GG Riva Posted March 30, 2023 Report Share Posted March 30, 2023 caught a local bus this morning and was stunned at the number of young, obese passengers who got on before I got off. 7 to be exact. All at least 20 stones or more and none were particularly tall. (1 male, 6 females, for the record.) Not one of them looked over 30, most were probably early 20s and 2 of them had mobility problems. I`m not condemning any one and I realise that this was a snapshot in time, which has perhaps given me a completely false picture of the real extent of the problem. I don`t have any stats but I`m fairly certain that we, as a nation, are getting heavier. Where has it all gone wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosythpar Posted March 30, 2023 Report Share Posted March 30, 2023 1 hour ago, GG Riva said: caught a local bus this morning and was stunned at the number of young, obese passengers who got on before I got off. 7 to be exact. All at least 20 stones or more and none were particularly tall. (1 male, 6 females, for the record.) Not one of them looked over 30, most were probably early 20s and 2 of them had mobility problems. I`m not condemning any one and I realise that this was a snapshot in time, which has perhaps given me a completely false picture of the real extent of the problem. I don`t have any stats but I`m fairly certain that we, as a nation, are getting heavier. Where has it all gone wrong? Computer games must be one of the causes. You very rarely see kids out playing in parks nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digs Posted March 30, 2023 Report Share Posted March 30, 2023 11 minutes ago, rosythpar said: Computer games must be one of the causes. You very rarely see kids out playing in parks nowadays. Computer games in isolation are not the cause of childhood obesity. We had computers 30 years ago as well. Kids lives are different now, and everyone's lives changed after the pandemic. Mobile phones in the palm of everyone's hands has made life one disposable, easy, instant gratification nightmare. Kids still go out and play, and teens now, from what I can tell from my kids friend groups are much more health conscious than me and my friends ever were. You just need to look at how many are in the gym now. There's more kids than I've ever seen in there, and they know what to put in their bodies. More kids play organised sports than when we were young, but the things that leave you unhealthy, poor diet, poor mental health etc are now easier to get hold of and more prevalent than they have ever been. In short, I don't think it's one thing, more a combination of circumstances of how fast the world has changed in the last 30-50 years where man and his lifestyle has evolved quicker than at any point in history. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted March 30, 2023 Report Share Posted March 30, 2023 Judging by the original post, I think we can safely assume that free bus travel is firmly to blame... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buspasspar Posted March 30, 2023 Report Share Posted March 30, 2023 15 minutes ago, DA-go Par Adonis said: Judging by the original post, I think we can safely assume that free bus travel is firmly to blame... 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyboy Posted March 30, 2023 Report Share Posted March 30, 2023 Kids seem to like kebabs and chips n cheese and various junk food. Never tried one till i was 17. I believe a GP will class you as obese if you weigh more than 14 stone. I've a bit to go,till i get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted March 30, 2023 Report Share Posted March 30, 2023 Don't think it's quite as definitive as that. I'm 6ft 5 and occasionally hit 14 stone. I'd be mildly amused if some GP decided that I was obese based on that. They'll go by BMI, or rather insurance companies do, probably anything over 30 is classed as obese - which is still pretty broad brush strokes given it ignores body composition. Body fat % is more accurate, I would have thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Riva Posted March 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2023 2 hours ago, DA-go Par Adonis said: Don't think it's quite as definitive as that. I'm 6ft 5 and occasionally hit 14 stone. I'd be mildly amused if some GP decided that I was obese based on that. They'll go by BMI, or rather insurance companies do, probably anything over 30 is classed as obese - which is still pretty broad brush strokes given it ignores body composition. Body fat % is more accurate, I would have thought. I think the medical definition of obese is someone who is overweight to the point where they are seriously endangering their health, so it will vary from person to person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Riva Posted March 31, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2023 A world wide health survey, involving 38 nations, was carried out in 2018. Hundreds of thousands of children, aged between 10 and 15 were asked about their lifestyles in relation to health. A league table was compiled from their answers. The UK fared very poorly. England were 37th, Scotland came 38th...... The main reasons attributed to this were:- 1. Lack of physical exercise and 2. Lack of sleep. Scotland did come top in another table, which might explain the lack of sleep - screen time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted March 31, 2023 Report Share Posted March 31, 2023 Screen time is a big issue - not just with the young mind you! As Digs says though, it is probably just different rather than worse. I go to the gym at Duloch and in the evenings it's full with the youth