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Obesity

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Don'tTellHim Pike 21 Jul 2013
Anyone get the impression that, despite warnings to folk about the dangers etc., obesity is on the increase. Once, in my days of youth, fatties were definitely in a minority; now almost every other person seems to have a serios weight problem and I'm not talking about a few pounds overweight. It seems that the more doctors warn us about the consequences the worse it gets. I was having a meal this afternoon in a cafe and, out of about ten people I would say that six or seven were gross. I sometimes wonder if the time has come to shame people into doing something about it. When you see somebody in the street in that category shout out "Oi, fatso" - but maje sure you are doing at least thirty mph in you car as you shout ;0)
 gurumed 21 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod:
Speaking as someone who was once morbidly obese, unfortunately shaming doesn't work.
Don'tTellHim Pike 21 Jul 2013
In reply to gurumed:
> (In reply to GrumpySod)
> Speaking as someone who was once morbidly obese, unfortunately shaming doesn't work.
I often feel like doing it though ;0)

Seriously, though, what motivated you to loose weight? BTW I admit to having a BMI of about 27 which whilst "overweight" is not "Obese"
Daithi O Murchu 21 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod:

I ran a marathon in 2008 , and at the time trained like billio

here i am 5 years later and i weigh 17 stone and im an obese fatso

jut let it all go

i used to think it was fat peoples fault but its not

its beers fault!!
 Bimble 21 Jul 2013
In reply to Daithi O Murchu:

I quit smoking & drinking in January and have put over 2 stone on as a result. I can breathe easier but my belly now slows me down instead.
PopShot 21 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod: I think that obese people should be forced to pay for their own healthcare rather than burden the taxpayer via the NHS.
 Rachel Slater 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod: Maybe food should just be rationed somehow.
andic 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod:
> (In reply to gurumed)
> [...]
> I admit to having a BMI of about 27 which whilst "overweight" is not "Obese"

Uh oh, bmi of 27 me too but I've got a six pack so what's going on there do you think I'm going to die?
 1step2far 22 Jul 2013
In reply to PopShot: What about if you fall off? Should you not pay for your treatment too? Climbing is a potentially risky lifestyle choice after all.

andic 22 Jul 2013
In reply to PopShot:

Typical socialist tripe from the boy.
 Skol 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod:
It's not so much the fat parents, that's there choice, but its when you see fat kids.
In the pool I've never seen so many fat kids.
Not for a nanny state but isn't this neglect of some description.

Don't worry about BMI, fat calliper a are the best judge.
Brad Pitt is BMI 33!
Skol
 moac 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod: The BMI test is not always the best test for obesity. The standard one now seems to be if your waist measurement is half your height or less you're OK.
Don'tTellHim Pike 22 Jul 2013
In reply to moac:
> (In reply to GrumpySod) The BMI test is not always the best test for obesity. The standard one now seems to be if your waist measurement is half your height or less you're OK.

Trouble is middle and old age spread seem to be harder to get rid of.

 John_Hat 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod:

....and medical professionals, and the media, would really like some really simple test that even the most terminally stupid can apply, and then use it on the whole population.

Actually looking at people and working out whether they are obese from a 5 second inspection appears to have gone out of fashion.
 Neil Williams 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod:

I'm a bit fat and the old BMI calculation (they changed it recently) makes me morbidly obese. A friend of similar build but with almost no body fat at all is right in the middle of "overweight".

You can tell by looking at someone whether they're fat or not - BMI (as was, the newer calculation is better) is silly as it only works with a limited range of builds.

Neil
 MaranaF 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod: @"Oi, fatso" - but maje sure you are doing at least thirty mph in you car as you shout ;0)

I have only ever floored another woman once and that was when she shouted something to my niece similar to what you are suggesting.

My niece has a brain tumour and needs an enormous amount of medication just to keep her organs working. Unfortunately the drugs have a horrible side effect. They make her morbidly obese.

Be careful who you judge. My nieces condition is rare and the people who mock her just presume she over eats.

Now on another note, I live in France and French people, especially in southern France, tend to be skinny. When we see a well rounded person we presume, perhaps wrongly, that its a tourist!!

I read a survey that was done recently in both England and France questioning obesity. The results came back that English women, even if over weight, didn't believe they were overweight and French women, even though underweight, believed they were too fat. French women have an enormous amount of pressure from both their men folk and their piers, to stay thin.

England is apparently the fattest nation in Europe. Last time I visited, I was shocked at just how many overweight families were in the supermarkets filling their trolleys with unhealthy options and how people gorge their food when at a restaurant. Its as though they swallow it whole without tasting it.

