Being overweight increases incidence of cancer

Walking up Baker Street I was behind three girls, aged about 15, in school uniform with very short skirts and fat legs.

All three were at least a couple of stone overweight - goodness knows what future health problems lie in store.

I was interested to see that they were black, white & Asian respectively, in appearance. So potentially they are from different backgrounds but with something in common, maybe just too-large portions or fast food?

When I was growing up in the 1950s I can hardly ever remember seeing any fat people. We never went hungry and we were on the go most of the time.

Today everywhere you look there is food and drink. When I go to have a Costa coffee I notice people are ordering coffee with added calorie laden syrups, whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate flakes. Treats like this are no longer treats they have become the 'norm' for some folks.

I can't see how the Government or NHS are going to stem the tide of gluttony and over indulgence.

Constant "grazing", fast food, processed food, hidden sugars in food and drinks.
Have to say I am quite shocked by the number of hugely overweight and obese people I see when I visit the UK now.

Oh and portion size. Maybe I have got used to French portion sizes, but I am shocked by how people heap their plates when eating out in the UK.

Different ethnic groups have a greater, probably genetic, propensity for putting on weight, developing diabetes, strokes and a number of other such conditions, but I am sure that "grazing" and over large portion sizes makes the problems of being overweight worse.

As Mamie says the food industry really adds to this problem supermarkets are always advertising food stuffs as "ideal for snacking".

We really did not see so many very overweight people in the 50s and 60s.

I doubt if the food industry would appreciate any legislation on reducing portion size, or controlingg their heavy promotion of snack foods.

Yesterdays food intake ( average for me)

Fruit n fiber cereal with semi skimmed milk, cup of tea
Ham sandwich on brown bread with flora spread, cup of coffee
Tea with semi skimmed milk two digestive biscuits
Grilled gammon steak, a few oven chips and peas

Am I fat ? Yes !

Not all overweight people stuff junk all day.

As I've said I battle with my weight constantly part vanity part health related and I'm sick of it!! It would be so nice just to eat normally. What is that you all cry in unison? Well I'd like to be able to do what we are told French women do - good food, well cooked in moderate quantities- its seems I am only capable of feasting or fasting. I wonder how many people are like me trapped in self perpetuating spiral.

I relate so much to your post teetime thank you .

Why are they knocking "processed foods" again? How can 'processed' foods in particular make you fat? For one thing, a ready-meal is likely to have fewer calories than a meal you cook yourself because it is, quite simply, smaller. And that's what makes you fat - excess calories.

Is this another obese people bashing thread? Perhaps because it makes us, probably the luckier ones, feel good about ourselves?

New headline:

'Being Alive Increases Risk of Cancer'

Three of my friends have died of cancer in the last few years. All very slim and health conscious.

Processed food is full of sugar which makes you fat. I ate some pasta my SIL made using a jar of pasta sauce. I could taste the sweetness from the added sugar, it really was awful. What processed food doesn't have large amounts of sugar in it.

Nina although that does seem quite frugal there are a lot of processed foods in yesterday's menu - cereal, ham and gammon, flora, biscuits, oven chips. It's hard to know exactly what hidden sugars are lurking and the salt from ham and gammon can cause fluid retention.

only saying

I can relate to what you said nina, I eat three meals a day and cakes and biscuits are a treat not a part of everyday food. I remain overweight but put it down to a slower lifestyle and more sitting around. Before DH retired I walked everywhere but now we use the car.

Anya you have a point but I can't be hassled with checking everything I eat. My point was I don't stuff crisps biscuits by the bucket load

I take on board everything your saying. I don't/ couldnt eat what some people imagine all those overweight get through in a day

It is true that as we age our metabolic rate slows down, perhaps because of being less mobile, a 'slower lifestyle' (as Harrigran put it), less muscle mass, and many others reasons we don't fully understand yet.

But people do tend also to underestimate how much they eat.

Having watched Secret Eaters, it was enough to put me off eating for good! How on earth anyone could eat the volume of food they consumed was beyond my comprehension-and they couldn't see why!

I need to shed an extra 7-10lbs which have been hanging around (mainly as love handles) for the last 6 years. I've made a few half-hearted efforts and recently bumped into a friend I've not seen for ages. She, and the advent of spring, have inspired and motivated me to finally get it shifted.

I'm going to follow the 'Cut out the Crap' diet.

I think concern, jingle rather than bashing. it is worrying to see so many very overweight young women (some of them smokers). Also to see that in the over 50s overweight seems to be the new normal. There are a few shops in this area that cater to this age group and every single thing in their windows this spring is loose fitting and designed to flatter "fuller figures".
It is not just cancer risk there is also the known increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

I love Secret Eaters and Embarrassing Bodies because it helps to keep me focused on healthy eating. I imagine what a camera set up would see if they followed me around all day and would I be ashamed of what I ate. I also cannot imagine having to show anyone my body especially in the horrible underwear they give them to strip off in on these programmes.
I rarely eat any processed foods not only because of the hidden sugar, salt and fat but because all the additives. Since doing this I have lost some weight, my eczema has improved, my dry skin is better, my aches and pains don't feel so bad and my digestion is fine- never any problems of any kind. The only problem I have with all this righteousness is that I am still a heifer - no justice is there?

Diet and structured exercise are not the only factors in obesity - probably the most important is a sedentary lifestyle (where the posture for most of the day is sitting or lying down).
Loss of muscle due to a sedentary lifestule leads to loss of muscle mass which in turn makes it difficult to exercise, so there is a vicious circle set up.

This is a quote from a government paper Sedentary Behaviour and Obesity: Review of the Current Scientific Evidence

'We are in what has been termed an ‘obesogenic’ environment, or society with many factors acting to make it challenging to maintain healthy body
weight or reduce overweight and obesity. In respect of human evolution,
people now adopt lifestyles in industrialised countries that were quite
unknown until very recently.'

Here's a link to the paper for anyone interested https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/213745/dh_128225.pdf

That looks like an interesting report, ja.

In fairness, you do see an awful lot a lot of slim, fit looking young women.

Perhaps it depends n which neck of the woods you are in.

this Waitrose pasta meal has 10 grams sugar. That's not too much considering you need to keep your total daily sugar consumption down to under 20 grams. And, anyway, as far as weight is concerned, it's total calories you need to watch. 500 calories for a main meal is fine.