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 mean weak willed AND lazy, as all fat people clearly are. You people should be ashamed of yourselves

Nottnotter why not ask him yourself? But then you already presumably have all the answers?

Griff it sounds like you're doing great and I think you have raised some really great points about how obesity is normalized and about how life is too short to be unhappy.

I really, really hate with a passion that saying "nothing tastes as good as being thin feels" but it does contain a grain of truth. I am a total foodie but there's no cake, no dreamy-creamy dessert, no giant bowl of pasta or food x that tastes as good as being fit and healthy does. There is nothing in the world of food that comes close to the feeling of vigour and energy that you get from eating well and staying fit. Nothing. It's not just about being able to fit into clothes (although that can be a great motivator) but about feeling alive and vibrant and healthy.

essentialfattyacid? ?i do not pretend to have all the answers but if you took the time to read this thread you might broaden your mind a little. Alternatively you could just continue with the ostrich mentality and watch the obesity figures continue to soar

You might want to ask your 'worlds leading' if he reads his own research

we are putting lots of blame on bad weather, long working hours, central heating... But surely, some other countries in Europe share this factors, don't they? Are the Belgians, Dutch, Norwegians, etc suffering with this problem as well? If not, we should ask ourselves what they do to avoid it, how they eat, etc.

What was the policy the government think tank on obesity came up with? 'Eat less Move more'. Based on a shed load of research and strategising. Then they all lost their jobs... Hmmm...

I'm interested to find out what you think the answer is, EssentialFattyAcid.

You're very indignant, but don't seem to be offering any ideas apart from 'stop discriminating against fat people'.

Of course willpower plays a part. It's not the whole answer, and I think JustAnother makes a good point when she says we should be asking ourselves what other cultures do differently.

Someone made a brilliant point at the start of the discussion saying we should be asking 'how the hell do some people manage to stay a healthy weight?' and learn from them.

MyChildDoesntNeedSleep, I do think that people who manage to stay a healthy weight are viewed 'as the enemy'.

griff31 posted the following:
I think we need to get past fear and denial over weight issues and do highlight without being mean that they have a problem. As long as we tiptoe round the issue and make out its normal not sure what will happen.

I think a BIG problem is that ANY highlighting of the problem is perceived as being 'mean'. To question someones lifestyle habits is a personal attack on them.

Until people get over that misconception, they are putting an extra barrier there. People WANT to be supportive if they can I think.

Trouble is you can be as supportive and sensitive as you like, but some people are still going to take offense and think they are being persecuted over this in imho. Even when its as far from the truth as it can be.

And none of the 'discrimination' argument answers the question that this thread is about - why do we have a problem in the uk when the rest of europe doesn't have the same level of problems. Are we discriminating more or less in the UK?

This debate needs to focus not on appearance, but on health.

I actually get more male attention as a size 14 (something to do with having bigger boobs maybe?) but know I am healthier, and fitter when I am lighter.
When it comes to food, I think it's easier to make the right choices (because thats all it is) when you are slim and healthy, whereas when you are big it feels like being deprived and is an uphill struggle.

Maybe if we thought about what we eat in terms of how the food makes us feel, not how it ultimately makes us look we would make better choices.

Well if the 55% figure bandied around on this thread is correct then it is indeed normal to be fat

Even Dawn French has stopped banging on about fat being beautiful. There is nothing beautiful about struggling to climb stairs or acres of wobbly flesh. A healthy size 12-14 is reasonable, but 20 stone pulease......

There is lots of research to back up
the idea that fat and fit is much healthier than slim and sedentary

42% of men are overweight and 24% obese.

32% of women are overweight and 25% obese.

These are 2008 figures from what looks like a pretty robust source

I have only just noticed that this thread is in the weight loss topic! No wonder the responses have been so unbalanced and oversimplified! I will leave you all to it now!

I only came to it from the link on the main page.

You're very patronising.

Goodbye.

I think our society today is pushing/extending acceptable size of a woman.
I personally think any size for a British/European woman between 8 and 14 is lovely and healthy, any bigger then that IME and you risking going of the rails, supermarkets shelfs are filled with tempting foods and delicacies and it's very difficult to stay resolute and say no to it, it takes discipline.
British woman very have a very different shape to their European friends, we tend to be very pear/apple shapes, when combined with eating crap and not moving enough it spells disaster.
Education is also the key, if children are set examples of healthy eating at home by parents first and schools reinforce those technics, newer generations are more likely to be slim and healthy and stay that way during the course of their lives, in turn keeping their hart's healthy.
Whole way of how we view food needs to change in order for this awful trend to disappear.
European women statistically look after themselves better, they are careful of what they eat and also very careful of the quantity they consume, they tend to cook in a very traditional way, hence ensuring the wellbeing of themselves and their families, certainly the case of Italians where DH is from.
And somebody needs to shut up "style gurus" who are littering our tv screens on a daily basis, telling us we look good curvy/obese, instead they should focus their attention on the health issue here and help us do something about it.

