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.

My mum was a single parent in the 80s and 90s and really struggled to afford basic food when I was growing up. I remember having a lot of things like lentils and porridge which are cheap and filling. We never had crisps, biscuits, fizzy drinks etc as they were seen as unnecessary extras/luxuries that we couldn't afford.

I'm sorry to say, but I think a lot of it down to ignorance rather than poverty.

Is a lettuce going to fill you up, though? If you're going for fullness, cheap carbs work best.

Suppose you're right. I more mean that we know that we're supposed to do a certain amount of exercise, eat this and not that, and yet we're still putting on weight.

I don't think its just a willpower issue.

Maybe if it was an occasional thing, but if was a regular thing and the shopping budget was down to pence and pounds then it would make far more sense to buy porridge and that would be cheaper than the biscuits per portion.

Cheap carbs are definitely not what you go for for fullness, because people get hungry again very shortly afterwards.

Slow releasing carbs like porridge would keep someone fuller for longer and they are cheaper than biscuits.

I'd say more young women/girls especially are obese or at the very least, chunky. In leggings or skin tight jeans it's so noticeable. It used to be in a high school, they'd only be maybe 2 girls who were fat, now it's too common. It's become acceptable despite the potential health issues. On a recent day trip to the west of Scotland, I was astonished at the size of people in general. (I'm a Scot and always been slim)

They should ban supermarkets from selling junk food and alcohol. Have specialist shops to sell those that people have to make a conscious decision to go to rather than just filling their trolleys with junk when doing doing a weekly shop.

I think it’s a combination of a few things.

1. we have forgotten HOW to eat. So it’s not necessarily what we eat that’s the issue. When I say this I mean most cultures traditionally had aperitifs, or fermented kimchi starter, or salad starter with vinegars etc.
2. This fascination with whole grains is bizarre. Every culture on the planet eats refined. It’s not a one off thing. Chinese eat white rice rather than brown, Mexicans eat refined corn, Europeans eat white wheat. Brown is unrefined and slices your intestines to shit causing all kinds of issues.
3. I think the majority of modern man has severe pelvic tilt/ posture issues. For everyone this is from sitting too long, for women post partum is that no one bothers to mention it’s an issue or instruct how to correct it. This brings the ‘beer gut/ dad bod / mum bod’ and I think that just discourages people. No matter how skinny you are if you haven’t got this under control your going to look 6 months pregnant so people just give up and eat whatever the fuck they want and don’t exercise.

Oh come on, I think most people know that these won't fill you up for a day. You would be ravenous in a couple of hours! They are empty calories, there is no nutritional value.

I can believe that poorer people may buy more biscuits because because they are a cheap pleasure, but you'd have to be extremely thick to use this as a meal replacement. You'd be less hungry if you didn't eat anything at all.

Sorry realise I skipped out half of 1 and someone’s going to ask so just going to type now

1. we have forgotten HOW to eat. So it’s not necessarily what we eat that’s the issue. When I say this I mean most cultures traditionally had aperitifs, or fermented kimchi starter, or salad starter with vinegars etc.

So let’s take the European example. You have a giant bowl of white pasta dripping in cheese and dairy every evening. Probably going to get fat or potentially even diabetic, BUT recently they realised if you eat a fermented starter before hand, that it lines your gut. It stops you having a glucose spike post meal. Glucose blood sugars and insulin are highly connected. Keep all these things level and the body will just takes what it needs and reject the rest automatically. The fermented stuff is good for the gut biome which generally affects all kinds of things. In the blue zones (areas where people live super long and healthy lives); the only common denominator is not similar diet but the presence of fermented foods traditionally eaten post meal and super good gut biome.

presence of fermented foods traditionally eaten pre meal and super good gut biome.

I am just too tired and giving up now lol 😂! If anyone can decipher well done!

George Orwell quote (the Road to Wigan Pier)
“Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots.

"And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty'. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you.”

I remember that most young men in the 1970's wore 28 inch/30 inch waist tight flared jeans with a very tight shirt. I can't imagine many young men these days being slim enough for this fashion, so I think young men are a lot fatter today, not just young women.

What is with all of the fat shaming posts lately?

Great quote @CanadianJohn - sums it up completely.

This is so wrong in so many ways. You have not understood even the basics of what the Blue Zones have in common in terms of diet.

There are more sedentary jobs then there was years ago, people sit watching screens now/ gaming for hobbies, there’s more hidden calories salt and sugar… the list goes on. And the gym thing- I used to not be able to believe how little a gym session burned compared to intake of calories- when we went in college it was literally like ‘you just spent an hour slogging and burned off this tiny portion of your day’. Plus we didn’t know what we should be doing there and did too much cardio anyway!!

Slow releasing carbs like porridge would keep someone fuller for longer and they are cheaper than biscuits

Sadly porridge never fills me up - and it makes my blood sugar spike right up.

Even when made with water and no added sugar

I always find it worrying how many kids are on the big side now, and these are at an affluent school and / or swimming lessons so not the poor / inactive ones.

I was watching an old TOTP from the 90s the other day and was amazed at how skinny everyone was.
We've become so desensitised to overweight people.

I used to work promoting nutrition and healthy eating in schools with primary aged children. Many children from the poorer families had limited understanding of fresh fruit and vegetables because these were staples rarely eaten in their homes. I worked with 5 and 6 year olds who didn’t know what an egg was. When we looked deeper into the reasons why, many of the parents had very basic knowledge and understanding themselves because they didn’t grow up in homes themselves where they were taught and supported to learn about making healthy choices. In many cases these children lived in chaotic backgrounds where mealtimes were not prioritised and rushed so convenience processed foods were the norm. Thinking back everything I learnt about cooking and making meals was from my mother who taught me. If you don’t have that kind of parent or role model in your life and you’re not learning about nutrition anywhere else, it makes it a lot tougher for people to make the choices they need to stay healthy. Knowledge is power!

Porridge and many other 'healthy' carbs are really high GI and will just lead to cravings. You can try to minimise these by pairing with high fat e.g full fat greek yoghurt, seeds and nuts.

No the trend isn't reversing. Whilst the reasons for some are complex and not easily solved at all, they would require deep societal change; for others they don't want to go without and put the work in. I know it's an unpopular truth.

I was obese growing up, as in actually obese- very much had binge eating disorder and was so ashamed of my body I didn't exercise either. I got down to a healthy weight in my 20s and now I work hard to maintain it, not for aesthetics but for health. 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.

There are plenty of nutritional foods that are cheaper than junk, but lots don't deem them palatable enough so wouldn't even consider them, even though a lot of pulses etc are tasty when cooked properly.