Is it just me or are Londoners freakishly slim?

[manicinsomniac]

Not all of them obviously. And I don't mean that individuals are unusually thin. More than the population as a whole seems to be much thinner than the UK population in general.

I went in to London yesterday evening to meet a friend who was very late so I had lots of time to indulge my nosy, people watching habit (usually I just rush from A to B and don't look at anyone). And after a while it really struck me that almost everyone was slim.

So, now I'm wondering if it was a coincidental thing or not. And if not, then why is this?
Because so many people don't have or don't use a car?
Because, on average, the population of London is perhaps younger than the UK average?
Because, on average, Londoners are wealthier than the UK average?
Because so many artsy people whose weight/looks affect their jobs in some way live in London?
Because London is more multicultural than anywhere else and some ethnicities are genetically smaller and some cultures eat a different (better?) diet?

Or something else I haven't thought of.

I just thought it was interesting. Apologies if it really isn't!

Walking probably plays a part. It's not as simple as saying it is just one thing or another, it's a mixture of all sorts of things.

At it's most basic, I've always seen it as a Type A vs Type B personality kind of thing.

So the big cities will attract the over-achievers who have to push themselves in every area, and that includes being what they consider to be 'the best' physically. And the type Bs won't do that, will be happier to settle elsewhere, to do a job with less prestige and generally live happier lives and are possibly more likely to be overweight as they are less likely to see body size as an indicator of success/happiness.

I walk miles everyday, I have a job where I'm on my feet all day.

I should be a size 8 if walking made you freakishly slim.

I'm not though

Woo - it's the combination though. Walking all day from home to school run, to work, somewhere else for work, back to school, back to work. At work office likely to be high up, many take stairs up and down all day. Schools are 4/5 stories so children walk up and down all day. Likely to live in flats without lift, so up and down all day. No large supermarkets just metros, so delis and markets used more. Etc etc

On a typical day I walk down and up flat stairs around 8 times. Prob 8/10 times at work. 2 times at school collection. It's 1.1 miles from home to school, and another 1.5 miles school to work. I go back and forth between and averages about 7 miles a day. Etc etc

But people in other parts of the country do all of that.

It's not just a London thing.

I live in a London Borough (albeit a deprived one).

It has the fourth highest proportion of overweight and obese year 6 children in England.

It's a lot more than just walking.

Londoners are more likely to work in jobs where image matters a great deal: media, fashion etc.

They'll earn more which affords them more choice when it comes to access to good food and gyms.

Of course there are poor people in London but there's a much higher concentrate of wealthier, highly educated people in the Capital and those people will usually choose to be thin.

Of course people do everywhere. But it's a percentage thing.

Ie a higher % of population in London will live in a high rise flat compared to somewhere else in uk.
I think London also has one of lowest % of car ownership etc

I live in London, I wouldn't say that I'm particularly health conscious....I don't limit my food intake to maintain my figure. We eat normal home cooked food etc, but I'm always in hurry, I don't own a car, I stand on the train to work etc, have a bit of a walk at either end.

I work in marketing for a media company but I don't think it i s related.

not necessarily nancy - my sister is on £25k that is not really a typical high earning wage in London. She doesn't have a gym membership but she walks everywhere and is constantly busy with house chores etc. She doesn't spend a lot on food or eat out either (she typically shops in Aldi and Lidl), she just watches what she eats.

Many people in London do not have families (when they do, many move out). families are fat-a-genic. When I lived in London I was single and lived alone and had no need to cook big carby meals and eat half of them by mistake.

I walk - I'm not slim but not fat either. I agree it is far more about activity than money.
When I was slim and working in central London I had NO money. My rent took almost 70% of my take home pay. I got four buses rather than the tube because it was cheaper I had hardly any new clothes, (charity shops and jumble sales only) and I didn't buy tuna steaks and salad NOR did I but crisps and junk food and takeaways.

My Mum grew up in the war years - dirt poor. Never fat, (still isn't). Poverty is not an excuse for eating too much. And as for going to Poundland to buy crisps so your kids can have treats that's just ridiculous.

Well, I was one of the 'freakishly thin' people living in London, and yes, the accidental exercise of walking everywhere, or getting public transport that's a 20minute walk to the station, 10-20 min walk at the other end done 2x a day, and not having a car with you if you need to nip to the shops in your lunch break so walking to the tube again. Being constantly late so running up the stairs (an ex-colleague of mine always said, "the right of the escalator is for the eldery, the sick,the pregnant, and the hungover.").