Northern -JLo's size 10.. Was that in Next or TopShop ?

To everyone outraged about the suggestion that size 12+ is overweight/obese...I don't think anyone has really said that, of course everyone has different builds and as someone has already said, being 5ft and a size 14 is very different from 5ft 10" and size 14. What people have said is that it is possible to be a size 14 and obese, but it depends on your bmi. Also if that is over 25 and you don't think you are overweight you may just have a greater proportion of muscle to fat than average, which would tip your bmi into a higher category...if you suspect this may be the case, get a body fat measurement done! Dress size means nothing these days, there are plenty of posts here to prove that. The fact is that bmi typically corresponds to body fat % and that is why, for most people, it is a useful indicator of health and why the medical profession utilises it.

Re the query re waist measurements being greater today, even for slim people, the answer is almost certainly sugar. It is insidious and addictive and much more "evil" (particularly, like most foods, in processed form) than carbohydrates. It affects hormones and insulin production and causes fat to be stored on the belly.

With regard to weight being harder to lose when you are older, this is definitely true for women. Because of hormonal changes, muscle mass decreases, which means you burn less calories. The answer to this is exercise in the form of resistance training.

I can be a beautiful person whilst also losing weight.

mumblecrumble that's exactly the point i made earlier! Lots of people are overweight and gorgeous - they won't necessarily be any more attractive if they lose weight but they're likely to live longer and suffer less joint damage

I am quite surprised that noone, unless i missed it, has not made any comment about school food. Nothing cooked from scratch. Everything frozen.
I still dont think, as someone suggested, school should spend important hours teaching pupils to cook. That should be done again at home by the parents (mothers and/or fathers).

Sorry, do not consider the "NOT" in the first sentence.

This is a very interesting thread, if you ignore the people who have deviated from the OP's point.

Of course dress size is unreliable. Of course it is important that we are a healthy weight. Of course people shouldn't be in denial about what they weigh and what they eat.

However, some of the stealth point scoring on this thread is really spiteful. Really, is there any need to say it's "really easy" to stay slim when you have children? Obviously it isn't for everyone, or everyone would be. And all that stealth boasting about how dreadful people feel when they're a BMI 23 for example, that they can barely drag their great lardy arses down the street - it's completely unnecessary. Contribute something useful to the debate or just wander off into Evans and exclaim loudly in mock shock about how massive everything is.

So, what's resonated with me about this thread, as someone who is obese, is the UK culture of excess, coupled with the sense of entitlement when you're knackered/bored. Neither of those are excuses, and I need to be more responsible for my health.

I haven't lived in other countries, so I don't know much about the lifestyle, however the difference between the typical UK diet and a mediterranean one is marked, isn't it? There are far fewer sugar peaks, and food seems to be enjoyed, rather than craved and then regretted. The relationship with food seems to be much calmer, somehow.

Excellent post Honkover

I think I've come a bit late to the party so apologies if this has already been said but I was discussing with my partner recently how it is a shame that in terms of food and health we compare so much more closely to America and Australia rather than our own neighbours in Europe. He said it's embarrassing really and I agree.
We didn't really arrive at a conclusion as to why this is but I do wish it weren't the case.

We are in such a hurry in the UK. It's all about fast food and convenience and a quick-hit.

Across Europe mealtimes are more to do with family and culture. They cook together and use fresh ingredients and aren't in such a hurry to get it over with.

It seems food manufacturers are in some kind of race to produce items that cook as quickly as possible. Why do we all perceive ourselves to have such little time!? and why do we need so much convenience?

I have a friend who says she doesnt have time to cook from scratch as she works and has 3 kids. But I know for a fact she spends 2 hours plus watching TV of an evening.

It's not about time, it's about priorities.

Really annoyed that I've read all the way through to here and got nothing much to add except to echo:

• portion sizes here are vast (not just food, but also eg the buckets of coffee in coffee chains)
• we seem completely unable to take pleasure in a small amount of something nice, instead "needing" (or perhaps simply not noticing ourselves hoovering up) a huge portion instead
• we assume that the norm is healthy. I have lost 2 stones since June (1.5 still to go), which I'd gradually acquired by constantly slightly overindulging. Spent some time with family in Switzerland this year and was shocked to notice that I wasn't just "comfortable" or well upholstered but was HUGE - compared to them. (similar though to my friends at home, BMI 31).

-it has nothing to do with the weather. Weather is dreadful in Scandinavia, but my friends there dress appropriately for it and go out and exercise in it