'On yer bike' says Boris...

Dis86 said:
Lol get a grip, I owe you no respect. Your kid's fat, do something about it and he'll live a longer, healthier, happier life.
And whilst I might not know anything about him, the teachers and medical professionals that have contacted you do. Pull your head out of the clouds and listen to them.
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It kind of makes sense why it doesn't sink in having heard his comments doesn't it.
People just think it's normal to have a belly, it's only a bit of fat, just a "big lad".
Until this view changes and people stop being in denial scared of saying the truth it will carry on and get worse.
 
AndyCr15 said:
Not trying to have a pop/pile on, just perhaps stir more discussion and thought, but is this perhaps the issue we're talking about? We're so used to something, we accept it as the norm? Honestly, no it's probably not normal to have a pot belly as a kid, but then what is normal? Maybe it is normal and the question should be 'is it right'?



I don't mind posting a pic of my 'overweight' BMI of 25+ but tbh, I don't think anyone's arguing it doesn't work for everyone. I think I am relatively muscular and it simply doesn't work for me.
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Exactly my original point. It doesn't work for everyone so then figures are wrong.

I'm not going to put my kid on a diet for a tiny belly.
 
robj20 said:
It kind of makes sense why it doesn't sink in having heard his comments doesn't it.
People just think it's normal to have a belly, it's only a bit of fat, just a "big lad".
Until this view changes and people stop being in denial scared of saying the truth it will carry on and get worse.
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Precisely. It's why we're one of the fattest nations on the planet.
 
AndyCr15 said:
I don't mind posting a pic of my 'overweight' BMI of 25+ but tbh, I don't think anyone's arguing it doesn't work for everyone. I think I am relatively muscular and it simply doesn't work for me.
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I wish I could say it was all muscular for me! My legs are OK as you literally can't even pinch fat on them. But it's just a bit of belly fat I need to lose... If only those damn supermix weren't so moreish :p
 
robj20 said:
It kind of makes sense why it doesn't sink in having heard his comments doesn't it.
People just think it's normal to have a belly, it's only a bit of fat, just a "big lad".
Until this view changes and people stop being in denial scared of saying the truth it will carry on and get worse.
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Ok sure he's obese :confused:

We took him to an appointment and they never wanted to see him again. Said he's totally in proportion.

A bit of a belly my be fat and yeah he could lose it. But that doesn't make someone obese does it.

He won't be going on any sort of diet unless he puts on a lot more weight.
 
Dis86 said:
Precisely. It's why we're one of the fattest nations on the planet.
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It is worrying over here, my brother's mate lets his 5-year-old eat a small kebab every weekend. The takeaway food in this country is by and large disgusting and properly calorie-dense. I've worked with a few people from different countries and they can't believe anyone willfully eats the kebab meat that our takeaways produce :D
 
koooowweeee said:
Ok sure he's obese :confused:

We took him to an appointment and they never wanted to see him again. Said he's totally in proportion.

A bit of a belly my be fat and yeah he could lose it. But that doesn't make someone obese does it.

He won't be going on any sort of diet unless he puts on a lot more weight.
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I don't think I've said obese once.
 
koooowweeee said:
Ok sure he's obese :confused:

We took him to an appointment and they never wanted to see him again. Said he's totally in proportion.

A bit of a belly my be fat and yeah he could lose it. But that doesn't make someone obese does it.

He won't be going on any sort of diet unless he puts on a lot more weight.
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He wouldn't be obese unless his bmi is over 30. 25-29 is just classed as overweight.

And to be fair, the 'normal' range usually covers 3-4 stone, so its quite generous. If you're over that you are carrying a bit too much fat.
 
Scam said:
How much do you weigh? I'm 5'9 and weigh 10st/65kg. I've been called skinny many times in my life but the reality is I'm slap bang in the middle of healthy BMI. Just goes to show how people's perceptions have changed over time and how much obesity is normalised nowadays.

I will agree though, if you're a weight lifter or something then it's not going to be very reflective of your actual weight.
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I hover about 75kgs.
 
kayomani said:
I've lost 23kg this year by eating a high fat keto diet. Hopefully this ends up being a sugar+fat tax rather than just fat :/
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Fat isn't bad for you. In fact the opposite (the good kinds!)

Obesity is simply eating more calories than you burn. And considering how easy it is to get calorie rich food (as well as people massively underestimating how many calories are in things) coupled with the fact people are doing less exercise - it's a ticking time bomb.

Well the bomb has already gone off if you ask me, it's just going on and on and on......
 
koooowweeee said:
I'm not going to put my kid on a diet for a tiny belly.
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Maybe not, but be careful where that leads. It stands to reason if nothing changes, it will get bigger. Having been a very large person (both large frame and too much fat), I can tell you it adds up over the years you just don't notice. I only notice now I've come down to a better weight and I see photos of myself as I was. People still say to me they never thought I was fat (my chest measurement was always bigger than my waist for example) but now you can clearly see I was well over a healthy weight.
 
Chuk_Chuk said:
Why is dieting the only option? Have you considered trying to get him to play more sports? (Admittedly i am making assumptions on his lifestyle)
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More exercise is almost always a good idea, however the amount of exercise needed to compensate for a fundamentally unhealthy diet means that the 'more exercise' approach to weight loss is usually doomed to failure.

After seeing my weight steadily rise during my late 30s and through to mid-40s I tried for several years to get my BMI back under 25 by making very minor diet changes and adding more exercise (gym, cycling). It never worked...

Only after hitting nearly 15st (BMI of almost 30 for me) just before my 50th birthday did I decide that I needed to fundamentally change my diet. I used MyFitnessPal to religiously plan and log everything I ate (really everything - it's really important not to not log the odd snack thinking 'oh it's only one...'). I cut out almost all sugar, cake, bread, processed foods etc. and went all out on fruit & veg, lean priotein, healthy carbs etc. etc. and ran a 500 calorie deficit based on my diet aimed at losing approx 1lb per week, although in reality I lost a little more quickly as I increased exercise as well. It was definitely tough at the start, and I had a lot of cravings for the foods I had cut out, but these gradually reduced as the weight came down.

It took several months to get under BMI of 25 and I still want to lose a few more lbs as I'm still right at the top end of 'normal' - but I feel fitter and healthier than I have done any time in the last decade, and my blood pressure is has moved from being in the 'pre-high blood pressure' section of the chart to smack bang in the middle of 'normal'. It almost feels like it's been a 'life reset' as I really don't need to try to eat healthy now as it happens automatically and I have very little craving for the unhealthy foods I ate previously - you just have to stick with it long enough for the body to adjust and it becomes the 'new normal'.

/end of motivational/

Driving this behaviour for the population at large is no mean feat. In my opinion the only way would be to massively tax everything which is too calorie-dense to the point where its unaffordable (i.e. not just focus on one thing like sugary drinks) and use the tax take to subsidise healthy foods.
 
It'll be a shame if things get taxed that much though as people enjoying bad food every now and then, i.e. in moderation, they'll have to pay significantly more.

Also, something that I've often wondered and would be interested in other people's thoughts and experiences: Aren't the 'common' principles around required calories too broad and in themselves, could lead to obesity? What I mean is the age old men require 2,500 calories per day and women require 2,000. I'm 5ft 8 and 80Kgs and my resting metabolic rate based on my lean mass says I only need 1,800 to maintain weight. That's a big difference of 700 calories a day. That's over 1lb of body fat per week if over eating to that extent.

I don't really look at calories anyway, I tend to just take a pragmatic approach as to what is healthy vs what is unhealthy.
 
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