Two thirds of adults in England are obese or overweight. It would make as much sense to ask what is different about the other one third.

[H0TK]

This was a comment I read elsewhere. I thought it was an interesting comment.

Rather than wondering what is wrong with overweight people and why they eat like they do. What is different about the people who are not overweight?

If I’d not done that, I’d be fatter than ever to be honest.

Whilst lifestyle choices are important, it is not as simple as that. I'd be interested to see a break down by age in each of the groups.
In my experience (my own and pretty much all my friends) age is a big factor. I ate so much when I was younger and didn't put on weight even if I tried, I eat much less and more healthly now but I am at least 10kg heavier.

We are a thin household. I have never weighed more than 9stone (other than put on a couple of pounds when hit 40). I have oftened wondered why we are thin as I love chocolate. I think this is why:

1. sport and exercise is integrated into our daily lives. It’s just part of our family makeup. My husband and I don’t do lots of cardio but we both walk a lot, I do yoga and we play some sports.
2. We eat healthy dinners that are small in size. Fish or a piece of meat from the butchers with 1 / 2 new potatoes and veg. We all like pudding and danish pasties for breakfast though!
3. We both drink but only a few units a week. While my husband drinks indoors, I only drink when I’m out.
4. We do have takeaways. But thinking about it, we would choose something healthier, have 1 rice between two, no naan and a veggie based curry with veg sides. This isn’t due to health reasons but just what we enjoy.

I was told never to eat bread at in a restaurant. If eating out a lot with work to stick with fish. I still would have a pudding. In a hotel I’d order an omelette for breakfast but would not eat toast.

Is it people in their fifties who are most overweight? My peers aren’t, but anecdata is ofc useless. Will go and google.

I have always been pretty underweight.
I'm just not interested in food.
I just can't eat if I'm not hungry, I take absolutely no pleasure from that, quite the opposite. And even when I'm hungry, I may not have an appetite at all.

I also noticed recently that when I'm with friends and family for a meal, I barely eat at all. It's like being with people "fills me" so I don't feel hungry anymore. Weird.

I've found this a really interesting discussion, and a lot of factors have been brought up already.
I'm also of the opinion that obesity is down to genetic predisposition x environment. Chris van Tulleken's output is always interesting, as a self confessed person with genetic obesity markers, and I recognise some of what he says in myself- for example, eyeing up your companion's food in a restaurant after you've finished your own! (and I wolf my food down, which I was interested to learn is also a genetic predisposition).

I'm not overweight though(although I was in the past),although I can't seem to get below the high end of a normal BMI. I achieve this with constant annoying diets though- low carb at the moment, and intermittent fasting on a permanent basis. I can only do this because my life is stable and I have enough bandwidth, though. Cooking 2 dinners for myself and the DC is not easy, and that would be the first thing to go to the wall if life was just that bit harder.

In addition, the people around you matter. Few of my friends are overweight and nearly all of them do some kind of outdoor exercise- sea swimming, hiking, cycling etc. It's a beautiful part of the world, and outdoor leisure is enjoyable and easy.There are no overweight kids in DS2's primary class- I don't think there are any in the school. There might be a few overweight kids in DS1's secondary school, but it's definitely not the norm, and he and his friends' pastimes include surfing, hiking and jumping off quays 🙄.

So, there's nobody around us going "Eat, eat, have a treat, a little bit of what you fancy does you good, nothing wrong with being curvy", etc etc. The only time I feel this pressure- basically validating the food noise inside my head- is at Christmas, when I cave in to the national madness, and put so much weight on in 10 days that it takes a month of punitive dieting to undo.

So, I'd say we live in a less intensely obesogenic environment than the rest of the country. Certainly, when tourists from other parts of the UK descend in the summer, I'd say the average BMI of the county increases sharply 😬.

Regarding genetic predisposition: I'm currently dating a thin man....at least he was...🤔. For his whole life, he has been extremely thin/ underweight, due to having little appetite. He just hasn't wanted to eat, and in fact used to envy people who could enjoy a full meal! And his mother is very similar. But he wasn't healthy- he smoked, drank too much, and had very complex mental health issues, and has had an intense desk bound job all his working life, meaning he's never done much exercise.

Nowadays, he's given up smoking and, crucially, is on a new drug regime that has made him more stable- and given him an appetite! It's one of the notorious drugs for weight gain, and suddenly he's enjoying eating like a normal person! He's finding it all very novel, but is also perturbed that a small belly has appeared. He previously would subsist mostly on unhealthy snacks, and I am finding myself in the position of sharing all the knowledge I have accrued over many years experience as a greedy person- stop the snacks! Eat vegetables and protein! Embrace exercise! etc.

But I have found his experience fascinating- it's like a reverse Mounjaro, and I'd love to know how that drug works in stimulating appetite. And it's demonstrated how much appetite- and weight- is dictated by our body chemistry- genetically determined, but also able to be overriden by drugs.

@Twiglets1 , I'm so weary of it all.

Thank you fascinating and very relatable post

A vegetarian diet may not have worked for you but it's misinformation to write it off as "really unhealthy".

Following a vegetarian diet (also lactose-free due to an intolerance) helps me manage my PCOS and weight.

