Is obesity linked to class?

More to the point....should this lady be saying such things?!

Fatty, carb-laden food is cheaper so it must be a temptation if money is tight. I do not know of the research into her contention.

No she absolutely shouldn't Mishap.

"Carb laden" food is much easier to fill up on and quite cheap too but to suggest that "you can spot poor people because they are the fat ones" is outrageous.

Well looking at the shadow health minister Diane Abbott is she one of the poor being referred too.
We have a dining table which I consider an important part of family life,and we despite being on benefits eat fresh fruit and veg,and meat and not junk,despite my best efforts E at 5ft 4 weighs 14st I am a normal size ,so is OH and son,we don't eat cakes and biscuits,and sweets are occasional treats,we don't eat fast food or takeaways as they are too expensive,we cook from scratch and watch what we eat.

I don't think Diana Abbott could ever be described as being poor SmoluskiA hypocrite maybe, but not poor.

My grandchildren love to site around the table for their meal when they are at my house, although I suspect they don't do that too often at home. I find it a great time for chatting and catching up on everyone's day too.

We enjoy sitting at the table too gilly even long after the meal is cleared away.

When I was having my new kitchen built a couple of years ago, it all centred on the kitchen table, which is where everything meaningful seems to happen in my house. We sit round it for chats and visits, the kids play and bake there, I hear news about relationships and pregnancies, I do my sewing there, prepare meals, and we eat and drink tea there. There's more likelihood of families eating good, nourishing meals when they have a table to gravitate to, and having somewhere to cook from scratch without being separated from the family means we don't often have expensive takeaways or ready meals that contain too much hidden salt, sugar and saturated fats. Any family can have a table without having to find much money.

It's not as simple as being about class. Busy lifestyles, loneliness, greed, addictive fast food, TV/couch potato culture, sedentary lifestyles and lack of exercise aren't confined to one class. What does this statement about class and obesity say about the House of Commons? There are plenty of obese MPs who enjoy fine dining and excessive expense account lunches.

To be fair, she was talking primarily about children, although it's accepted that an overweight child is more likely to become an overweight adult. MPs and the like make their own lifestyle decisions.

We do too Smoluski I find it so much nicer to eat (and chat) around the table. We tend to sit at the table for most meals although I must admit to an occasional tray night when my husband is working away !

I love it when the GC all have so much to tell you and they are all talking at once. We play a game where we go around the table and each person gets a chance to speak. My middle GD is by far the loudest chattiest (is there such a word?) and extends "her" time by pausing, taking a bite to eat and then coming back in with another round! I find they eat more that way too.

One of the things I miss is sitting at the dinner table discussing the days events with my DH. However, a lot of people sit in front of the TV with a tray on their lap, not noticing or tasting what they are eating. Although now on my own I always sit at a table to eat my meals - I can't imagine sitting with a tray on your lap does very much for the digestion!

Finished dinner one day. I told DD she could leave the table. She said: "I'm not leaving the table until we've had an interesting conversation." She was about eight or nine at the time. Nice to know she enjoys post-prandial conversation

Barrow My DH works away and/or very late sometimes, when I have to admit to eating with a tray on my lap. You are right though you definitely don't enjoy the food as much and I often have indigestion as a result. Likewise eating my lunch at my desk at work!

E always starts chatting as soon as we sit down her first words are always "and how has your day been" even if we have been together all day doing stuff together,I love doing a tray bake which is a load of roasted veg ie peppers mushrooms garlic tomatoes courgettes sweet potatoes sort of things and choppin mackerel and salmon and chicken and such like in a huge tray and putting in the table with 3 forks and we all dive in and chat at the same time..lovely

That does sound lovely Smoluski. My eldest grandaughter (6) loves it when I put everything in serving dishes so they can help themselves. I think they end up eating more that way.

Mind you my 3 are all very lean and it put it down to the amount of exercise they have. As my grandma says "they can't keep still long enough to get fat!"

If you look at younger women it certainly seems to be the case that obesity is much more common among the lower socioeconomic groups. And smoking.

What a ridiculous thing to say? My social class changed overnight but I'm still the same person. I cook everything from fresh, eat fruit and veg, only have the occassional treat and am a BBW. When I was in a middle class occupation it was put down to ME causing metabolic problems. Now I'm lower class it must be poor diet and self indulgence.

Obesity is certainly linked to poverty - it's the word 'class' which we don't like.

If you see a group of tubby children/teenagers they are highly unlikely to be middle class.

The Daily Mail has probably misinterpreted her words.

I've never heard of her by the way, and I'm not sure if she was expressing sympathy for these children, or disdain for their parents.

Not sure what BBW means vampirequeen? I agree people are bigger/heavier for all kinds of reasons and often there is a genetic link too.

VQ I don't think people's class can change overnight, can it? It is not related simply to income but to occupation, values and aspiration.
In the case of retired people, it's their former job or profession which counts, so really you are still middle-class as well as being the same person

As far as the minister is concerned, a pity her basic message (ie that childhood obesity is a problem and that families who don't eat together miss out) was spoiled by such a gaffe. I'd never heard of her either and we probably won't hear of her again.

Surely it's about knowledge of nutrition and cooking and nothing whatsoever to do with class. What an emotive statement. Remember Jamie Oliver trying to change school meals and the woman feeding her child through the railings? I don't know what class she was but she was certainly uninformed. (careful use of adjective)

BBW = Big Beautiful Woman.

I think

You called Bags?

Does SBW count? I am extremely refained but 2 stone overweight.
Don't like the word class, maybe socio-economic group is more accurate, but looking around Milton Keynes, there would indeed seem to be a correlation as JessM says.
In the "olden days" it was considered good to look well-upholstered as it showed you could afford good food - alas that no longer seems to be the case. As child, I can remember the difference between some of the kids in my class at primary school who came from very poor homes and they were generally undersized and underweight.

I think its genetic. this week in or local paper there was a story of an American who thought she may have a half sister living in our town.

There was a photo of a little girl taken in 1960.
Sure enough this little girl lived near and has since got in touch with her half sister. The father was a soldier stationed in the neighbourhood at that time-
Well both women are in their 50s and both so fat they have double chins! Actually asked about their feelings both thought their new found sister 'absolutely lovely'
If you are poor its not so easy when you are fat to look good in cheap clothes and long straggly hair doesn't help either.

It's amazing how many stories there are of separated twins who meet up years later and have lived parallel lives and still look identical [I mean apart from the obvious facial features].