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 have had a good chuckle as your replies 😂

I'm not British and don't live in Britian. When I read on here what meals people make generally it's not too surprising. Everything seems to be from a jar, a packet or ready made.

The mashed potato thread was quite an eye opener.

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

Food is just well, gorgeous isn't it? After 3 years of not being able to eat much through illness, I am absolutely hell bent on eating everything I can now. I try to avoid the bad stuff and do 16/8 which curbs my enthusiasm for late night snacking as I'm used to it now. The clock starts at 11am and stops at 7pm, it's a great discipline. Obv not on hols or special occasions and when I'm feeling a bit meh, but 90% of the time.

I don't can't eat big portions anymore and am just as satisfied as long as the meal is protein rich. I eat chocolate now and then, and bake cakes and eat them, but I don't drink alcohol and honestly I think that saves a few rolls on the belly!

I am no saint, but I do try to eat the right stuff and enjoy it. When you have been surviving on protein drinks and Ensure, I can tell you that the day you can eat normally again is such a nice thing. Food is essential for every creature.

I think we all know when we are reaching the roly poly stage. I can feel it now although I don't weigh myself since I know by my clothes, and then I rein myself in a bit.

Anyone who starts a discussion with Genuine post and I promise I am not a weight troll is almost definitely a) not genuine and b) a troll.

But if you're genuine, why not come back and tell us why you think there's been a rise?

You'd wonder what levels of "poverty" someone on a cruise would experience...

The reason there are so many obese women is because misogynists don’t notice men

I went on a cruise for the first and last time last summer. I was shocked by the number of passengers who never got off the boat to explore the various countries we visited, they simply sat around the pool all day. The non stop availability of food was astonishing, although one lady did tell me that between 2am and 4am "nothing is open, you can't get anything to eat!"

I think it is possible to go on an all inclusive cruise and eat healthily and there is plenty of scope for regular exercise, the running deck, swimming, walking laps, using the gym. Most cruise passengers (according to my very limited experience) liked the never-ending buffet and didn't get involved with any form of exercise though.

I've been aware of that field of research for some time, but thanks anyway. Anthropology has always been an interest of mine.

I’m a ‘young woman’ and I don’t know anyone who drinks Prosecco regularly.

In that case, perhaps you'd like to join in?

Otherwise people might think you are just being goady.

Because we keep eating judgy buggers... 😉😁

If it's an expensive cruise it's just people who like to eat and don't worry about being fat. But if you walk or drive around towns there do seem to be some really overweight women. In the past you were thin because you were poor, not sure why so many ordinary people are fat now. May well be poor diet and also little exercise. I know you're really not allowed to say that these days. I'm trying to lose a bit of weight at the minute mainly due to a very sedentary work environment. And a more recently acquired liking for chocolate!

Gregg's😋

I reckon it could also be the demographic of brits who think a cruise is an aspirational holiday, compared to those who go trekking in Costa Rica or camping in Cornwall, for example.
Secondly, poverty levels in the uk are high. And with that these days comes lack of education around food, reliance on cheap UPF and sugar.

Not read the full thread but obesity is rife where I like - city in south west. There is a heavy culture here of high level grooming - eyelashes and nails etc and almost no culture of healthy living.
My kids go to a primary school in a v affluent area. There are million pound houses but the slim parents are the minority.

And MN has a definite lean towards eating disorders either too little or too much depending on the thread title.

I think a lot of it is people liking to post from the extreme and be contrary towards the OP but it's not very healthy either way.

And these faux-puzzled threads are almost exclusively goady.

Back in the day,1960s, we used to be thrown out of the house on a Saturday morning and not expected to return until tea time (primary school-aged).

If you had enough pocket money you went to the cinema for about 3-4 hours of cartoons, Westerns, Laurel & Hardy, yo-yo competitions and heaven knows what else. We didn't eat anything apart from a few sweets if lucky, or an ice cream, but usually nothing.

Then home for tea of egg & chips, spam & chips, or mother's stew!

There just wasn't the expectation of food.

I was on a cruise recently and I am obese by the BMI standards. This is because:

I have PCOS so already struggle
i am a carer for my disabled son, I work part time and get zero time for me. When I get any time, I am physically shattered.
As a results of the above, I am depressed, and that means I am much less likely to take care of myself, even if I had time and energy.
If you want to come round to my house and prepare some healthy meals for the week, that might help me. But at the moment I am knackered, fed up and have no one to help. HTH.

People stretched too thin between family commitments and work, not enough time for exercise

No culture of recognising you need to scale back the amount you need to eat & drink as you age, to allow for changing metabolism

Not caring as much/embracing a broad range of body types (in contrast with some european/asian countries where family will openly shame you if you gain even a little weight

Easy availability of cheap, high calorie food (cakes & biscuits tend to cost less than vegetables).

But also - a cruise is going to be a specific demographic. Very overweight people will often avoid flights and trains due to the space constraints of the seating, which leaves fewer travel options. Its possible you've seen a group where overweight people are overrepresented.

British people don't seem to have a food identity unlike Scandinavian countries, Spain, Portugal, France etc... and unlike the continent, where obesity is looked down on, we brits have chosen to not fat shame and to continue our heavy carb diets from when most of us used to work hard, eg in the pits, on the sea, shipbuilding, steel making etc...

We are a carb loving country but we don't physically work the calories off any more.
We always seem to want carbs with every meal eg chips, roasties or mash.

We are unashamed gluttons.

It will get worse before it gets better.

I was watching a video about "the dark nudge" this morning.

Not just a mcdonalds or Starbucks app, but tailored temptation across all food apps.

Suppose the app registers that you aren't a big spender, you buy just a coffee but about on, once a month you buy an egg mcmuffin too. A treat. After payday?

So 2weeks after your monthly mcmuffin treat, you are prompted, tempted, "mcmuffin???" and you think "ok, yes, that's something I do sometimes".

So in ten days, you are prompted again.

BUT THIS TIME YOU THINK NO NO NO, Im not falling for this! You pat yrslf on the back for selecting no thank you.

The app registers that once every 2 weeks is too much for you, for now.

So it leaves it two weeks. You're even wondering, will the app ever temptation me again!!???

Then on the 13th day it says "mcmuffin with your coffee?" and you remember how you resisted the last time. You"re in control here. You're choosing to say yes this time.

The app noted that your initial monthly treat was after pay day. Now you're having a mcmuffin with your coffee three weeks out of four, it doesn't feel like a treat anymore really, so when the app which has noticed more impulse purchases the last Friday of each month tempts you with a new treat, "hash brown/orange juice with that coffee?"

,you think, yes I've just been paid ill treat myself. (Cos the mcmuffin is now too frequent to be a "treat')

Obesity is normalised now. Fashion brands jumping on the body positivity band wagon have aided it.

No. Flaming Hot CRUNCHY wotsits!

I should add that there were plenty of oversight and obese men too. The majority I saw carried weight on the stomach, so less noticeable than women who were larger all over.

But you know what there were also loads of? Lovely people, kind people, fun people, happy people. All shapes and sizes. That was what was more noticeable to me.

So you’re going to assume you know the eating habits of an entire country based on a couple of mumsnet threads (where you don’t even know which country the poster is based!). I rarely eat anything from a packet or jar.

The U.K. has an obesity rate of 28.3% for women, ranked 87th in the world. The highest obesity rate is Tonga with a rate of 81.26%. So UK isn’t the best but certainly isn’t the worst.

https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/?age=a&sex=f

Nah, I've been on a boat load (pun intended) of cruises since I was 9, the OPs talking shite.