Is obesity a class thing?

Pulls up a chair, breaks out the popcorn, sits back and waits for the fun to start

Lol...yes, I'm wondering whether I've dropped myself into hot water here! It is a valid question though.

Is this for real? Lower classes of society ? What exactly do you mean by this? Are you being clever and deliberately being offensive to provoke a discussion?

And perhaps even heading for another deletion?
Rosie did you take any time to familiarise yourself with GN before jumping in with both feet?

I am not the slimmest of people, quite the opposite and must now re-evaluate my place in society and I definitely instantly feel inferior. The point is, I don't know how, as I am comfortable with my self and my place in the great scheme of things.
Tips are welcome as to how I do this as I don't know anyone in the lower class of society, and need to know how I seek them out to become one of them.

Of course, I can't suggest for one minute what anyone else should do but I for one am not going to feed the beast.

Ann I know you as a kind and respected member of GN but now that you've admitted to those extra pounds we all have to reevaluate I'm afraid.
I don't think the lower classes join GN which why it's OK for us to discuss them in these terms.
I'm glad you've been brave enough to admit your shortcomings and suggest you pay careful attention to your betters.
Maybe one day you'll be regarded as worthy - like the OP.

You're right rigby - it has to be either windup or wicked so I'll follow your lead!

Budge up and pass the popcorn Anya.

Ann and me!

Got any fizzy pop to go with that Anya

Perhaps it's time for me to add that I myself am from the lower classes and live in a deprived area. I'm surrounded by people who are heavy smokers, heavy drinkers and eat a lot of take-aways. A large number of them are obese. I live near a 'posh' park where I meet middle class people walking their dogs and playing golf. None of them are obese (though exercise might be a factor). I'm just wondering if there is a connection?

Was it the Duchess of Windsor who commented that you cannot be too rich or too thin?
Sadly unlikely to be either.

(Pass the posh popcorn Anya)

ROSIELEAH you state you live in a deprived area and see many who are obese.It is maybe to do with the lack of money. If you have money you can pay a gym membership or hire a personnel trainer.You can afford to buy the correct sort of food to control weight. With out money you have to have the incentive to find a form of exercise which is free or costs very little, you have to be motivated to purchase the right kinds of food in your price bracket and prepare from scratch which may be costly in terms of using gas or electricity to cook the food. Without the finances it is easier to go and buy cheap food which requires very little preparation and cooking and fills you up but sadly is usually the worst you could eat for weight control and health. I feel sorry for children in these circumstances they really dont stand a chance as they have no control over what they have to eat.

School ended recently for those waiting their A level results

Budge up, Anya, and pass the Pringles.

That dawned on me "Annie*.I really didn't want to come back but you've tempted me! I was wondering if these common people also frequent Shoezone.

Rosie Leah I agree with you. We are getting more like America where being obese is the norm. The UK is the Fat Man/Woman of Europe. I'm working class but make an effort to exercise and eat healthy but all around me I see mainly obese women and obese young girls, but the boys and young men seen slim. Although you don't see so many smoking now. They seem to have no pride in their appearance and instead of wearing clothes to compliment them seem to wear the tightest most revealing ones which show off all their rolls of fat.

I know my place. Born into a working class family, worked all my life as a nurse and we all know that's not as good as being a doctor and here I am overweight. Only got myself and my social inferiority to blame I suppose. Pass the pork pies!!

Being one of the lower class - I assume this is the working class fir the O/P

I am battling with depression.

Couldn't care less about clothes, make up, haven't been to hair dresser for years.

How come I am 5'7" and a size 8

People who are obese choose to be so

And that's where you lose me !

Quite frankly Rosie load of bollocks !

And that's my contribution from lower down the social classes !

Obesity is multifactorial- diet, exercise, genetics, upbringing, self esteem, education, depression, medication,alcohol,peers and finances all contribute. If you are unemployed, single and depressed eating may be one of your only pleasures. Life is difficult for so many people.

I live not too far from the estate that has been identified as the most deprived in Wales, and to some small extent I do agree with what Rosie says? But I think obesity affects all classes of society, we are what we eat!

I'm not sure obesity was prevalent in any of the social classes before certain fast food outlets arrived from across the pond. Anyone who has visited America will know how it has affected the obesity levels there and perhaps it's worth mentioning that it is often cheaper there to buy a meal from certain food outlets than it is getting the ingredients together to cook a meal at home. The supersizing is another factor. Into that toxic mix add the fact that we move around a lot less than we did once before screens took over. I expect most of us remember how little tv there was for children when we were growing up. I know that many of us had more freedom to roam around and get ourselves dirty, hence my perception is that coupled with hardly any tv, and the fact that childhood leisure time wasn't monitered in the way it is today we were possibly healthier. My sibling and I spent a lot of our time out of the house when we weren't at school if I remember rightly. I guess we all ate less and moved more. I also imagine adults didn't imbibe the amount of alchol that as a nation we do today. In my house wine was something that we just had at Christmas time.

Some of the upper class Victorians and Edwardians were fat, if anyone has seen a sample of menus from the type of fayre that Queen Victoria and her offspring consumed, it's a wonder she lived to the ripe old age she did.

There is an interesting question in there from the OP though, as a long time ago poorer people were thinnner ( I was one of them) and never got enough to eat as a child really, always felt some hunger.
I do think it could be the type of food that people eat now, that is readily available as snacks that is causing the problem of obesity, and the amount of sugar consumed in drinks and chocolate.
Poorer people are always going to be at a disadvantage with food, as in the past it cost more ( the rise of supermarkets and basics ranges means that it's cheaper now) but at the same time parents are usually both working so have less time to make a meal that is both nutritious and healthy.
I don't believe anybody chooses to be obese, of any class, but that it just happens slowly.
I live in what could be called a very nice area, and the majority of teenagers are slim ( often very slim) that I see, but adults are a mixed bag, all kinds of sizes.