Ireland becoming most obese country in Europe

Precious flower

Uh oh! To be honest I'm not surprised; you see a lot more children who are worryingly overweight now that I don't remember seeing when I was a child and I'm only in my twenties. Sedentary lifestyles and portion control are the two main culprits in my opinion. Parents need to be educated better if we want to change the future for the next generation. I'd say a lot of people are misguided when it comes to nutrition and what is actually good for you e.g. Low fat products.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/ireland-set-to-be-most-obese-country-in-europe-who-says-1.2201731

By 2030 Europe will face an obesity crisis of “enormous proportions”, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) experts. In terms of obesity alone, the estimates show a big jump for women in the Irish Republic, soaring from 23 per cent to 57 per cent.
The proportion of obese Irish men was expected to increase from 26 per cent to 48 per cent while the figure for those either overweight or obese rises from 74 per cent to 89 per cent.

Fewer than half of Dutch men were predicted to be overweight or obese, and just 8 per cent obese, by 2030 compared with 54 per cent and 10 per cent in 2010.
For Dutch women, overweight and obese rates were due to fall slightly from 44 per cent to 43 per cent while the level of obesity alone were expected to drop significantly from 13 per cent to 9 per cent.

We need to find out what the Dutch are doing right. Is it that they tend to cycle over using cars to get from place to place? I'm not sure what their diet is like.

Zillah

One huge flaw though: the data for Ireland and the UK was measured by professionals, whereas everywhere else was self-reported. That immediately makes any comparison virtually useless, because we've seen time and again that people tend to self-report in a flattering manner (look at studies on penis size, the difference between measured and self-reporting is hilarious).

Comparisons aside, it is horrifying what's happening to our population's health. People complain about the nanny state a lot, but it appears the majority of people are either too ignorant about nutrition to eat well or too undisciplined to take action.

grumpynerd

Strand a: poor and stupid people have acvess to calories now their ancestors wouldnt have had or would have worked off with manual lsbour.

Strand b: famine in popular consciousness meets celtic tiger excess

Strand c: recesion stress leading to comfort eating

Strand d: alcohol caloric intake normal vountries dont suffer from as badly.

Strand e: vested interest for govt and business to have illhealth for control and tax rwasons aka neoliberalism.

Strand f: no historical culture of cuisine or of personal physical exellence

Caliden

Purely anecdotal but when I was growing up we would cycle to our friends houses most evenings to play football or just generally hang out.

Nowadays if a child is seen on the roads on a bike, the parents are almost scolded for 1) letting them off on their own and 2) letting them cycle on the roads.

So instead the child is inside watching tv or playing computer games or even driven/collected by car.

Precious flower

Caliden wrote: »

Purely anecdotal but when I was growing up we would cycle to our friends houses most evenings to play football or just generally hang out.

Nowadays if a child is seen on the roads on a bike, the parents are almost scolded for 1) letting them off on their own and 2) letting them cycle on the roads.

So instead the child is inside watching tv or playing computer games or even driven/collected by car.

I remember that too. Children played outside WAY more than they do now too. We were practically twigs!:pac:

Alf Veedersane

Its a different world now though. Or at least there's the perception that the workd is more dangerous.

I can understand how parents worry more.

But that doesn't mean they should be horsing sh*te food into them in the first instance.

kippy

A few factors aid this:
1. Easy access/proliferation to/of fast food outlets/"convenience" food. There's a fast foot outlet of some description within 10 minutes of most places these days, often more than one.
2. More people working (including women) in office type jobs and the knock on effect of having less time in the day (in their heads) to get a proper meal ready because of commutes/kid pickups etc and more money to splash out on food.
3. Less physical activity in general across the board, but particularily with kids. As stated already letting kids outside now to play leads to fears of neglect, kidnapping etc etc.
4. A bigger focus on working/careers/college, all putting pressure on people.
5. Lack of proper education on the matter. People drinking diet coke or diet drinks in general is a great example of this......
6. The mis-regulation of the food and drinks industry.


