Perceptions of 'healthy' or 'overweight' are really skewed by the area you live in?

[alwaysdream]

I'm sure I'll get roasted for this, but here goes anyway...

I live in an area of London where pretty much nobody is 'overweight.' Particularly young people.

Last night, in Wembley Stadium (Harry Styles concert), the ONLY food available was chicken and chips or doughnuts. That's it. And - I know this will sound very judgemental - but I'd say about 7 / 10 people were quite 'overweight,' but all walking around in tiny shorts and cropped tops, etc (I know this is the vibe at this kind of event). It made me wonder if this is 'normal' for young people, on a national level? I know it sounds judgemental, but AIBU? Are most teens overweight where you live?

Ffs

Depends what you mean by 'area'.

By global standards a large majority in the UK is huge, and in some places they are more huge than others. And we also have a huge (pun intended) movement to normalise being fucking fat.

HTH.

Are you saying that people who like Harry Styles tend to be overweight? Or people that visit Wembley Stadium in general are overweight. Or that all the people at Wembley Stadium that night came from the same place, apart from you, and that place is full of overweight people? Or that the people that visited the stadium had one meal of fried chicken and they became magically overweight?

There’s an overall correlation between affluence and health so yes, it’s fair to generalise that people living in affluent areas are less likely to be overweight, but it’s very much a generalisation.

Edited to add, not sure how that relates to HS concert…

I’m sure you will get flamed too but it’s true to some extent at least. Apparently 20-25% of 7 year olds are overweight. That is not reflected where I live in London. There’s one very tall child in DS’ class who might be in the category by virtue of his build but, other than that, all the children are slim and a healthy weight.

I think at large scale events like that you really see the 'obesity crisis' in the U.K. - and yes, how this is normalised. I think the food options at Wembley really brought it home as well. Wembley is supposed to be a venue for world class events. Surely they can do better than chicken and chips and doughnuts ffs. It's not like that at other stadiums.

It’s all young farmers here. So teens tend to be well built but most are strong.

Oh and we don’t have easy access to take aways!

Google says the average age of people who attend Harry Styles concerts is 16-25. The average BMI for this age group in the UK is 25, so right on the cusp between healthy and overweight. Therefore you'd expect to see about half and half healthy/overweight at the concert. If you saw more, it either wasn't a representative cross section of the population, or you can't count.

The food is irrelevant. It's a special occasion and I too would have 'treat food', despite being slim and eating healthily generally. It's not a character flaw to occasionally eat chips.

Yes, definitely.

I’m visiting family in the north of England at the moment (I live overseas) and there are many more overweight people than anywhere I’ve lived. Including very young people - teens and early 20s. Strangely there isn’t a shortage of gyms / exercise studios here, but still the average 20something woman is noticeably not thin/toned (for men, it’s the 35+ age bracket).

No of course it's ok to eat chicken and chips every so often but I'm saying the food at Wembley Stadium is, by any measure, really bad. This is supposed to be an iconic venue. Nothing for vegetarians. Nothing beyond chips, fried chicken and doughnuts! I've been to the O2 which has a lot more choice.

I wouldn’t say ‘most’ no. It tends to be the more deprived areas where parents are more likely to lack the the intelligence/knowledge/education to feed their kids probably.

"Let's have three pennorth of chips! Run out and buy us a twopenny ice-cream! Put the kettle on and we'll all have a nice cup of tea! That is how your mind works when you are at the P.A.C. level" written in 1937
The middle classes have always looked down on the pleasures of poor people, now it comes with "concern" and be kind bullshittery.

Yes it is related to area, I live in quite an affluent area but I see far fewer children walking to the local grammar who are overweight compared to the comprehensive nearby.

I am not concerned about people eating chips on a night out. I am being honest that what I saw last night kind of shocked me, that's all. Thousands upon thousands of overweight young women in tiny shorts and crop tops pouring out onto the streets. I mean, body positivity is all well and good, but if this look is considered normal now, it's quite worrying.

If anything, I think there are fewer people promoting body positivity since WLI have become so common.

I'm afraid I have to agree with you OP - I live in a very deprived area and feel normal, average here, but go to London or abroad then not so much 😳.
I cycle everywhere too and pretty much get the new cycle paths to myself.

The extent to which it’s ‘normal’ depends on where you live and who you associate with. People growing up with fat friends and family probably don’t see the issue.

Yeah it depends on the area. In my closest town everybody is fat, but when I go to the nearest city everyone is slim and gorgeous. I think in small towns people drive everywhere so they gain weight, whereas in cities people walk more. Living in London you’re probably surrounded by slimmer people but at big events like concerts people come from everywhere so you see more of the fatter ones.

And with regards to the food situation at Wembley they will just be selling what sells. Burgers and chips are easy to grab and eat on the go so most people are happy with that. Shame they had no vegan options though that sounds like an oversight.

Not sure how it relates to Harry Styles, but yes, there's a proven correlation between obesity/ other health conditions and the relative wealth of areas, so poorer areas have much higher rates of obesity, poor health and people die much younger.

I had to take my mother to A&E a few weeks ago on a Saturday night. We live in a relatively affluent area but the hospital is in a significantly and historically poor area, as are the rest of the areas included in the health board. It was quite shocking in the waiting area to see the size of the people, out of about 20 people in the room 15 were seriously obese and that included young people.

It's particularly obvious in summer because even very large young people wear the same skin tight body revealing clothes as slimmer ones. It's their choice of course, but there are many clothes out there more flattering to different body shapes.

If you were shocked by some fat women you need to have a reality check OP. A simple google search tells you that 60-62% of adult women in the UK are overweight and 30-32% clinically obese.

What are you hoping to achieve here? On this thread?

They know they are fat and have decided to get on with life anyway, which I salute. My poor grandma was very very poor and very. fat and so ashamed she rarely left the house, I am glad us working class people are less afraid of being seen these days.

I guess that the difference between richer and poorer areas may become worse in future if poorer people can’t afford WLI

Yes I think it was probably the clothing choices for this particular event that really made the overweight / obesity more visible.

I live in outer London. I don’t think most teens are overweight here but a lot are. I often think back to my childhood. I can remember one overweight boy in my primary class and no overweight children in my secondary class - I don’t think that would happen here now.

i am also often very struck when I travel abroad at how slim people are in other countries.

I'm going on a caravan holiday soon and I had a look at food options on site and the vast majority is unhealthy. Burger King, Papa John's etc.