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 work in the NHS, public health adjacent type role. I think that WLI should be available to anyone who wants them OTC from the community pharmacy without prescription or qualifying conditions. If we allowed that, people who just want to drop half a stone, 10lb, a stone would be able to do that, thus preventing the almost inevitable creep towards overweight/ obesity that is experienced by so many. A stitch in time and all that.
The savings to the NHS would mount up much more quickly and people wouldn’t end up with the metabolic disorders and CVD that are so prevalent.

Car use is so normalised. People baulk at the idea of walking short distances, just jump in the car, more often than not to sit in traffic.

One of the biggest reasons, in conjuction with shite food being easily available.

It's a worldwide issue -
In 2022, 1 in 8 people in the world were living with obesity.
Worldwide adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, and adolescent obesity has quadrupled.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

It's related to ultra processed food - wherever this food goes, obesity follows.

https://www.worldobesity.org/news/ultra-processed-foods-are-pushing-aside-all-other-food-groups-to-dominate-global-diets

It makes rather a lot of money for the world economy though - and then the solutions created by the pharmaceutical industry to fix the problems it causes also make enormous amounts of money.

If we all go back to absolute poverty and subsistence farming the problem will be solved and we'll all be healthier - miserable, but healthier.

Quite simply, it's a Diffusion of Responsibility. I'm currently on holiday, laying by the pool, and I would calculate that over 75% of people are obese (not just overweight). They struggle to get up from their sunbeds. The steep steps up from the beach has them seriously out of breath. As a size 8/10 I am very much in the minority.

So, if virtually everyone around you looks like you and moves like you, and gets out of breath like you, then it becomes completely normalised and commonplace.

I make my own clothes, sewing patterns are still made in the same sizes as decades ago. A size 10 is something like 32 bust 25” waist and 34 hips. That would be around a size 6 now in somewhere like Next or M&S I’ll try and attach a photo

Here in the UK there are more morbidly obese people than in any other European country. Sadly, we are a nation of fatties and it's not a good look.

This is having a devastating affect on the NHS - diabetes, heart problems, stroke, back issues, cancers, knee defects - often caused by obesity - are commonplace. It's time this problem was seriously addressed and individuals took care of their health buy avoiding processed food, fizzy drinks and controlling their intake.

Greed is a word that's rarely mentioned but it fits perfectly into the equation.

And yes, there are plenty of people with EDs who are at risk of becoming severely underweight, but it’s a balance of risk.

Do you really not know anyone obese? I was obese at size 14/16.

OP - thank you for starting the thread. To answer your question, we can’t talk about how fat we’ve all become because it hits a nerve with overweight people and then becomes all strawman and professionally offended and then nobody can say what they really feel because then they’re mean and bullies and blah blah blah. I mean, you’re a drawbridge-puller if you were fat and took WLI, you can’t have an opinion if you’ve always been slim because you “don’t understand”, and then there’s the whataboutism (“drunks cost the NHS too!”).

FWIW, as I’m bowing out so don’t have to fear being called a meanie, we can’t talk about the CRISIS because it involves having to say what people don’t want to hear: people are fat because they haven’t got a grip on themselves (whether that’s because they don’t make time for exercise, are depressed, whatever). All you have to do (having done it myself) is get a grip: cut carbs, and do a bit of movement. Yeah, it might be hard and you’re tired and all the rest of it, but a heart attack is also hard, so choose. It’s on you. Same goes for drunks and addicts. Society has lost its concept of personal accountability.

Blaming people I see - it is much more complex than that.

My theory is that it triggers moral outrage in people who aren’t fat. Fatness is seen as a sin. And those who are disgusted feel morally superior

I work in the NHS and so many staff are visibly overweight - and I think no wonder when many of them, nurses etc, are working 12 or 14 hour shifts, not enough staff, not decent meal breaks, people grabbing something high sugar to just get through the shift. It's a hugely unhealthy working environment and I feel so sad and angry about it.

Actually pissing my self laughing that you think earning over £40k a year is some kind of flex.

What good would starting a conversation about it do exactly?

I am fat and unhappy about it.
I go to the gym 2-3 every week and do classes.
I don't drink alcohol or smoke.
I limit / avoid carbs unless I feel unwell.
I have a takeaway maybe twice a month.
I consider what I eat.
I have thin friends and would love to follow their diets and be a smaller size.

Over £250k last year, Aqua. All while working long hours, having a daughter and managing to stay healthy. Maybe if you took some responsibility you wouldn’t be so offended by people calling you out.

Whilst I agree with you about if it offends anyone then that’s not the offenders problem (iyswim) I do agree that it isn’t good seeing a larger person in clothing they are pouring out of. I often don’t understand why some larger men choose to wear tight trousers when their gut is hanging over the top or larger women wear tight trousers that their waist is hanging over. I don’t care but it does make me wonder

I have not seen anyone name calling here today. But just because something worked for you does not mean it will work for others - the science is now starting to tell us this. Happy to give you some recommendations to read if you're interested, as addiction to food or alcohol for that matter much more complex.

My theory is that it triggers moral outrage in people who aren’t fat. Fatness is seen as a sin. And those who are disgusted feel morally superior

@Candlemascandy but where does the drive to feel moral superiority come from. And do they feel it about people with eating disorders, smokers, alcoholics, drug users, etc?

Being repeatedly told that I’m fucking up the NHS and am just greedy, to shame me into losing weight is really not going to help or get the outcome that you want. Shaming and judging people about being overweight/obese has been repeatedly shown to be totally ineffective and in fact counter productive. I thought that the OP wanted to have a genuine discussion about strategies at a societal level that would help but this thread has just become yet another “judge the greedy fatties” thread.

Fat people know they are fat. They also know why they are fat. It's expensive to eat nutritionally. UPFs taste good and are addictive. Rewarding and treating ourselves with UPFs become more and more regular until it's a daily habit.

Until my WLI, I had no idea that it was normal to not think about food all day.

I was obese for years. Probably overweight from the age of 3-4 then obese from 7 year old. My brother a year younger was always slim. The difference was I would eat my dinner and want more. I got used to the feeling of my stomach hurting from fullness after a meal.

I used to agree it was a farse, but decided enough was enough. I was a comfort eater but I didn’t want to be bullied for being fat anymore and made sure I was going to succeed.

After a week of calorie control and seeing the results, that was it. My stomach must have shrunk as I no longer felt hungry on a calorie deficit.

All you have to do (having done it myself) is get a grip: cut carbs, and do a bit of movement.

And be lucky enough to not need medication that causes weight gain. Carbamazepine made me put on 2 stone in 6 weeks, good luck controlling that with carb cutting and "a bit of movement".

I agree!

Many people who were slim in the past used to smoke so I think we have replaced one problem with another.