But more, it's the 'hurd' mentality towards weight. When you're surrounded by slim people, being overweight, even by a little, is more obvious. I know I felt fine as a large size 8 on mat leave after having DC1, compared to many of my 'mummy' friends I'd met out here in the Home Counties (moved out when pregnant like many middle class 30-something Londoners!), I was looking ok. When I started getting the train back into London I suddenly felt fat, and the last couple of Kgs just went.

It's easier to eat healthier if you are surrounded by people making an effort about their diet, it's a lot harder if you're surrounded by people not doing so, if you are used to seeing a wobbly mummy tummy on all the other woman you see day to day, then it's not a big deal you have one, if you are used to seeing slim woman, then you will feel bigger and more likely to be inspired to lose it.

Plus there's the 'achiever' attitude, London is full of people who push themselves, it often shows via careers, but driven people are rarely only driven in one area, that attitude towards education, careers, fashion, social life also gets targetted on their own bodies.

(and yes, it is possible to be slim and be a high achiever and many other things in other parts of the country, this is just why they concentrated in London)

I agree on the family thing mentioned.

At my thinnest I was in my 20s, lived in a multi occupancy rented house in Brighton - no parking so no car, walked everywhere and yes that was a factor - but mostly, there was just me to feed and I didn't really buy much in the way of food. Lived of M and S 'count on us' or whatever they're called ready meals and went out a lot. I think food is around a lot in a family home in a way that it just isn't when you're single.

Yes, I walked a lot then, but I walk 4 miles of school runs a day these days AND I do a lot more formal exercise. But I have a house full of food these days which I just didn't when I was single.

(I weight 10 stone to the 9 stone I weighed then, btw, but at 5 ft 6 neither of those weights are overweight)

I think poverty actually plays far less of a part in obesity than is widely believed.

Almost every single overweight person I know, eats a lot. Whether they're eating healthy foods, or junk foods they still tend to eat very large portions of it.

Add the large volume of food and constant snacking to the sedentary lifestyles many of us lead, and I don't think poverty plays such a big part.

The overweight and wealthy people I know and have eaten around, still eat a massive amount of food imo, and tend to drive almost everywhere.

Good post MaryWest.

It is a "thing", not your imagination. M&s send higher percentage of size tens to their london stores. But that might be because people go to london whem they r young. Then move out.

Its funny because I now live in Paris, went back to London for a visit last month and noticed how many more severely overweight people there were than in Paris...

Agree with MaryWestmacott - if fat is normal then I am much more likely to give myself permission to indulge. Just as if everyone os wearing tracky pants and no make up I'm more likely to follow suit.

I think it has something to do with more built-in exercise of a city lifestyle. We don't have a car and take public transport everywhere, so between that and (for me) chasing after toddlers all day at home and having to get twins and a double buggy down and up a flight of stairs 2x/day, we're quite thin. Nothing to do with food habits or the gym.

Same here Lingauphile

I don't drive and nor does my DH. We walk everywhere...as do our 3 kids and all of us are slim. We're lucky to have a good bus/train/tube service.

Yet in the 20 years I've lived in this house, I still have neighbours who I have never ever seen walking to the local shops which are literally 3 minutes away. The supermarket is a 10 - 15 minute walk and whilst I've seen them picking up a few bits there, I've never seen them walk to and from the supermarket.

One of my neighbours works in the bank which is nearer than the supermarket, and she drives to and from there every day. Both she, her DH and her 12yr old are all overweight.

Her eldest is slim and athletic looking. I imagine this is no coincidence as he is sports mad and works in a gym.

Very good point about the peer pressure/slim culture Marywestmacott

Apologies again for any implications I have made that a) it is freakish to be thin and b) all non Londoners are fat and lazy. Not intended! As I said upthread, I am both a non Londoner and underweight so would be insulting myself.

Also, very true that I was out in Central London on a Friday evening. Probably not the most balanced of times/places for the observation.

Yes Social Contagion, studied a bit of this in social studies. This is one area that hasn't been used in weight campaigns. In some circles it is more embarrassing to be overweight.

article about a really interesting study