The UK is a nation of -porkers- discuss

Wow! Has my use of the word porkers struck a nerve! Yes, it was used jokingly, but behind it lurks a truism.

Yes, we are a nation of 'large people'. More people are overweight that not.

According to the National Obesity Forum (why would we have one if we didn't need one?) in the UK 57% of women and 67% of men are overweight or obese. I didn't need those stats though to confirm the evidence of my own eyes.

Rather than getting our oversized knickers in a twist, shouldn't we actually be doing something about it? Easier said than done (I can do clichés too) ? Doubtless. But, metabolic disorders apart, it's all down to overeating.

So we all need to stop eating more than we need

Simples!

I so agree about the cooking programmes too, I have an image of viewers tucking into their ready meals or takeaways as they are glued to Masterchef!
Bring back Delia or the early Jamie Oliver!

granjura obviously felt in need of vindication...

Ah well, the perils of trying and failing to be jokey.

Well I thought we couldn't have threads about threads, so why is it continuing, I wonder? (Probably because it is Saturday afternoon!!)
Not necessary to generate or perpetuate bad feeling though.

It was used jokily but struck through I think she only put one strike-through at each end of the word in the title here instead of two, so the strike-through was unsuccessful.

alea This is a thread about a thread. Granjura was angry about the word being used jokily in another conversation, so she started this one.

There are a lot of cooking programmes on TV, but they are all about what I would call "advanced cooking" - all completely delicious looking, but expensive and time-consuming to make, with the emphasis on absolute perfection in every detail and the use of professional techniques to achieve a professional finish.

It has been made in to an art form, at the same time as the ready-made counters are filled with cheap(ish) versions of classic and fancy dishes from all over the world.

Where are the cooking programmes like Delia Smith's, which assume that the viewer wants to know the basics? Where are the demonstrations of how to make the simple corner-stones of family meals? And how come manufacturers can make money by selling things that our mothers (as we did when we were feeding a family) made out of left-overs - the shepherds pies and the colcannon, the lentil soup with whatever vegetables were in the larder?

I imagine the deliberatively provocative thread title was intended to stimulate discussion. However to use such a derogatory term without even using "" "" is hard to take with equanimity
There are things you can say with a smile, depending on the context and the company, but I fear this has misfired.
Does the UK have an obesity problem? Quite possibly, do other countries not? I would need to see evidence.
But as this thread stands it is like saying 'The UK is a nation of thickos/drunkards/road hogs ' or whatever other insulting term you choose. Sorry, granjura it is not the topic which merits discussion, but the terminology.

I question how much weight reflects socio economics. A branch of our family are all well educated, comfortably off and overweight. They also know that they have the risk of fatal conditions that their parents suffered due to weight. It doesn't seem to bother them. Not that I would dare to bring the subject up, as they would be offended.

x

wheniwasyourage I still giggle at that joke! Plus your feet probably hurt because the shoes don't fit!

I wasn't trying to stop the discussion btw. Surely nobody can deny obesity is a huge problem. I look at children and see how many of them are overweight at an age where being active should keep their weight in check. Tie that in with how much more convenient and cheaper processed food is to use than using fresh to cook from scratch and you have a nightmare combination.

I know many people are trying to do something about this with their families, but not enough are to turn the situation around.

If there was an easy answer we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Yes, there are too many fat people in this country now, and yes, many of them are in deprived areas. Take a look in the freezers in Farmfoods (for example) and ask yourselves just what rubbish is packed into these cheap "food" items and who would buy them. As in so many areas of life, we are falling down on education for living simply and eating well IMO.

Sorry Wilma, going a bit off-course, but you reminded me of a character in the latest wonderful Slider book by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles who mentions the advice not to criticise anyone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. As he points out, you are then a mile away, and you have their shoes.

True Wilma.

How I agree with you about the ghastly exploitative TV programmes.

I do think it is true that more people are over their ideal weight than when I was young. It was rare to see a fat person when I was a child - war time rationing was probably the main factor.

I know neither the cause nor the answer, but it is certainly not for lack availability of healthy eating information.

To be honest I don't like any word that refers to someone we don't know in a derogatory way, not just words like porker.

That might sound sanctimonious, but the older I get the more compassionate and tolerant I get. Before I had any real hardship in my life, I was a very judgemental person to whom everything was black and white. Through the kindness of others I've realised the truth of the old saying about not judging someone unless you have walked a mile in their shoes. I hate all the reality shows like Benefits Street where the minority of people are provided as entertainment for the rest of us to judge and make us feel superior or better about ourselves in some way. Compassion is an underrated quality.

And while I am on my soapbox, I believe people who say things like "I call a spade a spade.", etc., just say that to try and excuse rudeness or nastiness.

'A Nation of Porkers' is not helpful in the fight against obesity.

~~ gets off soapbox ~~

I prefer well nourished Is bag of bones also deemed pejorative? I remember when my bones protruded, sigh! Sadly a distant memory I probably fall into the well nourished category now, or if I was to be rude about myself a slim porker as opposed to a gargantuan one. Speaking as someone who is 2 stone over my ideal weight, although maybe under active thyroid is a mitigating factor for that, I do think there is too much creeping around the fact that some people are simply over weight. It's the western diet. Look at the Japanese they live for ever and their fish based diet keeps them slim. As soon as any nation starts adopting American eating habits look how they end up. It needs to be said, it's killing people we all know it. Most obese people eat too much of the wrong sort of food. A young man recently ate himself to death consuming, I believe, something in the region of 10,000 calories a day. He was attended by care workers who went out and bought food for him because he was unable to move. I think doctors and health workers should be able to tell patients that unless they change their eating habits they will endanger their health and they are simply too fat!

I don't like derogatory terms either, but the fact is true - there are an awful lot of very fat people around. I don't know what the reason is. Food is more ubiquitous, perhaps, the "luxury" items that are fattening as well as the basics that keep body and soul together? It is not just a question of cost, but of availability, preparation time, family food habits - and advertising has a lot of power over what people see and want.

There is more knowledge about food values than there has ever been, but knowing something doesn't automatically mean that you put the theory into practice.

What's wrong with just saying overweight, or fat, people? Why give them a derogatory label?

I don't like the word 'porkers'. It's horrible.

soontobe you are right what you say about different areas. I think the more deprived areas seem to have more really fat people. Why is that? I can't believe it is down to the prices of foods. You can eat healthily and reasonably cheaply. It can't be down to education either. Everyone must have got the message by now.

I think it could be that food is the only pleasure available to them.

Anyone up for a gunfight bunfight?

I've just had tears in my eyes watching a very proud mum kiss her little boy on the top of his head as he took his seat beside her having just lit a candle in remembrance of the men who died in the Far East.

Both more than a little bit overweight.....Who cares!

I had to wait outside a primary school last year during break time, in one of the areas of Britain that is well known for being wealthy.
There was barely a schoolchild in the yard that was anywhere near overweight.

It seems to me that areas of Britain vary a lot.

But overall. Yes, the UK has a weight problem.