Young people in other countries are remarkably thinner than Americans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is hard to accept, but thinner Europeans eat less, and less than you think that “eating less” really means. Americans are especially accustomed to the idea of always eating until they are full. The reality is you are not supposed to feel full all the time, you are supposed to leave room for digestion. Being full is actually really bad. When you eat, you are supposed to feel energized and at best, satisfied, like you could have a little more but realize you don’t need to. You are not supposed to feel sluggish and heavy and tired after eating.

Europeans typically only have one heavy meal (that includes meat and carbs) and two very light meals, one of which would be coffee or tea and the other, a salad.

American snacks are heavier to European light meals and that’s in addition to three heavy meals that make you feel full. This and the lack of exercise means not only being overweight, but normalizing being overweight, since three filling meals every day is “normal.”

I think this is pretty accurate. Do you guys remember that book from years back, “French women don’t get fat”? American culture is definitely very indulgent and snacky.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the snacking in this country is ridiculous. I teach in an ES and we have lunch at 11 am. School ends at 2:25. Parents couldn't believe we didn't have snack time in the afternoon. Um, no. Your kid can go 3-4 hrs without eating. Even my student with diabetes doesn't need to eat again before she leaves for the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the snacking in this country is ridiculous. I teach in an ES and we have lunch at 11 am. School ends at 2:25. Parents couldn't believe we didn't have snack time in the afternoon. Um, no. Your kid can go 3-4 hrs without eating. Even my student with diabetes doesn't need to eat again before she leaves for the day.

Ok but my kindergartner’s lunch time this year was 1:30, and he doesn’t get out until 4:05. I’m definitely glad they have morning snack time because 5.5 hours is a long time for a 5 year old to go without food.

[Anonymous]

I work in a local high school. You would not believe how fat the teen girls are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or have "OMG Americans are so FAT" threads replaced the "but really how do I look like old money?" threads?

I didn't think I'd miss the "sigh, I wish I'd been born a WASP but I'm determined to pass for one" yesteryears but here we are.

Agreed. So many hateful people here.

So many FAT people here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the snacking in this country is ridiculous. I teach in an ES and we have lunch at 11 am. School ends at 2:25. Parents couldn't believe we didn't have snack time in the afternoon. Um, no. Your kid can go 3-4 hrs without eating. Even my student with diabetes doesn't need to eat again before she leaves for the day.

Ok but my kindergartner’s lunch time this year was 1:30, and he doesn’t get out until 4:05. I’m definitely glad they have morning snack time because 5.5 hours is a long time for a 5 year old to go without food.

It’s really not. You’re just used to people eating nonstop.

[Anonymous]

It’s really not. You’re just used to people eating nonstop.

I eat something every couple of hours - as long as I'm eating real food and not processed crap, I don't gain weight. I'm not skinny but hardly fat at 115 pounds and average height. My appetite wouldn't be different if I lived in Europe. Maybe I would look fat next to the Europeans but whatever.

My kids appreciated snacks in school because they were not hungry for more than a few bites of breakfast early in the morning. - that's not the time of day they were hungry. Was I supposed to force feed them a huge breakfast?

[Anonymous]

Predestined? Yes, but only by nurture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This isn't necessarily a comment on obesity, so much as an observation of different body types among young and young-ish (let's say, people under 30 or women under 35 who haven't given birth) people in the USA versus Europe.

I am a normal weight, athletic American. Most people around here would describe me as on the thin side of normal, but with a booty. I usually wear a size 4.

I spent three years living in various countries abroad, and at the time (I was in my early 20s) I had to fight off some nagging body image issues due to how thin everyone was. Again, it's not the lack of obesity - there were plenty of overweight and obese people, especially older women and middle-aged men. Most young women were probably 50kg or less. They didn't work out like crazy like I do, they just ate less. Portions are smaller and having three square meals + snacks just isn't really a thing. This isn't to say they didn't indulge on occasions, especially parties and holidays, but if we were just having lunch during a normal day, usually a coffee and a piece of fruit would be enough. It wasn't even like there was a diet culture, other women just said they weren't hungry and were just used to eating less. They certainly walk more than most Americans, but weren't gym crazy or into running like me.

I tried to reassure myself that my body was probably healthier, being more active and athletic and getting sick less (a lot of these women would often fall ill with colds and need to stay home for several days), but it was hard not to envy how elegant and feminine their thin bodies were and I felt chunky and androgynous by comparison.