And probably a tonne more.

power pants

My child is almost 7 and walks every morning with me to school and walks with the childminder to the afterschool

weekends we walk everywhere or it brings its micro scooter

We have a car but I refuse to drive it for anything less than an hour walk away.

swimming lessons on a saturday morning and karate during the week

Its pretty disgraceful to have an overweight child if there is not a medical underlying medical problem.

So many parents are not active themselves so any excuse to spend a weekend on the couch posting **** selfies with their fat flump watching dvds as its too "cold" to be outside

then when they do go out -selfie of them stuffing their faces in kfc or whereever with the tagline, sure why not, my baby deserves the best

breakfasts consists of some high sugar **** cereal, fizzy drinks during the day and macdonalds before bed. coupled in with bags of "crips" as a snack until sloth fest at kfc later

what are we talking about again?

rubadub

Zillah wrote: »

One huge flaw though: the data for Ireland and the UK was measured by professionals, whereas everywhere else was self-reported.

I would like to see how they came up with the predictions. Are they trying to follow a trend or something, and is the trend flawed and/or presumptious.

In terms of obesity alone, the estimates show a big jump for women in the Irish Republic, soaring from 23 per cent to 57 per cent.
The proportion of obese Irish men was expected to increase from 26 per cent to 48 per cent

In the UK, 36 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women were forecast to be obese in 2030 compared with 26 per cent of both sexes in 2010.

So UK & Ireland have similar enough levels now, as I would have guessed, yet they are predicting the Irish to increase a lot more, whats that all about?

I am guessing it can only be some weird trend, like in 1980 the UK were more obese than the Irish and so even though they are both level now they are predicting a similar leap again.

Caliden wrote: »

Purely anecdotal but when I was growing up we would cycle to our friends houses most evenings to play football or just generally hang out.

I see very few kids cycling to school. In my day you could expect a severe slagging all day long if you were spotted being dropped off "by mammy" if you had a puncture or something.

power pants

they have WOW (walk on wednesdays) to get the lazy parents to walk their rotund offspring to school instead of the daily 10 min journey in a car.

Its not about safeness or the country becoming more dangerous.Whilst a lot People in general are becoming more active and healthy a lot of others remain lazy, greedy and fat

Bob24

In my opinion, no question it is the diet. Sure people could exercise more, but I suspect the same could be said about most European countries.

Loads of people eating crisps/chips and drinking sugary drinks on a daily basis ... or having no clue what a healthy diet is (not only individuals but also professionals who are preparing menus for canteens).
Some people at the canteen at work are very regularly regularly having a plate of chips or a half (greesy) pizza and chips for lunch. Loads are having a sandwich, crisps, and a sugary drink as a quick lunch break at their desk - eating unhealthy food in unhealthy conditions.

Kids are fed with junk food as well. Not a place I often go to but I once went to McDonald's at Dundrum for lunch at the weekend, and was amazed to see most customers were family with young children.

Of course this is not everyone's case and many people also take good care of themselves and their kids, but poor diets are endemic in Ireland.

cloudatlas

And yet there was some report that Irish men are among the most handsome. Handsome and obese perhaps ????!!!

MagicMarker

power pants wrote: »

We have a car but I refuse to drive it for anything less than an hour walk away.

I don't believe you.

power pants wrote: »

So many parents are not active themselves so any excuse to spend a weekend on the couch posting **** selfies with their fat flump watching dvds as its too "cold" to be outside

then when they do go out -selfie of them stuffing their faces in kfc or whereever with the tagline, sure why not, my baby deserves the best

breakfasts consists of some high sugar **** cereal, fizzy drinks during the day and macdonalds before bed. coupled in with bags of "crips" as a snack until sloth fest at kfc later

I think you may have anger issues.

Bob24

MagicMarker wrote: »

I don't believe you.

