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.

I think the main point of this thread was just to be nasty to people who are overweight/obese. All this stuff about them costing money is just an excuse to be judgemental- there's no evidence that overall costs to the tax payer would be less if people were thinner. It could be the other way around. All humans get ill and die of something so If it's not related to obesity it would be something else. Why are people perplexed about the fact that obesity is increasing in most countries? It's a basic human survival mechanism to store fat.

I have noticed Europeans are catching up with us quickly. It’s definitely not a British thing. What is shocking is the amount of really fat kids you see. I don’t remember hardly ever seeing a fat kid when I was at school. Do parents not see it anymore. It’s really worrying.

UK has less disposable income than France and considerably less than Germany and what is more alarming is that it is steadily dropping down the rankings.

No, obesity is a huge cost for the NHS and the complications of diabetes induced by diet. It's a lifetime of poor health which requires medical intervention.

PP discussed her mother needing a new knee. That is due to weight. The NHS will not do it until there is weight loss - but the mother would want it irrespective.

This is a health problem that does not need to exist. People have given up smoking. They know it is bad for them. Food is harder but you can make a choice what you eat.

I damaged my knee exercising and now have osteoarthritis.i don't quite need a new knee - yet.

The hugest cost to the NHS by far is old age. And obesity makes extreme old age less likely. The 60-year-old obese person is likely to cost the NHS more than the slim 60-year-old healthy eater. but the latter is more likely than the former to become a 90-year-old needing lots of healthcare.

None of this is to say that it isn't good for the individual to look after their health; still less is it to say that we should all die young, or that the elderly don't deserve healthcare! But people shouldn't use costs to the NHS as an excuse to bash fat people: and it's notable that these are brought up far more to condemn fat people, than those with other poor health habits, such as smoking, excessive drinking, drug use, poor nutrition not involving obesity, not sleeping enough, careless driving, participation in dangerous sports, etc.

For 22-23 years of my life I've lived in Europe and then moved to Asia. I've been living here for 10+ years now, and I can't help but notice lots of cultural differences when it comes to weight. Can't speak for UK though as I'm not from there, but my country has plenty of overweight people too and it's quite noticeable to me after getting used to seeing slim people everywhere over here.

First thing that comes to mind is peer pressure. It's generally encouraged to comment on other people's weight as you may help someone notice and recognize a shift in their weight so that they can promptly deal with it. I was a UK size 10 (sometimes 12!) when I arrived here and I was surprised when my weight got commented on at my workplace for the 1st time. Later I considered myself lucky though as my overweight friend who had the same credentials as me struggled to find a job (and one of the recruiters hinted that that's because of her weight). Nowadays I see big companies employing plus-size people though in the name of "diversity".
However, I can't imagine commenting on someone's weight back in my home country, that'll be considered extremely rude (and you can see many people bashing OP here - even though it's just an anonymous post on some internet forum). Basically it's sort of a taboo subject, you say nothing or you say "love yourself the way you are, girl!" to be praised as kind - a striking difference with Japan where I live.

Secondly, people over here tend to have a completely different mindset when it comes to weight gain in pregnancy. Doctors actively encourage you not to gain over some limit they calculate for you and you are strongly recommended by everyone you know to lose weight within first 6 months after giving birth. Back in Europe it's usually not seen as something terrible if you still have a little bit of extra weight on you after giving birth 1-2-3 times. Your body has grown a new human, you deserve to love yourself whatever weight you are etc. Sometimes people would even comment that you don't look "motherly" enough if you slim down lol! Giving birth is generally seen as a legitimate excuse basically.
In Japan, things are very much different, almost everyone snaps back as fast as they can, I did my best to return to my pre-pregnancy smallish size 8 and most of the foreign women I've seen here have been doing their best too to return to their shape. Many times I've seen slim and toned Japanese mothers going out and about with their 3-4 kids - number of times you gave birth is never considered an excuse. Anyway, as I've said, it's a very different mindset.

The way I see it, it's the factors I mentioned above that mostly contribute to the topic OP's mentioned, not smoking or too many sugars in the food or whatever, but it's just my personal opinion and I could very much be wrong.

i have lived in Japan too, though years ago. I was pregnant there too! Didn't experience too much fat shaming, but it's not something I am keen on at all. Badgering women to lose weight after giving birth and discriminating against overweight people in the workplace is SO not the solution.

Thinking about this complex subject, I am not at all sure that as pp said, parents know enough about what to feed their kids. A simple example: sugary breakfast cereals. So many parents think Special K is healthy because it is marketed brilliantly as a healthy and easy breakfast. But it would be just as easy, and much healthier, to give your kids eggs or plain oatmeal.

Yes, personal responsibility is important, but we probably need really aggressive marketing to tell parents that things like breakfast cereals, juice and flavoured yoghurts are not healthy, no matter what the manufacturers tell you. At one point I definitely fed my kids flavoured yoghurt, but then I swapped them for natural yoghurt with berries for sweetness.

Yes I thought the same. I thought I was going to be the only one looking obese on holidays but I seemed to have plenty of company.
Gave me a huge kick up the bum and I have taken action.
Next year I hope to be confused for a Scandavian or Eastern European woman and surprise everyone with my accent

And uh...did smokers just decide to give up smoking independently because they realised it was unhealthy? Each individual smoker spontaneously taking personal responsibility all at the same time?

Or did the government run a massive public health campaign and change legislation to push people to quit?

