Irish Dad bods

Mullinabreena · 24-10-2025 06:51PM #1

I was in Centre Parcs Longford recently. It's great place, well run, loads for families, but something really stood out to me. I’m not a “pool person,” so I don't usually see people half naked. But what struck me was that I was honestly surprised at how many men there were clearly out of shape. My wife also commented on this too.

To be clear, this isn’t about women I completely understand the physical realities of pregnancy, hormones, and menopause. What I noticed was the dads — all in their 30s, 40s, 50s — carrying that obvious belly fat that comes from years of sitting too much, eating too often, eating the wrong foods and drinking a bit too regularly.

It’s not about looks or vanity, it’s about health, energy, and being able to actually enjoy time with your kids. You’d hope most dads could run, swim or cycle with them without being wrecked.

The stats back it up too: around 63% of Irish men are now overweight or obese. I would wager that if you removed men from their 20s and early 30s from that survey the percentage would dramatically increase. And yes, people love to say “BMI doesn’t count muscle,” but let’s be honest, most of us aren’t built like rugby players and middleage men don'thave as much muscle comparedto when they were 25. For the average man, BMI is a decent wake-up call, and ignoring it isn’t helping.

I think a big part of the problem is we just don’t really understand food in this country. We’ve grown up on bad habits when it comes to food, starting from the 1970s onwards. We eat the wrong things, too often, and at the wrong times. Concepts like intermittent fasting or keto get dismissed as fads, but at least they make people think about what and when they eat.

Once we hit middle age, metabolism slows down and bad habits really start to show. It’s not that Irish men are lazy, its a the whole western world phenomenon. It’s that we’re completely out of sync with how our bodies actually work.

Anyway, Centre Parcs was great fun but It really struck me how normalised it’s become. I left thinking we might need a bit of a reset when it comes to health and food. It’s not about six-packs , just staying fit enough to enjoy life with the kids. These weren’t lads from deprived areas with limited options they were middle-class, middle-aged men with decent jobs and young families. If that’s the healthiest bracket of society, it’s a bit worrying.

I’ve a BMI of 22.1 now, but in the past I did struggle with my weight. I lost a lot through a strict calorie deficit — which worked, although I wouldn’t recommend that approach anymore. It’s not sustainable. I’ve managed to keep it off, but it takes awareness and balance. You have to be mindful, because if you’re not, the weight creeps back before you even notice.

Ash.J.Williams · 24-10-2025 06:53PM

That's great

T-Maxx · 24-10-2025 07:27PM

Cool story bro.

zell12 · 24-10-2025 08:17PM

a GP commented in media recently "táimid báite i siúcra', which you never hear in english 'we are drowning in sugar'. Which is fully true, when you compare previous generations

sniperman · 24-10-2025 08:19PM

eat,drink,and be merry

Everlong1 · 24-10-2025 08:50PM

The dangers of chronic illness from unhealthy lifestyle behaviours have been recognised by Government long ago and the Healthy Ireland Framework, published in 2014, has seen a series of action plans and programmes introduced for obesity, promoting more physical activity, improving diet, reducing the amount of smokers, and addressing alcohol and drug abuse. There is progress, but behaviour change is a slow process. It's the next generation where you'll really see the improvements.

https://www.gov.ie/en/healthy-ireland/campaigns/healthy-ireland/

Lucien_Sarti · 24-10-2025 09:57PM

In the name of God - Release the proto-Gymhounds of Centreparcs from captivity
Let them roam free across the Longford Savannah 🏃🦓🤼🤸‍♂️

MarkR · 24-10-2025 11:03PM

I bet he eats salad. At barbecues.

Ash.J.Williams · 24-10-2025 11:09PM

The younger generation have fixed this issue, my generation was all about winning and if you didn't make the top 20 it was quite difficult to play sport and then you dropped out

CrazyEric · 24-10-2025 11:14PM

Ozempic will fix us all and Viagra will keep the wimmins happy. We might be unhealthy but we are living far longer.

geographica · 24-10-2025 11:28PM

Were they all Irish or what?

queueeye · 24-10-2025 11:34PM

That’s a rather long winded way of telling us all about your 22.1 BMI.
Careful now boy, no one likes a show off.
Chill out and have some crisps.

