Educate me (Tommy G)

[Tommy G]

I don't know if this is wise opening a can of worms regarding the weight of people, but at least it's not as provocative in comparison to previous discussions on race an immigration etc.

I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet to do with over weight people. This may be a narrow minded view but this seriously is a problem within the UK and will continue to get worse unless a more harsh approach is offered by the government. At the minute, the attitude seems to be that we should feel 'sorry' for overweight people.

On one hand my mind thinks, lazy F***ers just eat a balanced diet and do some moderate exercise. I manage to lead a semi decent healthy lifestyle so why can't other people? You see documentaries on TV with a 26 stone 15yr old saying they have tried every diet going whilst stuffing 3 packets of jaffa cakes down their throat. How can that not wind anyone up?

On the other hand I do understand tha people may struggle with their weight due to some form of genetics, or disability to prevent them from doing exercise on a regular basis. Diabetic people can also suffer from weight problems from my understanding. It's frustrating from my perspective that i have to pay my taxes to pay for people to sit on their arse and develop health problems from their own lazy attitudes. I think health warnings similar to those on cigarette packets could be introduced on unhealthy products, this is extreme but I think that the education on healthy eating still doesn't span to all of society.

I'm probably going to get slated for this but I was wondering if anyone shared the same view. Discuss

Obesity could cost the NHS in England as much as £6.3bn a year by 2015 if no effective action is taken, the government has said.

Figures from the Department of Health (DoH) state that obesity already cost primary care trusts (PCTs) £4.2bn last year.

The figures have come as separate statistics from the charity Diabetes UK have suggested that diabetes alone - a disease closely linked to obesity - is currently swallowing up about a tenth of NHS spending across the UK, or the equivalent of £9bn a year.

The DoH's calculations were outlined within a toolkit launched by the department for PCTs and local authorities to help them tackle obesity in the community.

Key findings included that fewer than four in 10 adults knew that obesity could lead to heart disease, while just 6% knew about the link between being overweight and cancer.

[James.]

** James and Tommy G in semi agreement shocker **

[coale39]

Who can resist that?!

[Tommy G]

Who can resist that?!

I can it looks rank.

I would much prefer a Double Sausage and Egg McMuffin. But I can stop at having one, perhaps once every couple of weeks. The problem starts when it happens regularly.

[Super Arj]

i honestly do share the same view..

in saying that.. i used to be overweight.. although i hit the gym every day for about 3 months and now im at a good weight,

with good fitness/health.

I think that due to some of the effects of being obese/overweight, those people could become demoralised, and think that "they cannot lose any weight"..

leading to binge eating, only adding to the problem.

Diabetes can contribute to weight problems, however that varies for each and every person,

for instance, my cousin has diabetes, and still plays for a Unibond league football team, and ran the london marathon this year, with no problems whatso ever..

[coale39]

I can eat what the hell I want and stay 12 stone! Wahoooo!!

(do play squash and badminton reg though...)

[AmericanScott]

Tommy you are spot on. Programs on tv want you to feel sorry for these fat people. I have no sympathy what so ever for them. I eat and eat and eat all day long and manage to stay the same weight (10 stone). Yeah i'll probably blow up when i hit 25 or something, but that's my fault, no one else's.

[welck12]

Its simple; if your obese, stop eating so much crap and do some exercise.

I have no sympathy what so ever, many people have illnesses such as diabetes and arent obese so thats no excuse

[Asha]

I can eat what the hell I want and stay 12 stone! Wahoooo!!

(do play squash and badminton reg though...)

Same, I eat all kinds of crap food, yet I'm still very small on the weight side.

Wouldn't say I exercise that much either.

[Guest]

On one hand my mind thinks, lazy F***ers just eat a balanced diet and do some moderate exercise. I manage to lead a semi decent healthy lifestyle so why can't other people? You see documentaries on TV with a 26 stone 15yr old saying they have tried every diet going whilst stuffing 3 packets of jaffa cakes down their throat. How can that not wind anyone up?

Yes!! It's the whole "it's not my fault I eat my own body weight in chips" attitude that pisses me off. Accept some responsibility for where you are, and do something about it! Don't sit there crying about how unfair it is, and wait for the apparent easy option of a pill (that can have horrendous side effects) or undergo major surgery (if you have to reduce the size of your stomach to make you sick if you overeat, then you need a psychiatrist, not surgery).

I put on a lot of weight during and after 6th form (I don't want to go into the whys and wherefores), but lost it all through moderate exercise and sensible eating, so I know what it is like to be obese.

Who can resist that?!

Me.

[Tilley]

I eat shitloads & I don't mean healthy stuff either & I do zero exercise.

I carry a few extra pounds, but I don't moan about it, I'm happy just as I am. However, if there ever came a point where I thought I was getting too big, I'd have it in me to eat healthy and do exercise instead of mooching around in self-pity like some fat people do.

[Tommy G]

Yes!! It's the whole "it's not my fault I eat my own body weight in chips" attitude that pisses me off. Accept some responsibility for where you are, and do something about it! Don't sit there crying about how unfair it is, and wait for the apparent easy option of a pill (that can have horrendous side effects) or undergo major surgery (if you have to reduce the size of your stomach to make you sick if you overeat, then you need a psychiatrist, not surgery).

I put on a lot of weight during and after 6th form (I don't want to go into the whys and wherefores), but lost it all through moderate exercise and sensible eating, so I know what it is like to be obese.

Which will cost the tax payer unless paid for privately. At least tax revenue from cigarettes contributes to paying for people who suffer from smoking related illnesses. (Im not saying smoking is better than being fat before someone assumes that)

[James.]

