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/

Yes my home economics lessons were a waste of time. I'm 57. Learned nothing except how to make disgusting eggs au gratin and rice crispy cakes!

CharlotteRumpling
I have to confess I was someone who was initially irritated by calories on menus. I was of the view that if I'm going out for a meal then I expect it to have more calories and it's not my everyday diet. It was a bit of an unreasonable and knee-jerk reaction on my part because doing it everywhere means that it highlights where the hidden calories are.

I don't have a take out coffee regularly, but if someone was having a Costa every day that's 250 calories on a medium latte. Over a 5 day working week that's over half a day's calories on 5 hot drinks alone. The muffins are around 400 calories, so a coffee and muffin is more than a quarter of a typical woman's daily calories

Add in going large, syrups etc and it's easy to see how people are consuming a lot go calories without realising because they've only had a coffee and a muffin.

I know a 58 year old with an under-active thyroid but has THE MOST AMAZING stomach abs - a washboard stomach. She eats healthily because of her condition and ensures she has an energetic lifestyle …she doesn’t sit back and blame her condition

But it's everything that goes with it
No I'm not blaming my thyroid but when you add

Under medicated thyroid and undiagnosed for years
Immunocompromised
A condition that causes abscesses meaning I have to sometimes not exercise
A job working sat down from 7.30-4/5pm
Skint
Stressed
Working 40hrs a week
Medication side effects - try having flu for 24hrs a week and see how much cooking/eating well/exercise you want to do
Lack of time/energy due to all the above

I'm fit and despite my conditions I'm pretty healthy bloods/hr/bp wise but I'm also overweight

I do agree with your point about the lab but it's still the individual's choice to buy them. People need to stop blaming the companies and maybe look at their own ability to say no. I am aware that it isn't easy, but once again it's another excuse. I can't think of one single food that I am addicted to or that is irresistable to me so I guess the lab has failed in that respect.

Gov need to add more tax for junk food and use that money to decrease the price of healthy food. There needs to be better nutritional education at school and they need to teach kids how to cook from scratch like they used to. It’s a vital life skill and sadly a lot claim not to be able to do it as a cop out.

Also place more emphasis in schools on exercise so those healthy habits start young. A weekly PE session isn’t enough imo, people need to exercise every day.

The thyroid issue is a good example - because I think it does go under reported a lot of the time.

The dog recently was diagnosied with hypothyroidism. TBH it had gotten pretty bad in him before I saw a vet, so convinced was I that he just needed to move more and eat less. But however much I cut back on food for him, he never lost so much 100g.

So he went back to the vet for a third time and I insisted on a blood test which revealed low thyroid hormone.

So he was given thyroid hormone replacement.

6 weeks later and despite him now eating twice as much food as he was before, the weight is literally falling off him.

Which makes me think...

a) hormones have a massive influence on whether or not you lose weight, the dog was being chronically underfed (almost 50% of the recommended calorie intake for his age and size) and it wasn't making the slightest bit of difference to his weight which was way too high

b) how often does a relatively 'mild' case of something like hypothyroidism in humans just never get diagnosed. How many people walk around thinking their tiredness is just 'normal' tiredness when really they have low thyroid hormone levels?

I have just finally had my official diagnosis confirmed for an underactive thyroid, this last week.

I has been undiagnosed for years and the doctor has confirmed it has lead to weight gain and the total and utter shit life I have had for years. It pisses me off when people dismiss it or come on here claiming I know some one who has it and they are in amazing shape, well I bet 110% they have had it diagnosed and are on correct treatment.

From what myself and my consultant/doctor have deduced whilst I have been undiagnosed, I have lost a large amount of hearing in both ears. I have gained a lot of weight and nothing I did shifted it, even changing diet quite considerably changing my diet for the better had little affect.

Having an undiagnosed underactive thyroid can be debilitating in many ways, constant exhaustion and tiredness, really bad mental health and low esteem. I used to be very active but every time I tried the slightest mild exercise I ended up with sever joint pain and muscle pains straight after affecting my daily life and work. So its nothing to do with over eating or being lazy its a debilitating illness on many fronts if undiagnosed or not treated and weight gain is a huge part of it.

Then don't buy the frap or have chips with the lasagna. It isn't mandatory. Just don't eat it! It's not that difficult.

Surely most adults in this day and age are aware that a frap is high in cals and sugar. It's not a secret....it's written on the menu in most places!

Everyone seems so eager to blame anything but the individual! The information is out there.

@chupachucks I'm sorry you're having a tough time. But we're not talking about your circumstances. What you're doing here is being the person who speaks up in a debate about buying the right shoes to tell everyone how hard you have it because you've had both feet amputated. Sorry and all that, but this one aint about you.

But that's my point, most don't know this stuff. And if they do, its not drilled in enough. There is tons of information and help out there, but it obviously isn't landing enough.

@Everanewbie Thank you, sorry, its just very raw for me still. I have struggled with my weight for a long time along with other issues and to finally find out its all down to some thing treatable after all this time is still quite upsetting.

People know it it’s just very addictive

I think if you've never become very overweight, then it probably just is as simple as eat less and move more. Or really mainly eat less. But maybe once you have become very overweight it's not so easy - maybe because of metabolic disease, maybe because of psychological issues around food, maybe because of limited mobility because of the obesity.

