UK women are 'fattest in Europe'

[MrPlum]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15901351

Why is this?

[Randy Cornhole]

They eat too much...

[Big Boy]

They eat too much...

[pharvey]

They eat too much...

Don't forget the binge drinking....... the young lasses are worse than the guys these days from what I've seen on our limited visits back.

[Randy Cornhole]

Billy Connolly once described the perfect diet - 'Eat less do more'

[MrPlum]

I was expecting a little more insight.

It's WHAT they eat + drink + little exercise + malnourishment. Sugary drinks, booze and junk food, fit for a low-income, poorly educated market. These foods are subsidised and inferior quality, while 'organic' is overly expensive.

The 'why is that?' question was to lead into a possible discussion on why the British have succumbed to this so much. When in the States American 'buffarillos' obesity, was driven by portion sizes, including sugary drinks, which you may know, are huge. Last time I was in Blighty, I don't recall portion sizes being anywhere near as large. So why the dramatic weight gain in the last 10 years? Have portion sizes increased? Or is there another factor? Such as the binge-drinking? Is it really that widespread?

Obesity was rare in my childhood. Why is it that we can't get good food? England is a green and fertile land and last time I flew in, you could see the country was mostly arable land. What are they growing and where is it going!?

I know. I know. They are growing 'food' and it goes in your 'stomach'! Lol! fnar fnar.

[pharvey]

Fast Food, shite food (frozen TV dinners and the like), binge drinking, couch potatoes....... there's no hidden conspiracy Mr P.

[richard]

Fast Food, shite food (frozen TV dinners and the like), binge drinking, couch potatoes....... there's no hidden conspiracy Mr P.

I have 2 daughters in the UK in their 30's and they work hard, work out and eat sensible food. At the weekends they can binge it, party and whatever, but on Monday it's back to a strict routine

Do the tubbies get it off their parents (Royle family), no work, couch potatoes, type of food eaten or just generally lazy and can't be bothered to improve.

Was down Binta this week in Romantic and an English family walked in. Father 30 stone, mother 25 stone, son maybe 20 stone and daughter 25 stone. Not old. would think the children were in there twenties. It was embarrassing to watch as they tried to dance with the slim BG's who were taking the piss but accepting the drinks

There seems no shame in being obese anymore. Sure, some may have genetic problems but not all the obese Brits I've seen I have seen. A lot also seem proud to shout abusive language about too

[pharvey]

Fast Food, shite food (frozen TV dinners and the like), binge drinking, couch potatoes....... there's no hidden conspiracy Mr P.

I have 2 daughters in the UK in their 30's and they work hard, work out and eat sensible food. At the weekends they can binge it, party and whatever, but on Monday it's back to a strict routine

Do the tubbies get it off their parents (Royle family), no work, couch potatoes, type of food eaten or just generally lazy and can't be bothered to improve.

Was down Binta this week in Romantic and an English family walked in. Father 30 stone, mother 25 stone, son maybe 20 stone and daughter 25 stone. Not old. would think the children were in there twenties. It was embarrassing to watch as they tried to dance with the slim BG's who were taking the piss but accepting the drinks

There seems no shame in being obese anymore. Sure, some may have genetic problems but not all the obese Brits I've seen I have seen. A lot also seem proud to shout abusive language about too

I was brought up on a fairly healthy diet and taught to work for a living - much it seems as you have done for your daughters Richard, and fair play to you.

Unfortunately, these days all seems to be going to cr@p in the UK. It's far to easy to live off the state, pop down Tesco's, hit the 2 quid for 2 liters of mega strength Cider, grab a TV dinner and sleep it off on the couch or down the park.

For those on a low budget, the likes of Iceland are a dream come true for cheap dinners, but not exactly on the healthy front. The LHG couldn't believe either the price or how unhealthy the meals were when we popped into one of the stores on the last visit. Surprisingly these days however, you can shop for healthy goods in the UK at the likes of ASDA for cheaper than I can now get in China........

[Frank Hovis]

There seems no shame in being obese anymore. Sure, some may have genetic problems but not all the obese Brits I've seen I have seen. A lot also seem proud to shout abusive language about too

I agree, it's now socially accpetable to be fat, even obese. When I was young there was a negative stigma attached to being fat, fat people would try to hide their fatness, these days it seems that fat is normal and thin is not good. The UK has banned advertising with models that are deemed 'too thin' while advertising with models who are clearly seriously overweight is common.

As for the incessant use of foul language - yes, when you meet people from the UK over here it seems that for many swearing is now socially acceptable in all situations, I assume they also do that back in the UK.

[BaaBaa.]

Chav culture innit.

Also a walk through town is shocking how many over weight kids there is.

Worst thing is the fat young women actually seem to flaunt it, they wear smaller clothes than the slim girls.

[Vital Spark]

Speaking from a female point of view, I also think that they're fooling themselves into thinking that they are slimmer than they actually are.

The last time I was in the UK I went clothes shopping. I'm (and have been for the past 30 or so years) a size 10. Everything I tried on at that size was too large for me - and I found it difficult to find anything to fit. It's quite the opposite here in Thailand, where I have to buy EXTRA LARGE knickers .

When I was at school (oh my god, I'm beginning to sound like my parents) domestic science was a compulsory subject. I was taught how to cook, sew, and iron. Cooking and dietary classes should be compuslory at school to teach the current generation that it's cheaper, healthier and much more fun than buying ready-made, takeaway, unhealthy rubbish. It might even allieviate the strain on the NHS dealing with obesity related illnesses.

VS

Edit: I spelt dietary wrongly and didn't want NangYang to pick up on it...

[Big Boy]

I'm (and have been for the past 30 or so years) a size 10. Here in Thailand, I have to buy EXTRA LARGE knickers .

How does that work then? I've definitely noticed many Thais starting to look like a mini-me. Also, and I think I've said it on here before, when I was there last year I found myself staring into a school playground. No, I'm not pervert, it's just that I was amazed at how many fat kids were in the playground.

Thailand must be facing a fat epidemic, and they're not going to have any knickers to fit them

[GLCQuantum]

Yep.... incredible amount of fat kids in the classroom. Just poor parenting unfortunately - nothing more nothing less.

[Vital Spark]

I'm also confused by this BB, because at least half of the pupils I see coming out of the schools have bigger bums than me. They're either stick insects or verging on obese - nothing much in between. It's just that Tesco Lotus (where I buy my knickers) haven't quite caught onto that fact.

I think that Thailand is heading down the same road as the UK, as far as obesity is concerned, unless it's nipped in the bud. Many of my students think that ice-cream is a healthy foodstuff and contains very few calories, and the odd doughnut or two several times a week is OK (add onto that KFC, Pizza Hut, and cakes). Then they just pop the 'diet' pills when they can't squeeze into their uniforms.

I agree with you GLC about poor parenting, but when you consider yourself hi-so you need to be seen in the western-style restaurants and queuing for the latest fad in doughnuts, sadly.

VS