‘Millenniums’ set to become heaviest generation ever

Listening now intriguing. Not much help to this fat vegetarian though.

OK Nonnie then we have to push what the secure people do so it becomes the norm for everyone.
Not sure how to do it though?

Listen to the Food Programme yesterday on Radio 4. The Government advice has been wrong but they do not want to admit it. The legal profession seem to understand though!

Fat people have always existed even when there was no refined food.

Take a look at the Willendorf Goddess, to whom I am a distant relation. Not as distant as I'd like!!

Many of the early earth mother statues show women who are frankly bulgy, were they a cult of visionaries who foretold MacDonalds and Cola drinks?

1 in 10 women has Lymphodema, hence the big legs.........
I am not sure what the answer is, I am told my Lympodema is progressive and will not alter with diet or exercise.

Maybe there is more to all this than junk food and inactivity???

I accept that there were not fat inmates of the concerntration camps but we don't know how long it took the tubby ones to slim down and at what cost to the rest of their make up. Poor souls did not live to tell us.

Currently there is a fad for 400 calorie a day diets.....and some people are then getting digestive problems.

I am like half a house and never even seen a cronut.

When I. Go shopping in my nearest 'big' town I always notice the number of young people walking along with a burger and/or chips in one hand and mobile phone in the other. No wonder they put on weight (by eating burgers, I mean!). Oldies rarely do this.

Causes, in my humble opinion:
Lack of education
Lack of money

It's very true, OldMeg - I have to pass a nearby sixth form college on my way to the local library and a significant percentage of the teen girls are simply multiple health problems on (huge and badly stuffed sausage) legs!

Their eyes are sunk into puffy cheeks, they carry a beer gut that would do justice to a championship darts player and they possess upper arms like prize hams. God help you if one of them gets on the same bus as you and deposits her two-seat backside alongside you - you don't stand a chance.

But the boys - as a previous contributor remarked - are a stunning contrast. A lot of them don't have even have a half ounce of fat on them and if they turn sideways then you can't see 'em!

I think the instigation of the "Fat Acceptance Movement" from the USA (where else?) is going to cause a lot of health and self-esteem damage, in the long run. Saying over and over to yourself "I may be overweight but I'm healthy too" is dangerous nonsense.

When I was in my teens and early twenties shop sizes went up to size 16 anything larger you had to go to specialist shops which were very expensive or make your own clothes from very frumpy patterns. I think it served well as an incentive to keep the pounds off. Also we seemed to walk everywhere buses were for day trips or holidays and getting a taxi usually meant you were in labour!!!

When I pick my grandchildren up from school, it always distresses me to see so many overweight children at such a young age. The school even sent a note out to all parents re healthy lunch boxes. Evidently some parents think it’s fine to put cold burgers or cold takeaways in lunch boxes .... unbelievable !

I don't think exercise will solve any obesity crises until people stop eating such large portions of very calorific foods as they do now.

The food industry is a lot to blame in this situation.
It is a harsh thing to say but now people are now eating too much. Cut down on portion size. Cut down on large portions of fatty and sugary foods. Then exercise might just begin to help.

The trouble with saying "big is beautiful" does not account for the serious health issues of obesity.

Pamela the poor can't drink water because they feel insecure so need all the things they perceive the middle classes to have. That is pretty much the answer I got years ago when I asked why the children on a video we were shown whose parents were unemployed had brand new bikes when my DSs had second hand ones. I can't remember the answer to the question about why they were vandalising property near their homes.

Before anyone has a go at me, I am not suggesting that all the poor are like this, just saying what was said at a house group I was a member of.

It’s not only obesity is it? Many young children have to have their milk teeth out because of the sugary drinks they consume.
When the government suggest taxing these drinks there is an outcry and they are accused of targeting the poor. Why can’t the children of the poor drink water like my DGS. It doesn’t seeem to do him any harm.