Like many others on this thread, I have a couple of times in my life stood on the scales or tried on an item of clothing and thought "That's not right". And then for the next few weeks or months, I've consciously eaten less. And I've lost weight. I've never cut out major food groups, or cut out UPF, or cut out alcohol, or cut out cakes/chocolate/crisps. I've just reduced the quantity of everything.

I appreciate that doesn't work for everyone. But it's obviously not true that you have to eat a high protein, low carb diet to lose weight or to stay slim, even if that works for some people. And it's clearly not true that you have to eat a low fat diet to lose weight either.

Also, I try not to buy salty snacks like crisps and Pringles because I do find them addictive. And sometimes, even in the supermarket, they call to me from the shelves. The human will is notoriously weak. You feel you deserve something nice or it won't matter this once.

And opportunites for tasty food abound. When I was a kid in the 70s there wasn't a choice of 6 or more food outlets at mainline train stations - if you were lucky there were a few soggy sandwiches and sausage rolls in a cafe that stank of cigarette smoke.

Why does it take so long to get a diagnosis for anything that is causing weight gain? Fortunately, I could pay to have private health testing if I found I was putting on weight for no reason….?

Oh yes, me too. I love being able to make an informed choice now.

What about people who get fat by trying not to be fat? Science repeatedly shows us that most people who attempt weight loss will regain any they lose. And 2/3 of those will end up regaining more. I know I’m only one example but I know of many the same too. I started off not fat. Just a little pregnancy weight that I thought I “had” to lose. So I did. And that there started a 20 year histor of weight cycling, culminating in bulimia.

I also got ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia (while still thin but during the later years of my bulimia). So now I’m mostly recovered from my bulimia, but I’m fat and unable to exercise.

Also, does that article say how these so called extra costs are incurred? Does it explain why the costs are more? Is it because fat people are sent away to lose weight before being treated, therefore having to come back a few times and may need more treatment in the long run? Is that sort of thing taken into account?

Home Economics was the best subject when I was at school. Taught me how to cook healthy nutritious meals, many of which I still cook today.
Food and nutrition is probably the most important subject in schools. A lot of people don’t know how to cook on a budget for instance.
For the majority of obese people the cause is overeating and we need to stop with this ‘celebrate your curves’ nonsense. It’s not doing people any good.

YABU. My BMI hovers around 24-25 and it's a real life time struggle to keep it there. Between illnesses, working 10 hour days, commute, cost of living, etc, the only reason I manage is because I have plenty of money to throw at the problem (gym, money to buy healthy food) and the advantage of growing up in a very healthy household so I do have a lot of ingrained healthy habits. I think you need to have serious issues to be obese, life these days is very stressful, people have very little time, our food is by and large shit and full of chemicals, it's no surprise where people are heading. The NHS should help more not less.

Because it's not as common as people on here make out. For every person who genuinely has hypothyroidism, there's one who is in denial about the state of their diet.

I have friends who are convinced they have low thyroid but what I also notice is that the minute they're hungry there's a panic of "my blood sugar level must be dropping" (not one of them is diabetic) and reaching for a Mars bar. There's a real lack of understanding and a lot of people pick up on sound bites and small bits of information out of context.

Also, the portion sizes of everything in this country are so big that when we're cooking at home it's hard to adjust.

Sorry for the brutal response.

How would you like to see the NHS helping? It is extremely overstretched. Personally, I'd like to see some classes put on where people can be referred, where they can learn about calories, meal planning, budgeting and behaviours and coping strategies. Cooking classes could be part of this. Show people how to make healthy meals on a budget with portions to freeze for days that a re rush. Show people that with preparation and planning, healthy real meals are at least as cheap, if not cheaper than processed junk food.

Lord knows where we'd fine the resources for this, but I'm sure it would help.

Embrace the hunger pangs, that’s what I say! When we feel hungry, don’t rush to satisfy that need…drink water…go for a walk/run/swim…it’s a mindset (some of the time)

do we eat to live or live to eat…?

Then don't buy the frap or have chips with the lasagna. It isn't mandatory
This.
This is where I think there needs to be some sort of common sense health campaign from young childhood upwards.

It really ought to be obvious that frappucinos and fancy coffees to go are nice to have drinks, but not an everyday drink. They even put the calories on now for all to see. It ought to be obvious that a processed meal deal sandwich is likely not going to be as nutritious as something prepared at home.It ought to be obvious that juices and smoothies are high sugar drinks. It ought to be obvious that the large/thick cookies from coffee shops are going to be high in calories and low in nutritional value. It ought to be obvious that nobody has to eat all the chips that come with a meal.

There's nothing wrong with any of the food listed above. Everything in moderation is reasonable. If someone is having meal deals most days, coffee shop coffees/frappucinos and cookies most days that isn't a medical issue. It's a personal choice issue.

@LolaSmiles I was trying to illustrate how easy it is to over-consume without ever feeling close to full. I agree with you, at some stage, people have to make a decision about instant or delayed gratification. Problem is that not everyone understands this and menus and advertisements bombard us with this stuff and no one teaches us how to be moderate. Yes there is tons of education out there, but you have to seek it out, digest it and live it. That's why I believe we need to educate and reiterate from a young age.

As a small c conservative person, I hate the idea of banning things and am all for personal choice and responsibility. But people need a fighting chance, and education from a young age might start to turn the tide.