To think that the Obesity Epidemic is Exagerated and there IS no so-called epidemic.

[luvmetelly]

It's been on the news all morning about Obesity..

Where are all these morbidly obese people? I was out all morning, on a very busy high street and I came across only two people who I would class as obese.
Where do they get their facts and figures from?

Where do you live op?

I work in a deprived area but now live in an affluent area. Far more obese people where I work (pound bakery, greggs x 2 etc)

I am overweight and stand our more where I live now

Some places you don't see that many noticeably fat people whereas other places it is almost as ubiquitous as the local accent.

I don't know how old you are OP but I am in my late forties and I definitely think that young women from late teens and into their twenties in particular are far, far fatter on average than they used to be when I was their age. As a teen and a young women I was always pretty much the fattest one out of any female friends I had. but when I think back to the size I was, no-one would bat an eyelid at that now.

I remember the first time I went to the States (Florida) in 1997 - I was blown away at how fat everyone was. You just didn't see that many very fat people in the UK back then. But now, if you frequent certain poorer towns in the UK you'd be hard pushed to see the difference between there and Florida. I live abroad now and I come back to the UK each year and my observation is that average people in the street just seem to get fatter and fatter as each year goes by. And I say that as someone who is overweight myself.

Agree that people don't really know what 'obese' looks like any more.

I would bet that most people think overweight people are normal weight, and obese people are merely overweight.

People use the statistic that 'the average UK woman is a size 14' to say that therefore a size 14 is not overweight. Yes, that's because the average UK woman is overweight! (I mean, I'm 5'11" and even I am overweight if I go above a size 12.)

CherriesandApples My father weighed 15st once. He was not fat because he had a job that used physical energy. He was tall too - 6ft.

I like certain things to eat and drink and got up to 11¾st. I thought nothing of it until I saw a photograph of a group with me in it and thought, "Gosh! Is that what I look like?!" I joined Weightwatchers and got down to 9st. I'm now in control and am keeping it at 9½st - now able to wear fitted clothes (they call it bodycom or some other ridiculous name).

I was in a cafeteria in Oxford a couple of years ago and a fat man came in. As he walked down the aisle to a table, his body was so wide that it brushed things around on other tables. I just hoped that I would never have to sit next to him on an aircraft or a bus or in a boat.....

YABU - it isn't exaggerated. There are so many more people now who are overweight, obese and morbidly obese.

I am overweight. I don't look it - and don't feel it. But that is because our image of what is 'normal' weight now is skewed.

When I watch TV reality shows I am still surprised at how many are overweight. Four Weddings - four brides competing for the best wedding- often two of the four are really quite overweight. Personally when I was getting married I did my very best to slim down as much as possible as I didn't want my photographs to show a fat bride.

I am in mid forties - and have noticed the change in size since being a child. At school we had maybe one fat/overweight pupil per year group. There are many more than that now.

The vanity sizing of clothes is true. I am in a 14 - but I doubt I would be if the clothes had been manufactured even 30 years ago.

It is very worrying - and normalising the 'big/curvy/cuddly' aspect doesn't help matters.

As a pp said, the average UK woman is s 14. At a size 14-16 (what I currently am after dd!) I am classed as obese. I'm 5 foot 5, which is I think I'd around average.

Obviously everyone is different, but we are definitely getting used to people being bigger, and therefore not noticing it as much.

You want to come and 2 walk down my main street. It's grim.

Random 2 there for some reason.

I think obesity is definitely a problem, a lot of people have said that they've seen more of it in deprived areas. Is that because its cheaper to buy processed foods in places like iceland? Even with shops like aldi anf lidl cropping up all over the place?
I always thought people were divided on whether it was cheaper to eat healthily, surely the obesity indeprived areas proves something?

Where do you live op?

It's not what I would class as a deprived area, but also not an affluent area.
It's a mixture of both.

YABU. Vanity sizing and our perception of weight is a big factor. People that are a size 10 are often referred to as skinny. They're not. They are just slimmer than most other people. I am tall and a size 12 so not particularly slim myself but when I look around me, most women are more overweight than me.

