Obesity linked to poverty

Also, seeing as it's almost a third of children who are considered overweight, I would presume that includes gransnet family members too.
Whats the reason for that?

What's the evidence for that MissA?
I don't see it where we live.
Unless it's due to many older people giving up smoking. Often too late.
eg me - I smoked for many years, gave up with great difficulty 20 years ago and am still skinny as a lat. But many ex-smokers compensated wih food.
You rarely see a heavy person smoking here.

17:39Chewbacca

My point is even the so called poor can serve up a breakfast

That's one of the most heartless and callous posts I've seen.

Goodness you must have led a very sheltered life then if you are offended by that lol.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn03336/

Fennel.

I haven't read all the posts so I'm not sure where the diabetes conversation started.
Just wanted to say I'm prediabetic and I've been watching my diet for years because of high cholesterol and my bmi is 22! I know others who are the same.

Over 65s I guess are often overweight, retirement, lack of exercise, aching bones, many of us are not as mobile as we want to be. Like many others, my knees give out after about a mile or two, I’ve always been active but now I have to take it easy.
It’s the obese youngsters that I feel sorry for double the weight they should be at 30 or so.

So, should you not decrease your food intake if you're less mobile?

And, just for the record, firecracker breakfast club has never been free in this area.

A lot of working parents use it if they have a gap between going to work and the start of the school day.

I agree that obesity needs to be tackled but please don't stereotype T2 diabetics as fat, lazybones, who can't stop stuffing their faces with the wrong kind of food

Growstuff please be clear, I have absolutely not made any stereotypical comment on this thread. Those are not my words that you use. I am well aware how complex the issues are. I disagree that very few people are morbidly obese (BMI of 40, or BMI 35 with compromise such as hypertension or diabetes), its unfortunately becoming increasingly common.

Shocking how many callous judgements are being made here about poor people. Poverty is alive and well in the UK Universal credit doesn’t cover the bills rent and food for many people due to the two child limit which means that a third or subsequent child is effectively being fed and clothed from the money allocated to the oldest two! Rents are not fully covered by either the housing element of Universal credit or by Housing benefit (the old legacy benefit) here for example the most that the DW will pay

DWP will pay towards rent for a 3 bed house is £900per month while you would be hard put to find a property for less than £1150!

Childcare costs aren't far behind that figure, either.

My daughter was on UC (whilst working hard to find work I hasten to add). She could not have afforded fresh fruit and good quality food for her children without my help.
I didn't know that Jenpax , about claimants only being paid for two children. Unbelievable.....or maybe not!

I didn't realise that so many older people are obese (or overweight)
I wonder if they are mostly stuck at home unable to move because the ones I see out and about tend to be quite small and thin.
A cocktail of:
lack of movement, too much of the wrong kind of food (including medications) and misery which makes people comfort eat.
Presumably it's easier to eat a bag of crisps, cans of beer, sweets and biscuits rather than cooking a meal from scratch especially for one person.
I still feel more worried about the young ones who have less, or no, control over their diet.

Shocking how many callous judgements are being made here about poor people.

Indeed it is. There, but by the grace of God......

Prevalence of overweight and obesity is above 70% among all age groups from 45 upwards. The adult age group least likely to be obese is 16-24 year olds, with 57% at normal weight and only 37% overweight or obese, as the chart below shows. Adult obesity in England has risen from 15% in 1993 to 29% in 2017.6 Aug 2019

When my children were young and I was working full time I was grateful I could afford to nip into a local M&S at lunchtime and buy their equivalent of fast food ie readymade lasagna, breaded fish, mince pie etc to stick in the oven as soon as I got home. If there had been a Tesco or similar nearby I would have gone there instead. My children may not have had the most nutritious meals but they were never overweight. Why because they exercised a lot. I encouraged them to join karate, badminton netball and rounders clubs. My son was the fussiest eater ever, you could barely get a vegetable in him. Then again he disliked all sweets and cakes which is why he only had his first filling at 40. Encouraging children to exercise is the key.

