Anyone shocked at Ireland being one of the most obese countries in Europe?

[Ethela]

https://brilliantmaps.com/obesity-rates-usa-v-europe/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJngKxleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHnvR7oe_6LYbf4fcbzHl_BeAzJ8ePD0JuJAq5c3InyOEkk-pw539X2tyaeE4_aem_pxpU1_f0YknI4uA62X2TNQ

Think they drink more and alcoholism is hugher in France yet they have the lowest obesity - obviously many factors.

I do think portion sizes are huge eating out maybe reflecting traditonally a 'big feed' was normal but that was for people doing a lot of manual work which is less intense/calorific nowadays.

I was going to say this - think it's probably drink more than food

I dont think so - probs people are drinking less overall than the past? Children arent drinking. Lots contribute to it.

Well you are mixing in limited circles. It’s has a strong socio economic factor. Where I live there are tons of overweight children and almost every adult is overweight. In my workplace nobody is obese and everyone eats well and exercises.

I was in Florida 20 years ago and I was facinated by the largeness of people, I had never seen anything like it. Went back last summer and it struck me that they didn’t look so strange to me anymore. So much has changed. There is just so much food available now.

Very old and tired stereotype usually bandied about by English people to try and take the limelight off their own massive issues with alcoholism, everyone knows the British are very big drinkers

I'm not surprised. Any culture where children aren't allowed unsupervised play is going to have a consequence. I get that it is a balance with safeguarding but I think its a huge factor and the balance is wrong. I know many kids of 10 or 11 who still get driven around and escorted to organised play dates when they could cycle to each other and happily go off to the park or woods all day, only they are not allowed. Instead they are at supervised activities three times a week where half the time is waiting their turn. Very few kids walk anywhere more than 10 mins, not to school as far as i can see, and usually because the parent is expected to walk with them and then back home, restricting their time further so its easier to drive. The children should be able to walk without a parent. I also know some teenagers who are not allowed get the bus and walk 15 mins to school. We need a cultural shift and a positive attitude towards parents who encourage independence in their kids.

One change I think could be made with guidelines or even a law is children portions in restaurant. They are absolutely huge, easily adult size and usually rubbish. I don't mind my kids eating junk when they are out but the portion size is inexcusable. My youngest is nearly 12 so the maximum possible size and age for that menu and I have never yet seen anything the appropriate size on the plate.

I agree it’s food. People drink less. Alcohol consumption has decreased by a third over the last 20 years but weight has skyrocketed.

There was one overweight child in my class at school. As teens we all shared our clothes we were all size 8-10. None of us were consciously living a healthy lifestyle. There was just less food available, no boba tea, no massive coffees, no fresh pastries or sausage rolls at every Spar, less takeaways. We just ate our meals.

I'm not surprised at all. I live in a relatively poor area and in the past few days with all the kids out playing in the sun I noticed that pretty much every single kid I saw in my bit of town was overweight.

I brought dd to a paediatric appointment a few days ago in hospital in a deprived town and every single kid over the age of 3 and parent in the waiting room except me and dd were clearly overweight some of the kids were shockingly so.

I don't think it's as pronounced in more affluent areas but certainly where I live it is very noticeable. I am noticing more and more people out walking in the local parks though and more people out running and kayaking and swimming. Since covid people have definitely become more active outdoors though which is great.

I read Ireland and NI have the highest per capita consumption of fizzy drinks in the world so kids are also getting lots of empty calories from drinks.

My Swedish friends were horrified that childrens restaurant food was different (ie junk nuggets/pizza/chips) here - and not just a smaller size of the adult food on the menu.

I live in Dublin so not at all mixing in limited circles, I also have a wide circle of friends and work colleagues none of whom are obese
I worked in London for 15 years and I would say the levels of obesity were on a par there

The restaurant thing is so massively different to France as well or Italy where they will serve a smaller portion of the same food.

It’s annoys me that the kids only eat chips and gougons when we go out to eat. I remember eating what the adults were eating at that age.

As a swede I can hand on heart say I've never seen a Swedish restaurant that didn't have a kids menu consisting of meatballs or pancakes with cream and jam.

