This is just shocking
https://news.sky.com/story/uk-ranked...study-12604643 UK ranked fourth for having most overweight and obese adults in Europe, according to WHO study
In a world where we have the chance to live longer than ever before we chose as humans to ruin that gift and as for the children thats child abuse full stop.
RIAC
I'm surprised we're only 4th!
Not really surprising that it increased 2019 - 2020 either, with lockdowns imposed.
The massive upsurge in cancer test referrals is more concerning, I think, as it shows that people were indeed not getting the tests required during the pandemic...
M
Last edited by snowman; 3rd May 2022 at 16:02.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
It's coming sometime and maybe
This link is really poor. Sensationalism without any link to substantiate, nor analysis.
You will find the report here if you're interested.
For the record, UK is 4th behind Turkey, Malta and... Israel.
We like facts on TZ-UK
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Agree worrying indeed
I am staggered how many people either can't or wont cook these days too may kids not even taught the basics
too easy just to pick up the phone or use an app to get food delivered to the couch
No shock really, are we not also high up on the list of binge drinkers and if i recall Scotland is the drugs death capital of Europe.
What are they eating in Turkey? After a while spent in Italy, I'm shocked at how much cream and butter etc. is used in recipes in UK. I've noticed school kids are showing more fat here in Italy, that's over a 12 year period. The increase over a period of time would be useful. Point about home cooking relevant. Thanks for original data info. Just seen the 'over a period of time' table
Last edited by EBB21; 3rd May 2022 at 17:55.
Metric tons of butter with baklava for dessert.Originally Posted by EBB21
One Turkish food I just cannot eat due to the sheer volume of butter is munti -- and that's before they pour even more melted butter on top.
Did just have some baklava with a tea though. lovely.
It doesn’t have to be that way… BMI > 30 prevalence:
So much we can learn from the Japanese lifestyle, really excited about visiting the country soon and immersing in its splendour.It doesn’t have to be that way… BMI > 30 prevalence:
Is part of the UK's problem its indulgent nature?. Constantly marketed with adverts for junk. You just never see an advert for brocolli on a bus stop its always 'happy meal' or processed shiny looking packaged food and drink. Your greatest asset is your health yet we invest so badly in it
RIAC
It's right though. All kids were out playing. Burning calories. Yes we ate sweets but we never got fat. All drinks were full sugar as well. Like someone said I was out all day and didn't even think about food.
Same as the heating situation were in. We never had central heating just the coal fire. No insulation at all metal windows with single pain glass. Drafts everywhere.
Doesn't surprise me and only going to get worse. What can you do though if there is no carrot or stick and it's not seen as being at fault to be inactive and eat too much?
Looking at how I've seen people age, I think people get into bad habits in their 20's...too much drinking and too little exercise. This catches up with you insidiously as bad habits cement themselves and the weight piles on in the 30's. It's then hard to really break the cycle as it's such a long and unpleasant process to get back to a healthy weight if you are not used to exercise.
Last edited by Christian; 3rd May 2022 at 21:43.
There’s a culture of self-indulgence fuelled by marketing and advertising. No personal responsibility taken by a lot of people. Normalisation of obesity with fashion adverts using “plus size” models and offering fashion garments in sizes previously only seen in camping shops.
No idea if it’s correct but recall it being said some time ago that obesity related health issues consume 10% of the NHS budget.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk...fings/sn03336/
"28% of adults in England are obese and a further 36% are overweight."
So, surprisingly, "only" 64% overweight.
When I see massive fat kids I don’t understand why social services don’t intervene…. If the child was starved they would be so why is making your kid fat acceptable?
Thats the bit that worries me most, the adults are causing unnecessary havoc on the NHS (for which we all pay) and that seems a little selfish really albeit they will often insist patients do a degree of self help like dieting and stopping smoking before ops etc.
Additionally it seems such a waste to be so over indulgent, its a form of addiction for some as we frown on those who take drugs and drink too much this should have a similar stigma really if only to help the individuals and the system and society as a whole.
