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.

They should wear jeans at the gym.

Both sexes. Lack of exercise in the daily routine (walking kids to school etc), having to drive to work, sitting in offices all day, people not understanding calories in need to equal calories out, takeaway food which were always a once a month treat (and still are in our house).

I genuinely think a large proportion of the population do not realise that if you pick up a sandwich, drink and crisps from a supermarket, thats probably half their entire calories for the day if they are an active adult. Calories need to be burnt off with exercise, moving the body, walking, cleaning etc or you will put on weight. Period.

meh, tedious OP

Ah so 3 quarters of the UK are fat. Must mean 3 quarters of the UK population go on regular cruises.😂😂

Any explanation - like metabolism - that is something that also existed 60 years ago, is inadequate (unless you are claiming that metabolism has changed for some reason, which is a possible argument to make.)

Shit diets have given rise to metabolic disorders. Once someone is very overweight, it becomes harder to lose weight.

Im from the UK but live in Switzerland and you just can't buy all that processed convenience food , snacks etc here. The selection is so small, you can buy a pizza but not much else. There is maybe half an aisle dedicated to junk food in the supermarket (crisps, chocolate). You really do have to make everything from scratch. Every time i come back to the UK i put on weight because im eating all the stuff i miss.

P&O should start marketing cruise for fatties. No stops at port as that cuts into eating time. All sailing, all eating, all the time.
We've lost sight of what a cruise should look like

I'm from the UK but live in the USA and all this surprises me, because I thought I lived in the fattest nation ever (on average) and that it was due to higher salt and fat content in the prepared (aka junk) foods, frozen foods, restaurant foods and much bigger portions. I am going to have to have a proper look next time I'm in the UK.

I'm not fat myself, just the way I've lived for years; although would be happy to put on a few pounds for the sake of being given, with no effort on my part, a few home-cooked meals as take-away/ready meal doesn't quite do it for me.

Whilst British women may have got fatter, for many reasons, they're not the only ones, many countries have the same thing. There has always been large-bodied women, still fit and strong, with some extra thrown in.

But there's also been an increase in skinny little 'shrews', who's brains seem to have shrunk into vicious little walnuts with every bit of gym-inspired physical shrinkage.

Just an observation, no answers.....

🤣

I think a large part is the acceptability of wine drinking most nights. 600 calories per bottle which can slip down all too easily. Not judging,I used to do it. Now teetotal since Christmas (and thereby hangs a story!). Giving up alcohol has helped massively with weight loss.

Booze - don’t underestimate the calories in wine o clock

Shaming people into losing weight does not and has not worked. In fact, it only makes the situation worse. In term of people feeling like shit, possibly turning to food for comfort.

And like I said before the body positivity movement isn’t about just normalising people being greedy or lazy. It’s generally about looking after and caring for your body, regardless of its size. People who don’t feel ashamed of their bodies because of their size are more likely to treat it with kindness and to do things to care for it. Especially those like me where their pursuit of weight loss has made them even fatter than they ever were (and in my case gave me an eating disorder).

Which bit of Switzerland are you in? As that's not at all my experience! The shops seem as full of crap as here (albeit much more expensive!).

I think US is higher up the obesity table

https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/

Plenty of land based all inclusive and even half board holidays have buffets. Why are cruises coming in for particular bashing?

(PS I'm in Zug, near Zurich)

The USA does have a higher obesity rate than the U.K. As does Australia and New Zealand.

🍑😎

That is absolutely shocking and disgusting!!

@EasternStandard Thank you for the chart, very informative. USA is #10 for men and #36 for women.

Beer consumption is I suspect the dividing factor there.

I might get flamed here, but I think nowadays we've normalised obesity....sizes have become distorted.

I have an obese sibling, they're only in their late 20s/early 30s, and they've got multiple health conditions including asthma, high blood pressure, issues with knees and thighs etc. Most of my other family members are obese too. It's terrifying to see, because I know the health impacts that being obese can have.

What I have noticed is that they can't really cook anymore because mainly of pre-existing health conditions, caring commitments, sedentary lifestyle etc...This means a reliance on take out food, snacking, getting taxis everywhere.

Ultra-processed food creates cravings, which means that they keep you hungry, and I think that's what causing this epidemic. When cooking from scratch, I've had to because of food intolerances making me poorly but I've noticed it stops these cravings of wanting to eat all the time. It's also given me more energy to do walking and activities, since cutting down on takeaways, sweets, and snacking.

I know it's not a personal attack, but when you see threads like this it certainly feels like it, you know people stare and call you names and people like the op and all the other fat haters on here are the ones who do it in real life!

I get what you are saying about low fat crap, but I personally don't eat low fat intentionally, I just eat what I like to eat&what I can eat.

Didn't Switzerland gift the Toblerone (the most painful of all chocolate) to the world? They're not blameless in this obesity epidemic.
Didn't Jeebus once say, cast ye not your toblerone for it will make all the lazy brit women fat?

I think this is a much bigger deal than people realize.

And we are now raising our kids to snack constantly. So they are starting out from a disadvantage, and the problem is, once a person is obese, it is so much harder to stay at a healthy weight than if you had never been obese. For many it will require an iron will.

Our culture used to frown on snacking, and things like eating in public places, or on your couch, were frowned upon. None of those rules apply now, so people eat everywhere, all the time.