Ozymandius2011 · 24-10-2025 11:40PM

The root of the problem is only partly sedentary lifestyles. It's also processed foods, sugar and saturated fat. So I think something needs to be done to restructure the manufacturing of those things.

While overall I have no time for RFK jrs policies in the US, I welcome a small number of his ideas on looking into chemicals in food. The world is saturated with American confectionary, crisps and other processed foods so this will affect us too.

Theres a theory some of this relates to the Famine. It caused the metabolic rate to drop to conserve calories. So that might have created genetic markers that were inherited.

GSBellew · 24-10-2025 11:59PM

People are fatter.

Men, Women, Children.

We are following the USA in terms of people size, we are now pretty much at the 80's / 90's USA norms now

Remember how Roseanne Barr was huge to us in the 80's? now that's pretty common in Ireland now, we are 30 years behind but catching up, trends keep going and we will be in the multiple seat per passenger group in the next two decades.

Quantum Erasure · 25-10-2025 01:12AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123934717#Comment_123934717

First you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women...

bassy · 25-10-2025 03:23AM

Op spaaaaaàaa

Who cares spaàaaaa

kowloonkev · 25-10-2025 03:36AM

To be honest it's entirely about culture and most of the rest of the world looks down on our culture (if they encounter it), and can't say I blame them.

Yes, we can get defensive about it and call them arrogant or whatever, but at the end of the day we come from poverty and money hasn't changed the herd mentality of not wanting to improve ourselves lest we be labelled as 'having notions'.

myfreespirit · 25-10-2025 07:30AM

Great post, OP. Far too many Irish people, and youngish men in particular, are overweight due to their eating habits. They are storing up health problems for themselves in years to come unfortunately.

A book written by the late Dr. Michael Mosley called "The Clever Guts Diet" describes the science behind what we put into our stomachs and health effects on the body that result.

It's an easy, interesting and informative read, all backed by scientific studies.

893bet · 25-10-2025 07:57AM

The crowd in CP is prob not fully representive.

Dominated by dads aged 30-45. Which is the busiest time for a father when the kids are young so less timw to take care of themselves. Often later in life men take up sports like cycling/golf/PADEL and weight falls off again.

That said I am somewhat of a CP veteran having been 4 or 5 times and can’t say I noticed a large weight problem on average across either of the sexes.

jackboy · 25-10-2025 08:01AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123935163#Comment_123935163

It's nothing to do with the famine. Many countries that adopt the western sugar based diet are in the same boat.

The sugar diet is so ingrained now that most people don't understand what they are earing and some are confused why they are fat.

You would hear people blaming their metabolism and going on about all the salads they are eating, like eating salads means that you can also eat unlimited cake and biscuits without consequences.

There have been dieticians on the radio also lately pushing the narrative that people blaming the current western diet are talking nonsense. These dieticians are still going on about any meat eaten should be lean and infrequent. It's bad when most dieticians have no knowledge of what a healthy human diet is.

El_Duderino 09 · 25-10-2025 08:02AM

I'd say some of it is explained by dad's doing more equal parenting than previous generations. Particularly if youre taking the sample at a Centre Parc.

If you're working, then doing dinners and play and baths and homework and bedtime, there isn't much time for exercise or thinking a lot about healthy eating during the week. Weekends are pretty full of children's activities, going to the park, sport and so on.

I make a point of going to the gym twice a week. But that needs my wife's agreement because it means she's doing all the after-work parenting that evening.

If you're genuinely concerned about the men's health, then fair enough. If you're just having a pop at them for being fat, then go have a shyte.

BrianD3 · 25-10-2025 08:36AM

Dad bod is a bad look, it's otherwise known as skinny fat. 35 inch waist, 37 inch chest, no arse and these lads are generally as weak as sh1t. Can't do even one pullup. Can't change a wheel on their car. Complain about having a "bad back" and avoid doing any lifting as a result which then becomes a self perpetuating problem.

Drive some stupid SUV/crossover (on PCP of course) because a) the wife orders them to b) they can't get in and out of a lower car because of their back/knee/hip/whatever.