I wonder how much Americans are just predestined to be bigger - even those that eat healthy and exercise. Like if all the chemicals and toxins in our food have genetically altered Americans in some way.

Also worth mentioning is how there was not a single overweight child... I found it so remarkable how active European children are, like it was the good-old days or something before screen time. During school recess, for example, everyone was playing an active game of soccer. Children actively PLAYED whenever there was time outdoors, supervised or not. They were not just standing with snacks and talking or looking at their phones and tablets.

I kinda doubt that.

Yeah 110lbs is pretty small for Europe. I'm petite and 5'1 and weigh that. Taller women would have trouble weighing that. Maybe in Asia it would be a normal size. Fun fact- I wear size Large in Chinese sizes! I'm an XS in the US

I am 5”5 115 pounds French woman living in the us. Back when I was in France I was 105. Here I am seen as thin, when I go back to Paris I am struck by how much thinner my friends stayed. 50 and under for friends my size, absolutely.

How many of your friends’ meals consist of just cigarettes?

Time and time again i hear American using this excuse. but no, French women are not that much thinner just because more of them smoke. Among my thin friends none of them smoke (some are former smokers but we are all mothers in our early 40s and the smokers stopped when they had kids in their early 30s)

[Anonymous]

It's this culture https://nypost.com/2022/05/16/yumi-nu-shaking-over-si-swimsuit-cover-reveal/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's this culture https://nypost.com/2022/05/16/yumi-nu-shaking-over-si-swimsuit-cover-reveal/

She looks just like the moms I see at the neighborhood pool! And the young ladies too, come to think of it.

[Anonymous]

I'm a 50 year old woman with two young adult children. I grew up in Eu and came here as young adult at 18 for uni. When we went to tour colleges 3-4 years ago with my own young adult kids, I was struck by how many young women were overweight. Less so for the young men. This was compared to when I was at uni in the early 90s. Us young women back then we're a lot leaner on your average college campus . It was interesting BC it had been over 25 years since I had spent any time on a college campus

My young adult daughter who is out living and working in her own now actually cooks and does meal prep/prepacks lunches for work etc. She is one of the few who actually brings homemade food in daily. Her peer group, they either eat out over lunch, or go to work cafeteria or bring in processed premade food. The other people who actually bring in real cooked food are older ladies mainly, think 50 plus!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It’s really not. You’re just used to people eating nonstop.

I eat something every couple of hours - as long as I'm eating real food and not processed crap, I don't gain weight. I'm not skinny but hardly fat at 115 pounds and average height. My appetite wouldn't be different if I lived in Europe. Maybe I would look fat next to the Europeans but whatever.

My kids appreciated snacks in school because they were not hungry for more than a few bites of breakfast early in the morning. - that's not the time of day they were hungry. Was I supposed to force feed them a huge breakfast?

I actually think this is part of the problem. We beat intuitive eating out of our kids with rules about finishing their plate, taking no thank you bites, and not allowing them to eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full. Gorging yourself on breakfast because you know you won’t eat again until 1:30, isn’t exactly promoting healthy eating habits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It’s really not. You’re just used to people eating nonstop.

I eat something every couple of hours - as long as I'm eating real food and not processed crap, I don't gain weight. I'm not skinny but hardly fat at 115 pounds and average height. My appetite wouldn't be different if I lived in Europe. Maybe I would look fat next to the Europeans but whatever.

My kids appreciated snacks in school because they were not hungry for more than a few bites of breakfast early in the morning. - that's not the time of day they were hungry. Was I supposed to force feed them a huge breakfast?

I actually think this is part of the problem. We beat intuitive eating out of our kids with rules about finishing their plate, taking no thank you bites, and not allowing them to eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full. Gorging yourself on breakfast because you know you won’t eat again until 1:30, isn’t exactly promoting healthy eating habits.

Intuitive anything comes only after building discipline. Training your kids that to eat only 3 times a day will make them intuitive with their future eating habits. Everything else is teaching them to eat (whenever!) they're hungry. Which means non-stop, especially when food is everywhere, it's cheap and everyone around you eats the minute they get hungry, because their intuition told them so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the snacking in this country is ridiculous. I teach in an ES and we have lunch at 11 am. School ends at 2:25. Parents couldn't believe we didn't have snack time in the afternoon. Um, no. Your kid can go 3-4 hrs without eating. Even my student with diabetes doesn't need to eat again before she leaves for the day.

At my kids' school, they encourage a morning snack. I didn't really want to send one along, but I think it probably helps with some of the kids' behavior issues. There aren't too many overweight kids though.