This is a complex area. i think that the advent of the microwave has contributed to obesity and fractured family life. It became easy and quick to have different meals at different times to each other. Ready meals are everywhere, and affordable. Iceland have a range that costs about a pound I think. What must be in them! Convenience comes at a cost to society.

I think one of the problems today is a lot of people seek instant gratification in everything, be it food, drink. new phones and other material things, even holidays that would not have been possible on their incomes say maybe 10 - 20 years ago. They HAVE to have these things, and now! A lot of people have this sense of entitlement to all pleasures in life and they'll be damned if they'll wait. The Loreal effect "because I'm worth it" applies to most things.

Fair enough Jane ?

Jalima it’s an interesting point you raise about GPS. I was watching that programme GPs behind closed doors (yes, sad I know!) and it occurred to me that not one even suggested to seriously overweight patients that they ought to lose some weight. They did suggest smokers seek help to stop, talked quite openly to those who obviously had a drink problem about their alcohol intake, but nothing to the obese.

Is it perhaps one of those taboo subjects such as being overly PC where people fail to broach the subject just in case they offend?

I have a couple of overweight friends. I’d never say anything to them about their weight, but I’ve told one of them not to smoke in my house. Is that illogical? I know that part of it is I don’t want to have my house smell of tobacco smoke nor do I want to inhale second hand smoke, but it’s so much easier to mention smoking as an example that her other issue.

Do you see where I’m coming from?

Of course, the obese patient has to be sufficiently motivated to seek help, just as people with an alcohol or drug problem do.
That is true, doctors can hardly call in patients they suspect of being obese and make them have therapy.

People have choices.

Do you mean to sound so patronising Jane? I’m sure you don’t really

No, I just can’t help it *old meg*

I watched a programme a good while back about morbidly obese people, and saw a bedbound woman, who had 2 carers in every day, and they all sat knitting, in what looked like an oversized nursery.
Her husband was awarded respite care a few times a week, and spent the rest of his time on the phone to various charities asking for help to get the most up to date hoist, wheelchair, and so on.
Special arrangements had to be made for this woman, and others like her, for hospital appts and so on, in one case reinforcing the floor around the operating table because someone needed an op.
It made for uncomfortable watching.

I agree lemongrass

Most people woth drug or alcohol issues know about the help available. I’m betting most overweight people have never heard of this service and their go-to help are placed like Slimming World or Weight Watchers.

These simply don’t work long term,

Do you mean to sound so patronising Jane? I’m sure you don’t really.

I agree with Janeainsworth’s posts on this.
Moreover, a lot of people in what are called deprived areas
May well eat sweets and carbs for a bit of a treat in their lives.
Rich people are likely to be much thinner ( opposite of Victorian days!)
Also MissA is correct, so much info out there, everybody knows they should eat less and move about more, there isn’t much more that can be done.

old meg The NHS does provide quite a lot of help and support, including this:
“Getting psychological support from a trained healthcare professional may also help you change the way you think about food and eating. Techniques such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be useful.”
From www.nhs.uk/conditions/obesity/treatment/#other-useful-strategies
Of course, the obese patient has to be sufficiently motivated to seek help, just as people with an alcohol or drug problem do.

But, I’m only really asking ‘what is the solution’?

Your own arguements.

Please don’t think that I don’t know this Jane it is extremely complicated. And of course the same applies to drug addicts, smokers and alcoholics.

But that’s no reason to throw our hands up in the air and shout ‘it’s unevitable’ or ‘there’s no solution’.

Using your own agreements....there are processes in place to try to help smokers stop (and many do), to get people off drugs and to try to help alcoholics. Now I know that the last two present real problems bit people do get ‘clean’ or manage to stop drinking.

Yet when it comes to obesity there is very little help available. You don’t see rehab centres or patches or other aids to stop people overeating?

So why not? If it is to be classed alongside other addictions or whatever, surely there needs to be targeted intervention?

.