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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not be surprised the NHS is in trouble…

211 replies

Itmakesnosensetome · 17/02/2023 15:34

We’re on holiday in Tenerife. We’re in a pretty nice hotel, fairly pricey so quite a lot of wealthy retired people . Pretty much every single person is very overweight or obese. I don’t mean a bit of a tum and hips- I’m talking huge, hard bellies on the men and massive women. there has always been overweight people but this feels unbelievable. There are some Spanish, Norwegian and Swedish people and none of them are fat - how can the NHS cope with this problem?

OP posts:
GenuinelyDone · 17/02/2023 16:30

Dacadactyl · 17/02/2023 16:12

YANBU. If I was in charge of the NHS people would be given a couple of chances to lose weight/stop drinking/smoking etc and if they didn't do it, they'd be paying the full price for any drugs they needed.

Too much carrot and not enough stick at the minute.

So what would you do for people like me? I'm 3 stone overweight so clinically obese.

I run at least 3 times a week, walk an hour briskly everyday and carefully measure my calories to make sure I consume no more than 1,200...generally it's closer to 1,000. I move much more than I ever have, eat far less than anyone I know and beyond the initial 2 stone lost when I started this way of living haven't shifted an ounce for 2 years. No thyroid issues, doctors are baffled as to why my body is stubbornly hanging onto excess weight but it is.

So in your black and white version of the NHS am I exempt from treatment for being an evil obese waste of space or included because despite my best efforts I cannot lose more weight?

Ludo19 · 17/02/2023 16:30

Sarahcoggles · 17/02/2023 16:08

@Btjdkfnn sorry am I reading this correctly? You're saying that obesity is the fault of the NHS for not offering a medical check up every 6 MONTHS to tell people that they're gaining weight? Seriously? Are you so unaware and incapable of managing your own life that you can't tell that your clothes are getting tighter, and you can't stand on the scales and look at the numbers ? Is this what we've come to? A world where people take so little responsibility for themselves that they need a doctor to tell them, every 6 months, that they're fat? Give me strength!

And anyway, every single time someone posts on here that the doctor told them to lose weight, they're always angry about it, and everyone else is indignant in their behalf. So even if your idea of utopia was a world in which medics guided our every waking moment, it wouldn't make any difference anyway!

I'm truly stunned at your "solution". I really am.

This 100%

WiddlinDiddlin · 17/02/2023 16:33

YESSSS ITS THE FATTIES, SHOOT THEM ALLLLL THAT WILL FIX THE NHS.

Simples. You can thank me later. I mean you can't, I'll be first in the queue for the firing squad, but that will also save the NHS treating the Ehlers Danlos, DCM, hypothyroid and the insulin dependent diabetes that have led to me being soooooooooooooooo disgusting.

Dacadactyl · 17/02/2023 16:35

HeyBwoss · 17/02/2023 16:29

This is hilarious. There's no disputing that obesity is a massive issue, but smoking/drinking/drugs/and yes, food, are all addictions that usually carry various emotional baggage. Do you expect people to be able to stop just because you said so? If only it was that simple!

Mental health issues need to be better supported. NHS talking therapies are difficult to access, and private is so expensive. That's without going into other reasons people are obese - time poor = more unhealthy convenience foods, money tight = cheaper, bulkier food more likely to be bought, living in a location unable to access more then a local shop for food, disabilities meaning unable to cook/exercise/access better shops.

Better treatment or better care is needed for other conditions like PCOS which means you are more likely to get type 2 diabetes for instance.

And obviously, you absolutely do get people who are greedy, or enjoy smoking etc, but ultimately people will do what they want to their own body.

Show quote history

I don't think it's funny that preventable illness is driving the NHS into the ground.

All this "it's mental health" stuff is going too far.

xogossipgirlxo · 17/02/2023 16:35

I don't support the idea that if NHS was less busy those people could see doctors more often and then get some lecture on how to tackle minimal weight gain, as one of PP suggested. UK is nanny state enough. It's quite shocking what people think is healthy eating and very often they just ignore nurses and doctors and carry on with weight gain.

