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

Our whole lifestyle needs examining, obviously.
It is not only what we eat, but how much of it, so portion control and frequency of meals.
Blaming it on the climate, darkness, fast food chains, long hours buckets of coffee on so no, does no good.
Fact is "We are the fattest in Europe" and it doesn't have to be that way, it can be changed, by simple modification and adjustments, but there is got to be a will.
More cooking, buying and choosing ingredients with joy rather then chore, getting involved, buying ingredients you wouldn't normally go for, might ignite our passion for good healthy food.
We were compared to women of other nations, and in all fairness two can't be compared so blatantly without going into the issue little dipper, e.g
Romania, Italy, Spain, France have a very different eating habits from us in Britain, they tend to congregate round the food, food is so much more then just fuel, great care is taken in preparing the food, and only fresh ingredients are used.
Meals are prepared relaying on seasonal availability, seldom they ever exclude any food groups, but they eat in moderation even bad foods.
Take aways are not part of the culture in Italy, and no Italians do not snack on chocolate bars.
These countries have a long tradition of eating well, recognising quality, and knowledge in how to work with the ingredients, most of all they have interest and real passion for food.
Perhaps this recent study should have also given us the tools on how to copy a good example of these nations, sort of helps us on our way to improve our health.
I agree is not about the looks, health should be our main concern here, coronary disease is the killer and we have to change our habits in order to protect ourselves and prolong life.

" if that means i die at 75 instead of 90 then so be it, i'd rather enjoy what time i've got"

My obese MIL is nearly 75. Over the past ten years she's spent more time ill than not ill. She's now got type 2 diabetes, heart problems, is permanently dizzy, has problems with her joints and spends her entire life going to doctors appointments.

My FIL is morbidly obese. He's 80 and has done well to get to that age. I think he would have died years ago if it wasn't for the fact that he eats an incredibly healthy diet, just far, far too much of it. He had a stroke 8 years ago and is incontinent and housebound.

My own dad died last year at 80. He was slim. I wish he could have had longer but at least he spent the last 10 years of his life mobile, active, living at home and enjoying his grandchildren, and was only really sick for a few weeks. My mum, who is also normal weight, is 78 and is still gardening, dog walking and is in good form.

Obesity doesn't generally result in debilitating illnesses until you hit your fifties. Then it's downhill all the way for many people.

Very few obese people just drop dead. Many have years of ill health before they die.

So don't kid yourself with the 'I'd rather drop dead at 75 argument'.

Intuitively that stat about obesity relating to income for women but not men feels right. I live in a deprived area but work in a rich one - at home I see a lot of obese women (and fewer obese men) - at work I see virtually none (some of the middleaged women are a bit overweight but none look obese) but quite a few very obese men.

I think women pay a much higher penalty in the workplace for a failure to look good, which is vile in many ways, but the upside from a health point of view is that we have a bigger incentive to stay at a healthy weight.

I haven't read every page of this thread, but my main gripe is with portion sizes. I find now that when I go out to eat I buy a main meal to share because the portion sizes are ridiculously large. Most of my friends are the same.

If we get a takeaway from the Chinese I get two main courses and two rice between the three of us and find that we still have a lot of rice left over. At the Indian we will eat half a starter and half a main course, or no starter and 3/4 of a main course.

Too much telly.

It's really easy and addictive to slump in front of the box and difficult to get off the sofa and do things if there's an excuse to watch X,Y,or Z. It's really easy to eat without noticing what you're eating when you're watching the TV and very easy to snack on stuff without really registering what you're doing.

Parking the kid/s in front of the telly is an easy way to pacify them and while that's fair enough if you're ill/need to feed a baby or something, it becomes all too easy to rely on the TV to supply entertainment, rather than take the children out to the park or something that involves moving around.

Exercise per se doesn't make people thinner, btw. It actually makes them more hungry and more inclined to consume more calories. BUT those who do have the will power to exercise regularly probably also have the will power to resist eating too many of the wrong things. Plus, they're doing things that stop them from aimlessly munching simply to pass the time.

Also, exercising and feeling fit fosters feelings of higher self-esteem - a lot of women suffer from low self-esteem or boredom IMO and eat too much junk/drink too much booze to compensate. We're all supposed to be beautiful and perfect, aren't we? But most of us don't feel remotely beautiful and very far from perfect. We feel inadequate.

Also, the over-availability of cheap, over-processed foods which become part of a vicious cycle, because the more of them we eat, the more we crave.

Plus a lot of the other things mentioned above.

Bunbaker, I completely agree.

The portion size thing is a big part of the problem. People have forgotten the size of a normal meal and overeat accidentally. I find this very frustrating when I eat out since I always finish my starter and main course and then have no room for the yummy looking cream filled puddings

Lack of self control - in lots of things really - food & alcohol, and a self-fulfilling prophecy type attitude.

InmaculadaConcepcion makes all the points I wanted to make!

I also think that town planning since the 60s hasn't helped - lots of out of town shopping centres meant that people needed to drive places to go shopping. My brother and his family live in the country - they drive everywhere. We live in London - walk everywhere - much healthier and more interesting too.

That alone coupled with a terrible diet of cheap processed foods, depression, diabetes, all makes us over weight and unhealthy. People need to reconnect with the outside world, walk to the shops, speak to their neighbours, look in gardens and allotments to see where food comes from, go to markets to see what's in season, cook properly and turn off the damn telly and do something useful.

