The UK is a nation of -porkers- discuss

Fat is indeed not obese- obese is a clear medical definition.

I call myself chubby- and yet I am medically obese - I can see my feet, and I do not wobble all over and am very fit and active, despite my very gummy knee. No-one I know would say 'she is obese' when they see me- but that I am chubby, or well-built. Anyhow- I am glad many here agree that the term 'porker' (or lard-arse, beach whale, etc) is a/ very rude and much more importantly b/ not helpful at all in the discussion on obesity.

Such a shame on those 2 children in mourning- how sad. And of course their weight was irrelevant in the context- but, knowing how they will be treated and bullied by others, and also what health problems lie ahead for them- if we care for them, we should care for their weight in the long term, surely.

Here is the chart:

Height

Obesity point
Ft/inchesMetres

Pounds

Kilos
4.101.47m143 pounds (10 stone 3 pounds)65.0kg
4.111.50m148 pounds (10 stone 8 pounds)67.3kg
5.01.52m153 pounds (10 stone 13 pounds)69.5kg
5.11.55m159 pounds (11 stone 5 pounds)72.3kg
5.21.57m164 pounds (11 stone 10 pounds)74.5kg
5.31.60m169 pounds (12 stone 1 pound)76.8kg
5.41.63m175 pounds (12 stone 7 pounds)79.5kg
5.51.65m180 pounds (12 stone 12 pounds)81.8kg
5.61.68m186 pounds (13 stone 4 pounds)84.5kg
5.71.70m191 pounds (13 stone 9 pounds)86.8kg
5.81.73m197 pounds (14 stone 1 pound)89.5kg
5.91.75m203 pounds (14 stone 7 pounds)92.3kg
5.101.78m209 pounds (14 stone 13 pounds)95.0kg
5.111.80m215 pounds (15 stone 5 pounds)97.7kg
6.01.83m221 pounds (15 stone 11 pounds)100.4kg

I am 90kg and 1.64- so clearly obese medically speaking- and size 20. You can call ME porker or lard-arse, beach whale (I swim like a dolphin though, ski and snowboard... but hey ho, I don't care) but don't use those terms in any sensible and very important discussion about obesity. Thank you. Ta.

I would say plump for those who are generously rounded, fat for those who who have bulges round the middle and bingo wings, obese for those who bulge all over and can't see their feet.

Average is for those whose size you don't even notice. I believe the average dress size in the UK is 16 (so why do the dress shops stock so few decent things in a size 18 or 20? There must be as many 16s and 20s as there are 12s and 14s?)

Slim is for those whose trousers skim neatly from their waists over their behinds and down to their ankles, skinny for those whose wrists and ankles show the bones clearly, emaciated for the ones with no flesh whatsoever and faces like skulls.

Where would I fit in those categories? At 13st 7lb and a size 20, I don't regard myself as obese. Somewhere between plump and fat, and have gradually got very slightly heavier each year. I am active and independent and free from illness, I don't overeat and I don't starve myself, and I have never gone on extreme diets.

Of course 'porker' is a derogatory word. I don't know why anyone would wish to defend it. Though I suspect it is only people who aren't overweight who think it's a perfectly acceptable description.
I have known people who justify their use of cruel language by saying they're only 'being honest', or 'calling a spade a spade'. Katie Hopkins is the queen of this behaviour and I don't believe there are many people who admire her, so why try to emulate her, even slightly?
I was brought up to be kind to people, to not say anything hurtful. It seems to me that there are people who feel morally superior by claiming not to be two-faced - that saying something to someone's face is better than saying it behind their back. Isn't it better just to not say it at all? To have some compassion, some understanding, to make allowances? I'm sure we would all wish others to make allowances for us at times.
The Golden Rule is the one we should all live by: treat others as you would wish to be treated. It's simple really

Terribull my name does fit and in fact I have a lovely picture in my bedroom of a washing line full of knickers of all shapes and sizes. It says 'Sweetie pickers wear bigger knickers' and I asked my Mum to buy it for my birthday years ago! Sadly I still need those bigger knickers! Can't claim credit for my name though, as it originally belonged to one of Terry Wogan's TOGs and I pinched it!

I think it depends on who is speaking which words are OK. I've noticed doctors do their best not to use any word and just talk about someone's weight. I am fat and obese, but I would be cut to the quick if someone said so to my face. Heavy or overweight is more acceptable to me personally. After all, I am not an idiot and know my weight is a risk to my health, so anyone who speaks to me should realise something else is going on other than me simply overeating.

White pudding is one of the top 3 things I miss eating since I became vegetarian 15 years ago and as someone originally from Dundee, I can confirm it is mainly an east coast delight (especially with baked beans)! I did come across a chip shop on the west coast that did them, but that was in the last century (!) and I don't know if it still does. It's nothing like black pudding. More like haggis. But different.

I think fat is obese.

But a spade is certainly not a shovel. Silly saying, really...

A spade is not a shovel.

Fat is not obese. Necessarily.

[wise nod of head]

Call a spade a b****y shovel why don't you? Obese is the medical term. To conjugate the terminology:

I am chubby
You are overweight
She is obese

If all the comments on this thread about the size of the population are well founded, perhaps the acceptable word is "average".

Oh - fat'll do!

When you think about it, 'fat' is a noun. Not an adjective. So, what is the opposite of 'skinny'? Skin-stretched?

So what is the acceptable word for describing someone who is fat – overweight, stout, heavily-built, well-built, plump, large, extra-large, outsize, corpulent? Apparently fat is as unacceptable as porker/porky. I note that it is still okay to describe someone as slim, thin or even skinny.

MargaretX, we're just back from a week in Hamburg, and we thought, as you say, that the younger generation are on the whole slim, but the older people tend to have piled a bit of weight on, and be more like their counterparts here. When we walked round in the evening, the suburban streets were full of young people cycling, jogging, just walking and chatting. Exercise certainly has a high profile, even if the food tends to be on the heavy side. I managed to put a couple of pounds on, which I put down to the beer! But if we lived there now, we'd have to up our game on the exercise front.

...the 'health expert' in that article looked a bit on the podgy side or was it just a bad photo?

Sorry - failed to check that post.

The title of the thread comes from (unless it's a coincidence) from this Mirror article dating back over two years. Maybe we had a discussion about it then. I can't remember.

oops; where did that bracket come from . Now have spellcheck on my pooter but it doesn't pick up on other mistakes!

It['s referring back to an earlier thread, themoll.

Just come in on this post. Horrible term Porker. Why use it? Am I missing some in joke?

I agree with others - moderation is the key and exercise - even if gentle exercise. I could do with losing a few pounds but I think its the wine..but I'm not giving that up

DH ate the unrecognisable black blob that was, presumably, the black pudding.

Yes, I know it's found all over. It's just there are miles of free range pork farms all over the place in Suffolk, and anywhere you eat they seem to include it somewhere on the menu. Icluding the breakfasts at our hotel. (I stuck to my eggies)

OMG!!!

Black pudding is found all over, jingl, including Yorkshire ("my mother's black pudding were so black, even t'white bits were black" - sorry, can't attribute it but DH keeps quoting it) and the excellent Stornoway version. We have had it in France (boudin noir) and in Norway where they put dried fruit in it - lovely!

Mealie puddings go very nicely cooked in mince, as I discovered when I moved to the North-East.

My brother loves back pudding and it produced a false positive in his 'poo test' because of the blood content in it!

Doesn't sound as bad as black pudding! A Suffolk speciality, it seems, made with pigs' blood. Eurgh!

And there are a lot more tempting goodies on display in the supermarkets these days, very cleverly marketed.