The Fat Man Of Europe?

[youngmafbog]

Is it time to call a spade a spade and stop all these howls of "fat shaming" etc?

Surely the country, and it's inhabitants need to admit they are now getting dangerously fat, obese (and not by bmi rubbish), and as such very unhealthy?

Just how long will it be before the NHS collapses under the weight(no pun intended) of this epidemic?

I don't believe taxing people or refusing them treatment is the whole answer, I would like to see local gyms provided free, or very cheaply, a) to prevent this happening and b) to help us fatties (yes I am one) get it off. In addition I really wold like to see nutritional and cookery for girls and boys in schools.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5526277/The-UK-fat-man-Europe.html

[-Talbot-]

Parents should teach kids how to cook a decent well balanced meal. Schools tend to 'Bake' rather than cook.

[murraymints]

I agree with the OP and suggest education of the young is the way to go.. and regular physical activity at school..we had school nurses that would monitor both over and under weight kids .. it is too too easy to eat all the wrong things and most kids seem to think Playstations and the like is an activity ??

[bhg481]

We frequently travel into Reading on the bus and there is always at least one child in a pushchair eating chocolate/crisps etc. When I was young such things were classed as treats and eaten rarely, nowadays they seem to be classed as breakfast. Only yesterday a VERY overweight mother was feeding her child chocolate on the 20 minute trip and it's face was already puffy with fat.

[youngmafbog]

Ideally the parents should but unfortunately we are in a situation where some parent were not taught, especially boys so it needs to fall to the school at least in the short term.

Yes exercise is key but here I have seen far too many schools losing their grounds to building developments, so very wrong.

[murraymints]

high streets here are full of school kids eating chips at lunchbreak...we were not allowed off the premises... I am inclined to think it is chips everyday for these kids and tins of fizz...

[Hopkirk]

Free gyms wouldn't make any difference YMF.

If only people would stop guzzling sugar water, it would be a big start.

[derekpara]

I retired as a secondary school PE teacher several years ago after a previous and very active existence in the military and I witnessed a massive increase in obese children coming into the secondary school system.
In my opinion there is a great need for Physical Training in schools (Circuit Training, Cross Country etc) to improve the cardio vascular system and,quite frankly, burn off fat.

Also,in my opinion, the present education system, post National Curriculum, places too much emphasis on the teaching of personal skills - which can be measured for statistical purposes. Too much standing around listening to teaching points and too little strenuous actvity. Children leave a football or rugby lesson without breaking into a sweat ! Not the complete answer to this massive obesity problem but an important part. I also share the view that access to swimming pools and gyms is far too expensive. What happened to the 2012 ' Olympic Legacy ' ?

Other ex military ABers may agree that twelve weeks basic training transformed all shapes and sizes into an almost uniform stature, apart from height, simply through PT. The obese slimmed down and the puny bulked up.

D

[Jahulaye]

“and most kids seem to think Playstations and the like is an activity ??”

And most adults think being online all day is an activity!!

I see adults barely moving at speeds of 50 Metres per hour stumbling zombie apocalypselike with looking down at their phones?to go to work at non physical exertion jobs then dtumble back home before collapsing into an armchair with a bottle of wine/4 pack and a pizza and going online once again before fighting to climb the stairs and then admitting defeat on the sofa before rinsing and repeating for 5 days with the weekends not being any better.

If the kids little “ike” and “Gertrude” have to grow up seeing their parents/grandparents/ carers living like this then unfortunately a potential heart diseased future as an enormous butterball looms unless big changes are made to break the cycle.

[murraymints]

we had compulsory cross country weekly and circuit training weekly in addition to normal games...PT everyday plus after school hockey,basketball, badminton and I also ran for a club..phew... i'm quite pooped reading it now !

[murraymints]

I know not of ANY adults who are on line all day !

[Old_Geezer]

Shaming might work on a few, but for many it is just bullying that the inflictor might enjoy but which pushes the victim back into a shell where, if anything, they could take consolation in flavour. Weight issues need to be tackled sensibly not used as an excuse to insult.

[Jahulaye]

“know not of ANY adults who are on line all day”

I use Twitter, Gv, snapchat and a good few others so maybe know more people than you but it’s not only my large circle of friends but strangers as well.

[murraymints]

making exercise in school compulsory and monitoring of kids is not shaming...

[Jahulaye]

Gv? FB

[murraymints]

apropos exercise.. I got my Tilly twister out yesterday..10 mins per day now....great wee machine... step machine and long walks with friend's dogs... thinking of a boxing thing class if I can get a friend to come with me...

[derekpara]

Spath.'....bit my tong.'

That's quite a feat !

[mccfluff]

Although I agree some peoples diets are terrible (says she eating crisps as typing) but i think there is another trend towards being healthy/fit, I see lots of people of all ages at the gym. If you look at the success of people like Joe Wicks, his books fly off the shelves, he has thousands of followers on his youtube channel - he's not the only one out there, there must be an interest for him and others like him to be so popular.

I have a theory that a lot of it is to do with social media and the obsession with selfies .

Personally, i think we should go back to schools, more PE and home economics, some kids leave school and don't know how to cook - that leads to convenience foods and takeaways.

[Kromovaracun]

While exercise is extremely important for maintaining a healthy heart, it will not be much use if you want to lose weight:

https://www.vox.com/2018/1/3/16845438/exercise-weight-loss-myth-burn-calories

The most reliable way to lose weight is to eat below your base metabolic rate each day for a prolonged period of time.

As such, it's not really a question of exercise. It's a question of diet. That's not entirely down to education (although that is by no means insignificant). Most people know what they are eating isn't healthy and that they eat too much of it. Most people who are fat know that they are fat, and decide on some level that they would rather be fat than diet. A lot of this has to do with marketing and the fact that we live in an extremely consumerist culture - if everyone else is fat, why should you worry about it?. In addition, there are far too many people who profit from other people over-eating (and eating badly) for this problem to simply be defeated by education.

I don't know what the solution is. It's a fairly unprecedented problem in human society. Maybe there isn't a solution and we just have to put up with the obese west getting steadily fatter and fatter for eternity.