Lucky you to be able to afford M&S ready meals! They would not have fitted my budget for a family of 5.
I was teaching full time with 3 daughters and I would do batch cooking at the weekend to freeze (Lasagne, casseroles etc) or else it might be a pie with chicken from Sunday or sausages..
My idea of luxury was an M&S ready meal, so when the youngest had left home to go to university and my DH was working away from home Monday to Friday, I “treated” myself. Looking back, I gained a fair bit of weight that winter so perhaps evidence that ready meals are less than ideal from the nutritional point of view, and sadly the novelty of the ready meals -even M&S- quickly wore off!

GrannyLaine

^I agree that obesity needs to be tackled but please don't stereotype T2 diabetics as fat, lazybones, who can't stop stuffing their faces with the wrong kind of food^

Growstuff please be clear, I have absolutely not made any stereotypical comment on this thread. Those are not my words that you use. I am well aware how complex the issues are. I disagree that very few people are morbidly obese (BMI of 40, or BMI 35 with compromise such as hypertension or diabetes), its unfortunately becoming increasingly common.

What percentage of people are morbidly obese? The usual definition is with a BMI over 40.

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if people with a BMI over 40 have a whole range of health problems, but I know for an absolute fact that not all obese people are diabetic and that many people with normal weight are diabetic.

I was diagnosed as T2 diabetic in my mid 30s with a normal weight. At the time, I was considered atypical and was part of a research project. Although there is a high correlation between diabetes and overweight/obesity, it really is not the whole story. Overweight people do not automatically become diabetic. There is a school of thought that diabetes contributes to weight issues.

As a T2 diabetic, believe me, I have been on the receiving end of negative comments. Even diabetic nurses don't know what advice to give if people don't match the profile they've been given. I am fed up with reading ignorant press articles stating that T2 diabetes is caused by overweight/obesity.

Davidhs

Over 65s I guess are often overweight, retirement, lack of exercise, aching bones, many of us are not as mobile as we want to be. Like many others, my knees give out after about a mile or two, I’ve always been active but now I have to take it easy.
It’s the obese youngsters that I feel sorry for double the weight they should be at 30 or so.

They're not double the weight they should be.

If people are less mobile, they need less food and should eat less.

People's metabolism differs. Some people comfort eat under stress/worry-----I can lose 1/2 a stone no problem under stress, because I can't eat, I churn up.
Neither of these ways is ideal and both psychologically challenging.

I don’t know why older people tend to carry more weight, but it seems to me that it was ever thus. Both my grandmothers were overweight. My mother was a slim young woman, as was her sister, but both put weight on as they grew older. My sister was thin as a young woman, but she’s not thin now. The same for me, I was an extremely slim young woman, but am not an extremely slim older woman. I’m not obese, but my BMI is perilously close to tipping into overweight.
There are many reasons why people of all ages are overweight, but older women have often put on weight as they age. Fewer hormones, possibly less exercise, less running around after children, maybe more car use. Who knows, but it seems to have been always the case.
And judging by threads on what Gransnetters eat, I would say most of us eat a reasonably healthy diet, and mostly home cooked.

There is also the problem of medication which has the side effect of putting on weight. I am fighting a losing battle at the moment to lose a few pounds before any more creep on and it simply just won't go. I exercise, cycled 14 miles a day for eight days in a row. Eat a very healthy diet and no snacking. Only downfall is my coffee intake but that is with skimmed milk.

Anyway, part of the problem is the lack of knowledge about cooking a meal and how to make cheap meals. Some people have been in care, my own dil is an example, and leave care with no knowledge of cooking whatsoever. Lack of exercise is another, children just don't go out and play for hours, everything seems to be organised. Lastly poverty, as has been said and the cheapness of fast food and junk food.

Thanks for the link MissA but I don't think the conclusions
are so convincing for comparative overweight in old age.

Does this help?