AIBU - With this new data on obesity and the NHS is it time to have some honest and difficult conversations?

[IAmADancer]

New data from a ‘landmark study’ has show that obesity costs the NHS around 14billion a year and that 2 out of 3 adults are obese.

I know this is a difficult subject but the numbers are pretty clear. With the cost of living crisis and a general requirement for both parents to work now to support themselves how do we support people to make the right choices and tackle a growing problem?

Im really interested to hear people’s opinions on what we can do with such stark figures laid bare.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/17/cost-of-obesity-twice-those-who-are-healthy-nhs/

I think we should support those who lose weight over 4 stone if they need surgery to get rid of skin.

I have lost 8 stone, gone from 19 stone to 11 stone, but no support from the NHW for surgery to remove the skin, so I went to Turkey where its cheaper.

I won't have weight issues when I'm older with diabetes,my knees have stopped hurting and I no longer take medication for high blood pressure.

We need convenience food or rather food which is convenient but also healthy and not addictive.
But currently food is part of the bread and circuses that governments and those who have the real power use to keep us distracted so they can carry on exploiting us and filling their pockets. Those who profit from us being addicted and incapacitated will push back hard against any government that tries to change things and the government of course is all in their pockets.

That’s interesting . Do you think that’s bad diet caused by stress ? Take always ? Alcohol ?

I do think the easy access to takeaway instant meals is a big change . We always cook from scratch and so did my parents .

Compared to 64% in UK. Italy also has the best longevity in Europe.

Mediterranean diet covers the whole med.

I agree with that . If you have made all that effort it should at least be subsidised in some way .

my weight is due to PCOS, it's really difficult to lose weight.

also due to CoL, I work 60+ hours over 7 days of the week to afford a basic hole of a flat. no time for the gym 😓

Jeez. Read it again. Where was I dismissive? I am currently in the situation where the only medication that works, I'm allowed and doesn't leave other serious side effects causes weight gain. It was suggested by someone that I just eat less.

Learn to bloody read

pay farmers to build and maintain safe off road cycle ways
🥳💚🚲🚴🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️🚲💚🥳
(The car industry will lobby hard against anything that makes cycling more accessible & popular)

They need to be funded through taxation, in the same way the NHS is. If obesity is costing the NHS billions, then combating and preventing obesity will save money that can be spent elsewhere.

I’m obese :( I gained all my weight as a result of medication I’m on. I’ve slowly started losing weight though, as I’ve adjusted my calorie intake and getting used to just smaller portions as on this medication I just cannot eat as much and get away with it.

I agree with you though, something needs to be done to tackle obesity. What I’m not actually sure. As you have to be very motivated and in the right headspace to actively lose weight. Took me two years to get in that headspace.

Bloody hell 2 out of 3!!! I'm obese, I just can't seem to find the willpower to lose it plain and simple.
My life is very stressful and I compensate with food which isn't an excuse really. I have medical conditions but I don't have to exercise to lose weight, I never have. I've always been able to lose weight just by cutting calories even though I'm 60.
When I was growing up in the 60's none of us were fat, my whole family was thin, very thin.
We didn't have screens, we had to cycle everywhere, no facebook so we had to go out to make friends.
We ate food we grew in the garden and fresh produce, meat and 2 veg in small amounts.
I feel like life is poisonous now.

but then I'm very overweight and exercise a lot so no need for the bless
A 90 min spin class is fine for me and I lift weights too as well as high intensity spin

Another thread has reminded me of the last time I had instant ramen (I think it was an Itsu one!) years ago

I couldn't function afterwards - a heavy wave of sluggishness overcame me and I remember I slept for ages! It gave me a lethargic headache.

Ugh. Hopefully they use better ingredients now. Thankfully it was just a one off!

I could have spent the exact same time cooking an omelette! 🤦‍♀️ I learnt my lesson!!

I think k the small set of people whose weight problem are caused by things actually beyond their control like medication are probably are muddying the waters here

French bread can only be made with four ingredients – flour, water, salt and yeast or leavening – as all additives, preservatives and fillers are strictly forbidden.

We don't have a sacred recipe for bread and hence our Warburtons Toastie barely resembles bread and is stuffed full of crap

I don't believe all carbs are bad, but 99.9% of the carbs that people eat in the UK are very bad - because they are UP rather than because they are carbs per se.

You can barely even trust fruit these days - sprayed with toxic shit and engineering to be sweeter than they should be

People do need to move more. I walk to work, have a 1 mile walk in my lunch break and carry heavy shopping home almost every day. Gym or running on my non office days. I hate it but we have heart attacks in the family so it's better than the alternative. And it's better for the enviroment.

Employers should incentivise being active during lunch. Especially for people who drive to work.

I feel like life is poisonous now
Agree, but poisoning us is what makes the wealthy and Powerful even more wealthy and Powerful.

I'm sick of the excuses I make and the excuses other people make. It's rubbish, I can't move much and I have to take steroids. I still lose weight if I cut carbs and calories, I've proven that time and time again yet I still put crisps and chocolate in my face all the time. Nobody ingests calories through osmosis no matter what they take.

Two articles in the same paper, different sections - one front page, one in Health section. Front page: 80% of people think being over weight is normal; other was: 80% of people are overweight. Then lots of discussion how wrong it is for people to assume being overweight is normal and therefore should be acceptable 😂

No one seemed to see the irony: if 80% plus of the population is overweight - it IS normal! Doesn't make it right, but it definitely is "normal".

Nobody needs a gym to lose or maintain weight.

I have been around the same weight for 30 years within about half a stone. My regular exercise is walking, I have never joined a gym. If I put on weight I lose it again by diet and walking. That’s all you need.

Walking and eating less is free.

The research on the standard diet advice of calories in / calories out has been pretty clear and clearly ignored for decades. What is the point in national advice that’s wrong and doesn’t work? If vast swathes of us are overweight and obese the whole theory about greed goes out of the window, and it comes down to what is in our food.

if standard diet advice doesn’t work, then it’s time for something new.

I’m also seriously ill with a ruined thyroid that swings between under and over active. the first time I was under active I was eating 2 vlc vegan shakes a day and a salad and I still out in weight. Hormones and metabolism control a lot of what happens. You can’t pump chemicals into everything then blame people for what happens after

It really mostly boils down to how many calories you're consuming every day and how many you're burning. If you're eating more than you're burning, you'll gain weight. Most ppl have pretty sedentary lifestyles and eat more than they burn. People often think they don't eat much, but when you have an honest look at your calorie intake you see how calories quickly add up.

You come across as a bit smug here tbh.

True. It’s not necessary

100% agree!