Why are there so many overweight and obese British women?

[EvaHara]

Genuine post and I promise I am not a weight troll. Recently I was on a cruise and couldn't help but notice that many other British women onboard - especially younger women - were considerably overweight or obese. Some were in fact huge and easily as big as some women I saw in the US when there a few years ago.

What has caused this rise in overweight people, particularly younger women? I don't remember there being this many overweight/obese people even 10 years ago.

I am not judging, just curious.

Basically down to eating too much of the wrong foods, and drinks, and not exercising. It’s that simple. I totally disagree when I read people blame it on poverty - ie not being able to afford to eat healthily, because that’s just so untrue. Veg can be bought for pennies. It’s far cheaper to buy a large bag of carrots (less than a pound at supermarkets) to snack on rather than a family pack of walkers crisps. Far cheaper (and pretty quick to throw together) a salad than buy in chicken nuggets and frozen chips. You don’t have to join expensive gyms to exercise. Just a daily walk is as good and effective. Btw, I’m not super thin by any means - I yo yo with my weight constantly. But I know at the end of the day it’s my responsibility to make sure I stay healthy. No-one else’s.

Most people otoh want to just enjoy going out for dinner. 😂😂🙄

I think one reason is that culture has changed. When I was young Kate Moss was the idol, everybody wanted to be stick thin and the boys would want to date skinny girls, if you were a fat teen you wouldn’t be able to dress in nice clothes as they didn’t make them over a certain size. I think over size 16 you had to go to Evans and the clothes were dowdy. Now there is a lot of body positivity and girls are comfortable in their skin, most high street popular shops sell clothes in a much bigger range of sizes and people openly talk about finding all different types of bodies attractive rather than being made to feel embarrassed about their preference. Idols now come in all different sizes and being fat isn’t shameful. Can you remember the episode of pop idol or whatever it was when Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne turned a girl down because they said she was fat? She was a 12 or 14 perhaps. This was broadcast on prime time telly.
I think it’s better for women and girls now than back when I was young. The way that we were made to feel when I was that age has stuck with me for my whole life. I’m glad that girls don’t feel that pressure now.

It's also evident in shops. When comparing Aldi/ Lidl in Europe to our equivalent here, the observations are disappointing. We have so much less fresh food, variaties of fresh fish, veg and fruit. Ours is just packaged food predominantly. Depressing content of shops, responds to demand, dictated by British tastes, and is in turn depicted in human bodies that consume all that shite. As they say, bodies are created in the kitchen. Body is your temple. You are what you eat etc

From my experience of food shopping and cooking week by week, processed food is NOT more expensive. A bag of brown rice, vegetables, frozen (unprocessed) fish and dried herbs will stretch to a week's worth of of meals at least, and cost the same amount as maybe just 3 pizzas. I think when people say processed food is cheaper, they mean it's cheaper than buying all-organic, from expensive food shops. It's not cheaper than buying raw ingredients from budget supermarkets.

you were on a cruise

not a walking holiday
i bet if you went on a walking holiday there would not be obese people

Cheesey13 that's reminded me - it used to be frowned on to eat in the street into the 90's. I remember my Mother and Grandma being very funny about it! Probably an ice cream on a very hot day was acceptable, but not walking along munching chips or burgers! (Of course it was common after pubs/clubs on the way home.)

I live in Germany and when I come home to the UK I am literally salivating around Waitrose and m&S, unable to believe the sheer amount of unhealthy and well thought out UPF. Like it used to be millionaire shortbread, last visit I saw something like a Trillionaire Shortbread Muffin. Or Vimto expanding into a range of sweets shaped like fried eggs with a vimto in the middle. There are just so many yummy junky things that are unavailable in Germany, where although you do see overweight women, a lot my age (mid 40s) are amazingly stringy looking and honestly they do eat small portions of quite boring food and a tiny yoghurt or whatever. They just do not try out a salted caramel Malteser or whatever. So I 100% think it's related to what food is out there. If you think about our grandparents generation, they would have a small chop and some miserable looking vegetables, and they simply didn't snack, they would continually drink tea and maybe have a digestive biscuit. I think if I lived back in the UK I would either weigh more or be miserable trying to avoid all the yummy UPF.

