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/

Like America? The fattest country in the world.

Obesity is great for business.

You do realise that once someone is overweight, their body is engineered to be hungry until they regain their highest ever weight.

97% of people who lose weight put it all back on within 2 years.

Pretending that obesity is self-inflicted indulgence is ignorant and way out of line with the science.

The neurotransmitters involved are powerful and pervasive.

I'm genuinely curious if the obesity epidemic has different info depending on sex - Contraception & weight gain can be significant for some, every time my contraception wears off weight starts falling off of me with no lifestyle changes whatsoever

These threads always end up with posters feeling the need to justify their weight, due to illness or medication.

But they're not the majority.

The majority of overweight and obese people eat too much, and exercise too little for their food intake.

And all the government intervention and education in the world won't change that.

People need to take responsibility for themselves and their overweight kids.

Poorer people are generally more obese because they lead unhealthy lifestyles ...er......because they're poor. It's not rocket science. The NHS won't be able to fund obesity related illnesses, so more poor people will die. That's just about what the Tories want. So when Ann fascist Widdecome says don't eat a cheese sandwich if you can't afford it.... just think on what the bitch is really saying. There's a Feed Yourself For A Pound A Day site on Facebook. My God you should look at what the poor are eating! Disgusting state of affairs in the UK today.

Oh don't be ridiculous.

No-one who eats small amounts of food is going to die of hunger, just because they don't like the hunger feeling.

Once they cut out the overeating their stomachs and brains will accept them eating less.

I lived in Spain for a few years in the early 2010s and the supermarkets didn't have full aisles dedicated to crisps, sweets and biscuits like ours do, and there were virtually no ready meals anywhere. At work my colleagues didn’t eat meals at their desks, they went to the restaurant onsite at 3pm and spent about an hour eating a healthy 3 course lunch. They didn’t use the snack machine, the only thing I ever saw anyone eating at their desk was a handful of nuts or a natural yoghurt, and even that was rare. Obviously with the weather there they had a much more outdoor and active lifestyle too. Everyone looked a lot healthier and definitely less of them were obese, most were slim - although I think it’s slowly changing there too.

2 out of 3 adults are obese?

That doesn't correlate with all the people I see everywhere I go.

I think this post is very naive it assumes all obesity is by an individuals actions. Many have health conditions which affect weight and for some they cannot afford to eat healthily - it is very expensive to eat a healthy balanced diet.

I am not obese but I do have a number of health conditions which impact on my weight - I am fortunate enough to be able to afford a gym membership, I also have the time to go as my children are older and I pay a cancer nutrionalist for support following my cancer (my cancer consultant thinks nutrionalists are quacks as they are unregulated) which has helped me.

I lived in Spain for a few years in the early 2010s and the supermarkets didn't have full aisles dedicated to crisps, sweets and biscuits like ours do, and there were virtually no ready meals anywhere.

I wonder what area you were in?

I lived in Spain during the 1990s and the supermarkets were very much packed with all of those things, and looked no different to ours.

No, read the article in the OP.

2/3 of adults in the UK are overweight
or obese.

26% (1/4) of adults in the UK are obese.

I think there have probably been other points in history when both adults and children have been under severe, chronic stress. Perhaps WWII.

They weren’t obese.

One of the problems we have nowadays is that the stress we’re under is not the life threatening sort, which leads to more insidious, difficult to treat mental illnesses, (which also probably weren’t around as commonly during WW11) which often really need the sufferer to train themselves to focus on other things, a bit like losing weight requires you to make changes.
Overeating wasn’t going to happen for anyone during WW11, so it’s not the greatest comparison.

People react to living lives that are unnecessarily difficult, and it starts young. Obesity is a symptom of this.

It’s a perfect storm of outdated bad science still passed on to everyone, too much pressure to perform well in school, in work, on social media, in extra curricular activities, many of us managing disabilities, disabled children (pretty sure the increase in stress in schools has contributed to higher levels of SN), high levels of clever marketing aimed directly at us if we open a magazine or turn in the tv, polarised views on everything that keeps us invested and angry, and whilst some people are obviously perfect and are able to overcome this onslaught of shit, not everyone can do that. There’s no way that 2/3 of people are overweight or obese simply because they’re lazy fuckers, it just doesn’t add up. None of this whole paragraph was an issue to anyone 80 years ago.

Obesity is a symptom of a societal problem. That’s not taking any personal responsibility away from anyone, but things don’t happen on that scale without reasons, and there are too many overlaps with obesity and mental illness, obesity and neurodivergence, obesity following onset of many illnesses for there not to be links, so simply putting it down to laziness doesn’t follow.

