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.

Alot of people are lazy and just eat freezer meals that won't be helping

@BodegaSushi

And therein lies the problem.

The life you describe is not healthy, happy or sustainable.

We need to reduce housing costs, and then working hours and then get as many people as possible out of their cars

Is ice fattening?

My father still uses the 1970’s dinner plates we used back then. They seem tiny to me (similar to a modern side plate) but adequate to him.

He has a higher level of appreciation for basic whole foods and is happy with ‘just a taste’ of some things. Not a snacker either.

Modern portion sizes are definitely bigger so no wonder we are too.

@Thesaddestpanda I agree not everyone will be able to do that.

The proportion of people unable to complete an online shop is likely small. Obesity is an epidemic. The small minority unable to shop/prepare food don’t account for the habits of the majority.

People are coming up with reasons why some people would be unable to eat healthily. The majority are perfectly capable but just don’t. That is my point.

Frozen veg can be cheaper than healthier than fresh sometimes.

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.

How we eat has changed. In the seventies you had breakfast, piece of toast, lunch was a sandwich for example and evening meal was meat and two veg. The portion of meat was one lamb chop or two sausages etc) Puddings were only for Sunday or special occasions, snacks were not a thing and if we had biscuits in the house ( rarely) you were limited to two. We also walked everywhere. If you were thirsty it was water or tea. Food was expensive in relation to wages so ' treats ' were for high days and holidays.
The only time we had chocolate or crisps was if we bought them with our pocket money.

What do you suggest the government do about it? Not in a sarcy way but just wondering what they can do to help with taxing the shit out of everything which does FA.

Thing is though, do people really get obese just from eating the wrong things? Surely if you eat 2000 calories of chicken nuggets it's only the same as eating 2000 calories of salad?

It's not like it's the first time people have been poor or had stresses in there lives.

Because junk food tastes good and is cheap, we are simple creatures. It doesn't matter how much we know, how we see the health problems affecting the older generation in the distant future.. humans are easily addicted to things and want instant gratification, and don't want the hard work.
I have been on both sides, I'm a binge eater who has maintained being slim most of my life but been obese once. It's really fucking hard work and takes a lot of mental strength to not give in to the beautiful sugary carby goodness. And exercise takes even more motivation, it's hard sweaty and painful.. why wouldn't people choose the couch!?
The only thing that will reverse the obesity crisis is a miracle drug that lets you eat what you want and not put on weight!

No, but it's the first time poor/stressed people have been able to drive everywhere and have almost instant access to shite food.

previously -if you were skint, you were cycling and living off beans on toast. Now you'll probably still have a car and because food is so cheap, be able to eat beige high calorie crap with no effort.

The drugs and injections like Ozempic might give amazing results, but they are not sustainable. The drugs haven't been around long enough to have research on the long term effects of using them to lose weight. Also I have seen people who
Are well within healthy BMI range wishing to use them - storing up more 'addiction' and eating disorders for the future perhaps.

@manontroppo a car is essential for most people, not least as it’s always pissing it down.

Diet is 90% of the reason people are overweight. Exercising and burning couple of hundred calories going to the shop won’t touch the sides of your 2k calorie takeaway and 900 calorie tub of ice cream. A single cookie can contain about 400 cals. You just can’t out exercise a shit diet.

I am currently overweight (not obese but several kilos over what I should be and my bmi is higher than it should be). I walk (don’t drive), cook mostly from scratch, go food shopping almost every day (lose interest half way through an internet shop) but I was still gaining weight and the main reason was snacking (which I wasn’t allowed to do as a skinny child in the 70s), simple carbs (bread, cake, biscuits,) and chocolate (a lot of chocolate). Now I’ve cut those out I am losing weight. Simple carbs and sugar really are the main culprits to gaining weight (imo). I’m not even exercising (other than walking) and I’m losing weight purely by cutting those things completely out of my diet.

This is a big problem as well. People feeling the need to tell everyone they don't need to lose weight even when they probably do. I'm not saying people should go around telling people to lose weight but if a friend tells you they're planning to lose some weight it's not really helpful to tell them they don't need to or that they already look fabulous. Instead offer support, share recipes, share your experiences of what worked for you, point out great exercise classes in the area.

I think on a population level the statistics would say yes we are getting fatter. What I notice is that socio-economic status has a huge impact on lifestyle. Where I live and where dc goes to school I rarely see any overweight adults or children. When I go to work (deprived area) I see lots of overweight adults, children and most noticeably young girls/ women. My dc and their friends are all slim, they have access to good food and without exception they all do at least 2 sports.

Aggressively deprioritise car travel in cities and towns
Planning policy against fast food shops and deliveroo-style junk food enabling.
Better funding for health prevention strategies - aimed at renormalising a healthy weight.
More "nudges" - calories on menus and clearer, mandatory food labelling

Sugar tax on drinks has been successful in reducing sugar intake through reformulation.

Basically - all the work that went into making smoking publicly unacceptable needs to also be applied to car usage and junk food.

I was brought up on mainly UPF foods, as were many that I know. Kind of hard for a generation to break the UPF habit when that's what we thought food was.

To add to MN bingo - vegetables have to be cooked and take energy. If you're on a key meter and its terribly cold who wouldn't rather eat kettle food and have hot water/light/heat?

Its probably down to lack of knowledge, laziness because everyone has to work long hours so everyone in the family arrives home at 5:30 absolutely starving, and not moving as much, and portion sizes.

My DD is at the top end of normal whereas I have always been slim (Working hard on being bigger as I now don't fit in and looked very ill at one point.) What strikes me is she always asks for more or whatever it is. In a meal of grilled salmon, boiled potatoes and steamed veg in an age appropriate serving, she will ask for and eat if there is any left over, more of everything. Then we move on to dessert. Fruit and plain yoghurt, again kids sizes. She wants more, then a biscuit, then milk by the gallon. Always more. I do say no and sweets and cakes are given in moderation but she goes crazy. I give half a donut. She wants all of it and then another donut. If everyone thinks the same what chance is there?

What do you suggest the government do about it?

There could be health warnings on processed food as there are for cigarettes. And extra taxes on ultra-processed food, used to fund exercise and health initiatives. A ban on advertising processed food. Information campaigns about eating fruit, vegetables, dairy and fish and avoiding ready meals, snacking and processed food.

I do a weight lifting workout every day (caroline Girvan). I wish that was all that was needed! Still a few kilos overweight because i eat too many biscuits.

Am trying to cut down. Portion control is a massive thing. How many people actually weigh their breakfast cereal/pasta/rice etc? I weighed a portion of fruit and nuts yesterday (25g). It was tiny. 😔

@Lemonclub88 my kids are the opposite.. they never really get stuck into anything at all and eat bare minimum which is also frustrating! I have noticed that though that the more 'foodie' kids I know tend to be on the bigger side even if they eat healthily.

When I was a teenager a nurse came round and squidged everyone's waist fat together with metal calipers and recorded it, do they still do that?? 🙃

I feel about a million years old typing that...

Really, what should happen is everyone should have a full annual health check with their GP or a specialist nurse and you should be weighed and told (and supported) to lose weight if you are overweight. But clearly the funds are not available for something like that.

I weigh cereal, pasta and rice. Partly to avoid cooking too much and reduce food waste, but also to ensure an appropriate portion size. If I filled one of our (not massive) cereal bowls 3/4 full with granola, it would be around 800 calories, if not more, before you added milk.

A 45/50 gram serving looks quite scant, but with yogurt on top it looks ok.