Why are nearly 25% of British women obese?

[twitterer]

On the news this morning we are told that British women are the fatest in Europe, why? Of course it is down to eating too much and exercising too little. But other populations don't suffer so badly. I wonder if there is more (healthy) pressure from society, men, employers and others to be healthy

Omrian yes but you are more an exception than the rule don't you think?

grumple, if you stick some greek yogurt and some water and a teaspoon of sugar in a glass, and WHISK - it's lovely! honestly! Much more thirst quenching and satisfying than a shop bought drink.

"and a long way from obese"

If you're only seven pounds away from the top of the healthy weight category and are carrying excess fat around your middle, you're actually not that far from overweight. Sorry!

I had gestational diabetes in my second and third pregnancy. I probably had it in my first but it wasn't picked up because I never had sugar in my urine, and actually even when I was tested while pregnant with my second, my blood sugar levels were only 'borderline' problematic. I was told by the consultant that it was really important to stay WELL within the healthy weight range for women, and that even being in the top of the healthy weight range put me at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in later life. Now I know not everyone has a problem with their body's response to carbohydrates, but many, many people do, and the majority don't know it. I wouldn't have known it if I'd only had one child, or if gestational diabetes hadn't been picked up by chance in my second.

I do know this, I do know that what I am eating is wrong! but when you get in at 10pm and crash out cause you have to be up at 5am.... when you have no routine its easier to stock up on less perishables so you can catch some sleep when you can in between cr@ppy shifts

I've bought some individual grown up readybreak type things from M&S to try, I think that might be more slow release than what I'm eating at the mo

and I'm job hunting for something more normal so I can have more sensible breakfasts at a normal breakfast time.. till them I just have to wake up and get out

BMI Classification

18.5 or less Underweight
18.5 to 24.99 Normal Weight
25 to 29.99 Overweight
30 to 34.99 Obesity (Class 1)
35 to 39.99 Obesity (Class 2)
40 or greater Morbid Obesity

I have noticed that BMI classifications are not uniform, on some I am the bottom of overweight, on others I'm the middle of overweight

Sorry that was in response to someone saying that their BMI was 25 and that isn't overweight. Didn't mean to just lob it in without explanation.

Im very slim and find it easy to stay that way because I think you can eat whatever you like as long as you dont do much ad are constantly on the move.

What I have noticed about overweight people in general is they tend to drive way more short distances. They dont move fast or about a lot in the day. It is incredibly rare to meet a woman that drinks pints to be slim. They also think they are doing the same as a slim person but they arent. I always here you ate mcdonalds today but I have put on weight and you are still ver slim but they arent factoring in the grazoing on food , the fact I am conatntly on the go even finding it hard to sit still eve when sitting down, I move very fast and never go in the car.

Very true sprogger about the girdle. However there are plenty of photos of her in bathing suites, and I'm not noticing a huge difference.

As for that photo... taken from below close to her thighs, with a pose with more weigh on one leg than the other. Very deceptive. Take a look at a couple of other photos in the same swimsuit here. Bearing in mind she was 5'5"

Which is beside the point anyway...

My point is she is used as a way of denying there is an issue and thats bad when you know what her measurements were.

In terms of curves, waist to hip ratio is also used as a measurement for assessing how healthy people are. Optimum for women is supposed to be 0.7 (Marilyn comes in at 0.7 apparently). Its supposed to be a better way of doing it that BMI as it works better for superfit people carrying more muscle and older people.

Would be interesting to see how that stacks up with people who say they are 'curvy' rather than 'fat'.

no you can't molly, I work on my feet for LOOOONG hours and hit the road running in my time off too.. but I do eat too much fast release carbs so am over weight

(yes am sitting now, but am doing 10 other things (loads of washing, sewing on name labels.. not just vegging on the computer)

hit the GROUND running, and sorry for awful grammar, like I say am doing 10 other things...

Best advice I give myself is be honest with yourself.

Many people live in denial or think because they dont eat or weigh as much as the next person then they ok.

I have bad weeks but usually know exactly where I gone wrong and overindulged and work on it the next week

People start diets they have slight slip up and think the diets ruined and no point in diet where as I say draw a line in sand move on

Everything in moderation.

low fat items usually do have more sugar.

white carbs bread, rice , pasta quickly get converted into sugar making us sugar addicts with huge dips in energy levels which then we think we need caffeine which stops us sleeping and we still tired.

