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/

What do you mean by Nectar prices?

I use it and get fresh food on the list as I buy it each time. I just checked on the Smart shop app and my list is tailored to me.

I'm the same with toast! But not porridge. I make it with unsweetened almond milk and a dollop of Greek yogurt. A sprinkling of sugar or a bit of agave, hardly any just enough to take the edge off.

@Sausage1989 I do have eggs some mornings. But I had bread that was left and I don't want to waste it so it got toasted. I'd lifted it out of the freezer yesterday and ended up not eating it.

I do eat nuts.

I have stopped meat for various reasons and I won't be returning to eating meat regularly.

Sainsburys also have plenty of healthier options for reasonable prices. I went at lunch time to top up on fresh stuff and got 6 apples for 90p, pack of easy peelers for 99p (has about 10 in), bunch of 8 bananas for £1, strawberries and blueberries both on offer, cherry tomatoes for 99p, cucumber for 65p, bag of new potatoes for 60p. Except for the berries the fruit and veg I get is always this price, better that than to have them change every few weeks as part of the nectar offers.

You said you were losing weight so clearly you are doing all the right things for you.

Don’t think there is one root cause, but the great con is the wheat based diet many people have. Whether it’s cereal, bread.

I eat once a day, a very nice meat based meal, very simple. I graze on berries if I’m peckish between meals.

never felt better, never had a more flat level of energy rather than peaks and troughs. I’ve had a friend cut this diabetes by moving to the same diet. The wife of a work colleague, did the whole keto thing, cured her breast cancer.

i love sweets, cakes, chips, burgers, kfc, soda, you name it, if it’s bad for me, I love it. But, I’ve always known to limit it, and I have periods where I abstain fully.

I know there are people with medical issues, which cause the obesity, and those who don’t do much but watch tv, but eating less or exercising more, isn’t the answer, it’s what you eat that matters most. Find what works for you, get your body through the change in diet, try to be more active, get proper treatment and live longer.

Nhs is a joke.

You need to read the books and WEF crap to fully see what a world of 15 minute would actually look like. Their famous quote is ‘you’ll own nothing and be happy’.

The societal focus in the last couple of decades at least has been in accepting people as they are, shaming fat shaming, not restricting children's duet and not pressurising them with food.

All this is good and promotes better mental health. It has also led to an acceptance that 'fat' is not that fat and ok because ultimately, we judge ourselves by comparing with others. If others are the same size it bigger, we are ok.

Then add all the social aspect of life that encourages eating and drinking. 'Normal size portions getting larger and larger and we have lost the sense of what is really healthy.

I see early 20s who are overweight, eat take aways almost every nights, or when they try to be healthier, will have massive portions. They even gave high cholesterol, but they don't understand why because they don't eat 'that badly'.

So how do we find the right balance between going back to putting some pressure on people to accept what really us a healthy lifestyle and weight without shaming anyone and impacting on their mental well being? I'm really not sure.

Bottle feeding is known to increase obesity on a societal level.
Maybe there needs to be better breastfeeding support in place and incentives for women to try breastfeeding?
Breastfeeding for 12 months + is known to significantly reduce obesity in children up to 16 journal article here

Humans are doing things and eating things that we’re not built to do and eat. And we keep doing so because it feels good, which, in an increasingly crap world is hard to give up.

(Absolutely not aiming to start a fight here, but this seems to fit into this discussion!)

If you know a slim person, study what they do. Staying slim in today’s society is no mean feat. So, we need to ask slim people how come they aren’t fat?

The slim person I knew was a teaching colleague. She'd bring a packed lunch and eat it at morning break. Then she'd have a school dinner. Chocolate bar at afternoon break and another in the staffroom after school. I was the chubster who didn't eat chocolate and who was quite quietly jealous.

Not everyone's life is ideal. My priority is generally to get through the day without anyone getting hurt.

If we had help with DS for his meltdowns, eating issues, sleeping issues, washing/changing clothes issues, anxiety, low self esteem and school refusal Dh & I might have time to exercise and cook healthier meals. It's in the last year that I've put on weight, as our situation at home has deteriorated. And pre-Covid I walked or cycled to work, now I WFH and can't walk to work as the office moved, and wouldn't feel confident to cycle on the route I'd need take. Plus it would restrict DH work hours even more than they already are and reduce the amount of sleep I get, and the lack of sleep is already borderline unmanageable.

@PtarmisanCheese

Are all medical treatments not a risk benefit kind of conundrum ? Sometimes the weight gain is the least worst option.

I reckon if I went to my GP and explained what I was eating and exercising, he might send me away to try and lose weight through diet and exercise - which I think would be reasonable since it must be the most common reason for being overweight - would you agree ?

If I still wasn’t losing weight and he ran a couple of blood tests that were normal/almost normal - then what else would you expect him to do after that ?

Are all medical treatments not a risk benefit kind of conundrum ? Sometimes the weight gain is the least worst option.

Of course. But when the weight gain is then used as a stick to beat the patient with and ignore the condition they’re being treated for it’s not ok.
This happens too often.

Age plays a massive part, most are bigger at 55 than 25. Even Morrissey has filled out. :)

Drugs / more seem to be on the ‘new drugs’ to combat obesity. Imagine will become more commonplace.