Unless there isn't anything within an hour walk from his house :-)

But yes in a urban environment if you are refusing to use the car for anything less than an hour's walk, it is becoming difficult to justify its cost.

power pants

the car was in the underground car park for 15 months until this April, just never used it

costs me nothing, all paid for, insurance is peanuts and was declared off the road when it wasnt taxed. I tax it 3 months at a time over the summer

nice car too. 2.5 litre engine :cool:

Ruby31

I'm not surprised by this at all. I've an 8yo and pretty much everyday there's a treat being offered by someone, somewhere because they were well-behaved in school, it's someone's birthday, it's Friday, etc, etc. I also have a 2.5yo and was irked by the fact that he was offered a lollipop when we were leaving a local playcentre. He had his hair cut in the barbers and got a lollipop because he was good. My MIL is always pushing junk on her grand kids and in the same breath, telling me she thinks one or two of them could do with losing weight😒

The weather in this country definately doesn't help, but the Netherlands has a similar climate!

Someone else pointed out the calories in alcohol and that is perhaps a big factor in today's adults becoming overweight. Wine o'clock is a term you hear regularly in the last year or two. A lot of people don't realise how many calories they are drinking.

I can't get over the amount of grossly overweight kids I see in playgrounds. Do the parents not SEE the weight or what?? Fine if you want to let yourself get fat, but don't do it to your kids. And I don't buy the excuse that junk food is cheaper. There's always plenty of offers in the supermarkets. You just have to shop smart.

ahnowbrowncow

power pants wrote: »

the car was in the underground car park for 15 months until this April, just never used it

costs me nothing, all paid for, insurance is peanuts and was declared off the road when it wasnt taxed. I tax it 3 months at a time over the summer

nice car too. 2.5 litre engine :cool:

So you haven't been anywhere more than 6kms or so from your house for over a year?

Alf Veedersane

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

So you haven't been anywhere more than 6kms or so from your house for over a year?

Ankle tag, innit.

jive

Ruby31 wrote: »

I'm not surprised by this at all. I've an 8yo and pretty much everyday there's a treat being offered by someone, somewhere because they were well-behaved in school, it's someone's birthday, it's Friday, etc, etc. I also have a 2.5yo and was irked by the fact that he was offered a lollipop when we were leaving a local playcentre. He had his hair cut in the barbers and got a lollipop because he was good. My MIL is always pushing junk on her grand kids and in the same breath, telling me she thinks one or two of them could do with losing weight😒

The weather in this country definately doesn't help, but the Netherlands has a similar climate!

Someone else pointed out the calories in alcohol and that is perhaps a big factor in today's adults becoming overweight. Wine o'clock is a term you hear regularly in the last year or two. A lot of people don't realise how many calories they are drinking.

I can't get over the amount of grossly overweight kids I see in playgrounds. Do the parents not SEE the weight or what?? Fine if you want to let yourself get fat, but don't do it to your kids. And I don't buy the excuse that junk food is cheaper. There's always plenty of offers in the supermarkets. You just have to shop smart.

Let's be honest it's not the lollipops or being rewarded with sweet things on various occasions, that's been going on for decades; to a lesser extent perhaps but it's hardly the straw that broke the camels back.

The problem really is readily available and ready to eat bad food choices. I don't blame kids for being fat and video games, again while a contributor, certainly aren't the big contributor they're being made out to be.

Fat parents generally have fat kids - it's simply down to bad diets and habits. The diet of a huge majority of the population is just sugary cereal, some form of sandwich for lunch, something 'quick' for dinner coupled with some sugar laden biscuits and/or alcohol.

I'm not anti-wheat but in general foods which contain wheat are bad. Avoid wheat = avoid a lot of bad food choices and then people's diets would improve massively just on the back of that. Have alcohol in moderation and bang you will be at a healthy weight so long as you move around a little bit. It ain't rocket science.

power pants

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

So you haven't been anywhere more than 6kms or so from your house for over a year?

I went to the moon in 2014 iirc

DVDM93

Had a kid in where I work today looking for a suit for his communion with his parents and brother and two sisters, he was no more than 7 or 8. He had shopped around all of town and couldn't find anything to fit him. The biggest boys/kids sizes were in clothes were too small for him and a small man's size in our place and others were way too long, even though it wouldn't fit around his belly.

