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.

Nobody needs a gym. All we have to do is move more. Do a spot of gardening, go for a long walk. Go to the park and play football , cricket, rounders. Any fun game.

Eat. Breakfast dinner and tea and nothing in between.

Don’t routinely eat cake or biscuits. Just every now and then.

eat lots of veg and salad. And don’t see it as a chore. Veg is yum.

I agree. I’m sick of left-wing people politicising everything. They’re like cult-members who can’t see anything beyond their little group. For example, the Guardian journalist Johan Hari wrote a book about depression. Turns out it’s caused by capitalism. People are depressed because they lack a sense of “community,” and that, of course, is the fault of the Tories and the Republicans. They don’t need to eat healthily or go for a jog or stop using social media. They need to set up Co-operatives and worker committees, then their depression will go away 🙄

I’m sure he’d make the same argument about the obesity crisis. It’s not your fault for stuffing packs of Dunkin donuts. You’re a victim of ‘da system’. For crying out loud, it really isn’t difficult. If you want to lose weight and boost your mood, do the following:

• Stop eating junk or processed food
• Live on nothing but fresh, whole foods (bananas, potatoes, nuts, eggs, fish, etc).
• Go for a long walk every evening (while listening to a podcast or an audiobook - I’d recommend Stephen Fry reading P. G. Wodehouse or Sherlock Holmes)
• Read books instead of going on social media
• Get in a routine of meditation, yoga and deep breathing

I’m being slightly provocative, I know. I’m aware that people really do suffer from trauma and stress. And I know society is grossly unequal. But human beings are very good at justifying their bad behaviour. We all do it (including me). Truth is, a lot of fat people like junk food, and if they can justify eating it, they will.

Did you ever watch the film supersize me about the effect of junk food on the body? If I recall correctly there was a roll call at the end of all the senior executives of those big junk food chains many of whom had died from heart conditions, diabetes etc.

If their overweight/obesity is a MH issue many will not be able to put your wise ideas into practice no matter how much they want to.

@Iamuhtredsonofuhtred I totally agree- I'm taking myself off to Majorca for a week in 3 weeks as H is working because if I don't get some sun for at least a few days consistently I might explode. I haven't had 1 day yet where I didn't need a coat or jacket of some kind

I wonder if less people smoking has had an impact? I’ve never smoked myself but apparently it’s an appetite suppressant. Also, no need to have a food addiction when you’ve got nicotine as a crutch (I hate smoking before anyone accuses me of promoting it). Also, lots if people I know who gave up smoking turned to food for comfort.

You are exactly the kind of person I referred to in my post above. Why does it make you think with such pronounced nastiness?

@Hartley99 just wtf????

Are you really suggesting that mostly French women are effortlessly thin? Is there no anorexia, no Disordered eating that is associated with a culture that is very critical of being ‘fat’.

My DD is tiny, she certainly does eat snacks, she may have even a snack in the street, my DS is 17 and can eat literally what he wants and still remain very slim. In my DD’s case I think she just has an off switch and my son it is pure genetics.

Today I ate two cupcakes one after the other. Delicious. I had done a hard work out at the gym which always makes me hungrier but the real issue was emotional. I am pretty low right now. Overeating is pretty self destructive. And so is dieting. It is difficult to steer a middle path, but that is what I am aiming to do (despite the cupcakes)

I agree with all this.

Weight has become an unhealthy focus with some people obsessing about carbs , spending family time away in the gym etc when they could be achieving something with some good old fashioned gardening or a family walk etc . For people who don’t want to wander about with keto breath or spend money on gym- generated exercise, I think they are almost made to feel they have failed before they have begun so they kind of give in to the opposite. In fact all we need to do is move a bit ( preferably actually achieving something by doing so; offer to dig an elderly neighbour’s garden rather than sitting on an exercise bike that goes … nowhere) and eat a balanced diet that doesn’t skew food groups etc.

Women are more likely to put on weight than men because, as we gestate, give birth and breast feed, out fat stores have a stronger evolutionary advantage.

you can tell why by reading the replies on this post. No one is allowed to mention it. Social media is full of people parading around in clothes way too small with fat hanging out everywhere they post photos and everyone tells them they look amazing while thinking the complete opposite, everyone has an excuse. I’m overweight. I’m overweight because I eat all the wrong stuff , I look hideous naked. I know if I put a short dress on or tight clothes it would look horrific . It bothers me alot but mostly I’m not disciplined enough to do anything about it. Many times people have said but you look great. It’s a lie! I don’t know why people say it. Above all else it isn’t healthy. When I was in my teens we were all skinny, I only remember maybe one or two people that were overweight. My kids are teenagers and most of their friends are overweight, especially my daughter’s female friends.

