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

I am 6 ft and slim but fairly muscly (size 10-12). I did once point out to my teenage dd that my skeleton wouldn't be a size zero and given that she has the same build as me, neither would hers, so she might as well not waste her life aiming for that look.

It was a point well-made I think, I have heard her repeating it to other people (doncha love it when they pass off your best lines as their own).

comfort eating.

I agree people do have different builds. However if you are 5'2" (my height) there is only soooo much variance in difference builds. If you are telling me its still ok to be that height and a size 14 because your hips are so big, I'd be raising an eyebrow.

This is one of the reasons, I do think its worth looking at waist/hip ratio as well as bmi as thats about proportions and where you store fat and does take into account your bone structure.

If you are out on both, I think your argument looses weight. (if you pardon the pun).

Marilyn Monroe famously had her dresses made a size smaller than she was. She was a size ten usually, but it's true that people use her and her ilk to claim them as overweight icons, when obviously she was not!
And JLo is a ten also (I know this for a fact!)

the sizings of clothes in UK shops are utterly skewed and bear no resemblance to what they were . In the 80s as a teenager I was very thin and underweight. I weighed 7 stone 2lb and was a size 10 - occasionally an 8. I am 5ft 2inches tall. Now all these years later I am a LOT bigger (by around a stone and a half) but still take an 8 - 10. Go figure.

This thread just keeps making me think how much I love carbs, in all shapes and forms. I'm going to get home and eat a big pile of lovely carbohydrates.

I know. I had to have a cheese sandwich earlier just reading this. IABU

I've had two mince pies today. I may have a third later. I have no idea why I am fat

that's right donnie, at 15 I had one pair of size 8 jeans and only at my very lankiest could I SQUEEEEZE into them, as an adult I've never been that small but have been down to an 8

I'm really a 16 at the moment but in some shops I'm a 12!!!

I can stick to a weight loss programme for two weeks and then I fall off the wagon as I feel deprived. The way I lost weight and maintained it in the past was through doing lots and lots of exercise. Though one time I did do WW successfully- but that probably messed me up in the longer term though as it told me to ignore my hungry/full signals. The snag is I find it really hard to fit in exercise - either having the time, energy or inclination, since I had children. And I used to be almost obsessive about exercise, and being toned, fit and thin. Was a real gym bunny and I did the London marathon in 2002. Also I used to go out dancing a lot and don't get to do that now :( There was a point when size 8s were getting a bit big. Which was slightly crazy for me as I'm nearly 5'8" and not exactly small boned...

I've also gone through stages of being very very unhappy in work and my whole career and turned to food as my only pleasure. Recently I've been better as I've had a massive career change, there are different pressures and I have the odd binge but not so much as I was. Haven't lost weight though. With exercise I get into a rhythm for a few weeks then stop altogether, so I don't build up my fitness and have to keep starting at square one again. Also it makes me eat more! I think part of the issue is that I'm much more confident in myself and lurch between thinking "Ah, it doesn't matter!" and then thinking "I must lose weight!" I keep trying though! Maybe one day I'll crack it - and I'll let you know my secret if I do!

Anyway the point of all this is that if I can be overweight - now I'm a size 14 and nearly 13 stone - I can easily understand how others can become overweight or obese.

I think what sets this country apart from others is we do more sedentary jobs than the rest of Europe. We have loads of office jobs whereas other places in Europe have a stronger manufacturing/agriculture sector. Human beings aren't really meant for sitting down all day. Build into this a very strong food industry who have reared us all on cheap fast/convenience/snack food and the longest working hours and least public holidays in Europe and you have a perfect storm. Other countries are catching us up though as they build more fast food restaurants, have more convenience foods in their diet and do more sedentary work.

I agree with LaurieFairyCake. Lifestyles in the UK tend to be very time- pressured because both parents are often working in jobs with long hours. This translates into less time to shop and prepare food, less opportunities to eat together, less ability to walk children to school etc

We are also very out of touch with the food process compared to say the french who buy at local markets - we buy anonymous processed food from anonymous supermarkets.

Then there is the problem of poor quality school meals

Also the dire low level of exercise and playtime in the school day and the number of kids who don't walk to school for a combination of complex reasons.

Not to mention that huge numbers of overweight people have emotional problems that are blocking their ability to lose weight, because whilst you ignore the emotional root of the problems you can never address the real cause and are pretty much doomed to failing in attempts to treat the symptoms only.

And finally, surprise surprise, it's really just not as simple as eat lessand exercise more. There are many genetic factors involved that we are only scratching the surface of understanding.