of today keeping fit an healthy. Lots of fitness Youtubers out there too, with millions of subscribers, so they've access to better info about how to train, nutrition etc. My kids aren't into football, so this is 2nd hand, but I am also told that the youth football scene is pretty vibrant in the area with Pitreavie very busy at the weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymie Posted March 31, 2023 Report Share Posted March 31, 2023 I’m stunned to read that GG Riva got on a bus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buspasspar Posted March 31, 2023 Report Share Posted March 31, 2023 3 hours ago, Raymie said: I’m stunned to read that GG Riva got on a bus 😂 trying out his buspass .. he lied about his age Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digs Posted March 31, 2023 Report Share Posted March 31, 2023 16 hours ago, DA-go Par Adonis said: Don't think it's quite as definitive as that. I'm 6ft 5 and occasionally hit 14 stone. I'd be mildly amused if some GP decided that I was obese based on that. They'll go by BMI, or rather insurance companies do, probably anything over 30 is classed as obese - which is still pretty broad brush strokes given it ignores body composition. Body fat % is more accurate, I would have thought. This. BMI is a load of absolute nonsense because it doesn't take into account what makes up the weight ie bone mass, muscle mass, water retention on that given day etc. I'm overweight, probably somewhere between 7-14lbs and technically going by the BMI scale bordering on obese, which counts as anything 30 or above. I'm currently 29.5, and I think anyone who has seen me would realise I am pretty far from obese. I lost a lot of weight during lockdown getting down to 12st 4lbs, I'm currently 2 stone above that. Even then, BMI said I was 7-10lbs overweight. It's ridiculous, I'd have looked like a POW. I was more skinny than I was comfortable with, so purposely put weight back on whilst concentrating on building muscle. I'm now about the same size (going by my clothes fit) as I was when I was about 10lbs lighter on the scale. The only thing people should worry about is body fat and where it's situated - You don't want it round your middle around your organs. I'm currently 17%, which at 47, I'm pretty happy with, but a Dr would tell me I need to lose 'weight' rather than 'fat' but I have good muscle mass, hence the weight, and that is what you want as you get older, not just being thinner or lighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Riva Posted March 31, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2023 1 hour ago, Digs said: This. BMI is a load of absolute nonsense because it doesn't take into account what makes up the weight ie bone mass, muscle mass, water retention on that given day etc. I'm overweight, probably somewhere between 7-14lbs and technically going by the BMI scale bordering on obese, which counts as anything 30 or above. I'm currently 29.5, and I think anyone who has seen me would realise I am pretty far from obese. I lost a lot of weight during lockdown getting down to 12st 4lbs, I'm currently 2 stone above that. Even then, BMI said I was 7-10lbs overweight. It's ridiculous, I'd have looked like a POW. I was more skinny than I was comfortable with, so purposely put weight back on whilst concentrating on building muscle. I'm now about the same size (going by my clothes fit) as I was when I was about 10lbs lighter on the scale. The only thing people should worry about is body fat and where it's situated - You don't want it round your middle around your organs. I'm currently 17%, which at 47, I'm pretty happy with, but a Dr would tell me I need to lose 'weight' rather than 'fat' but I have good muscle mass, hence the weight, and that is what you want as you get older, not just being thinner or lighter. Aye, agree with that. When I started running, colleagues remarked that I was looking leaner and fitter and asked me how much weight I'd lost. They didn't believe me when I told them I hadn't, but it was true. I'd built up muscle, mostly in the legs but lost fat, mostly around my waist. Muscle is more dense than fat, so I looked thinner as my total volume would have been smaller. A word about weight gain. Females have an advantage over males as they tend to put it on their bums and thighs mostly, which is relatively harmless. Males tend to accumulate fat around many vital organs, not so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted August 3, 2023 Report Share Posted August 3, 2023 To be fair, the NHS BMI page explicitly says that there are limitations to the BMI in relation to muscle mass: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/ Quote Limitations of the BMIMuscle mass The BMI calculation does not include muscle mass, which weighs more than fat. This means muscular adults and athletes may be classed as overweight or obese even though their body fat is low. It also acknowledges that a healthy BMI may not mean a healthy weight: Quote Waist to height ratio Measuring your waist to height ratio can tell you if you have excess tummy fat, even if you have a healthy BMI. To calculate your waist to height ratio, measure your waist and divide it by your height. Use measurements in the same units (for example, centimetres or inches). A waist to height ratio of 0.5 or higher means you may have increased health risks such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke. So BMI may not be a single catch-all measure for all scenarios, but I don't think it claims to be. It's just a useful general indicator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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