Todays' claim that one third of the worlds population is overweight or obese has kicked off the New Year 'diet' craze again. All of my life I have been very active physically, I have all my own gym equipment, I was a body-builder for many years (natural, no steroids).
I have many friends here that are classed as obese by the WHO scale, I have never heard anyone ever say, referring to themselves, that they are obese. I usually get the comment "I know that I could lose a few pounds".
Perhaps, part of the problem is that no-one actually wants to admit, or be faced with the description OBESE! I believe that whilst it is politically un-PC to call someone fat or obese the situation will get worse.
Obesity is a recognised cause of diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, bad circulation, even alzheimers, amongst many other ailments. So why do so many people deny it in themselves?
My "little girl" usually looks good in them :-) She usually returns from her regular girly gossip trips to the UK having nicked a load of the grandkids gear.
I think if your BMI is over 30 you don't need to admit it, everyone can see for themselves. Mean joking apart perhaps people simply don't see themselves as obese even when they most certainly are because they don't look like those wretched headline grabbing 500 kilo people who have to have their house half demolished so they can be taken to hospital (I have a vague memory of a newpaper story about this). If my BMI got anywhere near the upper limit of 'healthy weight' I'd be doing something about it.
My missus being 5ft 2 in & 71/2 stone soaking wet loves the kids clothes shops just as long as they are fashionable! All her jodhpurs are kids size & apparently much cheaper than "grown ups"
Another point is that my kids are very tall for their age and finding suitable clothes in France is a challenge so we buy mainly in the UK. However, this is an issue too as the clothes are so large around the middle that my skinny 7 year old looks like he still has room for a nappy once I have pulled the elastic bits in around the waist. My 9yr old has her daddy's German build so is tall and strapping, however still within the correct percentiles (on French charts) but even on her British clothes are way too large around the waist. And it appears many stores have 'comfort' fit sizes for the kids as many of them are too fat for the regular sizes.
Not sure this is the case in France. I went for my gynae check up last year and when I stood on the scales (naked) and declared my weight at 65kg the (male) gynae took an intake of breath. Madame, you have gained 2 kilos this and at your age (47 last year) you are never going to lose them. You must not under any circumstances gain any more weight as you will never lose it at your age. Do they put it as bluntly as that in the UK?
Personally, I think it was a bit overkill as I did nothing but I daren't go back this year though as I've gained another 4kg definitely sliding me into the overweight category as my BMI is now 27 instead of the 24 it has been for many years. However, I'm seriously thinking I shall take up the SFN challenge and cut out alcohol in the week and try and do some walking every day as I currently do no exercise at all. I have been extremely lucky and never dieted once in my life. Maybe if more people were told they were obese, instead of 'a bit overweight' they'd be more inclined to do something about it.
I think it's the use of the word obese these days. I know I'm not - I'm skinny as a rake. My wife is overweight but prefers to call herself fat. That said she has lovely legs!
On the current obesity scale she was classed some years ago as obese when she went for a well woman check up at our local doctor. At the time (she's 5 ft nothing) she was a size 12-14 and walking a mile each way to work every day, plus walking the dog before and after work with longer walks at the weekend.
Would you call that obese? I think we have to be careful how we use the word.
