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?

I'm a size 6 but a healthy weight for my height. Yet classed underweight on the BMI scale. I'm considered a bit of a rarity these days, was told in Debenhams today 'they don't sell many size 6s' My choice of clothes is therefore quite limited. Wonder if I'd have had the same problem in the 80s?

cherry I've lost a dress size in the past 15 years. Gone down from a 12 to a 10.

Youre right on the money there MrsPear
I also find it atonishing that people feel they can freely comment on someones weight if they're skinny/ average sized but wouldnt dream of it for a bigger person.
I've had comments such as 'skinny cow' and 'have another cake love, you need it' etc. I'm a normal 10.

Try Sauchiehall st glasgow on a Saturday

You will see the epidemic in action

-It's so easy to get food (junk food) now. In the 80s stuff like giant bags of crisps, fizzy drinks, sweets etc were treats, for parties or Christmas
-Junk food is addictive. MSG, gluten, sugar, caffeine=big culprits
-stress causes raised cortisol and abdominal weight gain.
-booze
-a general "you deserve it" culture. Food/booze as comfort.

Plus - people are also addicted to their car. I walked three miles recently. ILs were shocked and thought it unhealthy. Father in law is large and drives even to places which are 10min walk. Depressing.

I'm in an area with a lot of overweight people and DC. It's poverty related.

So it is areas dependent and there is a lot of research showing our perceptions of normal have altered - so we can't trust our eyes.

I've also read several articles in scientist literate that do put forth the idea that the negatives to being overweight are being overstated - sort of a moral panic situation.

An example:
ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/35/1/55.full

^Except at true statistical extremes, high body mass is a very weak predictor of mortality, and may even be protective in older populations. In particular, the claim that ‘overweight’ (BMI 25–29.9) increases mortality risk in any meaningful way is impossible to reconcile with numerous large-scale studies that have found no increase in relative risk among the so-called ‘overweight’, or have found a lower relative risk for premature mortality among this cohort than among persons of so-called ‘normal’ or ‘ideal’ [sic] weight. Among the obese, little or no increase in relative risk for premature mortality is observed until one reaches BMIs in the upper 30s or higher. In other words, the vast majority of people labelled ‘overweight’ and ‘obese’ according to current definitions do not in fact face any meaningful increased risk for early death. Indeed the most recent comprehensive analysis of this question within the context of the US population found more premature deaths associated with a BMI of

Definitelymore fat people now - but it is accepted as 'normal'
When I was in the doctors last week - almost all of the people waiting were obese. Also when we went to South Wales for a week this summer, we stayed in a holiday park - We were amazed by how many obese people were there - They outnumbered slim people. Worst of all many were children.

Plus - people are also addicted to their car

^^ This is so true - we walk miles as we don't drive and the DC have from a young age.

People struggle with that entire idea - and when they were young it did mean we had pushchair till bit later as option - as they weren't hopping in and out of cars and people's need to disapprove is unbelievable. They've walked 3 miles and last few streets they want to be carried or pushed but god no - yes random passer-by your right they'll never walk anywhere .

Our region is East Anglia. There are quite poor areas here, but honestly we too were very short of money in the forties. People had very little, but ate healthily because the alternatives weren't there. I don't think one can blame 'poverty' today for the obesity. Poorer folk nowadays just buy the wrong things to eat.
I've often said on here that I've travelled all over W Africa, and I truly have never ever seen a fat person out there. They aren't all starving, but they eat sparingly, and walk everywhere. My dh is still astounded by the sights we see in our cities here.

Another thing I've noticed is that women's shapes have changed. They seem to have no waists and have tyres hanging out instead. We had tiny waists as young women. Really hourglass.

Mad that is people's insecurities talking.

I agree it's rude.

But one thing I CANNOT ABIDE is when thin women drone on and fucking on about how fat they think they are. It's attention seeking and compliment fishing and extremely insensitive to their fatter friends who often have massive self esteem/body image issues anyway.

I think there#s a lot more inactivity, by most of us. I've heard that labelled the inactivity epidemic.

Then there are the minority of activity junkies so it's a bit like financial inequality. The joggers are distracting us from the fact far fewer people walk, cycle and do manual jobs.

There are many, many, many complex reasons for why we have an obesity problem now, but if I had to condense it down to one word that word would be sugar.

surely one of the biggest reasons fire everyone being slim in the 40's was rationing. Not convinced that would be politically popular.....

Not sure about this hourglass stuff I have the figure of a boy I think the clothes in the 40s would have just fitted me badly. Plus everyone was shorter, it's very complex I think.

