To think fatter people look better when old?

[Littlewoodenrocket]

Clearly they’re not healthier (well, I guess it depends on lifestyle).
I always think people, particularly women, who are bigger, tend to look more youthful when older.

Slimmer or skinnier women (and men) tend to get scraggy necks and skin.
And their faces look older.

I guess an example is Dawn French, when she lost all that weight, she obviously looked fitter, but much older and more haggard looking.

Hoping this doesn’t offend anyone!

Ooo someone else trying to justify being overweight by thinking it looks better.

Your mum was right too

Thinphobic

@queenMab99

🤣😂🤣😂

Hmmm, not sure.

That Cyril Smith hardly looked youthful to me.

I think it’s face shape. Even when I was a size six teen I had a relatively chubby face and looked young for my age (which I hated). Now 40 odd and my chubby face is what tricks people into thinking I’m younger despite the wrinkles creeping in - because a little fat in your cheeks is youthful.

I disagree completely and tbh I don’t notice many very overweight elderly as surely it shortens peoples lives and most people who are elderly now didn’t live in a time when people over-ate so much. I think being overweight really destroys peoples looks tbh not even mentioning health issues . I’m sorry as it’s not a nice thing to say but being slim allows plp in general much better mobility and to still have some muscle tone in later life, not always but most of the time.

I disagree. Being slim makes you look healthier and more youthful. Double chins are ageing.

this

A round full fleshed face always looks great. Mine is thinner than usual after massive weight loss due to illness and I look like shit. BUT I'm alive 🙏The wrinkles are with me forever now and years earlier than they should be too. Woe is me lol.

Wasn't there a saying you have to choose between your face and your bum, after a certain age (obviously said to women )
Meaning if you are slightly heavier, your face would have more "padding" and look more youthful but you'd have a fat bum.

I disagree though, I know several women (and some men!) in my sports club who are fit, slim and look younger than their age

In my experience, people carrying a lot of weight may find they have mobility problems as they get older. Arthritis, diabetes and other chronic conditions make it difficult to move like a young person. So it’s not just about wrinkles on faces but posture and lack of stiffness.

I’ve gained weight and my crows feet and forehead lines have disappeared. My sister asked me if I had had Botox. I absolutely do look younger but I’ll still lose the weight again for my health.

It isn’t always true that slimmer people always look better. I’m not that fat either at the min but defo bordering on the chubbier side. Face looks plumper and healthier. Shame I can’t keep the face when the fat comes off.

Yes, I think this can be the case. When my kids were young (I was early 30s), I lost weight and weighed just under 8st (I'm 5ft5) and one of my friends told me that it made me look 10 years older. Similarly, I remember my Mum telling me I looked haggard at a similar weight when I was 21. I'm now over a stone heavier and whilst I mourn my slimmer figure, I'm pretty sure my face looks better at the weight I am now, I'm 47. Furthermore, my Dad has just been diagnosed with osteoporosis, he is 83 and very thin. Put together, I'm starting to think that thin isn't all its cracked up to be.

@Azandme op said PEOPLE you mentioned women.

Ffs another reply shrieking offence.

I'm a woman, middle aged and fat but do look younger for my age compared to some friends the same age as me. Think a lot is genetic and lifestyle.

OP, do you mean they look better or younger?

They're two very different things.

Take for example an obese 22 year old, I really don't think they're going to look 'better' than a 70 year old of a healthy weight.

Different, yes. Better, not really.

Wasn't there a saying you have to choose between your face and your bum, after a certain age (obviously said to women)

I've only ever seen that said on Mumsnet and it's always said by women.

And if you actually think about what they're saying, they're saying they (apparently) chose to get fat so their faces didn't look so wrinkled.

Yeah right 🤗

I know what you mean. People get fillers to look youthful. On certain faces more fat/filled out does look younger IMO especially around the cheeks.

This.
Losing a large amount of weight when you're older is very ageing but remaining slim definitely has the opposite effect!!

I remember this, but assumed that as ones bums got bigger the weight made the skin more taunt on the face.

I might rethink my doughnut plan...

People are deluding themselves if they think bring an overweight older person makes them look more youthful, it really really doesn’t, youth is not just equated to how many wrinkles you have it’s about how you move, how healthy and vibrant you look, an overweight older person is never going to look fit and healthy and more youthful as they age compared to someone who is slim and fit, particularly if they have been slim all their lives and won’t have had the weight loss effect on their skin and none of the massive health implications of being overweight. If you put the two side by side and they both had to run to catch the bus the slim person would look much younger without question.

Oh I don’t think fat just not the lower end of the recommended bmi. Mid to higher tends not to age as much as the lower as your get older but within bmi.

This.

I think a few extra pounds is a bonus, not several stones. No one wants a turkey neck or to look like Audrey!

I’ve worked as a carer for the elderly and I do raise an eyebrow every time I read someone on mumsnet saying they never see larger elderly ladies 😂.

Certainly not my experience. You get a variety of different sizes in old age, but most elderly people will slowly lose weight the older they get due to a natural appetite decrease. Plenty of elderly women still a good few stone overweight mind.