Woman have realised they like food, instead of half starving themselves to be a size 0

I'm overweight and run three times a week. I eat mostly healthy food. Why am I overweight. Fuck knows 🤷‍♀️ It's not through lack of trying.

Did you ask the fatties on the ship op?

But this is in comparison to other nationalities, I inferred ?

Sugar addiction…. Isn’t it 20x more addictive than opiates?

I was a size 8 when I met DP; 20 years and two kids later, I'm a size 14 and still growing. Reasons may include:

Menopause
I love kettle chips, prosecco and gin
We don't always get breaks at work (NHS) so I tend to grab snacks - the staff room is always well-stocked

I cook fresh when I can, but I don't always have time to, so the cupboards then get raided. DP sometimes cooks, but has a habit of serving me the same size portion as he serves himself.

Also, DP seems to really like my fuller figure for some reason, and has taken to giving me belly rubs regularly.

I did have thoughts about trying to slim down, but I can't see it happening any time soon.

I think there is plenty of available education about food, people just don’t care

Ah, come on now, @choixduroi !
I was travelling in Germany and let me tell you there was loads of junk food and sweet treats!
Very similar to UK supermarkets.
I don't know where you live, but I saw plenty.

Are you for real?

The German diet of processed meat 😂😂

I mean to be fair ime it wasn’t tha lt appetising and have an effect on average bmi but it’s UPfs all the way.

I know 😂😂😂

My guess would be people eating lots of UPF. It's pure filth and best avoided if you want to be healthy.

People are disconnected from what being hungry is actually all about.

Yes, your body gets hungry because it needs energy, that's correct. However, what is needed from food is the blocks to build and repair.

You can eat 10 donuts and say, "well I'm just so greedy, I can't help it. I eat 5 donuts and then feel hungry an hour later and so I eat 5 more." And then feel bad.

The problem is that you're still hungry because those donuts provided nothing of value other than basic energy to keep you alive. Your body is still craving something else and that is actual nutrients.

Until you start feeding yourself what your body is very starved of, you'll always feel hungry.

People are walking around bigger than ever but nutritionally they are starving.

easy access to junk food.
being on hormones for years
medication that causes weight gain/retention
lack of sleep
lack of time
disability
a loathing of exercise from being bullied/humiliated at school
avoiding exercise over being humiliated/ridiculed by slim people
ADHD that causes binge eating as part of dopamine seeking.
comfort eating due to poor mental health.

How long a list do you need?

Everyone is obese for their own reasons.

I think where you live has an influence. I grew up in a rural area, no pavements or street lights and miles from shops. Yes, there was land where I could walk but it was also a wet part of the world so any time I stepped out the door the wellies went on. Now I live in a city (with lots of open space/hills) and I walk everywhere. I’ve been out three times today, once to the shops and two dog walks and I’ve walked 6.5 miles.

Your think this site is accurate of the average UK family life??? Oh boy 🤣🤣
There's another thread "how much is your mortgage/or rent and your income" or something like that and almost every poster claims to earn over 4k a month and only pays 500 a month on the mortgage. Then those same people complain about being too poor to afford food on other threads.

It’s very simple

Eating too much of the wrong foods
Not exercising enough…ie a sedentary lifestyle…..even just walking more would be good

Look back at people in the 50s, difference. People were more active and ate properly.

Real shocker headline after a google

We've lost sight of a decent Bratwurst

Pure Laziness

Cant be bothered to cook, go to the butcher because you can’t park your car at the door, cut up fresh vegetables and stand over an oven

Too much booze

Too much time stabbing our fat fingers at our phones.

I do feel sorry for the poorer members of society. Fresh food isn’t cheap but there’s still no excuse to be glaring at the tv when you can be outside.