I could see that the kid was upset, obviously had been doing the rounds trying on clothes in town and was getting nowhere. I knew I hated trying on clothes as a kid never mind the extra burden this kid had to carry.

Next thing after realising nothing was going to fit right the Dad half laughing pointed at his kids stomach and said "we need to get rid of that".

Well I had to hold my tongue.

A child predominantly lives a life their parents choose for them. They eat what their parents give them, do what their parents encourage in terms of activity, etc...

This Dad was very obviously allowing his son to live a lifestyle that is very very unhealthy and doing sweet FA about it. His brothers and sisters weren't too far off him either, I can only imagine their lifestyles. What's worse is that they don't know any better as kids. But they'll know all about it as they get older, unfortunately.

This kind of thing isn't far off a situation where if your child was sick and you chose not to bring him/her to the doctor or help him/her. Imo.

Precious flower

I really do feel that parents who feed their children rubbish and allow them to be overweight are being extremely neglectful and it borders on child abuse really, due to the health problems and confidence problems that stem from that. Young children have no say or control over what they are given to eat. That child then has to battle that weight problem for the rest of their lives. Research has shown that obese children are more likely to remain obese adults and often find losing weight quite difficult. I remember watching this awful show before where a woman fed her children McDonalds every day because that was the kind of food she was brought up on. This was despite having a husband who was a chef. She refused to eat any type of healthy food and didn't allow the children to either. I just couldn't believe it. For me that wasn't ignorance, more just blatant neglect.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

deadlybuzzman

Patww79 wrote: »

Holland/Belgium are really well laid out for cycling and the numbers doing it are huge. Most streets with lanes, even separate lanes on a lot of dual carriageways. Safer to cycle and no traffic hold ups because of it either, it all runs smoother and makes it a more attractive prospect. Their bike scheme makes our bike to work one look poor too.

Unlike here In Holland and Belgium they don't throw stupid amounts of calories down their throats and the irony is those 2 countries are famous for high fat ie. Chocolate and cheese.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

nice_guy80

Do a 1984 job on it.

Cut off all electricity on fine evenings for two hours, then children will have to play outside.

Actually, diet is key.

People buy way too much crap food.

I watched a documentary on Netflix last night called "Fed Up". Fantastic insight into how this generation is being manipulated into thinking that high sugar foods are healthy (e.g. low fat cereal etc).

It was an upsetting thing to watch though, morbidly obese children who think they're making good food choices and who struggle daily with sugar addiction. Some of these kids are so active, but it's all in vain when they're eating sugar laden foods at every meal.

"Low fat" foods really do have a lot to answer for. We need to do away with the food pyramid (which they're still teaching in school) and educate society on the dangers of overconsumption of sugary foods and of what the right portion sizes actually are.

Exercise won't change the obesity problem, food choices are the only thing that will.

DVDM93

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I watched a documentary on Netflix last night called "Fed Up". Fantastic insight into how this generation is being manipulated into thinking that high sugar foods are healthy (e.g. low fat cereal etc).

It was an upsetting thing to watch though, morbidly obese children who think they're making good food choices and who struggle daily with sugar addiction. Some of these kids are so active, but it's all in vain when they're eating sugar laden foods at every meal.

"Low fat" foods really do have a lot to answer for. We need to do away with the food pyramid (which they're still teaching in school) and educate society on the dangers of overconsumption of sugary foods and of what the right portion sizes actually are.

Exercise won't change the obesity problem, food choices are the only thing that will.

I seen the trailer for that before it came out and I wanted to watch it. Had completely forgotten about it since. Will watch it tonight. Thanks.

power pants

one thing that puzzles me is , when I was younger everyone who was active still ate and drank so much fizzy drinks, sugary sweets and pretty bad diet yet were never over weight

the majority of the fat kids were the ones who did no exercise

Just interesting how this is now "proven" to not be the case

I think as a child you can still have a relatively high sugar/fat diet but if you are active it wont cause you to become obese

Alf Veedersane

Main meals tended to be a bit better

power pants

yeah, that would be true as well

MagicMarker

Deleted User wrote: »

I watched a documentary on Netflix last night called "Fed Up". Fantastic insight into how this generation is being manipulated into thinking that high sugar foods are healthy (e.g. low fat cereal etc).