Mojoj · 17/02/2023 16:37

Oh dear OP, your post has just encouraged all the overwight/obese
Mumsnetters to start listing all the reasons why they can't shift the pounds and bleating how being that size is not their fault. Obesity is an enormous drain on the NHS. That's a fact. And as long as everyone continues to abdicate responsibility for their weight to everyone else, it's only going to get worse.

Lilalily · 17/02/2023 16:37

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 17/02/2023 16:15

Obesity does cost the NHS £6.5m annually. A reduction in these costs would be helpful. However people get very defensive when it's pointed out how overweight and obese people in the U.K. are, 37.9% of adults are overweight, 25.9% are obese. It's a huge number.

In those figures are the obese people included in the overweight category as well? Or are they on top of the overweight-but-not-obese people?

AdelineAurelia · 17/02/2023 16:39

You'd have offset the cost to the NHS of obesity against the savings to the tax payer of people who drop dead of a heart attack or stroke in their 60s due to obesity and never claim state pension after paying in all their life. Plus the older you get generally the more you use the NHS and then there's the cost of care at home or in an old people's home for some.

newtb · 17/02/2023 16:40

Back in the days of fund-holding practices, I had a serious car accident that 'killed' my thyroid. 10 stone/60kg of weight gain later I finally got a diagnosis, but it was held up as the practice didn't want to pay for my médical exemption from prescription charges. At no time during the 10 years of ignoring all my typical hypo symptoms did I ever get offered help with or suggestions to lose weight. We're talking about a practice in an affluent are of Cheshire in the 90s. It's been broken for a long time.

HeyBwoss · 17/02/2023 16:41

FlameGrilledSquirrel · 17/02/2023 16:23

One can only imagine the absolute uproar on here if a GP suggested losing weight.

It is a problem. But let's absolve everyone of personal responsibility and blame the Tories.

There's not an uproar if the GP points it out when necessary.

Last year I saw a doctor as I'd hurt my knee. I was overweight, he pointed out losing weight would help, but still thoroughly examined my knee. Completely necessary, and said in a kind but blunt way.

In December I burst both ear drums after an ear infection. This doctor didn't mention my weight.

And actually, both times mentioning my weight wouldn't have been a problem if the doctor still examined and treated the actual issue. The uproar comes when doctors blame your weight before even having a look at the issue to see if there is any other causes.

Crikeyalmighty · 17/02/2023 16:42

As a person who needs to lose around 4 stone (and currently on a major healthy eating kick) I get your point- I hadn't though in all honesty seen a doctor for 22 years until post covid when I developed long covid. Clearly you haven't got many Germans there- they have the same situation but are often quite fit with it too.

Iwantmyoldnameback · 17/02/2023 16:43

I am happy to pay for private treatment but I would like some of my taxes and NI contributions back, particularly for the many years I never saw a doctor, nurse or any other medical type.

ThighMistress · 17/02/2023 16:45

Fat shaming was supposed to be about not insulting those who were a bit chubby or didn’t conform to model proportions.

i don’t know how it’s moved to celebrating obesity. That sanitary towel advert is awful: the ice skater is very, very fat. At the Brit Awards too the obese dancers…

What became of all the 5 A Day Officers and Obesity Officers in local councils? Were they redeployed or just still being paid for jobs that are now considered “shaming” ?

vodkaredbullgirl · 17/02/2023 16:47

🙄

MonicaGB · 17/02/2023 16:50

I see the fat shamers are all in. Obesity is a complex issue and if it was as simple as eating lees we'd all do it. Mine is a side effect of my conditions rather than a symptom, but luckily I have no children draining the system so I can use the NHS. Not that I do use it, I'm a net contributor for taxes. I will continue to pay for everyones children as long as the NHS treats everyone regardless of lifestyle choices.

DrHousecuredme · 17/02/2023 16:50

FlameGrilledSquirrel · 17/02/2023 16:23

One can only imagine the absolute uproar on here if a GP suggested losing weight.

It is a problem. But let's absolve everyone of personal responsibility and blame the Tories.