RIAC
Some child obesity is caused by poverty and mental/actual diagnosable conditions but the vast majority is basically awful parenting. Failure to provide nutritious balanced meals and failure to say no when necessary.
I also believe schools also have a part to play. why is it that at every break time the local shop and burger van has a queue of children buying junk? In my day you were not permitted off the school premises at all during school hours.
In my view, in some cases it's abuse and should be treated as such.
When i was growing up id leave the house in the summer holidays at 8am and come back when id either split my knee open or got hungry, nowadays kids don't get the outside exercise my generation got, add to that Xbox’s and all types of devices along with crappy parenting and we are where we are.
Can’t believe this isn’t in BP. I can’t say what I really think.
I think it's a much bigger problem.
The industrialisation of food and growth of supermarkets etc has changed things significantly since we were kids.
The idea of kids burning off calories playing out is mistaken I think. Kids are at school most of the time, or sleeping, then and now.
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Possibly only a small part of the problem, but I have always had an issue with all you can eat restaurants and their encouragement of gluttony.
See also bottomless, drink all you can brunches.
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Programmed to consume, the more consumed the greater the success/wealth/ social standing...see that weird nonsense of people photo'ing their food and sticking it on social media.
People with empty holes/ unhappiness in their lives will buy things to fill them, find ways to make happy people, but there'd be less money in that.
Life's all about choices in the face of such apparent hyper abundance, our monkey brains often make poor choices.
Perhaps a bit of each.
I guess that is the bottom line ...
Same with so many other things, smoking, drinking, drugs, bad behaviours of various types ...
Having two young kids we cook a healthy meal for them every night, everything is made from scratch and we don't use any frozen foods or premade sauces, we both work full time so it is a rush but we want our kids to be healthy so do our best. One of the kids is a very fussy eater and makes having different meals difficult. Both our girls are tiny, no fat on them at all, but some of kids at their school are large, I don't know how you can do that to your child, it should be a crime to let your kid be obese.
We do take them to McD as a treat every now and then, as its quick, cheap and easy if we are out and about. This is the issue, how cheap it is, a happy meal is under £3, so I can see why parents just take the kids there way too often.
I am personally overweight, not massively, but could do with losing a half a stone to a stone, I weight around 14.5 stone at 5 foot 10, so that's a BMI of around 29 which is classes as obese. For me to be classed as normal I would need to weigh only 12 stone. I would be stick thin at 12 stone, and would not want to get to that weight. I would be happy at 13.5 stone, which is still classed as overweight. So is part of the issue how BMI is calculated ?
We can argue the merits or otherwise of “fat shaming” but Channel 5 are advertising their latest trash offering: “Big Brits Go Large!”. It appears to normalise if not glorify morbid obesity.
Article in the guardian, can't copy linky sorry. Head line below, a good read.
Number crunching: why ultra-processed foods have a calorie problem
a biscuit factory production line.
How we process a calorie depends on genetics, hormones and the food it’s in. The trouble is that 50% of our calories come from ultra-processed foods – everything from biscuits to hummus
Dont eat ultra processed! Fairly easy.
These genetics that make us fat don't seem to have existed a couple of generations ago.
RIAC
Profoundly and amusingly hypocritical of Govt to be pushing personal responsibility when their front man is a total bloater of intemperate appetites and a track record for unwise decisions. Sigh, when will leaders lead, lolz.
Last edited by Passenger; 4th May 2022 at 10:26.
A good example, even with his privileged environment and access to healthy food, he is obese. Now put him in a council flat. He is morbidly obese, has diabetes, unemployed, depressed and a massive burden on the NHS.Profoundly and amusingly hypocritical of Govt to be pushing personal responsibility when their front man is a total bloater of intemperate appetites.
There but for the grace of god go I.
I have one friend who is very fat, drinks like a fish and smokes ... he a senior partner in our local GP practice ...
When I raise his own choices with him he just laughs and says "have you seen how sick and miserable old people are ... I'm living my best life and I doubt I will make old bones ..."
Key difference there is choice. That unhealthy lifestyle is far more of a conscious choice than someone who is struggling to pay the bills.
