UK women fattest in Europe

[rumborak]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15901351

Holy crap. A quarter of the women are obese. BTW, for all the advancements we're grateful for from the UK (parliament, Magna Carta etc. etc.), the "British disease" as I call it, is pretty rampant amongst its colonies too. Arrived in NZ and was kinda bummed. While the visitors were all sporty and trim, the locals were pretty chubby.

EDIT: Not saying this isn't a problem in other countries too. Germany for sure has a good percentage as well. But, arriving in London you immediately notice the difference. When I lived there and my mom visited me, one of the first things she said "wow, people are fat here!".

rumborak

[Scheavo]

 

[jsem]

I knew the UK was bad. Not surprised by these stats.

[Rathma]

UK debt fattest in Europe

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15820601

Oops, I meant fattest in the world 

[Sigz]

I didn't seem to notice that as much while I was there, but of course I spent most of my time around college students which certainly had something to do with it.

[Super Dude]

*waits for Andy to post*

[Fluffy Lothario]

I think it's funny how convinced a lot of people are that New Zealanders are an outdoors-ey, fit, active people. The ones out there hiking and surfing and snowboarding are really just a visible minority. If it's a five minute walk to the shops, 95% of people will drive down there to pick up their KFC. People look down on you for even looking at a bicycle the moment you turn seventeen and can legally drive a car.

I mean, I'm no exception. I've had back pains this week which I occasionally develop from doing absolutely no exercise and spending all my time sitting down for months on end. I had to force myself to get off my ass and go for a few runs to loosen out the kinks and get my back back into working order.

But honestly, when I was in Germany, I actually thought it was the same problem in reverse. There were so many girls where my first thought was, "Jesus Christ, don't you think you could do to eat a decent meal for once in your life?" After all, the definition of good-looking is wafer-thin.

[MasterShakezula]

I'd say the US is even worse.

The obesity rate's over 1/3 of the populace.

While the US isn't alone in having an obesity issue, I think it may be the only country to have accepted overweight as the status quo.  Hell, there are some people here who glorify fatness.  Even people obsessed with gaining as much weight as possible.  It's no good.  No good. 

I hope for their own sake that the UK hasn't reached that sort of craziness amongst some of its populace.

I also hope I'm not too late in stating said hope. 

[William Wallace]

You'll get no argument from me that many people could benefit from slimming down, but the idea of a "obesity epidemic" is a little hyperbolic. The truth is that far fewer people die as a result of their weight than most people think. And those who do die are on the upper end of the BMI scale.
 

[Super Dude]

That's a little tautological or contradictory or something. You're saying few people die because they're fat, because those who do die it's because they're fat.

[rumborak]

You'll get no argument from me that many people could benefit from slimming down, but the idea of a "obesity epidemic" is a little hyperbolic. The truth is that far fewer people die as a result of their weight than most people think. And those who do die are on the upper end of the BMI scale.

We've definitely gotten sadly good at managing medically the rampant overweight of the population. Keep in mind however that for the population that the OP article speaks about, the obese ones (BMI > 30), there is indeed a higher risk of death. Not to mention the quality of life issues for people who were obese from childhood on, with shot knees etc.

rumborak

[William Wallace]

That's a little tautological or contradictory or something. You're saying few people die because they're fat, because those who do die it's because they're fat.

We've definitely gotten sadly good at managing medically the rampant overweight of the population. Keep in mind however that for the population that the OP article speaks about, the obese ones (BMI > 30), there is indeed a higher risk of death. Not to mention the quality of life issues for people who were obese from childhood on, with shot knees etc.

rumborak

Yeah, the point I made isn't directly related to the risk associated with being morbidly obese. The problem isn't as widespread as it's usually claimed. That's what I was getting at, since most people classified as overweight don't have a BMI greater than 30.

[Riceball]

Duh, its because they still use the pound.

[ACID_FOX]

Because British food is better than American.

[MasterShakezula]

German food > English-speaking food. 

[ACID_FOX]

Circus Maximus > Dream Theater

[MasterShakezula]

Neither of those groups are German.

[ACID_FOX]

Subjective.

[rumborak]

Because British food is better than American.

What is British food anyway? Bangers and mash? Fish and chips? Chicken Tikka Massala?

rumborak

[MasterShakezula]

I'd like a definitive answer as to what American food is.

[rumborak]

Burgers.

rumborak

[Fiery Winds]

Red meat.

[hefdaddy42]

Because British food is better than American.

Not the story I got from a friend who worked in England for a few years.  Or a family member who is currently in Wales attending school.

But the truly shocking thing is that this thread wasn't started by Andy.

[ACID_FOX]

Nah it's not really better, but our chocolate is, I'll defend that. When I tried Hersheys out in the US I thought it tasted like puke. Actual puke, for real.

[MasterShakezula]

I dunno about you UKers, but most USer food is loaded with preservatives. 

Most food companies are mainly focused on putting out as much low-quality, low-cost, long-shelf-life product as possible. 

The lowest common denominator reigns supreme.  But that's fine with me, as I'm able to afford to not have to settle with the lowest common denominator.  Though I bet I'd be dining finer in Deutschland, capital for capital than I currently am in the US. 

[Super Dude]

Blood sausage. Yuck.

[King Postwhore]

Blood sausage. Yuck.

That's not what she said.

[the Catfishman]

I like english food, the different pie's (cottage pie, sheppards pie, steak and ale.. etc), the pasties,  the simple but satisfying pub food, sunday roast, puddings... etc... and I like quite a lot of different english ales... It's all not that fancy but very good nonetheless.

[Nel_Annette]

Nah it's not really better, but our chocolate is, I'll defend that. When I tried Hersheys out in the US I thought it tasted like puke. Actual puke, for real.

Should have tried something else. I live in the USA and I haaaate Hershey chocolate. So gross.

[AcidLameLTE]

UK chips > American French Fries

What are we talking about again?

[Scheavo]

I dunno about you UKers, but most USer food is loaded with preservatives. 

Most food companies are mainly focused on putting out as much low-quality, low-cost, long-shelf-life product as possible. 

The lowest common denominator reigns supreme.  But that's fine with me, as I'm able to afford to not have to settle with the lowest common denominator.  Though I bet I'd be dining finer in Deutschland, capital for capital than I currently am in the US.

I read many companies were using cellulose - aka wood - into a lot of food products, just as a way to copy textures and other things they need to reproduce. Guess this isn't really harmful to you, so much as it is selling you "food" you can't digest...