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.

Knowing the calorie count of a meal means you can't enjoy dinner properly?

How strange.

I also agree that the body positivity movement has become toxic. It used to be about celebrating bodies that are healthy but didn't fit into the white western beauty ideals. This was a good thing. It has morphed into celebrating obesity and scorning anythig else. I used to be in a body positivity fb group. It started out well but I left after someone who was recovering from anorexia posted a photo of herself because she was lacking in confidence about her slim but not 'perfect' body and she was hounded mercilessly for not being fat and told she was trolling the group. It was disgusting. People weren't even allowed to talk about positive lifestyle changes they were making eg going to the gym because they were 'body shaming' others. They weren't.

I strongly suspect 'big sugar' (producers of corn syrup and other highly processed sugars) are behind body positivity.

This is really interesting as I do often wonder how much feminism has ironically contributed to obesity. It’s not an instant connection, but at some level women developing self esteem based on being more than a male-dependent human must have altered the “need” to conform in bodily appearance terms at some subliminal level.

I don't know, maybe join in on the conversation you started? Offer an opinion of your own?.

That's how these things normally work. But then you probably weren't interested in conversation, just wanted to say something goady and watch the fireworks.

Yes, we already had " Fat is a Feminist Issue" didn't we? Speaking only for myself, I don't find being diabetic very feminist. And I think body positivity has gone too far in convincing women that being obese is smashing the patriarchy.

Knowing the calorie count of a meal means you can't enjoy dinner properly?

If eating out, then it wouldn't be even the 5th thing on my mind, because eating out is a massive treat, not because of the calories involved in the meal, but because it will be one of a tiny fraction I haven't had to prepare myself !

Going on cruises and eating everything you can. I'm not in the obese category but for my height I am overweight. I've just started using Nutracheck and have quickly realised that my portion sizes are way too much and that is why I look like one of the Roly Polys.

And also that people on a cruise are often going to be less active than people you might find on other types of holidays and therefore more likely to be obese!

Not necessarily. Cruises have dancing in the evening, most ships have gyms, lots of walking to get to your cabin and other parts of the ship, and there are high activity excursions to be had. Plus plenty of walking around smaller ports of call. I’m probably more active on a cruise than I would be lying on a beach or by a pool all day.

There are a plethora of peer reviewed scientific papers spanning more than four decades on the subject of increasing body mass in western countries. If you had a look around, there are probably simplified versions floating around on the internet, maybe even short YouTube videos with nice cartoon pictures and that sort of thing.

Flick through some and see what you think. If you struggle with any of the big words just let me know and I'll try to explain them in a way you're capable of understanding - I'm sure I've got some crayons somewhere...

Oh sorry I missed it if we have. It’s not a link I hear made very frequently .

I think it can be dependent in area. I live in a fairly affluent area and everyone seems to go to gym classes, boot camps, pilates, tennis or train for triathlons etc regularly. There is a couple of kebab places but no fast food places in the town. I very rarely see someone who could be described as obese, or even overweight.

I work in Central London and again on the train and around my workplace I don't see a huge % of people that are overweight or obese.

And I don't think I've lost sight of what a healthy weight is!!

UPF is everywhere, aggressively marketed, highly calorific, addictive and dangerous to health. I wouldn’t even call a lot of it food.

And the government appears to be in the pocket of the manufacturers, profit is all.

also food delivery drivers everywhere, large portion sizes, normalisation of poor diets, people not walking, car culture. And vanity sizing.

Because we're always just behind America with their ways. We use technology for the home/workplace/transport, it's making us lazier and fatter. Women are no longer at home cooking from scratch. More people are working long hours and only want quick and convenient foods/snacks. There isn't anyone at home available to cook a proper dinner anymore. Our supermarkets have expanded their processed food aisles. When I was a small child I remember the supermarket having half an aisle of crisps and chocolates the other half had cakes and biscuits. Now it's a whole aisle of crisps and another for chocolate. Same for the cakes and biscuits. The processed food used to be one aisle too, now it's two lots

I think feminism has hopefully made women less obsessed with looking a certain way.

Women who are paranoid about their weight and looks are often mocked. But if you have little education beyond high school, dependent children and are financially dependent on your husband for money and a home, what tools do you realistically have at your disposal?

Your looks and your work in the kitchen and bedroom. And you better keep looking young and slim as long as possible. In my culture if a man cheats the woman is sometimes blamed for letting herself go.

