Why is it normal/OK to be obese in Ireland?.

Stonedpilot

A genuine question.

The amount of people that are gargantuan on this Island is so high I'm surprised the island doesn't sink. It's seen as like a disease by many. I remember living in a houseshare with Eastern European girls and they often commented at how absurdly fat they thought Irish women are.

It's bizarre to me that in other countries it's seen as a problem and thus people try and sort it but here the people whom are tremendously overweight are seen to have an ailment,disease, are poor unfortunates etc like its the same as leukemia or something.

I remember Katie Hopkins was on the Late Late Show making the point you can't be happy and fat (I don't know I don't care frankly) but they cut to a obese lady in the audience who had only just opened her mouth and the audience were in rapturous applause. No matter what she said they would have clapped.
Katie asked the question 'Why are you clapping?. Are you clapping because she is overweight is that it?.'

That kinda sums up the attitude here. Being fat, unhealthy and obese is something to be proud of and God forbid anyone point out it's lunacy to be the size of a manatee.
Strange. Now I will say I have all the respect in the World for people who do something about it work out, eat healthy, get involved in classes, long walks etc. Fair play to them and well done. But then there are other folk whom see it as a God given right to be obese and to be angry with everyone, and to take up a seat and a half everytime they sit on a plane,bus or train squishing whomever is unfortunately beside them.
Had a few incidents recently where I seen very overweight people be angry with total strangers.

I mean I attended a talk recently and the guy doing it was so overweight he got tired standing up and walking around the lecture room!.

As far as I'm aware no country is as tolerant to obesity as Ireland, no way does France,Italy,Spain etc see it as the norm here.

Odd.

Feckoffcup

Either you go to the gym or you're overweight. That's the way the majority of Irish women. It's rare to see someone who doesn't work out and have a flat tummy especially over 30.

etselbbuns

It is the potato effect.

Stonedpilot

etselbbuns wrote: »

It is the potato effect.

You mean the carbs?. Doens't every country have spuds too!.

seamus

Stonedpilot wrote: »

Being fat, unhealthy and obese is something to be proud of and God forbid anyone point out it's lunacy to be the size of a manatee

You must be living in a parallel universe then.

Or maybe you're confusing "everyone doesn't point and laugh at fatties" as being indicative of admiration?

Father Hernandez

SEPT 23 1989

Stonedpilot wrote: »

Had a few incidents recently where I seen very overweight people be angry with total strangers.

probably hungry

Stonedpilot

seamus wrote: »

You must be living in a parallel universe then.

Or maybe you're confusing "everyone doesn't point and laugh at fatties" as being indicative of admiration?

There has been several examples on Irish TV and press where (usually women) in fairness are expressing how proud they are to be overweight. Like the Late Late Show example I gave.

Boom_Bap

I think a better question is "Why are people obsessed with other people's appearance?"

sibergoth

Stonedpilot wrote: »

As far as I'm aware no country is as tolerant to obesity as Ireland, no way does France,Italy,Spain etc see it as the norm here.

Odd.

have you been to America ?

elefant

Stonedpilot wrote: »

I remember Katie Hopkins was on the Late Late Show making the point you can't be happy and fat (I don't know I don't care frankly) but they cut to a obese lady in the audience who had only just opened her mouth and the audience were in rapturous applause. No matter what she said they would have clapped.
Katie asked the question 'Why are you clapping?. Are you clapping because she is overweight is that it?.'

Josef Mengele could have been in the audience and the audience would have applauded him for disagreeing with Katie Hopkins.

frozenfrozen

Boom_Bap wrote: »

I think a better question is "Why are people obsessed with other people's appearance?"

obesity isn't a wacky haircut

riffmongous

Let's see the Brits try starve us out now

LirW

I said the same thing to my man when I moved here, that it really stands out that there are plenty of obese people around, especially young women and it's sad really.
The awareness regarding healthy food and cooking seems to be quite bad here. Knowledge about cooking isn't passed on to kids like other European countries do that, I had long talks about that with my man's family because it fascinated me.