I noticed that the food on offer is amazing compared to what you would find in a French DIA. So many temptations, so many fattening foods with tempting packaging. The last time I was in England I put on 3 1bs in 2 weeks but once back in France, that just dropped back off.
 Blue Straggler 22 Jul 2013
In reply to DemolitionRed:
>
>
> French women have an enormous amount of pressure from both their men folk and their piers, to stay thin.

Are the French poor at engineering "structures leading out from the shore into a body of water, in particular"
 MaranaF 22 Jul 2013
I didn't understand at first but then I got you!!! I meant Peer. Why do the English have so many words that mean different things!!!
 Blue Straggler 22 Jul 2013
In reply to DemolitionRed:

Isn't it the other way around? The French have many words (spelled the same) that mean different things whereas the English have many individual words

Are you French?
 Blue Straggler 22 Jul 2013
In reply to DemolitionRed:

PS I knew you meant peer, I was trying to inject some light-heartedness into the thread
 risby 22 Jul 2013
In reply to DemolitionRed:
> Why do the English have so many words that mean different things!!!

I'd like you to take a moment and think about what you've written there.
 MaranaF 22 Jul 2013
Now I am really confused!

Yes, we do have lots of Homophones which is easy when you grow up attending French schools but very confusing when it comes to the correct spelling of a second language.

I'm actually half English and half Italian but was brought up all of my life in France.
 Alyson 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod:
> (In reply to moac)
> [...]
>
> Trouble is middle and old age spread seem to be harder to get rid of.

Perhaps you'd find it easier if we all started shouting 'oi fatso' at you in the street
 RomTheBear 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod: As a French person who settled in Scotland 6 years ago, I can tell you that after my first year living in Scotland I put on 80 pounds and never managed to loose more than half of it, same thing for most of my european friends.

The food here in the UK is generally crap even when you buy the most over priced organic stuff, fruits and vegs are also tasteless so you tend to eat less of them and instead eat more crap.
Also the pub culture (which I love very much ) unfortunately does mean that you drink beer quite often. That really doesn't help when you know that a pint can be at around 200kcals.

As to shaming fat people for being fat, it is just too easy. Social and economic conditions play a big role.
5 years ago I was working night and late shifts, paid barely more than minimum wage, and honestly when you go home all you want is to crash on the sofa, order a cheap, fat and satisfying takeaway, drink a beer and go to sleep.
Now that I have a well paid 9 to 5 job it is a lot easier for me to spend time cooking, go excercise, recycle, and have a generaly active and healty lifestyle.
Beyond that people might have all sorts of problems in their lives which you don't know about leading them to have an eating disorder. Instead of judging I think that showing some undersatnding and trying to help is probably a better approach than shaming.
 deepsoup 22 Jul 2013
In reply to Alyson:
> Perhaps you'd find it easier if we all started shouting 'oi fatso' at you in the street

Got to be worth a try.

What do you say Grumps? Give us your address and let the good people of UCK mobilise to help you sort out your weight problem. Then you can write a "diet" book about it (The Random Abuse Plan?) and make a fortune.
Bob kate bob 22 Jul 2013
In reply to RomTheBear: Erm. I truely think that FRENCH food is not any better than food in the UK. Ok, other than there being less choice including less choice of types of fresh fruit and veg.

You are living with rose tinted glasses. I have a feeling that your weight gain had more to do with change in your lifestyle and what you CHOSE to eat and drink...

>5 years ago I was working night and late shifts, paid barely more than >minimum wage, and honestly when you go home all you want is to crash on >the sofa, order a cheap, fat and satisfying takeaway, drink a beer and go >to sleep.


This whole thing that the french are stick thin and their food is wonderful is a total and utter myth.
1000MileJourneys 22 Jul 2013
Some facts from the WHO and all the trends are saying it is getting much worse and happening fast.

Overweight and obesity are defined as "abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health"
Body mass index (BMI) – the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters (kg/m2) – is a commonly used index to classify overweight and obesity in adults. WHO defines overweight as a BMI equal to or more than 25, and obesity as a BMI equal to or more than 30.
More than 1.4 billion adults were overweight in 2008, and more than half a billion obese

In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were overweight and more than half a billion were obese. At least 2.8 million people each year die as a result of being overweight or obese. The prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled between 1980 and 2008. Once associated with high-income countries, obesity is now also prevalent in low- and middle-income countries.