Claw I agree - she still looks overweight to me but if I walked through my local town there would be many people that size and larger, so I guess it has become more typical to see someone that weight now iyswim

I found my old school photo the other day - year 6 ,(age 10-11), 1970. Every single person in it, including the teacher looked thin in it. Not just a normal weight, actually thin. I don't think you'd find that in the same area nowadays.
When we were teenagers (14-15), every single girl in the class was size 10-12, until an American girl joined who was a size 14. Not that she was necessarily overweight, but she did seem a bit 'well padded' compared to the rest of us.
It seems as if there were fewer very thin people and definitely far fewer overweight people. I think food wasn't really an issue for most people, you ate what was available, and because you were hungry.

I live in Australia, and I am absolutely positive it is cheaper to eat processed junk than it is to eat healthy food. And from what I remember of living in the UK, it was the same there.

If you don't have much money for groceries, it takes quite a bit of skill and imagination to make yourself healthy meals from scratch that also taste good. It is cheaper and easier to just buy cheap processed food that is packed full of salt and sugar to make it palatable.

If you're more affluent and lacking the same skills, you can buy takeaway salads or pre-marinated organic chicken thighs instead, spend 50% more than the poorer person, and not end up fat.

madbannersit's quite complex really. Obesity is more common in poorer areas, but it's not true that it's impossible to eat healthily on a low budget.
If you are really poor (eg.can't afford to eat every day, and some people did used to live like that) then you're not going to be obese, because you won't have enough calories.

The thing is Real food is more satisfying, so you eat less.

You can eat lots of "junk" and still be genuinely hungry for protein, nutrients, and so forth, so you eat more ...

Agree that it's not at all impossible, fatlazymummy, but most people don't seem to know how.

My mum fed us very healthily on a budget, but she grew up on a farm in the 1950s when people learned how to cook from scratch. I think a lot of adults today feel overwhelmed by figuring out how to make simple, unprocessed ingredients into something they (and their kids) want to eat.

YABU. Fat has become normalised to the point that being overweight is a pretty average way to be. It's good that the problem is being highlighted.

YABVVVU. I work for the NHS in diabetes and the statistics (which are directly related to lifestyle and weight) are scary. The nhs is already creaking at the seams and this is just the tip of the iceberg!
Another poster was correct when they said that our perception of overweight had changed. Many people we don't think are overweight are carrying too much fat around their organs which is the cause of diabetes and many other chronic conditions. It is down to too much processed food and sedentary lifestyles.

I think there is a lot of obesity in the UK but people now think of being overweight as normal so they don't recognise it. I haven't lived in the UK for a few years now but when I go back and visit I am quite shocked the amount of overweight people I see.
Vanity sizing probably hasn't helped this. I remember MIL telling me she was now in a 10-12, I'm a 10 and now way in a million years would she have been able to get one leg in my jeans (the country I live in doesn't vanity size).

Face facts. So many people are overweight that it is now normal. I am told i am skinny/slim etc i am neither i am normal. In fact i have a stubborn stone i need to shift. So these days:

skinny = skeletal / has eating disorder etc
normal = skinny
overweight = normal
obese = womanly
morbid obese = fat

I think yabu there is a big issue. Work is like one big game of 'dodge the donut' (don't even like them so not that hard)

I think though that people often think that the UK and US are the worst countries in fact many other countries are just as bad.

The bmi thing is a ridiculous way of measuring it anyway. And actually although being obese is bad for you I don't believe that being overweight is as bad as they make out. And my BMI is 21 so it's not about kidding myself. .....

I dont think a lot of children are taught well enough about calories and how many our bodies need and how to feed themselves healthily.

catsrus Yes, vanity sizing is definitely a factor. My mum told me about the first time she did Weight Watchers in the mid-80's and got down to a size 14 at 5' 4'' and 8st 4lbs. I'm a size 14-16 now at the same height and 14st! According to comparisons I've seen online, an old 14 is the same size as a modern day 10.