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?

There was a recent post asking why everyone isn't one the jabs, and many answers mentioned cost, so I don't know if this is relevant.
It is amazing how judgmental some people can be; if you put on weight, despite eating very little, people treat you in a noticeably different way. I don't suppose you can wear a sandwich board saying you used to go to the gym 5x a week/eat a perfect diet etc. But several of the previously superfit people I know who are now overweight (one had a brain tumour, one had cancer, and due to medication/not being able to exercise) look very different-and they get treated very differently, which is sad.

It's an interesting post and a subject I've thought about many times. I live in a working class town and the average dress size here is probably 16. I'm a size 18 although I go the gym often and my diet isn't appalling. If I go to London or Manchester, I don't see many overweight people. When I visited Milan I didn't see any overweight people until I arrived back here at the airport.

Is it that city folk feel more pressure to conform? Are they wealthier and therefore happier and less likely to comfort eat? Do they just walk more and drive less?

As for clothing, I don't believe a fat lass needs to cover up. Live and let live!

But healthy food doesn’t need to be expensive. Rice and pulses and veg. I thinks it’s education and culture and being surrounded by other overweight people who also have portion sizes that are too large etc

We always blame food but I was chatting to DH about this last night and I think it’s more heavily related to everyone being sedentary. UPF’s were everywhere in the 90s and 00s so it’s nothing new, I grew up on them! I wasn’t overweight because I played out all of the time, I was constantly moving around. Now kids sit around on their iPads/consoles. In my year at primary we had one fat kid, that was it. It’s way more prevalent to see it now.

I just came back form a cruise around the Med and I was shocked at the size of some of my fellow passengers. These were really big people that I just do not see very often where I live. Some were so big that they were probably the biggest people that I have ever seen outside of a TV documentary.

I felt slim and I am overweight.

This led me to conclude that it was something to do with culture ie in certain parts of the country being that size is just seen as normal or less remarkable anyway.

This to me is the crux of the problem here - food has been disconnected from genuine hunger.
Sophisticated European and Asian countries have held on tighter to their formal mealtime cultures and they aren't constantly grazing on crap.

In London people walk a lot more plus much more aware of health and nutrition than many places.

This comes down to activity levels again. In bigger cities people walk around more and are also more inclined to use PT, cycle or walk than drive because the infrastructure is there to support it.

In London people walk a lot more plus much more awareness of health and nutrition than many places.

Sorry posted twice.

I attended the HS concert and noticed the same thing. Lots of girls (they all tended to be mid teens to early twenties) who were overweight and not wearing very much. Interestingly, the older people (by older, I say 30 - 40 years) were dressed much more conservatively, regardless of size.
I think people are getting bigger and, in turn, there has been a big “body confidence” movement. My Instagram feed is often filled with morbidly obese people sharing their outfits and bikini pics and the comments applauding them. On the one hand, I do admire the confidence to wear the outfits. I thought I was fat my entire teens/twenties (was never above a size 10) and would never have dared to wear what they were wearing. I grew up in the 90’s/00’s though where we had the opposite end of the spectrum.

It’s very true, there was no culture of snacking at the office and no one bought in cakes and biscuits all the time. The women were all very slim and wanted to stay that way. I am glad I worked there at a young age as I lost weight and now appreciate being slimmer.

Sorry I didn't realise this thread was still going on!
Basically, the thread was sparked by me realising that I probably live in a bit of demographic 'bubble.' I mean, I obviously knew that anyway, but this event was a situation that really brought it home.
Somebody the other day posted a link showing that the London boroughs of Ken and Chelsea, Richmond, Wandsworth and Hammersmith and Fulham have the lowest obesity levels in the country. Those are the boroughs I'm moving around in day to day. Of course there are people of different shapes and sizes all around me. However, notwithstanding this. I did notice a marked and very visible difference in a massive arena (Harry Styles has nothing to do with it) where there are hundreds of thousands of young people from all around the U.K. Again, this is probably to be expected - and the fact the fashion was micro skirts / shorts and crop tops etc probably skewed the scene further - but nevertheless, the difference was much more stark than I would have expected. And the fact that I was struck by this straight off, shows that the area I live in is probably more of a 'bubble' than I thought. I'm sure, as many have commented, that relative levels of wealth have a lot to do with it. But I think it's more than this. For instance, if girls are in a school where 99% of them are very slim, they are less likely to be out wearing skimpy clothes if they are slightly overweight. But, if girls in the overweight BMI are all around you, you are more likely to wear clothes that let it all hang out, for want of a better phrase. You could have an overweight BMI but think this is actually slim because everyone around you looks the same. Some may see overweight girls in tight skimpy clothing as body confidence. That is a valid view. Some may see this as a worrying cultural 'normalisation' of being overweight. I'm not sure what to think to be honest, but that is what the thread was about. Not individuals but social attitudes and how these may vary across regions and how this reflects on us as a nation.

