American women getting bigger .

"The Willpower Instinct" by Kelly McGonigal Phd is a really helpful book if you want to get thinner. It is easy to read and explains the psychological issues , so we can understand how to change. It tells you really interesting things - for instance did you know that if you are dieting and say to yourself "I am doing really well!" You are far more likely to'reward' yourself with fattening food, than if you say to yourself "I am eating healthily" And craving dies away whether you give in to it or not - so you could use my own ten minute rule : when I've eaten healthily but crave something unhealthy, I say to myself "wait ten minutes, and then see if you really want to eat it" Almost always I don't want to eat it after the ten minutes . The book has lots more useful stuff and can apply to eating , procrastinating, biting finger nails - patterns you want to change.

I'm constantly surprised by the large portions of food they serve here in pub restaurants. I usually order a child's portion so that I have enough room for a nice pudding, but there is never much choice on the children's menu.

One place we go to does have a 'lighter choices' menu and I like the idea of that as we don't all want to stuff our faces!

I'd be horrified if my waist was anywhere nice the size mentioned

I remeber a long time ago going to Hawaii and being horrified by the size of the American tourists, even then - but then I noticed that it wasn't uncommon for them to tuck into a massive ice cream sundae - which would have been a whole meal for me! - as a snack between meals. Also it was impossible to get a sandwich without fries...

my late mother was always weight obsessed ,she ate her main meal off a tea plate and had the same grapefruit and rice crispies for breakfast every day .She had always been a fussy eater when a child too .She ,at her heaviest was 7 stone 6 ,and just before she died she dropped to around 6 stone .She had osteoporosis because of the lack of calcium in her diet.Sadly her obsession was passed onto her 4 daughters and we have all worried about putting on a few pounds over the years.She used to tell me I was fat when I was a size 8!!!Now in my mid sixties and after a year and a bit of chronic back pain I'm a size 14 ,I'm just glad she's not around to see.I have started to eat my main meal off a tea plate though in the hope I can drop a size..or two .

There's been research showing that people eat less when eating from smaller plates - easy way to cut down without getting obsessed with quantities, hopefully.

Obesity in the UK is on the increase Take a look around and it would be unusual to see a 'skinny.'
Supermarkets have their own label foods cheaper than the big name producers..Even the lowest paid would find it difficult to not eat nutritionally. Veg is frequently reduced so no excuse there.
Fast food outlets have a lot to answer for when it comes to obesity.

Sadly, obesity seems to be on the increase everywhere these days.

Not being an expert on nutrition, I can't say why, but suspect it is due to the fact that a lot of adults and children are drinking sweet fizzy drinks daily now. (They were a rare treat when I was little). Fast food and ready made meals are probably culprits too, but so is lack of exercise.

Few people walk or cycle regularly. Either they drive or take the bus. Some do go to a gym or swimming, but a lot only do so in an effort to lose weight. Like all good habits healthy eating and sufficient exercise should be acquired early in life.

Anyone who has ever been to America knows about portion size. My DD was at uni there in the 1990s and we visited her. I always wanted to try blueberry pie, but the dinners were so huge I could never contemplate pudding. On our last day I had no breakfast or lunch. just the pie for dinner. My slice was equivalent to at least half a dinner plate size here. And it came with 2 enormous scoops of icecream.
My DD said that even then most people did not walk anywhere

I suspect there is no single, simple answer. Sadly.

Our modern lifestyles are a challenge. Honestly, where is the time for working parents to fit in meal planning/shopping/cooking/dishwashing/10,000 steps for themselves and extra curricular sport for the children daily with collecting kids, supervising homework, doing laundry etc etc. I'm glad not to be a young mum today. The temptation to give in to the advertising pressures of culinary shortcuts must be immense. Processed food is a quick fix which can cause problems for the future, but who has time to worry about that when they can barely cope in the present?

Fizzy drinks are downright dangerous and addictive. Children needing dental extractions, often in hospital, and people having limbs amputated don't feature in the seductive "happy lifestyle" ads for the gallons of poisonous bubbly liquid that many people become hooked on. The manufacturers cynically and irresponsibly target developing countries, like drug dealers but in plain view.

Until these and other contributing issues are seriously addressed, and in a way that's actually accessible to ordinary people, I fear there won't be a meaningful and effective change.

There's more than one reason, isn't there? Years ago mother did the cooking, often from scratch. Shop-bought cakes were unusual and few household tasks were as automated as today. Hardly anyone owned a car so we walked more.
Now many mothers work and therefore have to rely on ready-made meals due to a lack of time and energy. We're better off than our parents so can run a car and treat ourselves more often - which means less exercise and more treats. Bigger portions are also to blame.
At school we discussed the difference between shop-bought and home-made cakes. The conclusion we came to was that shop-bought was 'lighter' - less satisfying so of course there's the temptation to eat another slice - none of which helps us to stay slim.

And what is worse you cannot mention to a person that they are fat (in a nice way). My gd, age just 23 Has really piled on the weight so much so that she is nearly as wide as tall! While we were out together she mentioned that I had lost weight and I told her her I needed to lose it because of my health. I then suggested that she did the same and even offered to pay for her to go to Slimming World. She was ok about it and said she would think about it but her mother went on a rant to me about it said I was wrong to make her worried about her size. It just isn’t pc to mention the word fat.

