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.

What's men's excuse then as more of them are obese now?

Women are at least meant to have more body fat than a man.

So do smoking, drinking alcohol, road accidents, playing sports and having children. That is how the NHS works, by not judging people's choices.

@TheIranianYoghurtIsNotTheIssueHere , my school gave us cookery lessons for a year in the 60s but TBH it was a case of rock cakes and cheese and potato pie - I learned far more from the way my Dm cooked at home. I suspect that that’s what’s often missing now, in the era of oven chips and anything else you can just shove in the oven or microwave - not to mention takeaways, KFC, McD, etc.

I posted this a while back but even back in the mid 80s the food portions were in my 6 year old eyes gigantic. My Mum was/is very small and just couldn’t finish anything in restaurants. My brother and I thought it was amazing that you could eat all you want as it was completely novel we’d never know and all you can eat restaurant in London. We also thought the sweet cereals were impressive as we did self catering for a few nights and as children thought the massive sizes in supermarkets and cheap donuts, 7 till 11 shops as impressive.

Since the 1990s there was certainly a much greater influence from the US on British culture and that must be an element of it as other countries have not been as Americanised/

So do EDs

I haven't accepted being overweight since having children, I have been trying to get down to normal BMI for fifteen years, and if I didn't try so hard I would be obese rather than merely in the overweight range. The only time I managed it was eating very little calories on the Fast Diet which was unsustainable and my hair started falling out after 8 weeks. I was BMI 19 before I had children. If I find it difficult to lose weight being generally fit and healthy, doing plenty of exercise, then I understand how hard it is for others.

Thank goodness: hello fellow Human!

@BeretRaspberry

Yep and EDs.

Some people have an ED which is why they're obese. Most people eat too much though.

Over eating, excessive alcohol, lack of exercise and the awful agenda of media saying it's ok to be fat combined with clothing retailers using fat models and selling humongous sized clothing.

The idiotic phrase of 'fat shaming' has given the green light for many women just to not care about how big they get.

This is very true of some people’s experience . I have a couple of good friends like this. They really have tried.

Believe me they almost certainly care. The anti body shaming developments just allow them to feel a little less slated by other people who really don’t need to make it their business. Some of us think that’s a laudable reprieve. After all, people who don’t make an effort not to be nasty don’t get targeted for their lack of self control in the same public way.

I have noticed a lot of teenage girls and young women are huge. So many i see in our local town have massive thighs and struggle to walk properly. The young men all look normal size but the females so obese, not just in my town but where ever i travel. I was on the train to London last week from Glasgow and a young woman travelling with her family had to stand all the way because she couldn't squeeze into the seat. I felt so sorry for her.

Is this a subtle way of telling us that OP was on a cruise, I wonder?😂

I lost loads of weight when I cut out UPF. It is designed to make us overeat through having the precise combinations of fat, sugar and salt that make it hard to stop eating. If you look at overseas countries you will see a direct correlation between the amount of UPF ingestion and obesity rates.

Now I no longer eat it my body naturally regulates my hunger, I eat whole foods until I am satiated and do not crave UPF. My weight has stabilised at a healthy BMI without any calorie counting or restriction. I can recommend this approach to everyone who wants to feel healthier and maintain a healthy weight without restriction. Also despite being peri menopausal I have no tummy fat.

@Calliopespa

You only have took through the windows of any McDonalds to see obese women (and men) stuffing their faces to realise that many of them simply do not care how big they are.

They can easily buy clothes in ginormous sizes so it's not a problem for them.

A huge amount of it is that outside of cities people have to/ choose to drive everywhere.

But...but...it was noticed on a cruise!😏

Hi, I think it has changed in the last few years because of worries about obesity, but many parents will be of the 80s and 90s cohorts, when cooking from scratch did not happen much. I once helped supervise a class where they had made pizzas with different toppings for several weeks. All about what would sell. It's a hopeful sign that things have gone away from teaching for the 'market' and back to cooking for ourselves.

You sound quite rude, why deliver your point with such disdain, chill out!

Thank you. At least my cholesterol, body fat, blood sugar and waist to height ratio are all in the healthy range and I am two stone lighter than my heaviest in 2016, when I was obese. I am genuinely size 12 measurements and 5'7", just quite densely packed in, obviously! My BMI is 27.

People are fat because it's a real struggle to be slim. I do a yoga class plus go to the gym four times a week (and burn off 400-500 calories a time) and walk 4/5 miles a day but still sit down most of the time for work. It's a real struggle to lose the last 14 or 15lbs.

I have never been naturally slim since the age of 15/16 when I got to BMI 25, I've always had to do loads of exercise and watch what I eat. Now at 48 and approaching menopause there are even more challenges. But looking at most other people I think I'm doing quite well. I've just cut down to 1400 calories a day. I could eat 1000 calories more than that and not be over full, that's the issue. When I was in my twenties I could eat 2500 calories a day and was BMI 19. I still have the same appetite but not the metabolism.

I think you might be a very black and white thinker.

I think this is true for many. @EvaHara You speak like every overweight person is just greedy, lazy, and stupid. In reality, all these people are just as intelligent as any THIN person FGS!

Also, MOST overweight folk struggle with their relationship with food, just as some do with drugs or alcohol, and sometimes feel a compulsion to eat chocolate and cakes etc. It's a genuine condition; struggling with your eating, and many people have eating disorders. They don't WANT to be overweight or obese FFS!

NOBODY starts out in life thinking 'I know, I will stuff myself silly until I am proper fat, and see if I can keep on eating loads to stay like that!' And it is so rude and ignorant to think like this (like you, and some others do.)

This thread is rude and unpleasant, and shows your lack of knowledge on this subject. I bet you wouldn't start the same thread about people addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Horrible thread! Posters posting stuff like 'I see fat people stuffing their faces, and buying GINORMOUS clothes so they can't care they are fat!' Shame on all of you who are posting this kind of thing!

Horrible post!

As someone who has multiple chronic degenerative disabling conditions and takes injections, 12 tablets a day, has quarterly MRIs, is under the care of 4 NHS departments over 3 NhS trusts, eats nothing but home homecooked meals and 5 a day and works 50 hours a day as well as using crutches….I find this thread hard to swallow. Literally.

This! ^