Our bodies have been changed by the poisons put in them, and then we’re blamed for being out of control? What exactly did anyone expect? UPFs are designed to be addictive, you can hardly beat people with a stick for becoming addicted to the very stuff made to do just that! If it’s such a huge cost to the nhs they need to be banned - but they won’t be because they make too much money. You can’t set up systems that result in this and then blame the people targeted.

If I understand correctly, the biggest cost in drug prescribing to the NHS is for diabetes drugs - so why aren’t they working hard to update their diet advice? Why are they still advising a diet which some researchers think caused the obesity epidemic in the first place because it stopped people eating real food?
Research about low carbing and its effect on diabetes has been known for at least 20 years now, why are so many drs still saying it’s dangerous and faddy? In the case of diabetes the NHS is actively keeping patients fatter and iller. Why?

I am obese. I am a teacher, work my socks off and have been very lucky so far to not need the NHS an excessive amount (obviously I have used it but no more than thinner people if you get what I mean). I will no doubt change as I get older - but if I had to pay on a teacher salary I would have to quit and do something that ensured I got it paid
For

It might if they were naked.

Clothes can be deceiving, plus (as much as a lot of MNetters don't like to hear it) we really are losing sight of what a healthy weight looks like.

🙄 so you can speak for the experiences of the 1/3 of the population who are obese and the further 1/3 that are overweight, can you? You obviously have absolutely no clue. 😂😂

Yet again, someone who clearly knows nothing about it pontificating to those who do. Go ahead and talk into your echo chamber, for all it bothers me. If you want reality be sure to knock.

If I understand correctly, the biggest cost in drug prescribing to the NHS is for diabetes drugs - so why aren’t they working hard to update their diet advice?
the people who make the addictive food and the people who make the diabetes drugs are making lots of profit, why would they want that to change?

I've had a couple of jobs that run counter to the experiences on this thread. One was preparing people for Antarctic expeditions. There are only so many calories that you can consume before it just comes out of your bottom.

The other was a compliance carer, making persuading people to do what their GPs, dieticians, consultants and physios say. Then lockdown happened and I was able to conduct an experiment that would have challenged an ethic committee. I had two ladies who didn't have supermarket slots (they went to the worried well) , one had never eaten more than 800 calories a day the other had never eaten more than 1200. So I put them both one a 1800 cal diet (controlled feeding experiments indicate that this is what an inactive petite woman requires). By the time Waitrose got their act together both women had lost 10% of their body weight whilst complaining that they had never eaten so much. My observations completely match scientific studies. Both women were obsessed that they were medical anomalies. DBT methods helped but it was a harder group to crack than teenage bulimics. You had to be over 60, over 45bmi, physical and mental health problems to get near someone like me. Would be easier if the criteria were lower.

@Mumsday if I’d been alive during world war 2 i would’ve died in an accident.

the one that led to me being immobile and gaining weight due to medication and being immobile and relying on carers for a long time.

is that your preferred option for people like me?

im not allowed to exercise. My orthopaedic surgeon has forbidden it - except for walking in the pool which I do do. But that’s all. I cannot go to the gym or go for a run because it risks doing more damage to my hips, knees and ankle and the surgeon is trying to get them stable.

I have extensive nerve damage and have complex regional pain syndrome to contend with as well. Look it up. A mere slight touch on my bad leg feels like a hot poker being stabbed right through it. Other times it’s like having spiders stabbing their way out your leg. I also often have zero feeling in the leg at all - I have a dead leg that won’t cooperate or do what I want it to do. This means I fall. Often. It shakes uncontrollably.

that leg has caused all kinds of issues from the hip down and into my bum and my back. My whole skeleton is fucked.

but I’m just fat and lazy. That’s what something like this will
make people
think even more than they do.

I control my diet - I follow the advice I’ve been given and I average my calories over a week and make sure that I don’t eat more than 1200 a day. I’ve been doing this for round about 5 years and my body has never adjusted to the point you suggest it should have.

Exactly. So let’s point fingers at them instead of the people who fell victim to their tactics.

I've found this thread really interesting, lots of good points. I am obese.

This sensitive topic doesn't need me stirring, but I find myself unable to resist pointing out that I was a lot thinner when I smoked - smoking inhibits appetite; it gives you something to put in your mouth when you're hungry.....My memories of the 80's are everyone living on Findus Crispy Pancakes and Marlboro Lights.

I'm not saying we should all take up smoking again, but it must be a factor for some people.

If there is going to be change it’ll be because people are prioritised over money. Until that time one way or another we’re screwed.

Until the NHS and society starts to recognise that for many people obesity is down to emotional/psychological reasons and not just laziness/ignorance, there will be no change.

I thought this was going to be about criticising people for being fat and lazy but I totally agree with you with regard to the changing tactics with healthy eating

Water is also an appetite suppressant.

You’re showing your ignorance again.