I think diet plays a considerable role, as does the way the "easy lifestyle" is pushed by the advertisers ( I agree with parsleywins points), but so, too, I feel does the lack of exercise. Where once we might have walked to the shops several times a week, now a big shop is done using the car. ( I know, time constraints dictate this). Many children are driven to and from school. Sports and games are replaced by computer games indoors. It's rare to see children out playing anymore - I suppose a lot of this is to do with safety concerns, but it's oh, so sad. We ran off our surplus energy outdoors as children. Yes, lots of children attend clubs, but how do they get there and back?
In consuming larger sized, fattier more sugary foodstuffs without very much excercise between to burn off the calories leads to an increase in size and other health issues. Sugary snacks and drinks seem to be the norm rather than an occasional treat for many, too.
There's no easy solution. Society is so pressured today, but I still feel that time to cook and eat sensibly needs to be factored in - less time dashing here, there and everywhere perhaps? The importance of a balanced diet cannot be underestimated, but I suspect home economics ( as it was called when I went to school) is not considered an important part of the curriculum nowadays. We were taught basic cooking skills, budgeting skills, the importance of all the different vitamins and how to incorporate them into our diet. Not sure that happens very much anymore, though I might be wrong. I might add that I'm not talking too many years ago but then again perhaps the 1970's is!!
I'm not sure how we change any of this, but it's a huge concern.

You make a valid point there, Barmeyoldbat. I don't think society is doing itself any favours by skirting around the issue.

Interesting how suddenly 'unacceptable' oft used words evolve. I always wonder how that is generated. I was having a lovely time with my GD and her Mum. The C was on the floor being tickled and generally messing about. Spontaneously I said 'bless your wee fat tummy'. The reaction of M was such that I knew what I had said was 'wrong' immediately. Quick mental analysis, apology and promise to do better(!!) soon sorted my unfortunate slip into what is now unmentionable. Fact is the child is not at all fat but had a slightly bulbous tummy at that moment in time. Must be careful and try to keep up with these modern phobias!

Considering portion sizes, not eating any snacks between meals and cutting back on the daily amount of alcohol drunk might help some people with their weight. I've just returned from an all inclusive holiday and was shocked at how greedy so many holiday makers were both at the bar and in the restaurant.

In the early nineties, my daughter studied at an American university for a year. When I went to meet her when she came home, I was shocked at how much weight she'd piled on. I told my son not to mention it, as she was sure too realise. Turned out they'd been eating cheap fast food, huge portions, at every meal. After about 2 months of normal food she was back to her normal slim size. I think the obesity now is due to the same problem, big portions of cheap fast food added to no exercise - bad news.

I think a lot of good advice has been given . I think all the grazing and snacking is a bad idea. And I think ready meals can be a problem. And the lack of exercise.

Parents are now encouraged to give their children so many snacks a day, surely that must contribute to expecting to eat between meals as the child gets older as they are then in the habit of it.

There is so much on TV, newspapers, magazines and the internet nowadays about what is good for you and what isn't, although it does change regularly, that people can't say they don't know what is healthy and what isn't and as other posters have said fresh food isn't always expensive, certainly no more than buying KFC or MacDonalds.

And there are so many fat people on TV too making it seem the norm, for example James Corden, most of the Chasers, that bloke who does the PlusNet advert and so on.

And don’t get me started about the nurses in the NHS!

When my friend and I were in the States and Canada, we asked to share meals. No one turned a hair and served up one meal on two plates.

I have never eaten large meals my tummy seems to get full quickly.

In the mid-60s I was an overweight, spotty teenager. Then I went to France for six months to improve my French and worked as an au pair. I loved the food prepared by mothers, grandmothers and aunts and ate everything served to me with relish, even from the boucherie chevaline! When my mother met me off the boat train she didn't recognise me as my skin had improved and I'd lost nearly 2 stone, probably due to being more active but also I think because I had no chance to snack on biscuits, crisps and sweets. Sad to think that French cuisine is now going the ready-meal route.

Today I visited the local surgery (not my surgery) for hearing aid batteries. On the counter was a sort of raffle in aid of the local hospice (presumably organised by the hospice). On the counter was a squared sheet and it cost £1 to sign a square. Next to it was what I took to be the prize - a glass vase with a 'flower' arrangement in it surrounded in cellophane, just like something posh from the florist. But the 'flowers' were actually chocolate - lots and lots and lots of chocolate bars on sticks and arranged just like a flower arrangement. I wish I'd asked the receptionist if this really is the prize, I might go back tomorrow and comment in view of the emphasis on healthy eating and cutting back on sugar.

How ironic that I am sat reading this eating a rather delicious raspberry and white chocolate ice cream! But in my defence a few weeks ago I decided to use an app that logs calories and so everything I eat gets put into my phone/iPad and adds them up throughout the day. I know what weight I want to achieve and when by and the app has worked out my allowance. So far I have eaten all the things I like and have lost a steady 2+ lbs a week. I am already feeling the benefit and in the last 3 weeks have walked to work at least once a week (usually drive). As I lose more and the weather improves I shall walk to and from work at least twice a week. I have arthritis in my knee and a painful heel problem so walking is not the easiest thing to do but losing weight is helping. I know normal diets won't work so thought I would give this a go and so far so good. Oh and I had homemade pasta bolognaise for dinner and homemade soup for lunch

www.bbc.com/ideas/videos/is-the-obesity-crisis-overblown/p057q8bh