What's not entirely Irish is the taboo to point out a person is overweight. You simply don't say to a person that they're obese and it can have bad consequences. While it's okay to bash people for being skinny (especially when their body is their main capital, models for example) you can't point obesity out.
I remember watching Project Runway where I think 2 seasons ago a morbidly obese woman won. A lot because of the fact that she designed for plus-size and sent a statement. It was impossible reasoning with her because everything that was said she took as an offence because "I know I'm fat and I was bullied for it my entire life" and this is simply wrong. When you're a cnut it has nothing to do with your weight.

I do see though a lot of action that's being taken against obesity. Especially in disadvantaged schools food is a BIG topic. My son attended one and there are a few campaigns for healthy eating also involving the parents. They are encouraged to attend cooking classes to learn how to cook from scratch. Also in his new school food and sports is certainly a topic.

It's just the body positivity movement that makes it problematic. Yes we all come in different shapes and sizes. Some people struggle with health problems so they don't really lose weight, we get this, that happens. But there is a certain point where weight isn't healthy anymore, that goes both ways. It's not healthy being so skinny you're not having your period anymore, but neither is being so heavy that you can't stand for 5 minutes nevermind walk. As someone who struggled with an eating disorder I don't get it how you can embrace this without reflecting that it can have permanent effects on your body.

seamus

Stonedpilot wrote: »

There has been several examples on Irish TV and press where (usually women) in fairness are expressing how proud they are to be overweight. Like the Late Late Show example I gave.

You didn't give an example of someone being proud they're fat. You gave an example of someone disagreeing with Katie Hopkins.

There's a difference between being "proud" of being fat and not being ashamed of it.

Are you saying that fat people should be ashamed? Should they hide themselves away lest you have to look upon their grim visage when you're outside?

Irish TV and press basically do nothing except discuss obesity epidemics and fitness. At least one night every week there's a show of some description related to getting fit or eating properly.

You're right in one aspect though - there's no insistence in Irish media that all women should be stick thin bottle blondes with big tits and that all men should be square-jawed, chiseled-chest hulks, the way there is in other countries.

Which is how it should be. Being obese is for the 99% something that can be corrected. But bodies at the correct weight still come in all shapes and sizes. Projecting a single ideal body shape for either gender is psychologically damaging because 95% of people will never be physically capable of achieving that body shape.

Is there an obesity issue in Ireland? Abso-****ing-lutely.

Is it because the media says being fat is cool? Abso-****ing-lutely not.

A Little Pony

Because sugar is crammed into literally everything nowadays and the humans are lazy and don't go through the hassle of picking alternatives, less activity and so on. Why do you think so many people get put on depressive medication these days, people eating utter ****e which has no nutritional benefit to them. Real food is a medicine.

Boom_Bap

frozenfrozen wrote: »

obesity isn't a wacky haircut

You're pretty much answering my question with your smart reply.

Nobody knows what any body is going through to lead to their appearance which society is hung up about commenting or reacting to.

Stonedpilot

sibergoth wrote: »

have you been to America ?

Yep, we are far worse, in terms of median average head of population.

Like random 100 people in America and 100 Irish picked at random Irish will be far fatter.

A Little Pony

seamus wrote: »

Stonedpilot wrote: »

There has been several examples on Irish TV and press where (usually women) in fairness are expressing how proud they are to be overweight. Like the Late Late Show example I gave.

You didn't give an example of someone being proud they're fat. You gave an example of someone disagreeing with Katie Hopkins.

There's a difference between being "proud" of being fat and not being ashamed of it.

Are you saying that fat people should be ashamed? Should they hide themselves away lest you have to look upon their grim visage when you're outside?

Irish TV and press basically do nothing except discuss obesity epidemics and fitness. At least one night every week there's a show of some description related to getting fit or eating properly.