It was an upsetting thing to watch though, morbidly obese children who think they're making good food choices and who struggle daily with sugar addiction. Some of these kids are so active, but it's all in vain when they're eating sugar laden foods at every meal.

"Low fat" foods really do have a lot to answer for. We need to do away with the food pyramid (which they're still teaching in school) and educate society on the dangers of overconsumption of sugary foods and of what the right portion sizes actually are.

Exercise won't change the obesity problem, food choices are the only thing that will.

Just watched it there myself, great documentary.

Though right now I would murder someone for a quarter pounder, a big massive greasy, cheesy quarter pounder with fries. NOM NOM NOM.

MagicMarker

MagicMarker wrote: »

Just watched it there myself, great documentary.

Though right now I would murder someone for a quarter pounder, a big massive greasy, cheesy quarter pounder with fries. NOM NOM NOM.

Full of protein sure!

Alf Veedersane

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Full of protein sure!

Use Brennans bread for buns and you have a McProtein.

Or even a McBrotein.

Precious flower

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Main meals tended to be a bit better

Yeah, gotta give my mum props or that. Even though she was working full time along with my father she always came home and made a healthy, nutritious dinner for us. We had takeaways maybe twice a year and because of that I've no interest in fast food. A lot of parents now seem to lack motivation to come home from work and prepare a dinner and I can't judge them; I don't have children of my own so I don't know what it is like. But it does mean that children, as well as being more sedentary then we ever were are then offered quick, unhealthy food as a substitute. I'm sure this isn't always the case but I can imagine a few parents doing it. Because of my mother's attitude if I had children it would seem only natural that they get a healthy, home made meal every day. So I think what you see happening around you as a child is what you regard to be the norm as you grow into an adult and that's what is really going to change the obesity crisis. It has to start at the bottom when the child is young. Parents must be better informed of what they are giving to their children and how it will effect them in the future.

Gummy Panda

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I watched a documentary on Netflix last night called "Fed Up". Fantastic insight into how this generation is being manipulated into thinking that high sugar foods are healthy (e.g. low fat cereal etc).

It was an upsetting thing to watch though, morbidly obese children who think they're making good food choices and who struggle daily with sugar addiction. Some of these kids are so active, but it's all in vain when they're eating sugar laden foods at every meal.

"Low fat" foods really do have a lot to answer for. We need to do away with the food pyramid (which they're still teaching in school) and educate society on the dangers of overconsumption of sugary foods and of what the right portion sizes actually are.

Exercise won't change the obesity problem, food choices are the only thing that will.

I'm watching this now. The 12 year old at 212 lbs looked like she was in her 30s. Jesus!

How did her parents not stop at some stage and say something is going wrong here

Deer

Watching fed up is what started the alarm bells ringing and the lightbulbs flashing in my head. I decided enough was enough while watching it! 8 months later and my eating habits completely changed for better.

For family we have gone back to what my mum did with me - treat night once a week with pack crisps, chocolate bar and fizzy drink. No treats or juices rest of week apart from odd ice cream. I make everyones lunch including husbands so I know whats in it and no sugary cereal. No jars - only tins I have are fish, tomatos and coconut milk. If kids go to a party or get a lollipop it's no big deal to me as I know their sugar intake at home.

I am telling everyone who sees the change in me to watch it and watch the truth about sugar on YouTube.

I watched another doc on YouTube - I think it's junk food kids - I nearly puked. Watch it if you want to get angry.

Zillah

MagicMarker wrote: »

Just watched it there myself, great documentary.

Though right now I would murder someone for a quarter pounder, a big massive greasy, cheesy quarter pounder with fries. NOM NOM NOM.

Oh God I just started watching this now. The obese girl near the start whose Mom leads them around the kitchen pointing out all of the 'low fat' foods that she's bought to help her daughter lose weight...including breakfast cereal, which, because it is low fat, serves as a good choice for meal replacement! My heart broke, she's trying so hard.

