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.

But should we be ‘celebrating’ the size overweight people.
This definitely seems to be happening these days.

Theres nothing stopping people walking, running, cycling outside.
People stayed slim and exercised before gyms ever existed.

Would be interested to see the public health research that states eating less and moving more doesn’t help weight loss.
Can you post link or image.

Request for @RattleRattle

We should neither celebrate not attack people over their appearance. And people in general do not 'celebrate' overweight people. A minority of overweight people 'celebrate their curves' as a reaction to the attacks and criticism that they suffer. If there were no attacks, people would find no need for celebration either.

Yes this could possibly be it.
However there are definitely large companies with tv adverts definitely celebrating the image. This potentially normalises being overweight and makes it acceptable.
Like The Marlboro man

Really? Which ones? I have seen advertising campaigns (Like Dove, for example) using a variety of different body shapes (including obese) as part of a diversity campaign. I haven't yet seen any celebrating obesity. Body inclusivity and Health At Every Size is the thing these days, not fat acceptance.

As a non Brit living in Australia, I blame the food culture that is wrong from the baby stages. So many wean their babies with melts puff, baby crisps and other baby junk foods hooking them on ultra processed foods preferences.
There is also this culture to leave the house with food in bags and cars, eating when walking, at the beach, sport events, fried-everything, snacks beyond the age of 10, and just so much junk.

so Much processed meats. Everyday there is ham or bacon or burgers or sausage in one meal or more. Crisps and other snacks which in France are strictly party food are put in school bags.

people here eat too much and too much of the wrong stuff and too often.
Most don’t eat as a family at the dining table but in front of tv or in bedrooms.
The takeaway culture is insane. Fatty greasy salty stuff.

Whenever we go to New Caledonia it is so easy to identify the Australian dropped from a cruise ship because they will open a Doritos bag the second the towel is on the sand whereas a French will open a book. They seem unable to go two hours without food.

I also blame the fact that in UK and Australia, kids are not followed by paediatricians but by overworked GP who are not well harmed to talk development physical and emotional , and put a child on the scale at least once a year until late adolescence.

I see an obsession at blaming carbs which I find funny because we went on a six month emergency placement in Japan and the local staff who eats white rice three times a day was so so tiny.
From my experience, having lived in many countries, the more a country hates carbs and shouts protein over and over again, the bigger it is. Nobody has issues with carbs in Italy, Japan, Vietnam, or even Monaco from where I am . But we don’t eat cake out of a packet. We go to patisseries and eat it seated with a child or SO and savour every morsel of fine baking.

we embrace food quality over convenience.

It is the food culture. Period.

I think we do need to look at the addictive properties of junk food. It’s designed to make you want to eat more and more, never feeling satiated. People’s bodies are simply reacting to the food consumed and it’s a difficult cycle to break. Generations of families are now caught in a cycle of a sedentary lifestyle coupled with a diet filled with processed food. It’s so entrenched in our day to day living, that many don’t realise how much they are consuming. Portion sizes are also completely skewed and the majority think they are consuming way less than they actually are. I remember being shocked at how many calories was taking in (including those from alcohol) when I first tracked what I was eating. A good 1000 over what I had estimated.

Having been very overweight myself, I have a great deal of sympathy with people who find themselves in a similar position. It takes a great deal of effort to turn it around.

Yes it can be hard for people that size to be out and about a lot of the time. Physically and mentally. Which may be why you rarely see them.

Look at the countries with highest rates of obesity on this list and one thing they all have in common is the overconsumption of upf and under consumption of healthy whole foods.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_obesity_rate
The UK is the most obese in Europe with the exception of Malta linked to over consumption of high sugar fast food diets.

Also above UK in the obesity rankings are lots of remote island nations linked to genetic dispositions combined with the introduction of poor quality Western diets.

I've been to resorts primarily full of German nationals. And they were massive! Literally. The gym was virtually empty which suited me but the buffet breakfast was very popular!
I don't think it is just British people. However we did have very high death rates in Covid and I assume that was related to obesity (maybe not directly). But there's a problem in other European countries and the US for sure.
There needs to be more emphasis on health promotion and prevention

So you’re saying the culture sets them up for healthier lives while ours works against us. Yet you also say it is on individuals to fix the problem. If the problem is systemic, surely the solution is too.

Posts like this imply individual blame for a problem that is beyond the individual. Why not overcome your weight prejudice instead? That may work better for you in the long run. When corporate profit is made on our growing bodies, the poorest don’t stand a chance.

I’m in Italy at a camping park. It’s truly pan-European here judging by the football shirts on the children and the languages I’ve heard. And guess what? most young people are slim while many many mums from many countries have bellies. They still wear bikinis and have fun. Many bodies change as we grow older for many reasons including after pregnancy, but distorted Western culture in fashion and films says we shouldn’t.

Our culture is more sick than a bit of a belly.

I don’t think I would be preoccupied by other fat people whilst on holiday. It shows that you are in the grip of an obsession about the size of your body which you are projecting onto others. Fair enough that you want to do something about it for yourself, but I don’t quite understand your crusade to save Britain from obesity. If you are going to campaign for healthier options in cafes and supermarkets then I am right behind you but if this is about bashing fat people I urge you to give it a rest and go back to eating your diet food.

