along slowly whilst on their phone and the dog is off lead racing around and annoying people, so the dog gets quite a lot of exercise but the owner is able to expend the minimum amount of energy and to give the maximum amount of attention to the phone.
All this stuff about 'my dog must get it off lead time for its mental health' is really an excuse so that the owner doesn't have to break through the two miles per hour walking speed barrier