Why can't we discuss how fat we've all become?

[Nodinnernogift]

Obesity is becoming the norm. Why aren't we allowed express concern or any views that are less than celebratory about this?

I mean seriously why?

If whole parts of your country were in the grip of a meth addiction we would be allowed have a discussion about it.

National campaigns to stop people smoking are applauded.

Look around you. Look in the mirror. We are all getting bigger and bigger. It reminds me of when people would visit the US in the 80s / 90s and come back with tales of huge people and massive portion sizes.

Does nobody care? It's like the Emperors New Clothes. I don't get why it's a sacrosanct topic.

Yabu - it's nobody's business
Yanbu - it's fine to address this as a societal problem

I'm old. You and other posters have a point about clothing. Some blame must also go to the elasticated waistband, leisurewear, and lycra. When I was young clothing didnt expand the way it does now. Apart from the odd floaty dress most clothing was far more rigid. You put on a couple of pounds and your clothes didn't fit. An immediate sign that you've put on a bit of weight and also relatively easy to tackle. Now you can put on a stone and the likelihood is that your clothes have expanded along with you and you haven't really noticed the extra stone creeping on..

Reminds me of my ex who was a Doctor in a diabetic clinic at the time. Obese, smoked and ate takeaways most nights. 😆

I don't like those adverts at all.

I noticed this at school pick up today, actually. I only do it once a week and spend most of my time in London during the week, where I see far fewer fat people. I was quite shocked at how plump some of the parents had become, I guess it doesn't notice so much when they're buried beneath a huge winter coat.

What would you like to say about it then that hadn't already been said? And to what end?

Everything now is 'on demand'. Meals, snacks, drinks (fizzy or alcoholic) are available all day and all night in a lot of places.
People don't have the patience or willpower to make a healthy meal from scratch.

Its a problem across all of Europe. The lowest rate in Europe seems to be 41% which is Italy.

Interestingly seems to be higher in men than women across Europe too but, I guess the focus is on dress sizes as it's a woman focused site.

Upf foods are too available. Readymades instead of cooking from scratch. Many cannot even cook.

Alcohol is calorific too.

So many staff at hospitals are frickin huge. I had to take DH to the emergency OOH clinic last week and the staff were massive.

We are expected to take health advice from these people.

This is true, and humans haven't evolved to show willpower in the face of high calorie food. If anything, it would probably have been a disadvantage in most contexts!

The equivalent of some of the thinness as virtue MNers 30,000 years ago was probably hunter gatherers disapprovingly gossiping about how it's Julie's own fault she didn't have enough fat on her to survive the harsh winter because she never finished all her roasted mammoth.

Where is your evidence that WLIs are anything but a quick fix that ultimately will not help most people lose weight sustainably?

I do believe you can educate many people into eating better and therefore exercising more will power. Good education can last a lifetime and thd skills learned handed down.

It's got nothing to do with morality and everything to do with spending our money wisely on education rather than quick fixes that won't work long term and whose main contribution will be increasing the profits of drug companies.

And despite the massive popularity of TV chefs and cooking shows, people really CBA to cook proper meals regularly.

I thought this was quite an interesting take and agreed with you, until you agreed with the 'Londoners are thinner because they walk more' crap.

Lots of people walk 'up north' :gasp:. Lots of Londoners are fat. I work there regularly, I see them with my own eyes.

That’s the one! Also blokes in tights, but that’s another thread! Fair enough, fat people want to see what they’d look like, but the glamourising is not great. Such a poor message.

I think Londoners are slim, if OP means the fancy bits, because affluent people are slim...

Money has been spent on education. Spending on health and fitness education started in earnest in 2005 ish- don’t you remember how much this was discussed then? Jamie’s school dinners, Gillian mckeiths you are what you eat, those awful fat families shows? The government was pumping money into education schemes, and some of them have been effective.

the fact that obesity hasn’t been eradicated isn’t the only success factor. As a poster said just above, Obesity is a worldwide problem.

So you’re saying that people on WLI’s haven’t tried willpower 😆 they’ve tried EVERYTHING. They probably know good nutrition better than most as they’ve spent most of the life eating right but still can’t lose the weight. Willpower for life isn’t a thing.

I have various health issues which make it so difficult to lose weight. I eat 1,200 - 1,500 calories per day full of nutritious, healthy food. Have done for years. Do I lose weight? No. I started WLI’s 1 month ago and have lost 20 lbs. I don’t feel like giving up and truly feel like this has changed my life. I’m not sure what will happen when/if I stop - I may choose to be on a maintenance dose for life. I really don’t think it’s fair what you’re saying

At school pick up today I noticed that 9/10 of the parents were obese.

And then also blame the price of fresh food compared to fast food.
Which is bloody nonsense. But I love a batch cook, me!

Clothes sizes have expanded with us. I'm wearing the same size as in my teens but I'm over a stone heavier.

When people say this crap about London they immediately out themselves as wannabe blow ins or suburban wannabes

I was just saying OP means people in her bit of London are slim, but that's because the Londoners she knows are affluent. Not all Londoners are affluent, or slim.

Certain postcodes have a direct correlation with poverty, and poverty has a direct correlation with obesity. So, yep. Hilarious for you. It's 100x harder to be slim in our culture if you are poor.

I came here to say this, and will add it’s such a pity that the convenience options are all high carb/sugar/fat. I’d love to be able to buy something hot, fresh and healthy for lunch on the days where I can’t make a lunch to bring with me. The lunchtime food on offer in most shops is not good.
realistically with busy, burnt-out lives, I don’t blame people for not meal prepping their lunches, and think this could be helped by improving the options for a lot of the office-bound workforce.

You're very keen on this term quick fix. Why, when WLIs can be used for the whole of an individual's life? You seem to be working on the assumption that they'll always be a temporary thing. That's simply not the case.

And since you made the claim and I asked the question first, you answer mine. Not with statements of belief. Faith is neither here nor there, and certainly isn't the basis for the state to fund things we know don't work because they happen to coincide with your feelings. Evidence. Then when you've done that, we can look at the proof that WLIs work whilst being taken.