Re: this idea that they don't have time to eat properly or exercise - IME they seem to make plenty of time to watch multi millionaire professional sportsmen kicking a ball around a field.

They either don't lift weights or if they do, all they do are some half arsed pissy bicep curls. If they spent 10-15 minutes per day doing compound lifts, it would make a huge difference to their appearance and strength. No need to go to a gym, get a barbell and do deadlifts and power clean and press at home Problem then is, the wife would get narky over a few feet of "her" house being taken up with rusty weights.

ittakestwo · 25-10-2025 08:57AM

It seems Ireland is going two ways. Either people far fitter than previous generations or they are far fatter.

You mentioned Longford. One thing i do notice is there seems to be an urban rural dived too People from rural areas tend to be fatter. How ever i think i read that actully younger teens are improving. Possibly millennials will have been the most out of shape generation.

Btw a new metric for men is that your waist should be halve your height. Apparently this is a better metric than BMI as muscled bodies who weigh more will still have a low waist as there is no muscles around the waist. Be careful guys too tho. Your waist size is not nesscerily the waist your pants say. No man wears their pants around the waist these days but the old terminology remains. If you muffin top with a belly above the belt which alot of middle age men do, your waist size will be far higher than the your pants waist size say. A mans waist should be measured just above the belly button

circadian · 25-10-2025 09:18AM

BMI is a terrible metric to measure health.

According to my BMI I'm overweight. I lift 3 times a week, row 2-3 times a week (machine) and do daily mobility and pullup exercises.

Am I carrying a wee bit around the belly? You betya, but I feel good, have energy and move around. Keeping mobile and strong, regardless of build, is much more important. We're all built differently.

jackboy · 25-10-2025 09:26AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123935569#Comment_123935569

BMI is not terrible. It is a good assessment for the bulk of the population. There will be exceptions who can be assessed beyond BMI but for the vast majority it points to a problem when exceeded.

El_Duderino 09 · 25-10-2025 09:29AM

Is BMI useful at population level even if not gteat at an individual level?

SuperBowserWorld · 25-10-2025 09:30AM

Car dependency is a huge factor. Even in urban areas with safe streets and good public transport, people choose to drive themselves and their kids everywhere. But it does give the kids more screen time. I think that's in the agreement the government signed with Meta. 😁

circadian · 25-10-2025 09:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123935612#Comment_123935612

I wouldn't disagree with this but I generally don't want my kids to cycle further than school and back. The quality of driving combined with the amount of idiots on ebikes and scooters in the cycle lanes doing whatever they want wants me to keep them away from that until they're bigger.

Plenty of considerate cyclists and road users but it only really takes one eejit to cause an accident, which I've seen a few times on the way home from school over the years. Teenagers on escooters being the worst culprits.

SuperBowserWorld · 25-10-2025 09:49AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123935653#Comment_123935653

I agree. It's madness. But it's a vicious circle. That's another reason why everyone is in cars. And now it's SUV vs SUV for "safety".

But ... people default to drive now. Even if the supermarket is 5 minutes walk away.

Anyway, my point was originally, we've lost the ability to do safe, simple exercise. Walk whenever you can; stay off crap food; ease off the beer - that will fix most dad bods. It's not complex. You just need to say **** off to the industries that want to keep you sick and dependent.

El_Duderino 09 · 25-10-2025 10:52AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123935679#Comment_123935679

Yeah But it wouldn't matter if the supermarket was 5 mins away. Unless you can carry the week's shopping home in bags, you need the car.

Most people don't have time for several shopping trips a week so that argument is pretty weak.

BaywatchHQ · 25-10-2025 11:07AM

I am obese but it is hard to maintain the motivation to lose weight then you don't have a zest for life anyway. The only motivation I have at the moment is to become less of an easy target for bullying in public. Another problem is that anti depressant meds give me a very big appetite.

Irish Dad bods

Comments

James Connolly, The Irish Flag (1916)
Common Prosperity, China (2021)

Irish Dad bods

Comments

James Connolly, The Irish Flag (1916)Common Prosperity, China (2021)

James Connolly, The Irish Flag (1916)
Common Prosperity, China (2021)