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.

I was confused because you said your shopping bills are always bigger with processed foods rather than fresh?

Yes, you are amazing and everything.
I cook from scratch as the main cook, and take joy in food and have the confidence and mental capacity. Body fat at about 19% at 47.
But put me under enough stress, suck the joy out of my life and take away my background in food and I will be in the car for a McDonalds.
It is not about excuses and no-one has to justify themselves to either of us.

A lot of woman are so busy due to the demands and expectations of modern life. They put themselves last. No time to prepare healthy fresh food, skipping meals altogether, little or no exercise, mental health struggles, work commitments, reliance on cars, childrens’ extra curricular activities all combine to make maintaining a healthy weight challenging.
A lot of women work full time. They barely get through the day and don’t have the time to incorporate slots for scheduled exercise on top of everything else.
Add in processed food, increased alcohol intake, several pregnancies and suddenly a women who previously had been average weight becomes overweight or obese.
We need to prioritise ourselves and our health instead of putting out needs last.
Im fortunate enough to be slim. I don’t drive for medical reasons so I walk everywhere. I was shocked when I saw how many steps I walk a day. I average 20.000. I also don’t drink alcohol unless it’s a very special occasions for health reasons.
Walking makes a huge difference to my fitness levels and clears my head.
Im not suggesting this is the answer for everyone but it definitely helps maintain my weight as I’ve got a very sweet tooth.
Ive noticed over the years that the women I know who are overweight tend to be on a permanent diet. This lasts a matter of days or weeks during which they constantly obsess about food. This type of diet only works temporarily or not at all.
I think restricting food to the extent some diets do increase the problem for a lot of women long term. Three reasonably healthy meals a day with healthy snacks ( if hungry) would be a better goal. With regular eating your blood sugar levels doesn’t drop. This mean you are less likely to reach for biscuits or other sweet foods.
My Grandparents generation didn’t cut anything out like fat or sugar. They ate well but they moved. At work and at home. They didn’t eat processed rubbish and they weren’t overweight. Even when I was at high school I only remember one severely overweight person who had a medical condition.
Small changes to modern life will make a big difference but I think exercise is key.

I live in an area of the midlands where most people are obese. It makes me feel sad, people don’t look happy or healthy. So many of the children are overweight and it’s bleak.

To stay slim is hard work. Most people just eat far too much junk and don’t want to engage with how bad their lifestyles are.

Sadly most of the women near me look like potatoes. I am determined to stay healthy and not turn into a potato shaped woman.

Is it because I eat too much?

@Thequeenofwishfulthinking
A lot of woman are so busy due to the demands and expectations of modern life. They put themselves last. No time to prepare healthy fresh food, skipping meals altogether, little or no exercise, mental health struggles, work commitments, reliance on cars, childrens’ extra curricular activities all combine to make maintaining a healthy weight challenging.

Would you say women in other nations are more selfish? If that is the reason, British men seem very selfless too, increasingly so.

We've lost sight of non potato shaped women 😞

I’m not overweight and I eat a healthy diet, so I do feel justified in saying your post is incredibly patronising. Also, I’m curious if you understand that not everyone has the kind of health or energy you clearly enjoy.
I wouldn’t feel I had a life if I lived your lifestyle, but if it works for you, that’s great.

Depending how old your randparents are, they may have lived through rationing and had very little sugar in their diets at certain points

Read any historical information about losing weight and the advice was always to cut out potatoes/starchy foods, as far back as the 1700s, probably before but thats when Ive read it from

This always resonated with me (although there's a lot of other stuff she says that I don't like). Women are often carrying the biggest burdens. Managing children, caring for elderly parents, working etc. They can't do drugs. They can't drink to excess. They can't spend all their time doing a hobby like men often do. So for a bit of joy we eat. And it's not healthy and we know it but it's the one thing we can do that doesn't impact on everything else we are required to service.

I also think there is a really significant lack of exercise in the UK.

How many people do you know that do 30 minutes moderate exercise at least 3x oer week and eat 7 lots of fruits and veg per day?

You mention a cruise where one of the main points of the holiday is to stuff your face so those sort of holidays will attract those types, also all you can eat holidays are often the same.

Im interested in other countries in europe though where it is much more patriarchal and where women do a lot more of the cooking, from scratch, thinking more Italian and Spanish (dont know much about the French/Greeks etc)

I see women doing the donkey work far far more in those countries (we have family there).

I actually think there are way more over weight or obese men than woman in the UK. seems like almost every man over the age of 40 is over weight with a pot belly where I live. Rarely see a slim man 40+ Unless they're well into fitness or a drug addict!

There has always been overweight people. You probably just didn't see them in the past as much because they didn't go out as much due to standard clothes shops not selling anything above a size 16-18.

Objectively yes that's absolutely true.

But the fact that the food industry holds so much sway over governments surely is a concern? They're putting absolute shit in the food they sell us and governments just watch.

"We have forgotten what a healthy portion size is."

Anyone else playing Mumsnet Bingo?

We can use our phones to have Greggs delivered to our door. This alone says it all I think.

Tv, computers and screens- less hobbies and going places, more sitting with junk food beside us, when I was young ghis was something you did once a week, now we do it nightly

I come out of my front door and turn right and there’s sheep
I turn left and there’s sheep. If I run a few miles there’s a church.

Not everywhere has a massive availability of food.
however
huge freezers and lots of cupboards do help. So I walk down my hall turn right then left and there’s three freezers 😳.

But I chose what to put into them
People can equally chose to walk past the muffins and coffee shop…

The problem is they don’t because some Food is addictive.

Were they all fat at the start of the cruise?

Processed food
Easy delivery companies
Cheap and quick ready meals
Irregular working hours
Body confidence

It's easy to not be bothered to cook healthy and it takes a while to make it a habit.

I'm pretty slim but oh it can be boring to keep it up and exercise regularly 🙄 I do it 5 days a week and eat unhealthy shit food on the weekends. Oh, and booze is another thing.

I was a teenager in the 1980s and it was the same. I can't remember anyone at school or college who was obese. We had 1 teacher at school who was overweight but she had some health issues that affected her mobility. But even by todays standards she wasn't that big.

You only have to look back at old episodes of ToTPs etc to see how slim people were before the advent of ready meals, UPF everywhere.

Well said.
Bizarrely, people who have never had any issue with weight and stay fit are not the most judgemental typically.
Men who are a bit overweight but do not suffer significant stigma and would rather not admit they struggle to do something about it seem to be th emost crass. Followed by those who were able to make a lifestyle change.

🤣🤣🤣🤣