Overweight Brits abroad

[Artyfart]

I know this will upset people but it’s time to face facts and I’m talking about myself here too. Just got back from second holiday abroad this year when once again it was painfully noticeable how overweight British people are compared to our European neighbours. We stand out a mile! Every time I saw someone fat I’d wait for it and…. British accent. We look a state and it’s time to do something about it. No wonder the NHS is on its knees. I came back more determined than ever to lose weight.

"It might be worth considering what it is in our societies that's creating an obesogenic environment and what we can do collectively to combat it."

Well I think we know what is the cause. We also have plenty of ways to combat it, but big food is very powerful and whenever the government tries to do anything you get complaints about the 'nanny state' etc. Look at what happened to Jamie Oliver simply for saying that school dinners should be healthy.

What happened to him? I thought that project was successful?

Fucking hell. Speak for yourself.

I am English yet often get mistaken for being Spanish. I am tiny in weight and always wear good clothes.

Please don’t generalise an entire nation based on your own judgement and opinion. That goes for the op too.

Ok £5 a go plus see other post re hardened artery or dying image and sold from behind a wall. If you want same as cigs

It'll be a tough sell and I reckon people will find a way

I think you might be the minority of living like that, a gov would need votes

Or.. someone could just not put them in their trolley as a habit to start with, or at least be more aware and careful re what they buy. Too much to ask?

Absolutely @Munches

Im a size 6-8 and literally my holiday wardrobe is my best wardrobe... think broderie anglaise, floaty maxi dresses and lots of linen...

Probably why I'm usually mistaken as another nationality too 🤣

Thank you. Tears of laughter over the first few posts

Not quite true. Go to low income areas on the continent and the people are fatter than in the high income ones, just that people overall are still less fat than in the UK.

Nigella looks good and looked good even when she was larger, not just because she's rich and pretty, but also of course because of the 'luscious curves' Cocktopus mentions.

Agreed @Laburnam it is about personal responsibility and choices. DH was overweight and in denial which led to him being borderline type 2 diabetes. The choice was medication or do something about it. He educated himself, completely changed his diet to cut out all processed carbs and sugar, exercised , lost 2 stone and reversed this. It was bloody hard work and something he will always have to be mindful of. Knowing what you are putting in your body and the way it will affect you is something that we should all be aware of. Exercise is also a must especially if you have a sedentary job.

Was it? Weren't parents putting unhealthy food through the fences or something? And people slagging him off in the press.
Schools don't have healthy dinners now though, do they?
At least they didn't last time I looked at the menu for my LEA published on the local council's website.

Most European countries have much more walkable urban environments...ie pedestrianised town centres and also in nature more organised trails for hiking, cycling etc...they also get more holidays so more spare time for activities. The food is less processed and healthier in general. Also people eat and drink is smaller amounts. And crucially there is more social pressure to "look your best" when out and about in society...Also snacking between meals is generally not the done thing.

Thanks for raising this Artyfart!

Always good to look at real data - https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289057738

page 6 graph. .. UK listed as number 4th heaviest country in Europe... Interesting the way they do it males, females, both sexes... Turkey seems to be the heaviest country... if you scroll down to the page re kids/ teenagers.. it gets a bit scary..

Happy reading all.

Quite. Anyone would think that thin people don't get diseases and never cost the NHS money.

Capitalism breeds obesity because there’s much more of a profit to be made from junk food than from healthy food. I’m the early 90s I went to work in Romania where there was still the state run shop system. Food was sufficient but not abundant or ultra processed. Hardly anyone was fat. I returned 8 years after and nearly all the staff at the hospital I worked had become overweight. In the intervening years the big brands and multinationals had flooded in , with their snacks, readymade foods, fast food joints etc.

You’re choosing the wrong resorts OP. The more you pay, the thinner the holiday-makers: fact!

There was an 18th-century philosopher Edmund Burke, who said, “Under the pressure of the cares and sorrows of our mortal condition men have at all times called in some physical aid to their moral consolations.”

In the 18th century there was the gin craze which caused huge problems

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_Craze

The victorians took lots of drugs

wellcomecollection.org/articles/W87wthIAACQizfap

When I was a kid in the 70s there were less overweight people but far more smoking. Not great for the NHS.

Now we use food as a crutch instead.

"It's not a 'first world problem' - take a look at the countries with the highest rates of obesity. They are developing countries where most people always cook because they can't afford much else except the home grown produce that is available."

In some developing countries fast/junk/processed food is seen as western and therefore aspirational. They are setting themselves up for the same problems we have.

So do you think that if everyone becomes thin, there will be more does it no more disease everyone will live forever? Unfortunately that is not the case. Everybody dies of something and if anything those that live a longest could end up costing the most,

So do you think that if everyone becomes thin, there will be more does it no more disease and everyone will live forever? Unfortunately that is not the case. Everybody dies of something and if anything those that live a longest could end up costing the most,

@Dagnabit was the question to me about getting fat?
If so I answered up thread. I have genetic RA and fibromialga plus thyroid disease. Not self inflicted.
I was a size 12 until 33. I am nearly six foot tall.
Pregnancy causes post partumn autoimmune disease if you are genetically predisposed. I was treated with steroids to keep me working.
And to further answer your question I am constantly reminded there is an obesity epidemic by people who verbally insult me in the street. Sadly most of them can't speak properly so that's always good fun. I also have private health insurance and pay a whopping amount of tax. I cost 'the tax payer' nothing.

Unsurprisingly there are all the naysayers on here

Which contributes to the problem

Correction to my comment above, the figures refer to annual increases in NHS funding above inflation, not % of GDP.

What is the problem for you?

But if the majority of Brits were tiny and wore your adorable clothes, why would anyone think you were Spanish?

The thread is about the bigger picture. The overall average. That doesn’t mean that little individual you needs to get your broderie anglaise in a twist.

https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/uk-refuses-eu-offer-free-school-fruit-veg

We opted out of this when we were in the EU. It made me cross at the time. From memory we didn’t want to sign up to the healthy eating education component.