The UK is a nation of -porkers- discuss

granjura obviously felt in need of vindication...

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!

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!

Terribul I admire your honesty.

!

Why is there a picture of little Prince George in amongst those 'fat' photos on Bags' link? He's not fat! Just adorably chubby.

It could be because we eat a lot more processed food - snacks, biscuits, ready-meals, breakfast cereals, canned food etc - and they tend to have a lot of hidden calories.

Wilmaknickersfit - I am so jealous of your user name, love play on words, tongue in cheek nicknames and yours is sublime, this of course is an incredibly apt thread for a name such as yours no backhanded compliment intended!

Prince George is an adorable chubby toddler so scrumptious, as is Harper Beckham, lovely chunky legs and smiley face. Lets hope the 17 Endmame bean a day diet and po face are years away for her.

Overeating is not the only problem. Far too many people lead sedentary lifestyles including children who would rather spend their leisure time in their bedrooms tapping away at various electronic gadgets.

You can lead a porker to water, but you can't make it shrink.

#levity

Some people overeat because they are lonely and/or depressed. Not everybody is in a position to walk even 100 yards down the road because of disabilities to get rid of extra calories.

I agree, merlot, that some people also don't get enough exercise. However, I think it still is down to overeating in the end. People who don't do much physically don't need as much food as they would if they were, say, old style farm labourers. I suspect that many people don't cut down on the amount they eat when they cease to be active.

It's still down to how much one eats. Inactive people need less than active ones.

X posts, charley. Eating because of depression rather than mere inactivity has my sympathy.

Yes agree merlogran, it's a perfect storm of several factors, electronic gadgetry that makes people, including children, more sedentary. Like many, my own childhood was one that was active, our generation weren't cossetted we were allowed to roam free and we did. TV was limited to children's hour, we drank water instead of fizzy drinks, meals were cooked from scratch on a "take it or leave it" basis and vegetables were always part of that meal. My parents didn't provide any snacks such as crisps or biscuits. In between meals we may have been offered an apple or banana, but there weren't a lot of grazing options. MacDonalds and the like had yet to arrive, there were Wimpy Bars but I don't think many of us during our school years had enough pocket money to buy a meal out, the pocket money did stretch to sweets and chocolate which I can remember spending some of mine on. We didn't worry unduly about our appearance, in so many ways it was a lot easier and strangely fat kids were rare!

I agree Terribull I had a similar sort of upbringing but it was in the countryside and there were no Wimpy bars in the nearest town. I used to go home when I was hungry and then outside again to play.

The one treat we had infrequently when my parents bought a car was to have fish and chips or in my case because it was Scotland, white pudding and chips. That was a luxury. Very occasionally we went out for "high tea" but on the whole it was food cooked from scratch- the vegetables grown in the garden. We did not have a fridge for many years, never mind a freezer.

White pudding?

Luckygirl it is something specific to Scotland and maybe only the East coast where I lived.

Used to eat them in Dundee. Well, my Dundonian inlaw family called them mealy puddings. Will that be the same thing, charley?

Cornish hogs pudding is similar

www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/white_pudding.php

Shh... don't mention Sus scrofa domesticus!

All I know is that I was a 'sturdy' teenager and always felt a lot larger than my peers.....most of whom were size 10 or 12 at most. I was bordering size16 aged 18 and felt huge...I'm 5ft 8 as well.

Fast forward over 40 years and I'm pretty much the same size and I'm often the small one in any given group.....!!!!

The other bit of evidence is that I picked up a lovely old sewing manual that has everything from posh evening dresses to making soft toys in it. Its dated mid 1950 and talks about the 'average' lady having a 35 - 24 - 37 figure!!!!!.

Ladies must have been large'ish in the past or they wouldn't have all worn corsets would they [and I'm not talking about wearing them to have unnaturally thin waists but being more 'matronly'].

Well, I have now munched my way through most of the baked goods I brought home yesterday, including most of DH's share, and I have been asleep on the sofa. (holidays take it out of you)

There is no hope left for me!

Oh shoot! Why did I eat all that.

How many calories in four chunky fingers of Scottish shortbread? Too darn many, I've no doubt.

When you go through the checkout with your trolley behind a fat family you see what they have stocked up on and it is bread and cakes and sweets and sweet drinks, far more than your own family would eat in two weeks.
White yeasty bread makes people fat and because they are poor and depressed its just what they feel like eating when they're feeling down.
Thats why Lidle and Aldi have these rows of freshly baked bread rolls.

There are a lot of fat people in Germany as well but their weakness is cheap wurst which has a high fat content. But when you see photos of young people leaving school here, there are usually only few fat girls and a couple of boys as well but most are slim at that age.
Germans get heavy with age, but I've seen on BBC TV a lot of really obese teenagers with wonderful smooth skins and glowing faces but really heavy. I'm surprised at how confindent some are.
I would not have left the house looking like that at that age.