Also, his decent salary will certainly protect him from some of the ill effects of obesity/poor health.
Last edited by watchstudent; 4th May 2022 at 11:24.
Agreed; my wife holds our household food budget and informs me that cooking from scratch is far cheaper than the processed ready meals and other convenience options so I'm not really buying into the poverty angle.
I fluctuate my time between the UK and Spain and without doubt the Spanish are slimmer than the Brits, or to put it bluntly the Brits are fat buggers.
If you look at old documentaries of the UK during the time that I grew up in the 1960s, the streets are full of slim young girls wearing miniskirts whereas today the girls are little porkers. In those days you would eat correctly cooked foods whereas today there are high calorie pre prepped meals sold by the million in supermarkets.
Also I reckon half the problem is the UK weather. Britain has a long wet cold winter and not very good summers. You cannot live on salads and fruit in the UK, you pig up on things that warm you up and that tend to be fattening.
Yesterday I had a typical Spanish dinner of fish and salad with a glass of wine and I eat like that most of the time when in Spain. When I return to the wet and colder UK I tend to eat higher calorie foods because it's a warmer meal.
As someone who’s always had a weight problem I see some of these people and just think why. The quick food of today is easy to blame but it’s never going to be that simple, we’ve created an environment where kids don’t go out and sit in they’re bedrooms on their phone and games consoles because they don’t want to associate with the others that are in the ever decreasing community open spaces. It’s easy to say that it’s cheaper to eat healthy and it will be if you have the time, but just have a look around a big Iceland freezer section or Herron foods and you’ll see why junk food prevails, quantity over quantity will always win hands down when you’ve not got much money. I wonder how many of these fat kids are feeding themselves as there parent or parents are out working in low paid jobs or zero hour contracts and the kids are nearly feral.
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Bit harsh considering there are links between poverty and obesity. I have a friend who works within addiction and counselling and 7 times out of 10 behind every obese adult will be some kind of trauma. Same as drug addiction etc. Good friend of mine ex GF was child hood trauma and I worked with a 25 stone bloke many years ago whos life fell apart when his mother and father died and turned to food. Both have since turned their lives around (on the outside). Do you think these people are happy? far from it. Life is hard
I'm wondering when these scales for determining obesity were most recently updated and if they reflect the overall size changes to humans in recent history.
It's no secret that in the last 100 years humans have gotten bigger/taller/stronger etc on average (due to many things including nutrition and availability of cheap food etc)... So are these reflective? And probably changing faster than ever.
I saw an article recently that said something like 70% of people in 1st world countries are obese. This can't be possible.
The scale needs to move
Oh yes it can! To misquote Ralph McTell, "Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets ..." around where I live.
Not sure by what measure actually "obesity" is claimed (BMI in excess of??) but a very very large number of overweight people and plenty who are so big you genuinely wonder how they can function.
It's definitely a UK development of the last 30/40 years, I would say.
Last edited by David_D; 11th May 2022 at 13:20.
On behalf of myself and most of the population on Sales Corner, we thank you for your consideration
Errr … changing the scale don’t magically make fat people thin.
Evolution happens over thousands of years, our bodies are not evolved to cope with the current diet many people have and hence the massive health crisis. The solution is most definitely not to change the scale.
Haha I didn't suggest it would make them thin, but saying 70% of people are unhealthily overweight is a stretch I think. We can't all have body fat percentage of 20%, and slightly more isn't terribly unhealthy. Yes there are obese people no doubt.... But it's not most people. Maybe where you live, but not everywhere.
And although evolution takes place over thousands of years, massive changes have happened over the last hundred. Look at ceiling heights in old buildings, clothes sizes from 50 years ago, antique chairs and furniture, and sporting figure sizes from 100 years ago. There is clear size difference recently compared to 100 years ago.
I have just started researching the wifes and my ancestry and I managed to get the naval records of my great grand father. He was 5ft 2ins. That would make him a midget today.
Not a fat one though?
You are right people are bigger, that’s the problem.
Obesity is one of the biggest drains on the NHS and that is entirely manageable.
Just look at the progress we have made with reducing the health implications of smoking.
