To not be surprised the NHS is in trouble…

[Itmakesnosensetome]

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?

@Iwantmyoldnameback Queen Victoria was 4’11”. In her later years, she had a fifty-two inch waist and symptoms indicative of sleep apnea. Her Majesty could only sleep propped up on bran pillows with down pillows over them. It’s amazing she did not have a stroke or heart attack earlier. Her blood pressure would have been very high. I revere and respect the Royal Family, but they had some terrible health habits.

If you'd read the post I was quoting and replying to, there'd be no need for the sarky comment 🙄

People keep referencing Spain when it comes to threads about obesity, like they think it's a country full of slender inhabitants who don't have an obesity problem at all.

The shock of horror bit wasn't aimed at you. For some reason MN holds French society as totally aspirational. Children are well behaved. People are beautiful and all well dressed and thin. When it has pockets of obesity and other health issues related to addictions etc.

I would also tax unhealthy food a lot, like 50%. And use the revenue to subsidise the cost of healthy food. I would also stop supermarkets (and convenience stores etc) selling unhealthy foods and alcohol. They would have to be sold in separate specialist shops.

12 years ago, aged 38, I was a size 10. I walked ten miles a day for exercise, sometimes more. I did yoga and Pilates and ran a few times a week, too. Then I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Within months I could barely walk, let alone run. I went from being incredibly active to being sedentary. Plus the steroid medication I was put on made me balloon.

I'm now a size 20.

But people like you, OP, judge me all the fucking time. Just this week someone shouter 'fat cunt' at me from a passing car. A man in a supermarket recently told me that I shouldn't bother looking at the hair products as I was doing because until I lost weight I'd still not be attractive. And there is no way I'd ever go on a beach holiday or swimming or anything like that, because I know people like them, and you OP, would laugh at me, judge me and/or be openly hostile.

This thread is the last fucking straw of a really shitty week. I truly hope that you never fall ill and find that you have no control over your body any more, it's the shittest feeling in the world.

Jesus Christ.

I think some people are missing the Covid laws and want to make new ones for other things now

So, out of interest, for those of us who are now technically obese due to 30 odd years of NHS neglect (lipoedema ignored from adolescence and now stage 3 progressed,) will we be receiving compensation from those in charge who are advocating shooting fatties or just expected to crack being abused for something that isn't our fault? Asking for a friend 🙄

If by 'those in charge' you mean the NHS, are you asking for advice on suing for compensation?

Sorry, your post isn't really clear.

Neither. I'm referring to those up thread saying that if they 'were in charge' obese people would be charged for treatment. In my case and for many women like me, we need treatment because we weren't diagnosed in time by an incompetent NHS. What's unclear?

Nothing now that you've explained.

Well I have never suggested that obese people should have to pay for their treatment, so I don't think your post was aimed at me anyway but I don't think the lipodema example makes a huge amount of sense tbh. The NHS website says the treatment would have been diet and exercise, maybe CBT and talking therapies to help you cope. Doesn't seem like in the early stages you'd have needed anything different to anyone else who wanted to lose weight. It says in severe cases liposuction may be needed and may not be available on the NHS but I guess in early stages it wasn't yet severe? Sorry to her it's progressed btw.

You are right but you won't get the right answers on here. In some quarters of Mumsnet you aren't allowed to mention overweight people even though there are so, so many more in UK (and America) than anywhere else...

Obesity can be the result of disordered eating in exactly the same way as being very thin can.

Do you make such sweeping statements about very thin people, too, OP? Do you attack and judge those with MH issues only if they're obese? Is being thin the acceptable face of eating disorders for you?

Dp you have lipoedema? FYI lipoedema fat is non metabolic so can't just be dieted or exercised off. The NHS website is about the worst place to look for information about it tbh as they won't acknowledge its a disease because then they'd have to treat it. Most UK women go abroad for treatment, I'm due in Germany again in April for my 3rd of 3 very expensive and painful operations.

But early diagnosis and conservative treatment could have helped, and that was exactly my point. Had I been diagnosed at the age of 14 when I could have worn compression and eaten low carb, it would not have progressed in the same way as it has due to me being told its all my own fault, I need to eat less and move more and being directed to slimming world to then spend 2 decades eating the wrong things for my disease, because every NHS medical professional I met said it was the right thing to do.