Gummy Panda

At least some of kids started to make it at the end. Its always going to hard for them in america with the availability of fast food. Though we aren't far behind e.g. subway and Starbucks on every corner

MagicMarker

Gummy Panda wrote: »

At least some of kids started to make it at the end.

Did you watch till the very end? I don't think any of the kids were starting to make it.

Blacktie.

Yeah pretty sure they all lost some weight and then put it back on a few months later.

Gummy Panda

MagicMarker wrote: »

Did you watch till the very end? I don't think any of the kids were starting to make it.

They all put it back on? I seen three lose weight (one from surgery though)

Riverp10

The great unspoken truth about obesity is that it is highly correlated with income disparity and education levels. Address the inequality in those areas and watch the obesity problem diminish also

power pants

Riverp10 wrote: »

The great unspoken truth about obesity is that it is highly correlated with income disparity and education levels. Address the inequality in those areas and watch the obesity problem diminish also

s

not sure I agree fully. So many fatties in most offices in dublin

Zillah

Riverp10 wrote: »

The great unspoken truth about obesity is that it is highly correlated with income disparity and education levels. Address the inequality in those areas and watch the obesity problem diminish also

It's not an unspoken truth, it is frequently a feature of these conversations. It also leads to the false claim that eating healthy is too expensive. It is more a factor of education. A lot of poorer people engage in false economy, whereby they will, say, order a takeaway each night, because the number they see on each occasion is a much smaller number than a grocery bill, but if you add up all of the short term purchases it is actually a lot more than a week of groceries.

It is also not a given that lower income causes obesity. It could well be that poor decision making causes both.

power pants

power pants wrote: »

s

not sure I agree fully. So many fatties in most offices in dublin

i am just big boned

Zillah

bluewolf wrote: »

i am just big boned

Yeah, well, your bones are spilling over onto my side of the desk so tidy yourself up please.

Gummy Panda

Zillah wrote: »

Yeah, well, your bones are spilling over onto my side of the desk so tidy yourself up please.

Mellor

Zillah wrote: »

It's not an unspoken truth, it is frequently a feature of these conversations. It also leads to the false claim that eating healthy is too expensive. It is more a factor of education. A lot of poorer people engage in false economy, whereby they will, say, order a takeaway each night, because the number they see on each occasion is a much smaller number than a grocery bill, but if you add up all of the short term purchases it is actually a lot more than a week of groceries.

Overeating on takeaways everynight might cost just as much in the long run.
And buying junk food and sweets from the supermarket is as expensive as buying ingredients for real food.

But at the same time, I can get two pepperoni pizzas for $9.90 next door ro my house. That's 2600cals, I don't think I could match that with real food. If I was in a position where I needed to get the most calories for my month, I wouldn't be buying healthy stuff.

Alf Veedersane

Mellor wrote: »

Overeating on takeaways everynight might cost just as much in the long run.
And buying junk food and sweets from the supermarket is as expensive as buying ingredients for real food.

But at the same time, I can get two pepperoni pizzas for $9.90 next door ro my house. That's 2600cals, I don't think I could match that with real food. If I was in a position where I needed to get the most calories for my month, I wouldn't be buying healthy stuff.

If you're trying to meet a calorie allowance then yes, you'll get there at much less expense.

But if you're over eating, then the money spent on pizzas, takeaways, other poor food choices (when they're all too regular) could quite easily be spent on much better food choices and result in lower calorie consumption.

Mellor

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

If you're trying to meet a calorie allowance then yes, you'll get there at much less expense.

Which means that it is often more expensive to eat healthy. Which was my point.

FWIW, the above only applies in terms of basic nourishment. I'm not suggesting that it's a factor for a random obese person who's eating too much.

But if you're over eating, then the money spent on pizzas, takeaways, other poor food choices (when they're all too regular) could quite easily be spent on much better food choices and result in lower calorie consumption.

Overeating is more expensive than not overeating. :cool: