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 actually had sent you PMs explaining exactly what happened to me.

what the fuck are you being so nasty for

what did I do to you. Actually what did I do. Why would you say such nasty horrible things inferring I’m someone who his famous for an absolutely horrific tragedy. I’m not and I never said I was.

what the actual fuck.

Breast or bottle fed will make no difference to an over-fed and under-exercised child.

And if they happen to have two obese/overweight parents, their chances of becoming that way too are increased greatly.

It's a self control problem, therefore it can be hard when it's either all you've ever known or what you've gotten used to or what you do for comfort in this shitty world we live in.

Many people need emotional, mental and physical support to lose weight. The eating less and exercising more are simple enough actions but the motivation, self-discipline, self-control, etc it takes to do them on a daily basis, as a lifestyle, is what's difficult for most people.

@dumple
Please step away from this thread and please stop sharing your private medical information with people via PM.
Your responses are not appropriate for the thread.
Please keep yourself safe and step away now.

I really feel violated.

@MrsDoylesDoily there is a whole raft of evidence that suggests there is a small, but at a population level as significant, increased risk of obesity associated with being bottle fed with cow's milk formula.

In a European study across 16 countries 16.8% of never-breastfed children were obese vs 9.3% of children breastfed until 6 months or over. This particular study adjusted for demographics - as we know that breastfeeding is more common in older, more educated, higher earning mothers - and found roughly a 22% increased risk of obesity associated with being bottle fed with cow's milk formula. There are lots and lots of studies collated here. https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/news-and-research/baby-friendly-research/infant-health-research/infant-health-research-obesity/

We tell women to breastfeed for woolly "..is best" reasons, but then give them shit (if any) support, and keep important health information like this from them. Breastfeeding is an important public health topic. Sharing evidence and information is not shaming.

No medical information was sent. The message was retracted within a minute of being sent.

the messages were deleted an hour after being sent as I’m sure @mnhq can confirm.

why are you lying

Obesity is a very complex issue! But medications/health problems aside, the ('normal') majority of people could do with educating themselves and taking responsibility for what and how much they put in their bodies....

Most people do not realise that sugar has many different names. That tin of whatever you pick up that says 'no added sugar'? Check it. It might still contain one or more of the other sixty versions of sugar. And it's literally in EVERYTHING! If you've ever tried to avoid the stuff, you know how difficult it is to escape the bloody drug. (It's in things you'd never expect to have it, like bacon! Bacon! for crying out loud). It is a drug. Just as addictive as heroine. It's added to our food and we, like a herd of sheep, mindlessly consume it. The more we consume, the more used to the taste we get, the more we crave.... the more profit manufacturers continue to make.

Do people read ingredients? Do they teach their children to read ingredients? Most don't bother.

A sugar tax would simply make food more expensive. I doubt it'd reduce the problem. Those that can't afford whole foods for one reason or another (money or time starved) will switch to cheaper versions of the same crap. Instead of one bread in a bag, they'll buy the even-worse-for-them version of the same bread in a bag that even mold won't eat.
As a society we've gotten so used to eating processed-for-us sweet-tasting stuff that the truly whole products are not deemed tasty anymore. We want more of the easy, quick, delicious! stuff, and we want to eat until we're 'full'. It's what we teach our children, too.... So it perpetuates.

Until our 'normal' is changed, we're unlikely to see improvement.
Sugar=delicious - normal
Sweet everything, even things meant to be savoury - normal
Eating until 'full'/'stuffed' - normal
90% of your meal being starch - normal
Ketchup=serving of vegetables - normal
Chasing every meal with pudding - normal
Drinking fruit juice (and often this is just water+sugar+colouring!) - normal
Treating yourself=eating something sugary - normal
Anything green=disgusting or tasteless - normal
Not having to cook your food or physically 'work for it' in any way - normal
Never actually feeling hungry - normal

We've stopped chasing the mammoth. We've gotten used to eating sugary spongy food and consider it delicious. We've even stopped chewing properly, because we can easily avoid having to do so.

Omg12 - lol? Are you actually 12?

Again, if you over feed and under exercise your child, they will become overweight.

How you fed them as a baby will not change that.

Hi folks

Please can we have a bit of peace and love?

Physically impossible.

Either you're over estimating your calorie expenditure or under estimating your food intake.

Hi again

We're drawing a line under the post we put up earlier - so any further posts about that disagreement will be removed.

Are you saying the research is wrong?

Surely as breastfeeding has been shown to affect whether a child will be obese or not the discussion is one worth having, particularly as it’s backed up with evidence?
As a part of an approach to prevent obesity this should not be ignored.

I'm sorry, but it's generally thought that the NHS dietary advice is years out of date and has actually contributed to the obesity crisis. My NHS doctor who is also my private functional medicine doctor has helped me to fix a horribly malfunctioning gut by cutting out ultra processed foods like low-fat spreads. The only fats I am allowed are extra virgin olive oil and butter. I don't count or even think about calories. My intention was not to lose weight but to control my IBS, yet, despite eating more than I did with my old diet, I have lost 2 stone. I know this, and the OP's posts sound a bit cultish but there's loads of research and non-whacky literature on this and it's worth reading up on it.

I once watched a programme on overweight people who couldn’t lose weight despite endless attempts. It wasn’t something I was interested in - I watched because I was at school with one of the people featured. But it turned out to be really interesting.

Each person agreed to be filmed for a week. It transpired that every single person way underestimated the amount they were consuming, despite having kept food diaries previously. And some over-estimated the amount of calories burned during the exercise they did. And that didn’t take into account any secret eating.

I think BMI is largely reflective of what actually is obese. There are outliers but it’s a very small percentage of people who have so much muscle mass that it throws off a BMI calculation.
The reality is it’s just people’s perceptions being skewed by other larger people.
Dress size doesn’t really give any indication of body makeup so it’s an irrelevant statistic. A woman who is 5 fr 8 and fits a size 10 will most certainly have less excess fat than a 5 ft 1 woman who also wears a size 10.
As someone on the shorter side I would 100% be chubby and in the overweight category if I was a size 10. It’s not a ‘healthy’ size on every body type.

I grew up in an area (high levels of deprivation) where the majority of people are overweight or obese. I never mentioned it but it was something a friend actually noticed and commented on when we happened to be there once.

I travel by train a lot with work and it’s a rare journey when I’m not shocked by how much someone sitting next to me eats first thing in the morning. Stuff like packs of doughnuts and, the biggest joy when I had morning sickness, smelly burgers first thing in the morning. 🤢 Sorry if this causes offence to some but I think we really are what we eat in the majority of cases (bar some health conditions, I appreciate).

But it’s very complex of course - the reasons underpinning why people get like this. I do think much is ingrained in childhood though and it’s difficult to change habits later on. I’m very greedy myself and love junk (as well as healthy food) but I know when to draw the line after say a two week holiday of indulging. I am dying for a week of salads then. I’m slim but have been my unhealthiest when most stressed at work. So I also think mental health is a big part. But getting fatter and eating crap makes me feel even worse…

I was in Madrid.

It’s pretty limited evidence though. There is a big likelihood that any obesity link with BF/ FF is actually down to the socioeconomic factors. It’s well documented that those who breastfeed are more likely to be further educated, are in more professional jobs and on higher incomes.
It’s also well documented that obesity is higher in low income areas.

Charge a tax at source. This is how pollution is dealt with (should be dealt with), and is the most sensible solution. Tax fatty, salty, and sugar-laden food. Use that to subsidise food that is good for you.