This new acceptability of snacking is weird to me - eating biscuits, huge bags or crisps, whole tubs of ice-cream while watching TV - if you don't buy the stuff at the supermarket you aren't tempted to eat it.

Bunbaker, it does my head in. A ready made curry from the supermarket supposed to be for one person is about 750 calories. Which is fine for a fully grown 6'2" man who eats 2500+ calories a day.

But what if you are my size and thats half your calorie intake for the entire day? How many women in a similar situation would a) eat the whole thing? b) split it in half and maybe add something else like a pita bread to make it more like more sensible 500 calories?

And don't get me started on the bagged up supermarket takeaways 'for two' which could feed a family of four...

Strongly agree with sarfE and Inmaculada indeed, weird eating habits, no wonder gut just keep getting bigger and bigger.

On the BF/FF thing, Britain has better BF rates than France.

Precisely NICE ready made supermarket food ladened with empty calories, bulked up with fat, and starches, not ounce of fibre or God forbid few minerals.
Take a hint and make your own curry, it will hundred times more delicious, and you can safely freeze rest of it, knowing you made it, so it's safe to eat.

I see no relavance sommewhereels

Sea - my dh's family are Italian and they are fat - but they are from a part of Italy (small village) where the vast majority of kids (there aren't many kids) are very obese. I see very fat people everywhere, but they seem healthy to me.

My mil cooks from scratch but it's pasta, pizza, bread, beans, cheese, meats all the way. Way way too many carbs for me. I can't stand it and my ds get's quite big there and constipated in a two week visit (me too). No exercise opportunities (because on the side of a mountain).

Depends on where you live and with whom you live, I guess. My sil lives in a big city and she went on a drastic diet to shed her weight and now remains slim but she lives on milk only to this day. I think that's sad but she does tell me about the pressures to be thin as a woman.

I also think that British women don't prioritise how they look as much. I know I don't. I couldn't give two hoots how others perceive my figure.

Freezers are badly used in this country in my opinion strictlovingmum...

strictloving It was me that, probably controversially?, brought up BFing as possibly being linked to the development of the ability to moderate our food intake (ability to regulate our appetites), and other positive influences on our relationship with food throughout our lives.
On the whole I think we need to look much more at influences in babyhood and childhood when looking at adult obesity. HTH

I was in Asda last week - dont usually shop there as not in my local area - and was amazed at the low prices of the bulk buy items - sweet sugary treats mainly - and can see how young mums on a tight budget are tempted - as in choosing quantity over quality. They had a big bag (a dozen l think) of large cookies - baked instore - for 80p (on offer). You dont seem to see as many good offers etc on fruit / vegetables etc.

What should we be eating in the winter? I try to have big salads with protein and vinegar in the summer, but what should we eat in the winter to eat seasonally? I need help on that one!

I eat pretty well, just far too much. I need to get a handle on that. I feel hypocritical always tsk tsking at the obesity stats when I'm headed that way myself.

strict, it was response to jugglinggold's post:

"Don't know if anyone else has mentioned it but I'm interested in possible link between BFing levels and obesity levels. Having fed babies in both ways ( my two DCs were BF on demand for an extended time, and I've also looked after babies being FF) I feel that breastfeeding is naturally better at developing a good ability to regulate the baby/child/person's appetite, and encourage a healthy relationship with food throughout life. With bottles there is more of a tendency to feed to a schedule, and to "encourage" baby to finish as much of bottle as possible, though personally I tried not to do this overmuch."

We try to eat seasonally but it's hard in the middle of winter. I am so relieved by the time early summer comes with all the choice.

Lots of veg soup. Had carrot and jerusalem artichoke this evening.
Salads based around lambs lettuce, grated carrots, white cabbage, beetroot.
Walnuts in season at the moment. Tepid steamed leeks in vinaigrette, mmm.

But thank goodness we can ring the changes with frozen veg from time to time!

Seasonal veg in the winter, CheerfulYank?
Look no further!

And to add to sommewhereelse's suggestions, I've recently discovered braising as a delicious way to enjoy celery/onions/carrots/leeks.
Stir-frying in a little olive oil is also good...

The UK has the highest percentage of women in the workforce in Europe, apart from Denmark and Sweden.

And we work the longest hours as well.

Doesn't leave much time for shopping every day for fresh, healthy, locally-sourced ingredients and then lovingly preparing nutritious meals from scratch for our families, does it?

Most people own and drive cars here too - public transport is woefully underfunded in this country so no surprise (or blame) there. Car refuseniks are seen as Losers (thanks, Jeremy Clarkson )

Utter crap to blame Gok Wan and a totally imaginary culture of "Fat Acceptance". No such thing here - ALL fat birds KNOW they are fat. Their mirrors tell them so every day, as do other people's reactions to them.

Pulses are good at this time of year because you can make stews and soups with them, and they add bulk, which you need when it's cold. I have started adding things like pinto beans to beef stew, so that we end up eating less meat and getting protein from healthier sources.

Also veggie stir fries with cashews or chick pea and aubergine curry are good, if you like spice, whcih I always think warms you up.

Baked sweet potato are lower GI than normal potatoes, and nice with cottage cheese on the,

Hungry now!

Lapsed-I think it just takes a bit of planning. You can shop online etc.
I dont have a car because I cant afford one, and I am a lone parent who works.
If I can shop for veggies, and cook from scratch every day, then anyone can.
It doesnt have to be organic farmers market wanky-ness.
I am making bread right now, so there will be bread in the morning.
It's just getting into the habit of thinking ahead.