Shetland ponies re: race horses

Shetlands in grass - expand
Thoroughbreds - not so much & weight gain more hidden :)

Short & round will struggle compared to the rangy & the aristo Trinny body types of world.

The wife of a work colleague, did the whole keto thing, cured her breast cancer

@CuriouslyDifferent please don't spread dangerous nonsense like this. A keto diet does not cure breast cancer.

I cannot believe some people are actually advocating fat shaming. It doesn't work and just adds to the misery of the obese person. I stopped exercising in public because of the fat shaming that I received. It was miserable - going out for a run and having abuse hurled at me each and every time. It did not spur me on to get thinner. It did not spur me on to conform because, quite frankly the people who try and pressure me to conform to their way of thinking by hurling abuse at me can fuck off to the far side of fuck and when there can fuck of some more. I don't want to conform to be accepted by such idiots. What was the point? I was trying to do something for me, something that was really hard and took a lot of willpower and effort and all I got from it was abuse and hatred.

Why would I want to conform to fit in with a society that sees fit to ridicule me rather than being kind and compassionate towards me? So no, fat shaming doesn't work - if you're going to be mean to me, fuck off. I don't want to be what is acceptable to you because I don't want to live in the society that those who fat shame live in. Do you all see how it really doesn't work?

There is so much more to obesity and the reasons for being obese. If some people can't lose weight despite what they're doing (and there are some stories on here) there has to be a different cause that isn't solved by calories out being more than calories in. my Endocrinologist told me that it was really hard for a middle aged woman to lose weight as their bodies just don't shift it and are really efficient at using what comes in. That the only way is bariatric surgery. Thanks, but I'd rather be fat than do that. It was rather a depressing conversation!

There is so much more to good health than weight alone. Articles like this do not look into the complexities of it and are just another way for society to lambast and ridicule that which is deemed unacceptable. Can we focus on building people up, being kind and acknowledge that there is a hell of a lot we don't understand about the human body when it comes to weight gain and obesity. The Telegraph will always find something to clutch their pearls about whilst showing an embarrassing photo of a generic fat man. It's just cruel and lazy journalism.

Her case being studied by some academics at the expense of the Nhs. She is cancer free and they are keeping a close eye on her.

I was a bit incredulous myself, but knowing both of them, then it transpired that another friend was in some sort of Nhs meeting where her case came up because of it.

So I agree, sounds like nonsense, but it happened. I lost a friend to BC. It’s not something I take likely.

YANBU. Both my husband and I have been at our unhealthiest (though not noticeably overweight) after taking on a promotion so I do think the fast-paced lifestyle many have is a big factor. I have not one but two relatives currently on a waiting list for a free gastric band on the NHS due to being obese. I am not convinced this will actually deal with the disordered eating at the heart of their obesity and I’d bet that they’ll eat the same old rubbish just in the smaller portions they can manage to eat. I fully support making getting this obese as expensive as possible.

I know a lot of parents with DC with SEN. who only eat 'processed food'. Should they be penalised by paying more? Also found this ( see image)

“I cannot believe some people are actually advocating fat shaming. It doesn't work and just adds to the misery of the obese person.”

It’s just an excuse for a bit of virtuous bullying - usually of women, I notice.

My DH is a diet controlled type 2 diabetic - he often comments that at least 90% of the supermarket aisles are dead to him now because it’s all high sugar processed crap. I don’t think it will change without a massive culture shift back to cooking real food from scratch.

A couple of things;-

No to fifteen minute cities - ridiculous impractical idea,

The government and NHS needs to move away from BMI as an individual measure as opposed to a population indicator. It doesn't take into account body composition and therefore we get people who are well within BMI but with a high fat percentage, and are over BMI with a high percentage of muscle. If you are at either extreme BMI is demoralising.

Also being overweight or obese is unhealthy, but not everyone who suffers cardiovascular disease is obese or overweight, or even unfit. Another stereotype.

I reckon if I went to my GP and explained what I was eating and exercising, he might send me away to try and lose weight through diet and exercise - which I think would be reasonable since it must be the most common reason for being overweight - would you agree ?

Being honest I’m not sure I agree any more that it’s the most common reason for obesity, definitely not morbid obesity - most IME have underlying psych issues/eating disorders that have led to that. So yes, eating too much is the issue (obviously), but it’s complicated by psychological factors.

Of course diet and exercise is the first step, but very often valid symptoms are ignored and dismissed whilst suggesting this.
Diet advice from GPs tends to be things that studies have shown over and over to not be sustainable long term.

Nice tempting food is bloody everywhere. When our brand new smallish, but stylish new shopping precinct opened in 2007, out of 28 shops, only 2 were cafes - one was a Costa and one was an independent.

Every time a shop closed, it seemed to get replaced with a cafe. That nice precinct of shops now has 9 food outlets!

Why would I want to conform to fit in with a society that sees fit to ridicule me rather than being kind and compassionate towards me?
That is not society. I can only assume that for one person who threw insults at you, 10 people who passed you didn't, and maybe 2 or 3 without telling you would have thought 'good on you'.

Fat shaming that involves throwing insult to people exercising is utterly pathetic. However, the term is also used in appropriately in my view. I have always been honest with my kids and when they start bingeing, ordering 2000 calories takeaway etc... I will say something and mention their weight. I don't insult them, I don't put them down, I just remind them how unhealthy it is. According to some of my friends though, this is fat shaming and I should just not say anything.