@StrangerThings1 yes well the rates are similar to the uk. But that’s not great. Nobody you know may be obese but 1 in 4 are.

I thought we (the Brits) would have been worse. I’d never really thought of the Irish as overweight. Mind you, we’ve no reason to feel smug. Eating habits in the U.K. are f-ing awful. I have seen some shocking sights. I remember watching a chubby young mother pushing her toddler round Sainsbury’s. She lent over, took a packet of cooked bacon out of the trolley, ripped it open, gave one rasher to her son and ate one herself. I regularly see people come out of my local garage at 10 in the morning carrying bags of crisps, a coke and two or three different chocolate bars. Then you’ll see them tuck in before they even pull off the forecourt. Just the other day I was sat in my car watching two overweight women leave Tesco. They had bought a tray of 24 donuts. As they left the store, they stopped dead (to the annoyance of other customers), tore off the cellophane, each took out a donut and began scoffing them. They couldn’t even wait until they got to the car, let alone until they got home. It’s disgusting. Then these people moan about the state of the NHS. Well stop being a f-ing burden!!!

Its more that 1 in 4 - 31% are obese BMI +30 - and that doesnt include those who are overweight.

This data doesnt include children it's adults only - so only going to get bigger if the subjective observations of children on this thread are accurate.

There is actually been a decline in childhood obesity.

obviously nobody wants to negatively impact their child’s health and I think all the public health messsaging around this does help.

It’s actually very difficult if you are obese yourself to raise your child and feed them normal portion sizes and understand normal activity levels. I know a mother up the road who is very concerned about her son’s weight but is at a loss what to do. Things like spreading thick butter on bread, cooking from scratch and taking exercise everyday are habits ingrained from childhood. So I have much empathy and I’m not judging people. I think we need a lot more support at toddler age and beyond for how to feed children well.

I think the majority start out with weaning ok.

Percentages vary depending on which site you look at but as the obesity levels in the UK are almost as bad and this is primarily a British forum it might be more useful to discuss that issue and why it is happening there

We are on the Craicnet bit though @StrangerThings1 - I’m assuming everyone weighing in with their opinion is Irish. I am Irish and living in a deprived area of Dublin (up and coming!) It’s definitely not an Irish versus Uk thing because we are both as bad as each other. I wonder is it because both countries don’t have a strong culture of healthy wholesome food. Like I was brought up on cornflakes, ham sandwiches and stew but the food itself has changed. The cornflakes are more ultra processed, the bread, the ham. And now there are all these snacks available.

I wonder will the cost of snacks now have an input on weight going forward? I've always been a bit of a chocolate fiend but now I go in shops and look at the selection and it is so hard to justify the price, I walk past them most times. Not to mention the quality of everything seems to have gone down too. My poor teenagers feel very deprived and often complain about our 'ingredients only' household.

I'm not surprised. In saying that I live and work in very different parts of Dublin. Live in what is considered an affluent area, rarely encounter obese adults or children, I work in a disadvantaged community where I see a lot of obese people especially children. We run a lot of funded programmes to support healthy eating, fitness etc.
I do think though Irish people are getting far more involved in sport than I ever remember. I'm nearly 50 always did athletics mainly running and I don't remember so many people out running as I see now. Sports pitches are busy with kids all the time. So hopefully we are on the turn I personally think we are.

The French rates don’t surprise me. Living in France, coffee is espresso or black and long. Bread is made freshly by bakers with minimal ingredients. Food is quite plain and sparingly seasoned so you don’t necessarily want to overeat. Sport is more prevalent for all as a hobby. Anything American or English is awful so things like fast food isn’t as popular but things are changing.

My daily diet in France used to be typical of my peers: cigarettes, coffee and very small portions of food. I don’t think I ate breakfast.

Spent a lot of time in lreland and the drinking culture was totally different to anywhere else l'd known. They thought there was something wrong with me if l didn't drink.

Interesting map. France is low. I think social pressure is a factor. I wonder if there’s a global one, Japan is incredibly low iirc