To think most people don’t care about healthy eating, exercise, etc

[Notcontent]

We keep hearing about rising obesity levels, diabetes, and how sugary/processed good is responsible for a lot of it, etc.

But it seems to me that most people are completely ignoring those messages - either because they think it’s all nonsense or because they think “oh well, I want to enjoy my food and drink and I don’t really care what happens when I get to 50”.

I completely agree that we need to have treats and enjoy food because that’s what life is all about. But a lot of it is just simple stuff, like having water instead or sugary drinks. Why is that? Yes, I know some people can’t afford healthy food, but most of us do have some choice about what we feed ourselves and our families.

and so eating a whole big bar of chocolate or tub of ice cream most evenings in front of the telly has become normalised.

I don't really think that has become normalised. I have never known anyone to do that. Or maybe it's that I don't know anyone who would admit to doing it?

I must admit recently turning 50 has made me take my health much more seriously.

I now have an uncomfortable amount of friends with heart problems, joint problems, diabetes and high cholesterol.

Age really does catch up on us and quite quickly too. It really doesn't seem that long ago that I was 30 and thinking "Meh! 50 is two decades away, I'll worry about my health then".

In my experience, most people care a lot. Too much in many cases (my own included). Being thin, avoiding junk food and being active take up 90% of my thoughts and energy - that disgusts me. I link my self worth/value directly to being a low weight - that horrifies me. Sadly, I don't think it's unusual. I wish more people I know didn't care. But we all do.

I find all the news about the obesity crisis almost confusing because I just don't see it. Everyone's obsessed with park run, the gym, their fitbit/garmin and their organic/vegan/paleo/insert-buzz-word-here lifestyle.

I do love a Mumsnet gross generalisation!

CSI blonde - yes, some people are being super healthy, not drinking, etc. But overall people are still getting fatter.

@isabellerossignol

I fairly regularly eat a whole bar of chocolate or whole tub of ice cream to myself I am a piglet though

I'm not overweight, either. I exercise. I like vegetables. I mostly drink water. And I also am a fucking pig sometimes.

I have never met anybody who would not join me in the pursuit of gluttony every now and then. Especially if it was takeaway and I was paying.

I also think this..we are on holiday at the moment, bed and breakfast is included for everybody staying here. All other hotels we have stayed at have been the same.

I always look at other people's plates, while I'm sat eating. The majority are overweight and will sometimes be carrying three plates of pastries, omelettes, cheeses, breads, cakes, pancakes..the list goes on! Plates piled so high with just sugary, fatty foods! It's as if it's their last meal! People just don't care! It's pure greed!

Everybody knows the dangers associated with obesity. I wrote on another thread, that i shouldn't be so accepted in today's world to be overweight!
The average woman's clothes size in the UK is 16! That's shocking!
And yes other people do have the right to be annoyed, because it costs the NHS billions a year just because of obesity!!

Getting ready for all the overweight posters to throw the hate at me now..for stating facts!

I don't think people don't care. I was overweight for the last 6 years and struggled with my weight, but I was miserable. I decided to do something about it and lost 4 stone, now I hope I won't look back. But I don't push my opinions on others. They can do what they want.

I think most people would be a lot better off in life if they just minded their own fucking business.

Not in London . Quinoa , exercising , triathlon city here . It’s too much 😬

And yes other people do have the right to be annoyed, because it costs the NHS billions a year just because of obesity!!

And even more on people who live longer and longer and longer . . .

People have a 'right' to be annoyed about that, too, eh?

I knew three people who exercised more than most people I know, were very careful about what they ate, didn't smoke, drank only small amounts etc. They died at a younger age than average from cancer, heart disease and in a cycling accident. Fairly recently. I am not feeling particularly inspired towards a healthy lifestyle.

I think worra nailed it

Invest now in my forties and hopefully enjoy my 50s . I caned it from 18 to 34 and then drank and smoked even when I had kids . I owe my body big time and now I am
Paying it back

Type 1 diabetic here. Cycle 100+ miles a week, have played sport at a national level. Cook from scratch. Insulin makes you gain weight so I have to try really hard. Bloke opposite me in the office, skinny as they come, eats terribly, diet is basically tinned food, pot noodles and coke plus fags and whisky. He’d have a better BMI than me despite this. It’s not always as straightforward as you’d think.

I have friends of all different shapes and sizes and I feel like every single one of them cares. They exercise, lose weight, healthy eat, join weight loss groups etc. Problem is none of them from the slimmest to the biggest ever stick to it consistently and I think that’s the biggest problem. As a society so many of us yo-yo between eating well and slipping into bad habits when there must be a balance we’re not getting right.

No YANBU.
Most people blindly skip along thinking it won’t happen to them. Chances are, unless you take personal responsibility for your own health, it will,

Koka that’s the shit of it all

But cancer can hit anyone , as we all know
Cycling accidents scare me ( I cycle)
And heart disease / well I have nothing to say on that

Sorry for your losses

Why do you care about what other people eat or if they exercise? MYOB

This mentality is the reason why the already struggling NHS is put under even more pressure.

too many mixed messages.too much scare mungering.too much saying just that that pizza chips and junk is bad.when the aim should be on have in moderation.you dont need to not have those nice things you need to cook and be taught a balance.so you can have your mars bar and you know youll also have veg with tea and carbs and portions of fat. that you can eat intuitviely. and you can eat anyhing you want but the key is in balance.
you can listen to your body and allow it sugar.your kids can have fruit shoots and coco pops!.but you also need to allow it the good fats the good sugars the good veggies.
diets dont work.
diet clubs are there to make money so they make it work enough but yuoll always fall of the wagon and come back to them.
diet culture.
pressure
mental health and eating disorders.
food.health.money making.food banks.the media.its all fkd up food and healthy eating and healthy minds.so lot of the time there is so much more linked to food and health these days its just gotten so hard for some people.

I can only think of one person I know with a serious weight problem and associated health problems, all the rest are obsessed with cave training, hit, marathons, iron man and cycling. We had to have another bike shed built at work as the cycle to work scheme had such a high take-up rate. Everyone I work with brings their own (healthy/paleo/vegetarian/vegan) food in and generally, really take their health quite seriously.

I wonder if the people who struggle to eat healthily and exercise are those with huge pressures at work and home and simply dont have time or headspace.

Yes, I know there is always a risk that we could be leading a super healthy lifestyle but drop dead at 40. But in general, that’s not how it works. That’s what I am hoping anyway!!!

Actually statistics show that people do care in the UK, health is a large driver in food purchase choices.

BUT that doesn’t play out into actual purchase, so they think about it a lot but don’t follow through.

The endless cycle of fad diets doesn’t help the matter.

This mentality is the reason why the already struggling NHS is put under even more pressure

Bullshit! It's under pressure because of 11 years of Tory stranglehold on it, cutting funding, fucking over staff, getting rid of bursaries, increasing privatisation and an increasingly older population.

manicinsomniac im sorry you feel like that.it must be awful and really tiring.and i agree with you on the points you made.

There are about 120 staff where I work. Only two of them are overweight. Almost everyone runs or hillwalks or cycles. And at lunchtime out comes an array of home cooked food, and bucket loads of fruit.

I know that on a population level there is a problem with obesity and inactivity but on a day to day level I don't really see it. I see health consciousness all around me.