Future Rates of Obesity in Ireland

daveirl

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Boru.

Don't worry all the overweight Irish are just big boned.:rolleyes: ..oh...I forgot all IrIsh people are genetically predisposed to storing fat becasue of the famine. We're protecting our selves just in case we run out of chunky kit Kats or something. We're not fat we're prepared.!

And one last thing its not my fault I'm fat - its the Irish football team and McDonalds. If we had qualified McD's wouldn't ahve brough ou there extra big consolation burger adn I wouldn't have been so upset as to eat it...

(all given to me in the last few weeks as "reasons")

yomchi

(all given to me in the last few weeks as "reasons")

LOL

daveirl

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TerrorFirmer

To be honest in my, shall we say "fatter" days, I didn't even notice - in fact, the topic of obesity in Ireland probably never even crossed my mind let alone bother me in anyway. Not that I was blind to it but I didn't even see it as a problem. Now everytime I go out I can't help but wonder at the amount of both overweight and seriously overweight people there are walking around, both classes which are unfortunatley getting larger as daveirl said.

I would personally hope it peaks soon before we actually level off with the US, which was for so long in a league of its own for scrutiny of poor health and obesity, but sadly it seems we are heading that way without slowing down whatsoever. But, to counter that, in my personal circumstance, there's been a major postive effect of even my actions as a single person. When I made the choice to get fit and healthy last year, which I have acheived (relatively speaking), I pretty much created a rolling stone effect, in which my girlfriend, my sister, and a few others have seen the incredible gains I've made (or rather, losses) and opted for the healthy lifestyle.

If only it were the same across the board, perhaps I'm navie to think things might be heading towards the light at the end of the tunnel, but I really hope they are!

thirtyfoot

Its the Celtic Shelf phenomenon- the abdominal overhang that is a direct result of the Celtic Tiger. When we were poor, all we had for treats was marietta biscuits and a bit of jam, now we have loads of money and can eat what we want. Bring back the recession and we'll all get toned and skinny again.

t-ha

Tingle wrote:

Its the Celtic Shelf phenomenon- the abdominal overhang that is a direct result of the Celtic Tiger. When we were poor, all we had for treats was marietta biscuits and a bit of jam, now we have loads of money and can eat what we want. Bring back the recession and we'll all get toned and skinny again.

...and the music on the radio will improve as teenage girls and younger will no longer be able to afford so many crap CDs.

As for obesity in Ireland, I think you need to go abroad to appreciate it. I was in Germany recently and I was actually struck by how 'normal' weight everyone was. It was very very much the exception to see someone who was visibly overweight. I don't know if they were all shredded neccessarily but they all looked healthy & normal. That kind of saddened me because if I found that striking enough that I particularly noticed it - then obviously Ireland was a land of tubbies. Sure enough when I got back to Dublin airport and looked around it was a pretty depressing sight.

daveirl

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Boru.

Nope - they are all genuine "reasons" given to me. And each one recieved my response "I'm sorry, this isn't working out. I'm gong to refer you to another trainer". I fired each and every one of them with a big smile on my face.:D

Cravez

Just a little observation that i have made that might be quite interesting, i could be wrong but i think im right in saying have you ever noticed these new trains we got from spain and other european countries? they are so small and cramped! They probably thought our irish bodytype would fit into these things but they don't! I might be an exception being 6'1 and 200 pounds but even still my mates who arn't as tall or big as me find them small and uncomfortable too. Probably just shows how "big" we are getting in any shape or form, whether it be muscle or fat.

poobum

what i find even worse is now kids arent even fecking walking anywhere! they have these new "wheelies" they dont even walk! just roll around! so damn lasy...i mean so many kids dont get enough exercise as it is...but now they are getting less...

tetsujin1979

Tingle wrote:

Its the Celtic Shelf phenomenon- the abdominal overhang that is a direct result of the Celtic Tiger. When we were poor, all we had for treats was marietta biscuits and a bit of jam, now we have loads of money and can eat what we want. Bring back the recession and we'll all get toned and skinny again.

This reminded me of part of an opening chapter in a fitness book i read recently, the point was made that in the not so recent past, being overweight was restricted to older, richer people. since the majority of the available work was manual, as opposed to the abundance of desk jobs that exist today, people didn't need gyms, their work burned off all the food and drink they took in. Indeed, being older and overweight was often a sign that you were a success in life, you didn't do manual work, but obviously had the money for fine food and plenty of it, ergo you had a made a success of yourself!!

ThrownAway

t-ha wrote:

As for obesity in Ireland, I think you need to go abroad to appreciate it.

Well, when I was in France a few years ago I was shocked to see how many morbidly obese random people there were [in minority]. I was actually shocked to see that some of these people could actually walk with the amount of weight the were carrying. It was extremes over there but then again I'd say if you got an average the French would be thinner than the Irish. We don't see as many morbidly obese people in Ireland.

Another thing, French shops don't have a zillion Cadbury and Nestle bars linned up by the checkouts like we do. They might have a few mars bars in a box somewhere down the back. They don't eat cerals. The food in the shops were healthier too, more natural they also have massive markets selling fresh fruit and vegtables each morning.