You're right in one aspect though - there's no insistence in Irish media that all women should be stick thin bottle blondes with big tits and that all men should be square-jawed, chiseled-chest hulks, the way there is in other countries.

Which is how it should be. Being obese is for the 99% something that can be corrected. But bodies at the correct weight still come in all shapes and sizes. Projecting a single ideal body shape for either gender is psychologically damaging because 95% of people will never be physically capable of achieving that body shape.

Is there an obesity issue in Ireland? Abso-****ing-lutely.

Is it because the media says being fat is cool? Abso-****ing-lutely not.

Difference between having fat on you and being like that woman on the late late show who was huge. She was 18 stone at 45 years of age, absolute recipe for a heart attack/stroke/cardiac arrest. Why the thick audience on the late late show was clapping is beyond me. 

She needs to stop eating crap and drop the weight or she will die soon enough.

Stonedpilot

Boom_Bap wrote: »

I think a better question is "Why are people obsessed with other people's appearance?"

Then start you own thread on this my friend!.

seamus

Stonedpilot wrote: »

Yep, we are far worse, in terms of median average head of population.

Like random 100 people in America and 100 Irish picked at random Irish will be far fatter.

"If I just throw random statisticish mathematical words in here, they mightn't realise that I haven't a fncking clue what I'm talking about."

LirW

Boom_Bap wrote: »

You're pretty much answering my question with your smart reply.

Nobody knows what any body is going through to lead to their appearance which society is hung up about commenting or reacting to.

Some overweight people literally can't lose weight, for example women suffering from PCOS. But PCOS doesn't make you obese.
Some strong medication can cause piling of weight. But it usually doesn't make you horribly obese.

In most cases obesity comes down to an unhealthy lifestyle, which leads to medical problems that need permanent treatment because once you're in there, it's very hard to lose weight without professional help. And this creates pressure on the health system that's already overheated. Treating obesity costs a lot of money.
And in that I'm excluding people that have conditions that causes them to hold the weight.

Bigbagofcans

Overheard some comments lately about people criticising Kathryn Thomas for presenting 'The Biggest Loser'.
They were saying she was too skinny and not a normal weight and makes the contestants feel bad standing next to her.

I see a perfectly healthy and fit woman who should be inspiring people to lose weight and get fit, not tear her down because she doesn't fit into the 'average Irish female size of 14'.

Mrs OBumble

Alcohol.

And the dairy industry.

RoisinClare6

I'm fat. Am I proud? No

Am I working on fixing it. Yes

In the process of losing it at the moment. So I'm working on it yet you could see me on the street and start calling me a manatee or what ever when in reality I'm eating quite healthy and walking every day. When you see a fatter person yes some maybe lazy ass scratchers. Some may have thyroid issues, your weight in some thyroid cases can fluctuate by 20lbs some days. Or they are actually in the process of slimming down. So how do you choose which one it is OK to make fun of? From a outside perspective you don't know which one is which.


I'm not proud of how big I became to be, honestly I'm not but I'm sure as hell going to get rid of it.

Pat Mustard

Stonedpilot wrote: »

A genuine question.

I think that maybe there are two questions. The first question is why are so many people fat now, as opposed to previous decades?

The correct answer to that has been given many times before and can be explained very thoroughly by better people than me but the answer can boil down to the fact that there is sugar in our food everywhere and it's hard to avoid.

Somewhat overly simplistic answer number one: Sugar.

The second question is a bit different, and it is why is there a normalization of obesity. I'm not sure if the correct answer has been established in that regard but I suppose that it takes a while for people to adjust. Up to recently, we were being told that fat was bad and that we had to reduce fat, all the while nobody was saying anything about sugar. And people became fatter while following this poor advice.

Now we know that sugar is bad and many fats are good but it still takes a while to adjust. Back in the eighties and earlier, most Irish people were slim. These slim people might be looked on as skinny now. We have adjusted to a situation where large sections of the population are overweight. It will take a while to adjust back to a situation where it will no longer be normal for so many people to be overweight.

Somewhat overly simplistic answer number two: It takes a while to adjust.

nomdeboardie

LirW wrote: »

I said the same thing to my man when I moved here, that it really stands out that there are plenty of obese people around, especially young women and it's sad really.
The awareness regarding healthy food and cooking seems to be quite bad here. Knowledge about cooking isn't passed on to kids like other European countries do that, I had long talks about that with my man's family because it fascinated me.

What's not entirely Irish is the taboo to point out a person is overweight. You simply don't say to a person that they're obese and it can have bad consequences. While it's okay to bash people for being skinny (especially when their body is their main capital, models for example) you can't point obesity out.
I remember watching Project Runway where I think 2 seasons ago a morbidly obese woman won. A lot because of the fact that she designed for plus-size and sent a statement. It was impossible reasoning with her because everything that was said she took as an offence because "I know I'm fat and I was bullied for it my entire life" and this is simply wrong. When you're a cnut it has nothing to do with your weight.

I do see though a lot of action that's being taken against obesity. Especially in disadvantaged schools food is a BIG topic. My son attended one and there are a few campaigns for healthy eating also involving the parents. They are encouraged to attend cooking classes to learn how to cook from scratch. Also in his new school food and sports is certainly a topic.

It's just the body positivity movement that makes it problematic. Yes we all come in different shapes and sizes. Some people struggle with health problems so they don't really lose weight, we get this, that happens. But there is a certain point where weight isn't healthy anymore, that goes both ways. It's not healthy being so skinny you're not having your period anymore, but neither is being so heavy that you can't stand for 5 minutes nevermind walk. As someone who struggled with an eating disorder I don't get it how you can embrace this without reflecting that it can have permanent effects on your body.

Dr Eva, is that you :eek:

osarusan

Stonedpilot wrote: »

Yep, we are far worse, in terms of median average head of population.

Like random 100 people in America and 100 Irish picked at random Irish will be far fatter.

The Lancet reported that in 2014 US obesity rates at 34.25% whereas Ireland's was 25.55%.

LirW

RoisinClare6 wrote: »

I'm fat. Am I proud? No

Am I working on fixing it. Yes

In the process of losing it at the moment. So I'm working on it yet you could see me on the street and start calling me a manatee or what ever when in reality I'm eating quite healthy and walking every day. When you see a fatter person yes some maybe lazy ass scratchers. Some may have thyroid issues, your weight in some thyroid cases can fluctuate by 20lbs some days. Or they are actually in the process of slimming down. So how do you choose which one it is OK to make fun of? From a outside perspective you don't know which one is which.


I'm not proud of how big I became to be, honestly I'm not but I'm sure as hell going to get rid of it.

I think it's not so much about making fun of anyone, but raising an issue. I'd never make fun of anyone because of their shape.
If someone has knee issues that are quite obvious, plenty of people would ask "Did you see a doctor" or offer advice because they have been in a similar position. If you actually want that advice is another thing.
The point is though that it's often not so much about someone being overweight but the obvious signs that this isn't healthy for that person, like for example an obese person having to sit down after 5 minutes of walking. This isn't healthy.

By the way, I wish you all the best to reach your goal! It'll all work out.

Stonedpilot

seamus wrote: »

"If I just throw random statisticish mathematical words in here, they mightn't realise that I haven't a fncking clue what I'm talking about."

Statistical is how it's spelt.

Maybe I don't have a clue, so what?. Not offering medical advice or anything pal.


Cue some long winded snide holier than thou response.

One eyed Jack

My nerves may be buried deep down under layers of gorgeous fat, but you still managed to touch one OP, just about... :pac:


Extra wind-up points for the focus on women, and the inclusion of Katie Hopkins, as if anyone should actually give two fcuks for her opinion... on anything!!