So the problems are genetic/behavioural/educational/emotional/driven by economics and often combinations of these factors.

What makes me so very sad is how its still widely accepted as OK to deride and mock the overweight.

I want some of those waitrose mince pies that smell like christmas trees now. Thanks you lot.

(seriously though, power of advertising, really does make me want to eat them loads. I wonder how food advertising in rest of europe is?)

Just a thought: Most of my friends who have had babies have really struggled to lose baby weight. I wonder why this is. I am sure it is above and beyond the cry of "metabolism". most of these women, if not working, are supporting a husband who works ridiculous hours. I am sure that it is really hard to stick to a healthy diet when you have children that need looking after and no time to yourself to exercise. Anybody here recognise this scenario?

I don't think your metabolism changes at all after having children, I think your lifestyle and eating habits do though.

Metabolism is a factor with age though, and hormones. I'm sure I read when you start losing oestrogen you body tries to hold onto fat more.

I THINK it does, I think you get a bit of extra thyroxine when pregnant and a bit of a dip afterwards which can make it hard to kick start back to your old ways

For me personally, the problem didn't start with being unable to lose baby weight. It was putting on far too much weight in pregnancy to begin with. Once you get past a certain level of overweight it is so easy to think 'it's too dificult, I don't know where to start'. If you're already fat, you think one more cake won't do much harm. It's about being in the right frame of mind to lose weight. When I had PND, I had no space or time to feel good about myself, or even think about myself, and my weight rose. But as soon as I got help for the PND, my weight went down as I took better care of myself.

I agree with those posters who highlight our drinking culture as a major cause - alcohol hugely fattening and gives you the munchies whilst simultaneously weakening your willpower

And actually I htink body dysmorphia has a lot to answer for (Not just psycho mumbo jumbo, I've had a disagnosis of this). I found it very hard when I did lose weight to see I'd lost weight. I felt exactly the same at 9 stone as I had at 15. I genuniely couldn't see the difference. I think it's very easy to not see how overweight you are.

aligrylls - I think if you looking after kids it is very very easy to be slim. You never have chance to sit still for one thing, they never let you eat snacks as they would want a bit so you can only do it when they are asleep/not there, your rushing around so dont often eat much etc

Apparently there is a British Standard for clothing size, which was put together in 1982.

I thought the sizes would have been a lot smaller, to be honest. The Next clothing chart doesn't seem to be much different (well, it seems to be about a dress size out), but from practical experience I don't think Next sizes are anything near those on their clothing chart.

Actually, looking closer, if my hips are 34.5" I could fit into a size 6 in Next today, but from the British standard I am a size 10. I could kid myself I am a size 20 with 48.5" hips in Next, but in reality I am a size 24.

I think it would have been interesting if waist sizes were on that British Standard chart too. But do we really want to know?

I was verging on obese when I lived in a country where most women are slim and the food culture is healthy and made from scratch. For me, the biggest reason for putting on weight was depression. It is so easy to comfort yourself with food, when you don't see any other way out of your situation.
I returned to my original size, when I started getting help for depression.

Now that we are counting the pennies, I notice how expensive the healthier options are. If you only have £2 to feed your family for the day, you have to rely on pasta, porridge and sugary snacks. There is no point buying 1 kg of apples when you know it is not going to fill you up.

My mother was 5'4" and 8 stone 10lb for most of her adult life (now 85, she has shrunk a bit) I have loads of her 1960's and 70's clothes, they are all size 14.

Just to refer to points made upthread, I'm with fig (although inverted). I will never be able to be a size 10 all over. My hips and legs could easily be a size 10 (they're a 12 atm) but I would never be able to get a size 10 top on because my shoulders and ribs are so wide. I am overweight right now but even at my slimmest (size 10 waist/hips) my bra size was 38GG.

I fell into the pit of depression when I was refused IVF because of my BMI, but I was told by many different doctors that I will never have the 'perfect' BMI due to my build. So much so, that my doctor has agreed to refer me for a breast reduction as I am so top heavy.

People are different builds but those who fit into 'normal' patterns find this very hard to accept.

I dont think having a baby changes your metabolism. I was skinny after I had ds, for about 2 years.
I also pushed a pram up hill and down dale so was pretty fit!
I do think though, that sheer boredom causes women with small children to get fat. That and the tiredness that makes you want to eat biscuits. And the wine in the evenings.

My mum's clothes from the 70's are mostly 14, and fit me (12) perfectly.