Larger Brits

[Dyson2]

Hi there, perhaps a sizeist issue here, but just an observation on my part.

Why is it that on returning to the UK after eight years that everyone seems to be much larger? look, no offence to the naturally larger amonst us, but this is really noticable especially amongst the teenage generation. No thanks to the fashion of hipster jeans and short tops. I'm having a real hard time getting used to english supermarkets again, rows of crisps, fizzy drinks, biscuits and packet and tinned everything, alot of gluten free, hardly anything in the home baking section other than angel delight , jelly and flour, finding a natural yoghurt takes some doing, maybe that's the answer to my question.

I bought some jeans in Tesco for age 13-14 and they fitted me which would be I guess about a UK size 12. are teenagers really that size these days?

Your comments please

Dyson2

[Coco]

>Why is it that on returning
>to the UK after eight
>years that everyone seems to
>be much larger? look,
>no offence to the naturally
>larger amonst us, but this
>is really noticable especially amongst
>the teenage generation.

I agree! I'm afraid I can't talk - being one of the larger ones myself but I am in my 40's now and I have to say that at 16 I thought I was grossly overweight at a size 12 because all my friends were 8's and 10's. These days you're lucky to find a 16 year old under a size 16!!

I'm
>having a real hard time
>getting used to english supermarkets
>again, rows of crisps, fizzy
>drinks, biscuits and packet and
>tinned everything, alot of gluten
>free, hardly anything in the
>home baking section other than
>angel delight , jelly and
>flour,

So what's the difference in a French supermarket - sounds like a good description of our local Hyper Champion and Intermarche!

>finding a natural yoghurt
>takes some doing,

In France too! No problem if you want it sweetened but unsweetened is, I think, harder to find than in the UK!


Coco

[Val_2]

I honestly believe a lot of the overweight problem is due to the fact that british people have forgotten how to eat a proper meal these days and don't consider the importance of a family ALL sitting together at a table. In that, I mean, a balanced meal and not a huge overflowing plate of fried,greasy,stodgy man-made products which take no time or brain to prepare. When I was growing up,we did not have much in the way of frozen foods as no one had a deep freeze until the 1970's onwards, there were no pre-cooked or take away meals apart from standard fish & chips locally and yet,due to proper food we were all slim and healthy,asthma being something quite rare inthose days as was overweight people especially kids. Now I see the same thing happening here with more and more sugary products enticing us from the greatly enlarged supermarket shelves to what they were fifteen years ago and a huge selection now of frozen and ready to cook meals. I was watching Trisha show the other afternoon on the satelite and the number of men,women and teenagers who were well overweight was astonishing and as previously mentioned, their choice of clothing did nothing to help them look better either.

[Sue56]

LAST EDITED ON 10-Aug-04 AT 12:27 PM (BST)

>this is really noticable especially amongst
>the teenage generation. No thanks
>to the fashion of hipster
>jeans and short tops.

Hi

I think the fashion kind of answers your question. Its not just a case of bigger girls but the fashion shows this off. In the past trouser waist bands actually reached the waist and not the knickerline and tops reached hips instead of midrift. Now there's no disguising a few extra pounds, although the youngsters seem not to mind. Having discussed this with my friends we think its the J-Lo syndrome. Curvy and shapely is in and stick insects are out. We all wear the hipsters but draw the line at short tops. We're all 35+ and although shape wise wouldn't look out of place the phrase "mutton dressed as lamb" springs to mind!

Also, as a nation we are all getting taller so I guess that means wider as well otherwise we would all be like twigs, hence the bigger clothes in Tesco. Not only that but I find Tesco's clothes come up big anyway. My children all wear an age or two below in clothes from there.

Despite all the above, I think its a fact that as a rule more and more people in the UK are seriously over weight and there's a big get fit kick everywhere, backed by the Government.

Sue

[SC]

I'm
>having a real hard time
>getting used to english supermarkets
>again, rows of crisps, fizzy
>drinks, biscuits and packet and
>tinned everything, alot of gluten
>free, hardly anything in the
>home baking section other than
>angel delight , jelly and
>flour,

I often wonder if I'm living in the same country as some of the posters; maybe other parts of France are different.
Our locals do (and know) very little home baking, they usually buy it in, which is why bakers and charcuteries are so busy.
Our French hypermarkets have very little for home baking, and what there is has a high price tag, and didn't you notice the huge range of readymeals and rows of crisps, fizzy drinks, biscuits and packet and tinned everything here?

Brits are bigger than French people, but the French are catching up. It's a diet thing.The difference isn't as noticeable now as it was 40 years ago, but French people of around 1m75, will tell you how they were considered very tall when young, but now see plenty of younger folks around them at 1m80.
If you want to see a lot of really fat French folks, go to any Brittany market or rural village.
sc