I must admit I love my coffee. if hungry in between meals i try drinking first as people mistake hunger with thirst and we suppost to be getting 8 glasses water a day which I rarly manage.

My youngest is 7months and im still breast feeding think thats helped keep weight off.

I find the whole curvy debate hard

is there a fine line between curvy and fat?

Im occasionally partial to trashy womens weekly mags with celebrity stories.
They seem to love to focus on weight issues they either anorexic or overweight poor celebs cant win. But occasionally heat does a feature what do stars really weigh? remember reading jennifer lopez was 8stone think shes 5,6- height shes not short yet shes constatly paraded as the curvy latino woman when she looks and blatenly is tiny.yes she has hips and bust but a tiny waist.
Maybe shes a modern day marilyn contradiction.

I guess the nearest figure to marilyn is dita von teese and burlesque dancers.

They go on about beth ditto whos huge not curvy

Even sophie dael the perfect plus size model lost weight really fast after she became famous.
Even comedians like dawn french/ruth jones lost lots recently.

What bugs me the most is model they use for plus size clothing ranges always look about a size 12 then people size 28-32 think they going to look as nice as the model in same outfit!

Think the clothing/fashion industry trying to delude us.

Chickydoo, I'm glad you managed to gain weight from your BMI of 17 when you got married, which is dangerously underweight. I'm a bit concerned that this whole area of mn seems to be devoted to promoting eating disorders...

As to the reason more women in the UK fall in the obese categories, it's in The Spirit Level- more stress leading to higher cortisol production, which causes weight gain. There's not a substantive difference between british and other european diets, and though car-culture is a problem, that's also not enough to explain the difference (from a scientific perspective), but the higher inequality and stress levels in the UK (and US) correlate very neatly with the obesity prevalence.

Yeah too much grumplestilskin - I eat whatevre I want but cant fit in a lot of it. I couldnt eat or struggle to eat a full adult meal in most places as they are very big. I eat whatever I want but even if I forced it down myself it would feel too much.

Molly - I am the same wrt eating - but unfortunately I'm a size 14 - just not active enough. How much I do makes such a difference to my weight.

I know this to be true for me and I still find it hard to exercise. I feel pathetic!

I don't believe we are that much fatter than some european countries like turkey for example

I have major issues with food though and I have to try really hard in order to stay within healthy. This year i have lost 3 1/2 stone and I am now within a healthy bmi but I still reckon i have a stone to lose and some people may still think I am chunky but it is what is achievable for me, and that is what i have to base it on. I think it's great to sit in judgement of other people bigger than you if you have never had any issues yourself. I don't believe it is all to do with convenience or fast foods either, for a lot of women food and weight issue are very much psychologically connected

My mum is very seriously obese so I have heard an awful lot of excuses for why that is the case ranging from unhappy childhood to too busy.

From observation (and looking at myself) in my family it comes down to snacking. When that is combined with limited opportunities to exercise it is very easy to put weight on and very difficult to shift it.

My mum is currently a size 22, weights 24 stone and is nearly 6 foot tall. She has tried every diet going and they have all failed - mainly because at the 'sensible' weight loss of 2lbs a week, she would be on a diet for the rest of her life. Like someone's SIL above, she is also in denial about what she eats. She will have a small breakfast, salad for lunch and healthy tea BUT will have a few pieces of bread and butter or some other sugary carby thing every couple of hours.

I am now at a healthy BMI and have stuck to it since DS was born 2 years ago when I lost 2.5 stone. I've cut down drinking (weekends only) and snacking (fruit/ veg only) and I weigh myself at least once a week as I would far rather cut back for a couple of days to lose 2 lbs than have to seriously diet for months or years to get back to my ideal weight.

Sorry I meant in my first message to say if you dont eat much notdo much only just noticed that!

Leprue - I dot think you eed formal exercise but when you walk round do everything quick, pushing buggies, getting from a to b etc. My mum and me and my brother are really skinny but we all move fast my dad moves like a snail (imo!!) and then he wonders why he puts on weight so easy. I have to say Im the opposite I cant stop movinga nd find it very hard to sit stil or slow down.

Wibblybibble - On my wedding day I was a bmi of 17 but had a boob cup of DD. Thats why I personally think a lot of BMI is a load of crap I think you can only tell if your too big if you have excess fat visible in the mirror.

Fascinating thread - this is something I often wonder.

I am and always have been slim.