For me, regardless of the clothing that a person wears, I do worry about the normalisation of being overweight and obese.

I worry that WLIs are going to be treated like the tablets from the Hunger Games... Keep eating rubbish, and take the WLIs to enable you to keep eating rubbish (albeit lower amounts).

I don't know what the solution is - there's no one size fits all win here (no pun intended). What I do know and hope, is that I am a better role model to my children when it comes to food and exercise.

I think this has started to shift again since WLI. Lots of “body positive” fat celebs have gone on them and lost weight quickly so inevitably trends are changing and it’s popular to be skinny again.

I grew up in a poor area and when I go back home to visit people are visibly less healthy than the now very affluent area I live in. Many children are overweight, as are parents, and smoking is very common.
Out of all the kids We know where we live now, the children our kids go to school with, there are barely any who are overweight.
Money = better nutrition & being able to afford to pay for sport and activities.
and yes, they should have better food at events.. it’s always crap, even our kids don’t want to eat it.

‘I worry that WLIs are going to be treated like the tablets from the Hunger Games... Keep eating rubbish, and take the WLIs to enable you to keep eating rubbish (albeit lower amounts).’

we have a stupidest comment of the thread winner!

I'm actually even more baffled by this post. I also live in one of those areas, and, yes, the people I see on a daily basis, at the school gates, at the gym, etc., are not overweight. But the borough I live in also has the greatest income disparity in the UK - SW3 and W10 are both in RBKC. To not be aware of that, or the socioeconomic factors around nutrition and weight, you would have to basically never leave your immediate neighbourhood or read pretty much anything.

@SmallTreeDeepRoots I agree with your point about contagiousness. The lifestyle choices people make that lead to obesity end up being seen as the default / norm and anything else is considered unusual.

My in-laws are all obese/overweight, but my partner isn't. They would constantly criticise us saying we undereat, that we are underweight (we aren't) and they would comment that the food we eat is "odd". They live in a deprived working class area (where we grew up), there are more visibly overweight people including children there than where we now live in a middle-class commuter town. Food choices in their town are mostly takeaways and a Wetherspoons, and it is rare to see anyone exercising outside. Whereas there are lots of healthy options in cafes in my area and most people have healthy hobbies and exercise regularly, running and cycling is the norm.

Recently my FIL was diagnosed with diabetes and he has completely transformed his diet, lost several kgs and come off meds for high cholesterol. He said the diagnosis was like an awakening - he literally could not see that he was obese because most people around him are. He also apologised for criticising us as he's realised attacking us for being healthy came from a place of defensiveness.

I find lots of venues are pretty crap when it comes to food choices but I’m going to see harry styles not a Michelin chef so I just bring my own snacks/eat before you go.

I honestly can’t say that I take much notice of other bodies unless I’m thinking “I like those shorts” or similar

it’s been very hot so this may not be their usual style anyway - but if it is what does it matter?

I am fairly sporty but have never been thin - I’m built rather like Ilona Maher (love her!). As a teen I didn’t go swimming for fear of people judging my body. Anyone going out happy and comfortable in what they are wearing deserves to mind their own business.

I know some people who moved to Norfolk and said that the people in their nearest village/small town were mostly far fatter and scruffier than the people they were used to seeing. Which I thought odd, because they'd moved from Kentish Town, hardly affluent.

I do not put a singular thought into anybody else’s weight or what they’re wearing, because it’s none of my business

I would argue irrespective of income disparity class background etc in different areas in London nutrition and health education is widespread nonetheless. You notice this more once you move away.

You are weirdly bothered and obsessed about the clothes that 'fat' people choose to wear.
We are in the middle of summer and a heat wave at that, and they were attending an event where they knew they'd be getting hot.
What were these young people 'meant' to be wearing? And why is it so important to you?

And fashion education apparently!!