As a very slim person it is very very obvious to me. I see a lot of people that are overweight that probably wouldn't think they are.

Clothes in shops have always seem to be in sizes far too large for me and I have to shop at places like topshop to find anything that fits (topshop is known for tiny sizes but to me those are normal sizes !)

I also see a lot of children that are big, again I don't think people realise.

On the Christmas dinner thread people were shocked at posters that didn't have 3 courses. I was shocked that anyone could eat that much even at Christmas. I said that I rarely have more than one course ever as I just any eat that much. 2 courses if I'm very hungry and portions are small.

Which brings me to portions - so many places serve such massive portions and people think these are normal portion sizes. They aren't.

I agree fish. Ill often 'treat' myself to a chocolate bar/ bag of crisps as it's a cheap way to 'reward' myself.
Sometimes I'll take the girls out to lunch for a treat and to celebrate we usually have a family meal.
We have meals a lot more to socialise nowadays. Whereas before we might meet at the pub for a coke etc, now its a full blown meal to catch up. I think eating out is affordable, on occasion, for most. My mum and her family never went out for meals when they were younger. And she said children in restaurants was rare.

And Op, why did you ask yourself a question?

People often comment on how tiny I am and that I should eat more. Yes I am small and petite.

But I am a healthy size. I have breasts and a bum. I'm just small. I usually buy a 4 if I can find it as it's the smallest size they make but have to get a 6 in jeans to accommodate my bum.

There is definitely an epidemic it's just that overweight now looks 'normal' because so many of us fall into that category.

I know a couple of obese people who just class themselves as just having 'a bit of a tummy' or 'a few pounds to lose.'

People often refer to me as skinny minny and I'm nothing of the sort. I'm teetering on the edge of a healthy BMI for my height. Half a stone and I'd be over 25. I live in the Midlands though and obesity is common here.

I don't think one can blame 'poverty' today for the obesity. Poorer folk nowadays just buy the wrong things to eat.

Don't know pizza for 99p in local Aldi- it's hard to out do that with a meal from fresh ingredients.

I think it also other factors - have the capacity to give the DC stuff they may not like and not eat rather than buying something cheap that will fill them up and you know they will eat - having money for gas/electric having the cooking equipment - having the mental and physical energy to cook after long hours day and possibly long commutes.

TBH - there also seem to be an idea that cooking is hard among many of the people I encounter. I don't quiet get why personally but I have encountered more than a few people claim following a recipe is hard.

Many more jobs are sedentary too. I am pretty much desk-bound at work.

About the driving issuse, I got told by a friend that I shouldnt have children because I cant drive! I cant have chidren, but if I did then the nearest primary school is a 7 minute walk away! I think sometime people dont think to walk instead of drive if its a short walk away

On the other hand I dont eat processed food, we grow 50% of our own veg, I walk everywhere do 5 hours swimming a week and im obese. Sometimes its not as simple as junk food. I also dont eat very much, possibly too little.

in my case my underactive thyroid was misdiagnosed for years and so I put on a lot of weight, im losing it but more slowly than I put it on. There are lot of reasons for obesity and diet and excersise are only two of them

Some if it is laziness or ignorance. Or both.

Eg. In Tesco today I saw a hugely overweight family paying for their food. It was all utter crap. Frozen chips, multi packs of bottles of coke, multipacks of crisps all sorts. It's quick and easy to eat that kind if food. And now the amount of added sugar and fat in that kind if stuff is so high that normal food doesn't taste "right" to junk food addicts.

And. Jesus some of the stuff shops sell. Tesco had 5 yes 5 person height freezers just for Yorkshire puddings. I counted.

I recently watched a couple of 1970s concert films on the TV - practically everyone in the audience was skinny by modern standards.

And I've sat outside a motorway services main entrance and not seen a single skinny person while I was there - they varied from just 'a bit tubby round the middle' to seriously overweight.

We assume 'average' is 'normal'. It isn't any more. Average weight is now unhealthy. It genuinely is a crisis.

I'm obese (15st and 5'6) but people look at me and think I'm overweight rather than obese.

My weight crept up pre-Dc when I had a job that was regularly demanding 10 hours at a desk ( badly run IT project) and I had an hour to hour an half commute each way via trains.

I was coming home collapsing then ending up staying up late to feel like I had done something other than work all day.

Lack of sleep been linked to being overweight as well - it messes with some of the hormones.

I dropped loads of weight when we moved and I worked 9-5 and had a 30 min walk each way up really steep hills.