Re: Obesity excuses

Not wrong Ruthio but I think the larger factor today is the truly obscene level of sugars that are put into children's foods.

When I was young I remember having the odd fizzy drink like a can of cola or Tizer and the odd packet of crisps but these were always restricted by my parents. You were given one packet or can at a time.

Kids today just get large multi-packs of crisps and snacks bought for them at supermarkets and boxes full of fizzy pop.
They just seem to help themselves when they get to age 9-12and upwards.

When they go out into the street to amuse themselves they just trot off to the local corner shop and buy loads more sweets and chocolates. They are totally unaware of the damage they are doing to themselves. Like smokers, they have this sense of total denial that what they are doing is bad or that it will really be a problem.

One of my nieces was made chubby from early childhood and never recovered and for me it was totally down to her parents failing to properly control what she ate. Her parents were fat too so therein lay the problem. When parents themselves are stuffing their cupboards with large multipacks of crisps, what chance has a child got?!

There is just too much crap food out there now for kids and most of it has obscene levels of sugar in it with little to no fibre to help that sugar metabolise slowly.

I've mentioned before the awful Biscotti biscuits that HEINZ make for BABIES which have the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of sugar in every biscuit. It's cruel and wicked, addicting little babies to sugar, basically weaning them on it from such a tiny age.

I think your notion of lack of movement and physical exercise has merit, of course. But I think the bad food content is the greater issue.

My neighbour across the road has 2 boys and I've grown up with them from age 5 to age 18+. We frequently went on holidays with them and spent time with each other having meals. They were both hooked on Xbox consoles spending hours at a time on them, playing Halo deathmatches and the like. Despite this, neither of them was a chubby child and they both grew up to be normal handsome lads. The reason for this to my mind was that their parents were strict. They just wouldn't allow them to binge eat fizzy pop and crisps and sweets. They were given good meals throughout the day and so on.

Parenting has a key part in all this I think.

Re: Obesity excuses

I had lots of sugar and snacks as a child. It was the 70s and sweets and crisps were easily available and everywhere. My secondary school even had a tuck shop. The school still had chips on the menu. But I was never fat and neither were my friends. The difference between kids then and kids now is the internet revolution which has turned many into indoor socially anxious phone and net addicts. As kids we would walk to school, but then in the 80s and 90s the school run was created. We were always on our bikes or roller skates or doing gymnastics in the garden. Kids are always growing and all the calories (good/bad) should go into that if they have an active lifestyle.

So for overweight kids I don't believe in the "too much sugar" myth. I believe in the couch potato theory. But as you age you can develop various conditions and your metabolism slows. Then if you're also on meds that slow down the metabolism you just can't win. If you have injuries or arthritis forget it. None of it is as simple as denying yourself food. To limit yourself to a fraction of the calories you need just leads to malnourishment.

Re: Obesity excuses

I think you're both right Realist and Annie, I believe it's a combination of things.... inactivity plus sugar rich diet.

Re: Obesity excuses

Well I can tell you that I am not obese, yet I don't engage in specific exercise of any kind, spend many hours sitting down with a laptop or sat in a car driving. I simply eat decent food, most of it as it came out of the ground. I eat meat with good provenance. I don't ever buy bags of sugar. I eat the odd piece of cake and often eat snacks but am careful about what those snacks are. Mostly pretzels or crisps made from lentils.

Again, it's about balance.

People have individual lifestyles and you have to provide just enough fuel to your body to support that lifestyle. Too much and you put on weight, too little and as Annie says, you become malnourished and likely start suffering inside without actually realising the damage is going on.

It seems to me that some people have this whole thing upside down. Rather than have a lifestyle to match the fuel/eating with, they have an eating style which they then try to match a lifestyle with.

For example, many seem to want to eat lots of crap sugary and fatty foods, junk foods, takeaways, lots of fizzy drinks (esp as mixers on a night out binge) and so on. Then, since that results in significant weight gain and lots of other issues, they try to match that with a lifestyle which typically involves trying to do more exercise, going to gyms, joining slimming clubs and so on. For me that way lies madness.

Lead the lifestyle you want and match the food intake to go with it.

If you want to be an athlete or marathon runner, then eat the foods that support that lifestyle.

If you want to be a sedentary person, doing lots of reading and studying then eat the foods that support that lifestyle.

It's just a balance.

Re: Obesity excuses

I gained a tremendous amount of weight during the three years following the death of my mum and sister who died within 3 weeks of each other.

I became an emotional eater and totally lost myself for 3 whole years. Strangely, I don't even remember it happening, it's like those 3 years are mental block and I just can't have had any self control in that time. I think I was a robot just going through the motions of life but not really here, not living, just existing yet at the same time killing myself.

I don't know why but suddenly one day I looked in the mirror and didn't recognize the woman staring back at me and I remember feeling horrified.

From that day I took stock of my life and embarked on a life of eating good wholesome food and taking regular exercise to help strengthen my heart which had been under so much strain.

I like to think it was my mum and sister somehow reaching me and waking me up.

It's wrong to judge people when they know nothing about another person's life.

I agree with realist and Annie though, it is mainly about balance.

Re: Obesity excuses

People being overweight/obese isn't always down to the food they eat. One of my Aunts was very overweight and she always tried to eat healthy food. She was overweight due to glandular problems so it proves you cannot label every overweight person you see with eating "crap sugary and fatty foods, junk foods, takeaways, lots of fizzy drinks".

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obesity/causes/

In some cases, underlying medical conditions may contribute to weight gain. These include:
an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) – where your thyroid gland doesn't produce enough hormones
Cushing's syndrome – a rare disorder that causes the over-production of steroid hormones
However, if conditions such as these are properly diagnosed and treated, they should pose less of a barrier to weight loss.
Certain medicines, including some corticosteroids, medications for epilepsy and diabetes, and some medications used to treat mental illness – including antidepressants and medicines for schizophrenia – can contribute to weight gain.
Weight gain can sometimes be a side effect of stopping smoking.

Re: Obesity excuses

No question about that Mags.

You can also add contraceptive pills and associated treatments to that list. They will generally mess with hormones and body functions and result in women piling weight on.

Re: Obesity excuses

In today's Times...

The Sunday Times leads on NHS data showing that more than 40,000 obese people needed hip or knee surgery last year - including seven teenage girls.

The paper says it marks an increase of 575% compared to eight years ago, with the cost reaching £200m annually.

Doctors, health experts and MPs describe the situation bas "horrifying" and say this is clear evidence of a national obesity crisis which is leaving an already overstretched nhs reeling.

Re: Obesity excuses

I'd want a bit more detail ruthio, my husband piled on the weight when his knee stopped him getting much exercise prior to that he cycled and ran and wasn't fat at all. Some of these figures need looking into to see if the person was fat first. My knee only became a problem when I lost weight and walked a lot. I was fine all the while I was fat.

Re: Obesity excuses

That's brilliant, JBR, but you've got to stop showing us your home movies