Why is a public health response to smoking ok but not one to obesity, in your opinion? Stopping people from smoking was the government's job but you don't think they should do anything about this?

A similar public health response simply isn't feasible though. Food manufacturers aren't going to allow pictures of what junk food does to your insides be printed on packets of biscuits or have their products sold behind closed cabinet doors like cigarette kiosks. And you can't have a month like Stoptober for food because people have to eat something! And the state HAS already introduced some measures already, such as the traffic light system on food packaging. We all know that a row of red lights on the front of a pizza box means it's not good for us! What else would you like them to do?

God there has been a lot of offensive, nasty shit on this thread but 'lol at the lazy bitches using birth as an excuse (an EXCUSE ffs), they need a good dose of fat-shaming in the delivery ward' is maybe the worst?

And no, its not a binary choice between misogynistic cruelty and a vacuous 'you go, girl!' attitude. There's plenty of room for normal, sane, healthy approaches in between.

As a French woman who worked in UK I found it very strange how aggressively anti smoking people are but this health obsession does not extend to food or alcohol. So even on some terraces or patios at restaurants you cannot smoke because smoking is evil, but at the same time yes people have a serious problem with food and alcohol.

One thing I will say is reading on Mumsnet often there will be threads about women feeling insecure about looking "pale and english" for example on holiday, but I noticed during my time in UK that many women there have very beautiful skin and I think it is related to the lack of sun.

That poster hasn't been remotely offensive. She's just relayed the culture differences between here and Japan.

These are the costs from a pp. Those who say dying early due to obesity saves money where have you read this?

Do you have any links?

More broadly, obesity has a serious impact on economic development. The overall cost of obesity to wider society is estimated at £27 billion.

The UK-wide NHS costs attributable to overweight and obesity are projected to reach £9.7 billion by 2050, with wider costs to society estimated to reach £49.9 billion per year.

I have stated that identical approaches obviously won't work. But this poster previously said responding to the obesity crisis isn't up to the government, and I'd like to know why intervening in smoking was but obesity has to be up to the individual in her opinion.

Also small note, you say food manufacturers wouldn't 'let' the government print graphic health warnings on junk food packaging, do you think the tobacco industry had a choice?

I have said twice now in previous posts what I think the government could do - fund mental health services, fund the NHS, overhaul PE in schools, provide adequate equipment for it, improve school lunches, eradicate child poverty, reopen Sure Start centres and leisure centres, stop water companies pumping shit into rivers and the sea, improve infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians to reduce car dependency - just a few things that would help people lead healthier and more active lifestyles. Public health advertising got mentioned upthread. Some stark and graphic warnings on packaging could be a good idea, I'm not sure. I don't think the price of food should go up in a cost of living crisis and I don't think fat people should have to eat outdoors, let's not copy the smoking strategy exactly. But let's also not pretend that this is a crisis that will go away thanks to a few snide MN threads either.

The pp wasn’t nasty? It was explaining cultural differences between here and Japan

Her references to post-partum weight gain as an 'excuse' was pretty offensive.

And if like me you have an underactive thyroid that mechanism is double strength. Not just in hindering weight loss but in striving to regain it if you do manage to lose it.

https://www.webmd.com/obesity/what-is-set-point-weight#1

Nothing will change while fat is considered a taboo subject. Responses on here that are defensive and accusatory of body shaming prove again that it’s a subject firmly in the we shouldn’t talk about it category.

Having just checked, it looks like it was actually WHO that stipulated the pictures on cigarette packaging worldwide, so actually if they could do a similar health campaign on junk food that might work. But the problem with food, unlike cigarettes, it's that it's not an 'either or' scenario – some products are obviously full of crap, others have hidden ingredients which mean they look healthy on the surface. If I were in charge and had to focus on one particular issue to improve public health, I'd be banning the hidden sugars added to everyday food that has contributed massively to the obesity crisis. We don't need the equivalent of 2.6 teaspoons of sugar in a can of soup, as this article shows!

I do think your other suggestions are good too, but again the state can only do so much and individuals need to take responsibility for their health too and there's not a lot of evidence of that on this thread.

I think we should definitely talk about the obesity crisis, in a constructive and compassionate way. I don't think starting a thread online every time you see fat people enjoying a holiday is helpful to the conversation but that doesn't mean I don't think we should have one. I've spent way too much time on this one and I'll have to stop (ironically to go to the gym!) because I think it's important - not just in Britain but globally.

Was there a large Smokers' Pride movement? Were people sneered at for smoke-shaming? Did smokers announce that giving up is hard, so it's better not to even try? Did people talk about "living in smoke-fuelled bodies" or claim they were genetically predisposed to smoke, so it's not their fault?

Across the world, anti-smoking campaigns have relied heavily on societal attitudes and peer pressure - but when it comes to obesity, we are repeatedly told that we must #BeKind at all costs.

You can see it clearly in this thread. Posters who talk about going on holiday and seeing the Spanish, Croatians or French smoking are not told "oh my god you sad fucker, why don't you enjoy your holiday rather than checking the nationality of smokers!"

But that wasn't her opinion – she was describing what she encountered in Japan.

Ok well I've suggested a few ways I think an obesity strategy could work, obviously not identically to smoking but never mind. Individual fat people can be condemned for 'giving up' or 'not trying' but the government and society as a whole can just wash their hands of it and say fatties can solve it themselves. Why bother trying a collective approach, let's carry on hand-wringing on Mumsnet instead.