Many cultures (such as parts of India) and religious groups (Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism) have followed vegetarian diets for thousands of years.

https://www.issuesonline.co.uk/articles/1-obesity-statistics
I found NHS links too but those were PDFs so I didn't want to link those.

I found that I tend to eat much slower when surrounded by friends and colleagues.
I usually talk more and I'm just distracted by other things.
Eating more slowly is one of the easier hacks when it comes to loosing weight.

Eating less and moving more.

Its not rocket science

There is a lot to this.

Yes, otherwise ancient humans who walked miles across the plains of Ethiopia hunting food would have starved to death. Weight is primarily about what you eat. I have a theory that naturally slim people like me would not have survived as well back then, because we can't overeat therefore we wouldn't have stocked up any reserves for the famine!!

Immigrants are often poor and yet slimmer. There was not a single overweight person in my Asian immigrant community up until their 50s, when suddenly genes kicked in.

I agree with this. I was brought up on home cooking, no snacks, no fizzy drinks, and as children we were only allowed sweets on Sundays. My father took us to the shop and we were each allowed to choose a small chocolate bar or bag of sweets. We were given the choice to eat it all at once or eke it out over the course of the week, but whatever happened there'd be no more sweets or chocolates until the following Sunday. It did help to instil an appreciation for delayed gratification.

I imagined that when I grew up I'd have big classes of Coke for breakfast, and eat endless sweets, but in the end my upbringing must have conditioned my tastes as I hate fizzy drinks and sweets.

Saying that my mother did do home baking which we were allowed during the week, but very small amounts and only after dinner. And I still love homemade cake or pudding now, but am quite disciplined about how often/portions.

I was a size 8 and mega slim/fit until I hit 30. As in could sink 10,000 calories and not put an ounce of fat on. I’m 36 now and pre pregnancy was a 12, so not massive, but I do need to be careful now. I’d like to get back to a 10 post pregnancy. I have done but it takes will power and it creeps back on as soon as I’m not careful.

It honestly staggers me in that some people live entirely off UPFS and takeaways. I used to work with someone super morbidly obese and she had by her own admission 5 takeaways per week as she didn’t have the energy to cook. She snacked ALL day long, and I mean all day. Food was an addiction for her.

It’s a mixture of lifestyle and genetics.

I'm very slim, bordering on underweight and always have been.

Genetics clearly plays a massive part in that. Equally, I definitely don't obsessed about food all the time the way some people describe it, and I also can't eat as large a portion in one go as other people can. I eat quite slowly and feel full quickly. And I hate that uncomfortable feeling of having overeaten. I assume my stomach is quite small, and I prefer to eat little and often. What the interplay of those factors is, I don't know.

I don't deprive myself of things, but equally I don't live on junk - I'd say I have quite middle-of-the-road mixed diet. Meals are generally balanced, but my snacks probably lean more unhealthy. I also can't eat early in the morning and always start the day with coffee, usually not eating until after 9am.

My appetite can fluctuate with my menstrual cycle. Pre-period I'm hungrier than usual and will binge occasionally on chocolate/crisps/biscuits. But then this completely goes away immediately after my period and I have a few days with very little appetite, so that probably balances out. I realised that binge-eating crap is bad for me, but equally my body can afford the calories so I don't really stress about it.

At the moment I've been losing weight due to a medical problem that has affected my appetite, and am trying hard to gain weight. It's harder than I expected having to think about my food so much, remember that I need to eat, forcing myself to snack. Fortifying my existing food is easier but less effective than simply eating more would probably be.

I don't think it is antidepressants.

I think it is a hormones issue or pleasure.

I meet with a large group of friends every few months, 3 out of 10 are overweight, constantly struggling.

2 of them add photos of drinks and takeaways in the WhatsApp group throughout the week, over order when we go out. There issues are the amount they consume.

The 3rd has a thyroid problem, she's a vegan, she can't lose the weight and eats much less than me or the other slim members of the group, though she always talks about food and I suspect she picks a lot throughout the day.

@CharSiu your comments about Asian fat shaming is so true - I went to a wedding in Thailand and was by far one of the biggest as a UK 12/14 and my nickname was roughly translated as fattybumbum & one random lady came up to me and said "why you so fat?" whilst poking my thighs 😵.

now I've spent enough time with my friend and her family to know not be offended and know this is very typical Thai behaviour naming people literally according to their physical traits (one uncle is nicknamed Thai translation of small penis😊) but it was the fact I was so large compared to them and how food is a real celebration there and it's an event in itself they take very seriously - no chance of a sandwich & crisps for lunch!

@EmeraldShamrock000 I've got an underactive thyroid (on medication) and I'm on AD's. I think they've caused me to gain a couple of pounds, but it's not significant. Being 50 and having a slowing middle-aged metabolism is definitely more of a challenge!

It would be interesting to see if this holds for further generations when immigrants switch from asian cuisine to more Standard UK fare.
There are studies who do show that there is a link.

I've lost 2 stone recently. I'm now a healthy weight for my height and size. Tend to eat a high protein and high fat diet and if having carbs have one serving in a day max still have treats but in moderation. It seems to be working and I am maintaining my current weight.

👏👏 Very well done.

@Moodliftrequired

Thankyou.