I was raised with good eating habits from my parents and I am teaching my children how to love good food too. It really is passed on through the generations but it's hard to pinpoint why it is getting worse (in all countries). I lived in France and the USA and saw a big difference. Mainly more processed food in the US and bigger portions.

The ubiquitousness of cheap fast food and constant snacking is clearly a big factor. As someone else pointed out, never feeling really hungry (and not knowing when to stop because portions are big) is part of it.

I'm not sporty but very active. I hardly watch any TV - isn't watching TV meant to make you fat?

French Women Don't Get Fat (by Mireille Guiliano) sums up my philosophy. Quality not quantity, lots of homecooked food, seasonal fruit and veg. Her book is very inspiring. You'll never drink fizzy drinks again. Lots of walking. Complete avoidance of all that overprocessed "diet" and "low-fat" food which is utterly nutrient-free - and doesn't taste good either. The sugar industry is taking over.

Sorry for not being more coherent, am supervising toddlers while typing!

I think alot of people tedn to put on weight following accidents as well. My Mum had never had a problem with her weight, was always a healthy size 10 but she was in an unfortunate accident last year and became immobile for MONTHS and went up to a 16/18 because she really couldn't move/exercise at all. Luckily for her two operations later and she is back to normal mobility wise and her weight has started to come off, but I think it is quite difficult to exercise if you are so immobile.

*You don't need to be genius to cook some grilled chicken or boil a potato in hot water'.

No, sea74 you don't need to be genius. You need to be in your kitchen . Many people in uk are out of the house for 14 hours. People cant afford to buy house near the work and they end up commuting 2-3 hours. You cannot grill a chicken in the train whatever your IQ (yes i know you can grill it the night before and then curry all day in various trains and busses flasks and tupperwares).

It is well known that a stressful lifesryle, long working hours, shifts, lack of sleep play up with your hormones and your insulin.

The amazing thing to me about gaining weight is just how little extra you have to be eating over the calorie in-out balance. It isnt a matter of guzzling in most cases but a steady week on week slight over-eat.

So the real question to me is why do some people have brains that are satisfied with the status-quo when they are eating an exactly balanced amount of calories and other peoples brains are set to be satisfied only when they have a 5% extra calorie intact. It would seem that if I dont think about what Im eating then my brain will tell me im getting it right when actually I am getting it around 5% too much.

It seems a shame to have to go to bed every day feeling hungry, having calorie counted your backside off for the sake of only 100 calories.....and in the end naturally skinny people stay that way without having to go to bed feeling hungry. So whatever else it is, it certainly isnt fair!

I suspect that BLW will cure me of fatness (although BFing certainly hasnt)...all those steamed vegetables and yes, I went to bed hungry every day last week.

40seconds in.

do more, eat less.

Naturelover, it is not just nurture & up bringing though.

I am like a science experiment because I am the only adopted person in the family I grew up in. All my family are very tall & very slim. I am average height & average size, erring towards plump. I am a 14-16 depending on what clothes shop I am in.
We were all brought up on the same incredibly healthy foods. My mother had type 1 diabetes, so we ate low sugar foods, everything was home cooked & very healthy. Sweets were for very special occasions & even squash was frowned upon.
Despite all of that I crave sweet, carby foods. I have battled to keep my curves in check since I was 12 years old!!!!! It is only vanity that stops me from being a real porker, because left to my own devices I would chow down on sugary foods all day. Whilst, I firmly believe we are masters of our own destiny & what goes into our mouths - I think we have genetic tendencies to body shapes & food consumption.

naturelover
but there was always a lot of processed 'crap' in the US. This is what is bizarre. If you look at the recipes from the magazines from the 1960s (which my mom still has!) they are packed full of cheese and things like soup mixes for casseroles - the food industry was king. All in the name of time saving. This is when Americans got addicted to pre-prepared stuff. I think the guy from Fast Food Nation has to be right, that what is now being put INTO the processed food has to be different as well.

Everyones brain has a blood sugar high, stomach full = good calculation. But the point at which your brain makes that assessment is (provably) variable. The importance of that assessment is also variable (ie if you are depressed it may matter more than if you are otherwise happy).

So one person can be happy and feel fulfilled on less calories per day than another. So keeping weight can either be trivial or almost impossible.

The presence of fast/junk food just makes its easier to eat over the odds, or to over eat by even more than your brain would like you to (prob dont stop half way through a sandwich etc.)