Then, I might not have got past a stage one, would not have spent the ages of 11 to 32 either starving myself or making myself sick and over excercising and certainly wouldn't have had to spend my house deposit on liposuction like I did last year. So, actually no, it's a perfect example! But I'll just carry on being judged by everyone who just sees the fat hanging off my arms and legs, and have actually no idea that not everyone has control over their weight no matter what they do. So, for me, the NHS is the cause of my problems and and I'm in trouble now because of it and not the other way around!

@Swiftbushome I have it on my legs which stayed the same despite LOSING TEN STONE. And before you start i had it before the weight gain. My Gran had it Its hereditary in my case.

@TheSnootiestFox

Fair enough. I'm not judging either of you for your size anyway. My point was that it wouldn't make sense to "sue the NHS' for not treating the lipodema when it was stage 1 when the NHS website says the treatment would have been diet and exercise anyway. But if you're telling me the NHS website is wrong then OK.
I still stand by the fact that the obesity crisis is putting a huge strain on the health service (along with aging population which we can't do anything.about) and for MOST people even though they don't want to hear it, the solution is just stop taking in more calories than you burn off.
But actually you DID lose 10 stone so even if you didn't lose it where you wanted to - which is shit for you, I'm sorry- you've still made a massive improvement to you heath, surely?

My friend also overexercised and starved herself throughout her teenage years and twenties before finally being diagnosed with lipodema. Again, the unfair judgement she has faced has been horrendous.

And like others say, even if someone does overeat due to disordered eating, why is that faced with so much more moral judgement than undereating? When both are the some kind of psychological response. I was anorexic for a long time and even at the time remember being shocked at the people who would congratulate me on my figure. Compare that with the disdain for my ' swollen with steroids' figure now. Yet I am the same person. The same person who gives so much to society through volunteering and public service . The loyal funny friend. And yet some people would take one look at me and think the NHS shouldnt treat me.

Presumably people would still treat anorexics, even though the "simple solution" would be for them to just eat more calories than they burn?

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

Yes, you're so right! People make perfectly sane choices to smoke, be fat, be inactive, abuse drugs and alcohol, experience stress-related illnesses ... because it's so good for them? Being psychologically healthy and emotionally balanced, they look in the mirror and go "I'm really glad I'm a fat, stinky, broke addict!"

Twit.

Any sane person would still treat obese people too. But as a society we are putting much more strain on the NHS through obesity than anorexia. We really do need to address that on a societal level. There's no point in people taking offence, it's just a fact. And anyway there is a long way between overweight and underweight. Nobody as far as I can tell is suggesting the solution would be for people to starve themselves. That's ridiculous. We need people to aim for a HEALTHY weight.

GarlicGrace · Today 17:08

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

Yes, you're so right! People make perfectly sane choices to smoke, be fat, be inactive, abuse drugs and alcohol, experience stress-related illnesses ... because it's so good for them? Being psychologically healthy and emotionally balanced, they look in the mirror and go "I'm really glad I'm a fat, stinky, broke addict!"

Twit.

So what's the solution? We just give up and accept that people will all eventually become obese and the NHS will implode?

@Swiftbushome, the remark I quoted was a response to this:

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.

And I found it a bloody idiotic response. These things are obviously symptoms of psychological/emotional distress. And if we seriously wanted to tackle them, we'd be massively increasing the provision of quality MH support.

It's all about mental health I think. Mentally healthy people aren't running to the kitchen cupboards for a snack non stop. We have drained funding out of MH for years now and so much of a healthy lifestyle starts with it. Fix the nation's mental health and mood and they will want to eat better, exercise, walk more, etc.

Mental health services- absolutely.

Also easy access to healthy food (I lived in a very deprived area for a year, without a car, and was determinedly healthy but it involved carrying all my bags of fresh fruit and veg up a huge hill, with busy traffic and past drug dealers and prostitutes. I could see why lots of people just got take out /snacks from the convenience store)- it's easy to criticise people but they may be battling in all sorts of practical ways

An investment in research into conditions like lipodema and into better medications for autoimmune conditions than the steroids that come with side effects like weight gain/water retention/diabetes risk. Also research into the causes of the autoimmune diseases.