Your attitudes are formed in a large part by social conditioning however. In other historic periods looking more portly has been seen as desirable - esp when having enough money to manage it was unusual.

The continental late eating thing is interesting. Hubby’s family is from Spain and sometimes they eat ridiculously late (when my husband goes for dinner with his friends it’s not uncommon for them to meet at the restaurant at 11pm!! 😱

There has been evidence recently suggesting eating late (it was said any time after 9pm) was much unhealthier than eating earlier. And yet Spain has much lower levels of obesity than we do, and the longest life expectancy in the world!
Just goes to show many different factors at play.

As per the French poster above, in Spain snacking just isn’t a thing, very little upf beyond soft drinks (and chorizo!), and people do tend to prepare/cook food from scratch.

Interesting as all of my DCs teen friends are thin if not skinny girls and boys!

This is a very good thread

To this I would add that I actually prefer the look of a little “ softening round the edges “ on women esp women of a certain age. Since we are being candid about appearances, I tend to think ( and try not to!) negatively of that group of women who are past a certain point where their face ends up looking really haggard and gaunt and bloom-less when they prioritise their waist measurement. I prefer a woman to have a slightly softer look as it looks gentler and maybe less self- absorbed. I bat these thoughts away as everyone has a reason for being the way they are physically and at some level they can’t help it - either pure medical reason or a psychological reason that they strive for one thing, or give in to another. But I make this point because you have implied everyone prefers thin - and I genuinely don’t when judging others. But I probably err that way myself - against my aesthetic preference on others - because at some level I’m afraid of being judged

I started work in an office in 1975. We used to stop for morning and afternoon tea every day and eat biscuits. A few times a week I would take orders from the staff and go to a bakery to buy sausage rolls, cakes etc. and the bakery was full of others doing the morning tea run. My mother and grandmother would have something to eat with their morning cuppa (usually home baked, but not always). It really was common to eat between meals. However people weren't living on takeaways, having food delivered to their door, and they ate proper food at meal times, although puddings were common.

You are right about the huge muffins however. The food we ate was normal size, everything is supersized these days. A friend had a sausage roll in a cafe last week, it was twice the size of what they used to be. If you want a sandwich it's hard to find just one, they are usually in packs of two and jam packed with exotic fillings, and many sweet treats have cream or sickly icing.

I'm no fan of fast food chains, but Supersize Me is now widely believed to have been faked. If I remember correctly, there is a point in the film where a doctor is scratching his head trying to work out how Morgan Spurlock's (the author) liver damage could have been caused by fat, saying "I've only ever seen this with alcohol". It was later revealed that Spurlock was an alcoholic (who also got into #MeToo trouble). The whole thing is probably a con, that just told people what they wanted to hear (and which might of course still be true), namely "McDonald's is bad, m'kay".

Your food is cheap. I know many may not think it is, but according to other countries, it is.

I agree with this. I have to laugh when I read people complaining about the prices of food on here, your food is so much cheaper than it is in many other parts of the world.

I think it's a combination of factors.

20/30 years ago shops and offices were all in the city centres. So people walked to train station or at least walked from train to shops office.

Offices used to have physical files in filing cabinets now lots of offices are paperless so everything is on a hard drive and nobody moves.

Town planning- everything is 'out of town' so a complete PITA to get to without a car. So people aren't walking so much.

I'm curious about bread 🍞 in France bread is rock solid the next day.
Our bread lasts about a week. Even 20 years ago it would be going mouldy after a few days. What is actually in it?

I'm not convinced that swapping sugar for sweeteners was a good move either.

There is definitely more to the calories in calories out thing. But its part of it.

Because fags are expensive and shite food is cheap. Also, we don't move nearly as much now.

Obesity creates extra pressure on the NHS.

Because we don’t have a government that represents the majority, and is male heavy. It’s corrupt and focused on the minority getting richer, while the poor get poorer. There has been more research and support into erectile dysfunction than there has the menopause (as just one tiny example). Resources are directed where our poorly elected government chooses (first past the post, apathy to voting, and yet again a majority of males in power) do not make for healthy women. Just my thoughts… oh and also lots of cake… because that’s all women do… coffee and cake.