I was in England, Spain, and France for about a month 4 or so years ago and I think I literally saw less than 10 people in that entire month that I would consider obese. When I lived in Texas I could walk around a mall for under 30 seconds and find 10 obese people.
Coastal cities are thinner over here. You don't see many fatties besides tourists if you're actually in, say, DC or NYC or Boston. Once you get out to the suburbs, there are often fatties galore.
A recent study in Canada found obesity closely related to where you lived - urban or rural. The biggest deciding factor was pretty much how much someone drove in the course of a day.
Though I'd disagree with CommunistCow above - at least in England there is a major problem with obesity.
Interestingly enough the most 'overweight' countries in Europe are Greece and Malta. England (or the UK) came in around 10th. But what was perhaps more interesting was that there was very little range between countries in the average BMI of a person.
Interestingly enough the most 'overweight' countries in Europe are Greece and Malta. England (or the UK) came in around 10th. But what was perhaps more interesting was that there was very little range between countries in the average BMI of a person.
That's a bit of a dubious ranking based on average BMIs. If you look at the entire population, including children, or you just look at the % of obese adults I think Britain becomes the worst
The report also showed that 23% of adults were obese, giving the UK the highest rate in Europe. Seven countries, including Switzerland, Norway, Italy and France had obesity rates below 10%.http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,1892098,00.html
These comparisons always need to be taken with a huge block of salt though. I can't say anything about the methodology in other countries but in Australia the sampling for and measurement of obesity, particularly in children, is always problematic, and usually very different from study to study. It's going to differ between countries too. They play the statistics game but, given that they're not even sure what exactly to be controlling for, it's all a bit pants.
Interestingly enough the most 'overweight' countries in Europe are Greece and Malta. England (or the UK) came in around 10th. But what was perhaps more interesting was that there was very little range between countries in the average BMI of a person.
That's a bit of a dubious ranking based on average BMIs. If you look at the entire population, including children, or you just look at the % of obese adults I think Britain becomes the worst
The report also showed that 23% of adults were obese, giving the UK the highest rate in Europe. Seven countries, including Switzerland, Norway, Italy and France had obesity rates below 10%.http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,1892098,00.html
Okay, that does make sense.
However, I guess what I was trying to say was that, whilst I do indeed see more obese people in the UK, the impression some people have that the UK = like the US and The Rest of Europe = attractive, exotic and shapely isn't entirely correct either.
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Though I'd disagree with CommunistCow above - at least in England there is a major problem with obesity.
That's a bit of a dubious ranking based on average BMIs. If you look at the entire population, including children, or you just look at the % of obese adults I think Britain becomes the worst
The report also showed that 23% of adults were obese, giving the UK the highest rate in Europe. Seven countries, including Switzerland, Norway, Italy and France had obesity rates below 10%. http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,1892098,00.html
Okay, that does make sense.
However, I guess what I was trying to say was that, whilst I do indeed see more obese people in the UK, the impression some people have that the UK = like the US and The Rest of Europe = attractive, exotic and shapely isn't entirely correct either.