Sadly we are a very obese nation. I am obese myself from prescribed meds which encourage eating. You see the French tiddlers (6 or so) eating their salad. No oven chips for them. I honestly don`t know how the parents find and where with all to cook proper meals for them, but they do. French, for example, not particularly highly paid, but a lot grow their own veg and desserts more a treat than a norm. Where do we go wrong ? Perhaps a lot more lentils and the like would help. Cheap and very healthy.

@Tbell13 it's all about developing the taste for healthy food. Not giving children bland, beige nursery food and then expecting them to develop adult tastes. Start them young.
Food adversion aside, I know that's different. My dd would physically retch if she had a cheese or creamy sauce on her plate. That's just human nature!

Jennifer booth, so it sounds like you are getting enough exercise after all?

I have family members who have adopted European residency and pointed out something similar, but no one in the family talks about their eating disorders..

@WomblingTree86 .You have articulated exactly what I have always thought and witnessed. The dementia figures are rocketing because people are living longer and are physically fit . Sadly people who have dementia and are mobile end up in secure nursing homes . Sadly my MIL is now in one and it is a very sad ,depressing end to her life! Dementia is a terrible disease . I also work in a care home so my MIL is not the only example I have .

Your comment did make me laugh...

But I have to say, when me and my dp go on holiday, we spend a lot of time on the beach or round the pool as we both like to swim quite a bit.
So we do tend to sit and "observe" people around us, and yes, there are mixed nationalities of all shapes and sizes. Can't say that brits stood out as the most overweight though.

I think that a lot of the world in general and the Anglosphere in particular is becoming increasingly obesity-prone because of the sheer amount of ultra processed foods in people’s everyday diets. These foods are nutrient-poor and calorie-dense, designed to be addictive and easy to overconsume. It is a systemic issue that requires tighter regulation of food companies, in my opinion. They know that their foods are designed to be highly addictive, and they also know that those foods are causing health problems for people, but the bottom line always wins. The really sad part is that because these foods are very cheap to produce and have a long shelf life, they make up the bulk of what is affordable and practical for people who don’t have easy access to inexpensive fresh food or perhaps even cooking facilities. This is why obesity rates are higher amongst people living in poverty, not because they are ordering 6 takeaways a week.

We live in Europe, and whenever we go home to visit family in the UK, it does stand out to us that a lot of people seem to be overweight. We aren’t looking for it because we’re mean spirited, it is just a noticeable difference. The difference that stands out to us most in terms of consumption (amongst our relatives, at least) is the amount of beige ultra-processed food that is part of their regular diet, both in meals and for snacks. The other thing we notice is the fact that culturally, a full-on dessert is the norm instead of the exception after a meal (at least with the people we know). Our kids love it when we visit, but I can see that if you have that every day, it might start to show up in your weight over time.

The ultra-processed food issue is a global one I think, although it seems to be more of an issue in the UK than in many other European countries. I think this is partly down to the fact that the British climate isn’t one where you can grow cheap fruit and veg year-round, so it has to be imported and is therefore more expensive. In a country with such massive income inequality (far more than, say, Scandinavian countries with similar climates), that price difference shows up in people’s dietary choices.

Exactly. People are blaming the weather or the lack of smoking (ignoring the fact that many countries have both high obesity rates and high smoking rates - eg Turkey, or many Pacific island nations. Then there are countries with low obesity and low smoking, like Sweden or Finland).

For many years, British people spent a significantly lower percentage of their income on food than other Europeans. The gap has narrowed now due to the current financial crisis, but the UK still seems to be full of cheap, low-quality food.

I remember being shocked when I first went to the UK as a young teen, and my friend's mother gave us chips for dinner. I had only ever had chips while eating out - bags of frozen chips simply did not exist in the Asian country where I grew up.

Where I live now in southern Europe, convenience food is very limited. There are some ready meals in the supermarkets, but not many, and they're often a more expensive option. Going to the UK, seeing supermarket shelves lined with hundreds of ready meals, giant bags of crisps (we don't have multi packs of crisps at all), endless meal deals, multibuy offers to encourage you to buy large amounts of chocolate etc...it's another world.

I think it is easy for the (at least comparatively) wealthy middle classes to blame people for becoming obese.

The cheapest food is addictive high sugar, high salt rubbish which is microwaveable or eaten with no preparation at all.

Add that to the heated houses, escalators, lifts etc and all the conveniences that mean we neither use calories for moving or thermogenesis and you have a potent recipe for obesity.

And, for some, there is a laziness and choice element.

People who gawp and sneer at fat people invariably fall into two camps.
Those who have built their own identity around being slim, and are constantly on the look out for for opportunities to confirm their own sense of superiority; and those who are unhappy with their own weight and want to punch down to feel good by comparison.
Both groups' attitudes are rooted in their own unhealthy relationship with weight, and other people are merely their outlet. It isn't possible to have an objective and productive discussion about obesity and health with people who don't recognise and own this.

So much self loathing from British people. I live in Spain and once people get to a certain age the vast majority are fat too. Lots of fat kids here as well. Plenty of fat older people in Italy and Portugal as well. As people age they put on weight. I’ve never noticed masses of overweight young British people, so it’s the middle-age spread which happens to people from all countries.