Feminism releases women from all this so it's very sad that we still use weight and looks as a way to measure each other.

In my culture if a boy is fat, his mother and grandmothers think it's cute, oh he loves his food, he's going to grow up to be a big strong man. If a girl is fat, you better lose weight or no one will want to marry you.

Of course I am not tlaking about people who are so fat that their health is compromised. I think that's a medical or psychological issue and the root issue needs to be looked at before the weight.

I'm tlaking about women being plump, stocky, whatever. We should really be allowed to eat and live freely by now without judgement. Men do.

There’s nothing feminist about obesity.
how exactly is women eating themselves into poor health feminist?

what exactly is feminist about women eating themselves into being unable to fully participate in life, spending their adult years in poor health and dying early from obesity related illness feminist?

it’s not all about looks you know. I’d rather be slim and unfeminist and not miss out on fun activities because I’m too ill/unfit to participate. There’s just nothing more sad than women eating themselves into another prison - one of their own adipose tissue. One slice of cake at a time.

Knowing the calorie count makes littler difference. In UK Food Standards Agency regulations, the calorie count has a 20% leeway above and below. So if you see a meal that's 700 calories, it could be 20% more than 700 or 20% less and still count as 700 calories for the FSA. And guess which end of the range most food companies tend to lean towards?

So relying too much on calorie counts won't help you as you could be consistently eating 20% more than you are calculating.

I didn't explain well. "Fat is a Feminist Issue" was a book by Susie Orbach which made the link between fat and feminism over 40 years ago. She criticised diet culture and women starving themselves for men. I think it was needed at the time perhaps. But now the pendulum has swung too far.

I work with a couple of young women who are morbidly obese and have all kinds of health issues. They can barely walk a mile. They also eat a lot of sugar and UPF.

However they won't take medical advice because
the doctors are fat phobic and patriarchal
they love themselves as they are
they are not interested in looking good for men
fat people can be healthy too.

Really, the body positivity movement has a lot to answer for.

Have just picked up Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken from the library!

The 'blurb' on the cover- Why do we eat stuff that isn't food....and why can't we stop?
It's not a 'diet book' more of an explanation of the why🤔

Takeaways and cars for short journeys have a lot to answer for. Cruises too presumably.

Speaking as someone who is not overweight ( though higher up the normal weight category than I was pre pregnancies) I have to say I find the societal blind spot when it comes to being outspoken, judgmental, superior, rude and, let’s be honest, downright cruel about obesity really shocking and distressing. It’s as if the “oh but it stresses the nhs” argument excuses it - when in fact plenty of things put stress on the nhs. Moreover, I also know overweight people who simply cannot get other health issues taken seriously because everything about them is attributed to their weight when almost certainly there are other issues, so that argument needs to be taken with a grain of salt anyway.

There are so many ways in which humans “ fail” to be less than other people’s ideas of perfect; yet in very few other instances is the same level of outspoken unkindness considered not only acceptable but also in some way commendable.

And I thought this even when I was in the underweight category as a naturally fine boned teen and twenty-something.

I disagree @Calliopespa. For instance most Asians don't know they have to be at a BMI of 23 or lower to avoid diabetes as we have a genetic time bomb inside us. I am glad my GP told me. That’s not body shaming. It's medical advice which needs to be out there. Doctors need to be more outspoken, not less.

And yes, if I get diabetes because I ignore that, I will be stressing the NHS.

Most supermarket offers are for junk or ultra processes food. Crisps, pop and biscuits to name a few.

The food pyramid is based far too heavily on carbs, and fat has been demonised. The public health initiatives were funded by biased parties (inc. wheat farmers). We eat FAR too much bread, wheat etc., too much sugar (because "low fat" things have to taste of something) and not enough fresh unprocessed stuff.

Food is expensive and when I have been hard up I have had to cut back on everything including food. 1 packet of biscuits and 1 loaf of bread etc rather than 2 of each. In a COL crisis surely only those who are comfortable can afford to be overweight?.

Because life is tough in this country for so many, the weather is depressing

the weather is depressing in many European countries too. Food is so expensive in many European countries with low obesity rate , like Norway ,Denmark.
People don’t really realise just how better off conditions are in the UK to keep an active lifestyle. In many cases it’s a lifestyle choice.