The solution is probably one of education and encouraging people to take responsibiltiy for themselves. It seems that many people don't even realise that what they're eating will make them fat. Worrying really because it's not rocket science.

I'd rather not see health warnings on food like on cigarettes because I don't want to see yet more nannying and being told what we should or shouldn't do.

Maybe as part of PE lessons schools should educate kids about the entire spectrum of health. Combine actual sport with some of the science behind it. I dunno. I'm just wary of telling people what they should or shouldn't do, people need to take responsibility themselves and use some fucking common sense.

[coale39]

Yes!! It's the whole "it's not my fault I eat my own body weight in chips" attitude that pisses me off. Accept some responsibility for where you are, and do something about it!

Yeah, its always glands, metabolism, genes, bernie or the weathers fault.

[Shrenchel]

Which will cost the tax payer unless paid for privately. At least tax revenue from cigarettes contributes to paying for people who suffer from smoking related illnesses. (Im not saying smoking is better than being fat before someone assumes that)

Well, it is.

[Jon the Hat]

There are some issues around the very poor and fat levels of cheap food vs expensive food. You get a hell of a lot more calories from your £1 eating fatty food vs healthy food. The obvious solutions is to tax crap food and put 100% of that into subsidising healthy food. Sadly this govt would be more likely to just tax fatty foods and pocket it. In my view it would not be that hard to require the major supermarkets to arrange it themselves.

[Samilktray]

I just ate some fantastic rice.

[Bellend Sebastian]

I'm not making excuses for these (barely) walking lard mountains, but I think a big part of the problem is habit. I was talking to the old gf the other day, who's a clinical psychologist so should hopefully know about these things, about someone I know who isn't a fatty but is in dire need of making some reasonably significant lifestyle changes, which to me appear to be no big deal, because it's all stuff that I do already. She pointed out to me that if you don't do those things and they don't come naturally, it can be pretty bloody difficult, and for some people well nigh on impossible to change things in their lives, even if it's bleeding obvious to them that it would help. Let's be honest, how often do we have to completely change something in our lives, and if we ever need to, how easy is it? It's bloody hard, I reckon.

I've known a few morbidly obese folk in my time, and the thing they all have in common is a massive lack of self confidence and, I suspect, a lack of faith in their own ability to instigate the changes that they would like to make.

I should point out that I have a BMI of 22. Take that, fat fans

[Bryn]

Just be careful of tarring everyone with the same brush. It's the same as anything else, you're writing off swathes of human beings and shooting them all with the "omfg go exercise and eat healthy" shite is harsh. It's not that simple, for a variety of reasons, not least the fact that some overweight people do genuinely look after themselves as much as anyone else, whilst holding down busy jobs or trying to otherwise undertake some time consuming and dedication-requiring task, and whilst trying not to bankrupt themselves with healthy food, AND whilst taking flak from all corners of society for something that probably has its roots in their childhood and comes with some fairly rough psychological issues.

I know as well as you all do that some people are quite content to just sit and expand and be lazy and do nothing about that, but that's not universal just as pretty much nothing is in our society.

[coale39]

Just be careful of tarring everyone with the same brush. It's the same as anything else, you're writing off swathes of human beings and shooting them all with the "omfg go exercise and eat healthy" shite is harsh. It's not that simple, for a variety of reasons, not least the fact that some overweight people do genuinely look after themselves as much as anyone else, whilst holding down busy jobs or trying to otherwise undertake some time consuming and dedication-requiring task, and whilst trying not to bankrupt themselves with healthy food, AND whilst taking flak from all corners of society for something that probably has its roots in their childhood and comes with some

Come off it.

[Bryn]

Come off it.

I'm picking a niche market out with that one, single mothers on low income for example. I exaggerated, but it's a fact that more often than not expensive food is healthier.

Did you have any issues with anything else I said, or did you hone in on that one point and try and be condescending towards it so as to make me look stupid?

[Webbo]

I think this thread proves that some prejudices are more acceptable than others. Comparing all fat people to the thick dupes used on some TV programmes is like comparing all muslims to these preachers of hate we often see on the news.

Yes some fat people kid themselves on about why they're fat, but don't we all kid ourselves on at times?Fatties are a mixed bunch just the same as the rest of us, there are lots of overweight folks who are intelligent and good fun and a lot better company than some pain in the arse health fascist.

[coale39]

I'm picking a niche market out with that one, single mothers on low income for example. I exaggerated, but it's a fact that more often than not expensive food is healthier.

Did you have any issues with anything else I said, or did you hone in on that one point and try and be condescending towards it so as to make me look stupid?

I dont really. People have a lot of issues where people sometimes just say "SNAP out of it you dumb ****!" but that dont solve things. Food in these peoples lives are maybe one of the only things they get pleasure from. I just picked out that point because healthy food can be dirt cheap. Its just that people arnt educated or cant be arsed.

[Shrenchel]

I think this thread proves that some prejudices are more acceptable than others. Comparing all fat people to the thick dupes used on some TV programmes is like comparing all muslims to these preachers of hate we often see on the news.

Yes some fat people kid themselves on about why they're fat, but don't we all kid ourselves on at times?Fatties are a mixed bunch just the same as the rest of us, there are lots of overweight folks who are intelligent and good fun and a lot better company than some pain in the arse health fascist.

I hear that. I'd rather hang out with salad dodgers than gym freaks.

[Bryn]

It's not "just" anything a lot of the time, it's as varied and complicated as anything else. Attitudes like the ones fat people often face (and I'm attempting not to tar everyone who's in the other camp with the same brush equally as much) from some areas are so detrimental to making things better.