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

Of course there is an obesity crisis but it’s talked about constantly. Daily news stories about the strain it places on the NHS, the various new things being tried, should weight loss injections be more widely available, should we increase the sugar tax, putting calories on menus, content of school meals, etc. Is there anyone in the country who doesn’t know it’s the biggest healthcare crisis the country is facing? Almost as much publicity today for the NHS proposal to trial pharmacies prescribing Ozempic for free on the NHS as there is of the local election results!! And the diet industry is huge - bloggers, influencers, chefs, fitness gurus. We all know we are overweight, we all know we need to lose the weight. It’s just not that easy. That’s why there are so many threads on MN with people saying Mounjaro has finally changed their lives.

A bunch of people discussing it on Mumsnet isn't going to change the societal issue though is it. It's just going to bring shame and embarrassment to anyone reading it who is overweight/obese.

People who are obese, know they are obese. There's a multitude of reasons for why it happens, from Genetics, busy lives, eating disorders. It's not as simple as eat less, move more. They know that, they know how to lose weight. The UK has alot less obesity than America.

Listen I'm not talking about individual's being a particular size or weight. I know it's hard to take that at face value. You'll notice I haven't said where I am on the scale.

I'm talking about how the population, what's normal. It's a health crisis.

The younger generation, young males in particular do seem quite committed to working out and lifting weights along with eating tons of protein.

Yes, and that needs talking about too.

Why are people so overweight, not just that they eat too much of the wrong things, but why?

I was clearly talking about in general ya tube.

I agree no one needs to get personal but we can't just pretend there's no issue. If we can't say the word "fat" or speak freely about what can be done about it the problem will get worse and worse

One huge reason that we are eating ourselves to death is that even when we are eating 'healthy' we are not.
The worlds healthy eating guideline are not based on anything other than wishful thinking and supposition that was incorrect at the time and now proved wrong. Yet the guidelines don't change. Insert your preferred conspiracy theory here.

Watch this:

Zoe Harcombe on the (lack of) scientific basis of nutritional guidelines is an eye opener.

Are you fat @Nodinnernogift ?

People are allowed to discuss the OP’s point on MN. If you’re offended by that because you’re obese, well, you knew you (royal you) were obese before so how do you cope with the shame in general life?

I’m a former fatty. I lost 50% of my weight. I know it can be hard. A lot of excuses seem to be just that though.

I don't care that you're a size 16.

I'm not saying I don't have any problems.

I do care that size 16 doesn't sound remotely large to me now when twenty years ago it wasn't stocked in some shops.

Yes

What shocks me is the young people, especially young women.

All my DSs' girlfriends would have been considered fat when I was young, but they're completelty normal among their peers now.

I had a night out on the town in Newcatle last summer (nothing against Newcastle, butnim not usually among 100s of young women all dressed up). What I saw there really shocked me, even in a world where we've become used to it.

Hard agree. Some responses so far already show sweeping under the carpet and precisely why we need to talk about this epidemic.

People apparently know they’re obese. They have their reasons. So we just…don’t talk about it and find a solution? Okkkkk

It you can guarantee people will lay off the nonsensical advice of "it's simple just eat less move more" and the other vileness then great let's discuss it properly and without blame allocating.

Obesity is incredibly complex, it's not simple and a chat about it won't solve anything. One persons experience is entirely different to anothers. If you can handle a conversation that ranges from malnutrition, COL, medicinal side effects, mental health issues, diseases, class based exclusion from exercise, all the way through to individual hereditary fat retention issues on an individual basis and still remain respectful, you are better than any of those medic types who stick to the obesity is simple trope

This is an issue for me too.

We’ve been talking about it for 20 years. Have you really not noticed all the public health campaigns around obesity which have been in place most of our lives? They’ve been successful too.

*to add: they know their reasons for being overweight…so where’s the help for them finding solutions?

100% this. Plus clothing back in the sixties/seventies had no Lycra so nobody could physically squeeze into a size below 🤭

Such campaigns do exist. How have you missed them?!

Because feelings come before facts these days. There’s no excuse to be fat anymore. If you can’t lose it naturally, get on weight loss injections.

No, you kind of make my point.

We’ve been talking about it for 20 years…and it’s failing. So we’re not talking about it in the right way, are we?

I have no issue recognising I am very fat.
Why? Because due to health issues in the family, we have become continously stuck at home. We do not eat massive portions (though we could reduce the size indeed, but that eoild be actively dieting) or rubbish. Our diet is quiet good, with lots of veggies and fruits. Very rarely we buy processed food further from cheese, jar sauces/ condiments and quorn burgers/ nuggets.
But it is the lack of regular exercise. That has killed us. It is a few years now. We used to walk as a family, long walks in the countryside. That became impossible for one of us, so we all stayed home. With less activity as thinhs hot worst.
So we have started to go back out. Now our family member has a wheelchair, unfortunatelly.
Food regulations and cheap membership to leisure centres, plus maintaining footpaths and cycle routes is the only thing the government can do. I think the rest is up to us. But food additives, artificial flavours and permitted medication and storage for food and livestock are a big, big issue. The amount of nasty chemicals is a long, long list. And this leads to changes in our bodies, making it more difficult to lose weight. They have come to call some type of chemicals obesogens, as they interfere with our own hormonal regulation.
It is too late for us, but we should advocate for our children and grandchildren.

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

What do you mean by 'not allowed'? People talk about it all the time. Nobody stops them. It's everywhere in the media too. The fact that people get upset and defensive about it (because it's understandably an emotive issue) does not mean discussion is banned. If you're waiting until every single person agrees with your view before you think you're allowed to discuss it, you'll be waiting a long time.

It’s also part of people smoking less, drinking less, dying less at 50 from industrial disease or heart attacks, accidents etc.

not sure it’s quite so bad when you look at it like that?