Globally, over 40 million preschool children were overweight in 2008
Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Overweight children are likely to become obese adults. They are more likely than non-overweight children to develop diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at a younger age, which in turn are associated with a higher chance of premature death and disability.

Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight
65% of the world's population live in a country where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. This includes all high-income and middle-income countries. Globally, 44% of diabetes, 23% of ischaemic heart disease and 7–41% of certain cancers are attributable to overweight and obesity.

For an individual, obesity is usually the result of an imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended
An increased consumption of highly calorific foods, without an equal increase in physical activity, leads to an unhealthy increase in weight. Decreased levels of physical activity will also result in an energy imbalance and lead to weight gain

Supportive environments and communities are fundamental in shaping people’s choices and preventing obesity
Individual responsibility can only have its full effect where people have access to a healthy lifestyle, and are supported to make healthy choices. WHO mobilizes the range of stakeholders who have vital roles to play in shaping healthy environments and making healthier diet options affordable and easily accessible.

Children's choices, diet and physical activity habits are influenced by their surrounding environment
Social and economic development as well as policies in the areas of agriculture, transport, urban planning, environment, education, food processing, distribution and marketing influence children's dietary habits and preferences as well as their physical activity patterns. Increasingly, these influences are promoting unhealthy weight gain leading to a steady rise in the prevalence of childhood obesity.

Eating a healthy diet can help prevent obesity
People can:
1) maintain a healthy weight
2) limit total fat intake and shift fat consumption away from saturated fats to unsaturated fats
3) increase consumption of fruit, vegetables, pulses, whole grains and nuts
4) limit the intake of sugar and salt.

Regular physical activity helps maintain a healthy body
People should engage in adequate levels of physical activity throughout their lives. At least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity physical activity on most days reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, colon cancer and breast cancer. Muscle strengthening and balance training can reduce falls and improve mobility among older adults. More activity may be required for weight control.

Sircumfrins 22 Jul 2013
In reply to Bob kate bob: I completely disagree with you.
I think French food is way better than British food and they are (generally) a healthier nation.
Bob kate bob 22 Jul 2013
In reply to Sircumfrins: to disagree is your right.
I'm just saying it from what I see and experience living in France and travelling regularly to the UK.
 MaranaF 22 Jul 2013
In reply to Bob kate bob: Out of interest, what part of France?

Personally I think Parisians are completely over the top about remaining skinny.

I live in the French Alps which means walking up a lot of hills. In England I am a size 10 dress, in France I am an extra large in most dress shops. Most of my friends are an English size 6 and they think they are fat. Now that isn't healthy either but you really don't see big people round here apart from the tourists.

Food around here is expensive compared to the UK. A weeks shopping for a family of four in France will likely cost twice as much as it does in the UK. When I am in England and see the overflowing supermarket carts I am always surprised because its just something I never see in French super makets. For a start, we couldn't afford that much food and it would surely go off before we had time to eat it!

Seasonal and local fruit and vegetables is relatively cheap here though and because meat is expensive, we tend to make a cut of meat go a long way. I will always try and make 3 meals from one good cut of meat. I think we do a lot more cooking from scratch than our English cousins, simply because we have to, we don't have the choices you have.

We have the most wonderful cheeses here and a Pâtisserie on every street corner. Wine here costs next to nothing and baguettes are usually less than 1 euro. We love all of those things but we eat them in great moderation. If I buy a singular cake such as a baba au rhum it is cut into four and not all eaten by myself.
 FrankBooth 22 Jul 2013
In reply to DemolitionRed:
> Wine here costs next to nothing and baguettes are usually less than 1 euro. We love all of those things but we eat them in great moderation.
'great moderation' is a fantastic turn-of-phrase!
 MaranaF 22 Jul 2013
In reply to FrankBooth:

People who can't moderate their food intake are a great turn off too
 Pyreneenemec 22 Jul 2013
In reply to Bob kate bob:
>
>
> This whole thing that the french are stick thin and their food is wonderful is a total and utter myth.


Think you're right there !

The French are still a wee bit behind in the "ready meal" market, but they're catching up fast !



 The Norris 22 Jul 2013
In reply to GrumpySod:

I wonder how much impact the glossy girly magazines have, with their endless fat/thin celebrity fad diet articles.

If people keep believing that there is an easy way to lose weight, are they likely to think its ok to carry on eating rubbish until they decide to try the new raw cauliflower diet!?
 RomTheBear 23 Jul 2013
In reply to Bob kate bob: Where do you travel in France ? Actually in the North of France the food is quite similar to the British one (lots of potatoes and processed meat). They have an obesity problem there too.

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