Uproar????
People would be delighted and approving surely.
We have one of these "fat people are to blame for ... "
Threads every week if not more.

tappitytaptap · 17/02/2023 16:54

ThighMistress · 17/02/2023 16:45

Fat shaming was supposed to be about not insulting those who were a bit chubby or didn’t conform to model proportions.

i don’t know how it’s moved to celebrating obesity. That sanitary towel advert is awful: the ice skater is very, very fat. At the Brit Awards too the obese dancers…

What became of all the 5 A Day Officers and Obesity Officers in local councils? Were they redeployed or just still being paid for jobs that are now considered “shaming” ?

Totally agree. Why have we gone so far the other way?! I hate the way obesity is glamourised and celebrated now. Such an unhealthy way to be! I actually get really annoyed when obese people I know bleat about the state of the NHS whilst taking zero responsibility for their own health. I get mental health issues (I have MH issues, and am currently taking an anti depressant which causes my appetite to increase) but I'm trying my hardest not to put on tonnes of weight as that is not going to help me feeling depressed and anxious either! They are also far too easily used as an excuse for everything.

Supernova23 · 17/02/2023 16:56

It's a HUGE factor. But in the nicest possible way, people are living WAY beyond what they would have done many moons ago due to the fact we have medicines and technology to control the vast majority of ailments. I'm an A&E practitioner and treat people daily with a list of co-morbidities as long as your arm. Lot's of your "classic" presentation obese patients have COPD (flair up = frequent, costly, hospital admissions) and T2DM (biggest cause = obesity). Complications from T2DM = extensive vascular problems, which leads to disability, and increased costs in the patients care needs. Limb amputations, neuropathy, wounds that don't heal. Basically, obesity eventually leads to multi system failure at some point, and yet people still bury their heads in the clouds about it.

The patient I mention above would have died fairly rapidly once upon a time. Now, we control, treat, or manage their systems, at a huge cost to the health service. These individuals can very much reach old age despite that the fact that if left untreated, these largely preventable health problems would have killed them many moons ago.

LakeTiticaca · 17/02/2023 16:56

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are one of the biggest drains on the NHS. These are things that can be dealt with by a lifestyle change, while also improving the mental health. I will get my arse handed to me for saying this but the biggest cause of obesity is simply because people eat far more than they need to

HeyBwoss · 17/02/2023 16:56

ThighMistress · 17/02/2023 16:45

Fat shaming was supposed to be about not insulting those who were a bit chubby or didn’t conform to model proportions.

i don’t know how it’s moved to celebrating obesity. That sanitary towel advert is awful: the ice skater is very, very fat. At the Brit Awards too the obese dancers…

What became of all the 5 A Day Officers and Obesity Officers in local councils? Were they redeployed or just still being paid for jobs that are now considered “shaming” ?

Who's celebrating? Surely these women are just living their life, they just don't look like you while doing it.

It's interesting you point out women who are exercising as a problem, but also them being fat is a problem too. How do you suggest they lose weight?

Iwantmyoldnameback · 17/02/2023 16:56

And if a fat person were to get a non weight related illness like cancer how wonderful that the NHS would have an excuse not to treat them.
Shall we limit how many babies people can have on the NHS? What about injuries caused by people exercising? Theres more savings right there.

QuertyGirl · 17/02/2023 16:57

We drive everywhere

LaMarschallin · 17/02/2023 16:57

WiddlinDiddlin

YESSSS ITS THE FATTIES, SHOOT THEM ALLLLL THAT WILL FIX THE NHS.

Well, they'd be hard to miss as a target.

Sarahcoggles · 17/02/2023 16:58

newtb · 17/02/2023 16:40

Back in the days of fund-holding practices, I had a serious car accident that 'killed' my thyroid. 10 stone/60kg of weight gain later I finally got a diagnosis, but it was held up as the practice didn't want to pay for my médical exemption from prescription charges. At no time during the 10 years of ignoring all my typical hypo symptoms did I ever get offered help with or suggestions to lose weight. We're talking about a practice in an affluent are of Cheshire in the 90s. It's been broken for a long time.

GPs don't pay for exemption charges.

ÉireannachÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ · 17/02/2023 16:59

You are right but fat people won't agree with you. I hate the normalisation of obesity in media under the guise of body positivity or whatever.

So many young young children are obese. Growing up this was never a thing but these days it's feels like its rare to see normal weight children.