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

And I guess you also have to know you have a thyroid deficiency in the first place. Most people when they start putting on weight and getting lethargic will think they are just being lazy and greedy and beat themselves up about it, and then just accept it. You go to the GP because you are sick or in pain, not because you are getting fat. Because, as this thread shows, being overweight is a moral issue and enbarrassing!

I tell you what the Government could do! Open a franchised chain of cheap, sustaining restaurants to provide lazy people with a hot lunch at minimal cost, like in World War 2, whilst at the same time nationally introducing the first properly integrated public transport system this country has ever seen outside London. Workplaces would be obliged to think through how their employees could have an affordable hot lunch as well. I bet you waistlines would plummet.

I regularly kill pheasants with my car on my long journey to work down the A11 - aiming for a few more could be the first step towards slim thighs.

But even the cooking thing is mad. Batch cook and freeze loads. Job done. I would never ever cook every night. Dull dull dull.

It's easy to cook a quick meal. It just takes practice-the more you do it, the quicker you get.
I often have some olive oil heating in a pan before I have my coat off. Chop an onion before I have unpacked the shopping, etc.
I can have a spanish omelet or something on the go within about 6 minutes.
The few times I have tried a ready meal, it just takes so long! I cant wait 50 minutes!
And I am sooo not a domestic Goddess. I think if your parents teach you to cook, it one of the best things they can do for you, and my parents did.

northernwreck I think we should subsitute TV with computer. I hardly watch TV anymore, I spend all my time on the internet.

yy omelette and salad. Ten mins tops.

huh! I ownz no TV, I cookz everynite, I playz badminton (properly! none of you flif flaff here) I triz to go jogginz (okay more try than jogging on that one I admit). I workz full time and I BreastFeedz DD and I iz still megafat! aaaand I iz still gaining weightz.

You're a freak

At this point I usually link to my housekeeping blog here

But even better than my blog there is some great batch cooking in a book I got for my birthday called The Family Meal, based on the wholesome food the restaurant staff at El Bulli used to cook for themselves before dishing up gourmet stuff for customers. It has step by step pictures as well, and the recipes size up from 4 or so to 75. I would strongly recommend it for anyone bored cooking, who has a freezer and a spare day one weekend.

Ooo I might look at that. I only make four things.

No belgo, with my 1948 plan it has to something like darning I think

I will learn to tatz. that will fix everything....

I was truly impressed - the front has sauces (bolognaise, chimichurri, romano, pesto) and then later on there are 31 days of 3 course suppers from which you could easily pick and choose nice things for the family to eat. Some take a while cooking away while you do other things, but some are very quick indeed (watermelon topped with crushed menthol sweets, for example, which sounds bizarre but is probably fantastic!) They also do things like foam yoghurt through a soda siphon and top it with strawberries, which I plan to do as soon as I acquire said soda siphon. There are also tips on equipment in general, so I am going to get myself a mandoline and microplane grater, which will transform my kitchen.

It may have changed now in France (I think they are getting taller and fatter) but when I was there 15 years ago I felt there was far too much emphasis on thinness for women and pressure to be thin- being really stick thin with a slight boyish frame. And loads of women and girls were short and stick thin. Loads of ads for cellulite creme everywhere, much more than you see here even now. I was the thinnest I'd ever been thus far in my life when I was there having just started running and going to the gym, about BMI 21-22, would be in a ten or twelve dress size, but I felt like an enormous Anglo Saxon bovine creature there! My feet are size 6.5 UK, and the shopkeepers were like "Tut tut, we don't have any shoes THAT BIG!" I was like, 34C bra size and the bras on display in department stores started about 24AAA or something and 34 or 36 were often then biggest size and it then was hard to find a C cup! It was so nice to get back to England and be in one of the smaller sizes in the shop!

I wouldn't like to see that emulated over here thanks.

What I meant eurochick was that for a while there wasn't much contribution to the topic. On a thread discussing obesity, where there has been plenty of discussion regarding the definition of that word, it seemed to be rather insensitive to be laying it on so thick about how awful it was to be BMI 23.

I'm not expressing it particularly well, but it seemed a bit like those threads where people are discussing being really skint and then there are posts about how awful it is to only earn 40 grand.

If only the topic could be as emotionless as just what kind of fuel best suits the needs of your own particular machine.

It's not though is it, there's morals, parenting, emotions, worklife balance, nostalgia, everything really tied up in it, as well as the objective science bit, such as we understand them. We just need a little sidetrack into metaphysics or perhaps the quantum theory of food to cover every aspect.

The one thing I'd like to see scrapped are the moral judgements applied to the overweight. Not helpful and given the scope of this thread seem to be rather narrowminded and self serving.

God, that would be soooo fantastic!

I went to the dietician at the GP surgery and she was hopeless - just lecturing me on problems other people have, as if they were mine. I don't really like sweets and cake and crisps and so on, and I am not a comfort eater. It is always assumed you have no knowledge of food or self-discipline.

However on scientific examination of my diet I found the 4oz glass of orange juice in the morning and the 1oz slice of cheddar each day was whacking loads of weight on me. Yet these were recommended on the diet sheet.

Interestingly since my bloods were done and came back looking so good, the general nagging by the medical profession about diet has ebbed away, as it was clear I was eating well.

It's clearly so much more than input-output and the people who manage to divine what applies to them personally seem to be the successful ones. I am still working on this.

SinisterBuggyMonth - obese isn't as big as you probably think it is. A lot of people hear the word obese and think morbidly obese. I'm 5'3", for me overweight starts at 10'2" and obese starts at 12'2" - that's just two stone more than a healthy weight. I'm 12'9" at the moment and I think most people would put me in the overweight category rather than the obese category.

Aligrylls - think ot depends on the age of the mums. Mums here spend their days runnig around the fun houses/play cafes down the death slide in the ball pool etc. Its extremely physical. Most are on the slides etc in the parks or playing footie. I hardly ever see mums sitting on the benches with littlies unless they are older mums.

Also walking around tow with teh buggy most of my friends do at least 3 miles a day. Ofte more with all teh shopping and trips to bech/park etc. I think it only gets a litle less physcal when they are about 4 but by then most teh mums are on to the next one! Most mums in the park and groups I know though are size 8 ish

Lack of encouragement for girls in sport. Growing up in South Africa at a regular school, extramural sports (after school hours) were compulsory - one in winter, one in summer. Many did it competitively but was also option to just be social. This has meant that I've grown up with exercise and feels horrible to go without it!

The cold weather makes me comfort-eat though...
Drinking culture I think is a real influence on weight.
And I agree with Cybbo about the "I deserve it" mentality.

I find it much harder to do exercise while having to look after a little one, and the temptation to eat greater being at home with a little one!! Even though more physical work. We do go for walks and I run on the treadmill at home, but was more regular and concentrated before baby... Though not convinced this is the cause - trend seems to be to go back to work, and if I had done I'd be running at lunchtime :)

SinisterBuggyMonth I can assure you there are plenty of thinner people living in the Manchester area too... It is a geographical thing apparently, but more to do with income though.

Here its the skint people on low wages that are often the slimmest eg size 6/8 even often multiple kids. I put that down to being a lot of younger mums so much more active when they meet up together, and its very important for young mumsto stay slimmer as they often have a busy social life after kids and they dont want to look different to all their friends without kids.

it seems to be that richer people save in their bank accounts, and poorer people save on their bodies.

For me the key is how you feel, and learning to feel your body.

ie Am I hungry?, no Ive just had a meal.. but it was a bit stodgy so I feel like some fruit.