A great example of how the emphasis was put on population based solutions rather than blaming the individual.
Hmm, just to add my two penny-worth.
Surely a diet high in processed food isn't good for one's gut micro-biome either. So whether one's obesity is caused by too many calories or an unhealthy gut (or a sliding scale between the two extremes) then eating healthily is going to benefit one way or another.
And to add to the already confounding number of factors linked to obesity. I understand that whether or not a person was breastfed as an infant is also affects the liklihood of becoming obese.
As has already been said, its complicated
I recently had a wake-up call in regard to my general health and weight . I’m in my early 50’s, tall and broad (classic rugby player physique according to my GP) in (I thought) good health but have always had borderline high blood pressure. All my relatives died in their 80’’s/90’s, father still healthy and fit at 79 so never gave it much thought and the doctors have always just kept an eye on it. Following a move to rural Norfolk from London, followed by the lockdown, I’ve ended up moving less and eating more. I’ve never smoked, barely drink - so recently having been put on blood pressure meds and told to lose 3-4 Stone (I’m 17 stone at present) was a shock. Also discovered all my close relatives are on the same meds but tbh I’ve had a proper scare/wake up call. So I’m now living on salads, fruit, much smaller meals, no added salt, no caffeine, lots of water, and absolutely zero chocolate/sweets/crisps. I’m also walking everywhere, getting more sleep and once my meds are all balanced and I’ve my next check-up I’ll get to the gym.
I work in an office full of women who are constantly on diets and they’ve given me so much conflicting and complicated advice it’s frankly ridiculous. Most of what I need to do is just plain common sense. The crazy thing is, even after just 2 weeks on a much ‘cleaner’ smaller diet I feel so much better. I‘ve not even weighed myself - and I’m sure it’s mostly water retention I’ve dropped - but I’m wearing my trouser belt a notch in, my clothes feel a bit looser and I’ve just spent an hour taking all my watch bracelets in 1 or 2 micro adjustments. I know it’s early days but the obvious solution to losing weight is to eat considerably less and exercise some self control. The kids had fish and chips earlier this week, I was happy with my green salad, a small pitta bread and a blob of hummus, and a pint of water followed by a big bowl of fresh berries. Apart from a minor headache the first three days (that’ll be the caffeine withdrawal I reckon) I’ve felt great.
So why didn’t I do it before? - frankly I just lacked motivation. And I think that’s the problem. When a doctor effectively says ‘you’re fat and it’s making you sick’ you have to take action - not kid yourself that being overweight is somehow normal, and part of getting older.
I know I’ve got a long slog ahead but I really think there’s so much BS around diets and weight loss - sure, if you eat considerably less, start exercising, wait 6 months and you don’t lose a single pound - that’s not right and see your doctor. But for the vast majority that’s the solution. It just needs self control and application. And you’ll save a lot of money and temptation just by not buying bad food - if it’s not in the cupboard or the fridge you can’t eat it!
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You are doing well and your revised diet with a good variety of fruit / salad / veg will likely work wonders for your microbiome and thus your immune system .. as per much of the advice given in ZOE podcasts.
And contrary to Harry Smith's suspicion / assertion, I am not selling anything ... I have not signed up to the ZOE 'personal diet plan' and have no intention of doing so ... but I tune into their FREE podcasts ... broadcast by professional nutritionists / scientists / academics who know far more about nutrition and the microbiome than the majority of TZ UK forum members.
I first commenced 'improving' my microbiome over 3 years ago and can vouch for the fact that the decision has helped me to not only lose weight, but to also remedy respiratory allergies 'coped with' for many many years.
EDIT: You mention 'caffeine withdrawal' ... contrary to popular opinion caffeine does not cause health problems and sleeplessness unless consumed in large quantities ... And furthermore , coffee is an excellent source of fibre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0zJy67sdj8. ... it's that man Prof. Tim Spector again putting the record straight about coffee ... following recent / latest scientific research/studies which contradict non-scientific 'findings' of yesteryear !!
Last edited by sundial; 28th May 2022 at 17:44.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
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