Why are so many women in their early to mid 20s already so heavy? Is this mainly a USA phenomenon?

[Anonymous]

I was wondering just the opposite OP. I live in Georgetown, and I see so many fit young women going to Soul Cycle, yoga, etc. that I don't think girls/young ladies every looked this great. Maybe it's an urban vs. suburban thing.

[Anonymous]

Everything is filled with high fructose corn syrup and additives now. I went to the French countryside for 3 weeks, drank a glass of wine every day and ate until I was full- including cheese and croissants- and lost weight. At home, I don’t drink as much and almost never eat until I’m full and I gain weight.

[Anonymous]

I am part of a big family, and some of the women in my generation have PCOS, which makes it very hard to lose weight. In our mothers' generation, no one had this. I wonder how many young women are struggling with this.

[Anonymous]

For the last 10 years I've young office that cycles through 10-20 seasonal workers for a project every summer. We work long hours and by the end of the summer each group has had a dynamic that I'm an outsider to, but close enough to know some stuff.

It seems over the last 5 years or so, there is way less middle ground in how these 20ish colleagues treat their health. The men are either super hardcore into the gym and look massively bulked, or they look like they couldn't run 100 yards without keeling over. The women look like they devote every morning to yoga and crunches and squats, or like they could eat a house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cheap, quick calories are plentiful in this country.

It takes time and/or money (or advanced planning) to eat right, whereas you can feed your family a drive-thru diet quickly and easily.

Kids don’t really actively play outside anymore. Most of them are on devices.

Also, with regard to HS sports, in a lot of cases, you need to have prior experience to make the HS team. It costs money (and parental time) to get this experience in the younger grades.

Very few people adopt a healthier lifestyle in college.

All of this. When I was growing up (I am 41), there were plenty of kids who took up sports in high school, and played on high school teams. It was also free - you just had to buy your shoes.

What I have noticed is that young people are not "young" fat, they are "old" fat. Young fat is just kind of chunky, but firm. Old fat is droopy, with a huge gut and back fat. There was no one that looked like that when I grew up. Now, you see really little kids with old people bodies. It's hard to come back from that.

I don't know if it is the food or what. I do know that kids go to Starbucks and Chipotle or whatever a lot. We rarely if ever used to go and get take out, and some of these kids are doing this on an almost daily basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am heavier now than i was in 1989

I’m not. I’m a 44-year old woman, and I weigh about the same. The best part is that I am still physically able to do everything I could 30 years ago.

It makes me sad to see this. I have a relative I care about who is in her mid-twenties, and she’s easily 60 lbs overweight. I worry about her health once she’s my age.

You weigh what you weighed when you were 13-14? Do you have children? Did you ever weigh more than that? Are you athletic?

This confused me also. PP, you weigh what you did at 13? That's not normal.

OK, I’m not normal, if that makes you feel good. I’m 5’8” and weigh 140 lbs. As I said, I was an early bloomer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am part of a big family, and some of the women in my generation have PCOS, which makes it very hard to lose weight. In our mothers' generation, no one had this. I wonder how many young women are struggling with this.

My BFF has PCOS and is very heavy. Plenty of women blame their weight on PCOS. A doctor friend told me that weight causes PCOS, but no one wants to hear that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lack of SAHMs a big cause

I can see this.

My wife & I both work. If we don't do a bunch of meal prepping either on a Sunday or at least the night before, the kids will feed themselves quick things like sandwiches, cereal, or frozen foods before going to after school activities. We try not to keep too many frozen convenience foods or processed foods around because we both have obesity on each side of the family.

For example, yesterday evening I made ground turkey and veggie bowls for my sons to have today for lunch and dinner because they have double practice today (7-11 am and then 6-9 pm). If I hadn't done that, they'd either go through the drive thru on the way home from practice or when they got home, make a couple of sandwiches each. If the healthy food is there and something they just have to reheat, they'll almost always go for that.

I know back before when I had to take them to practices, so many kids arrived at practice with bags of fast food or having just finished fast food in the car on the way to practice.

I think a lot of it is our portion size as well. When we travel to Europe, it always takes at least 2-3 days for my sons to adjust to the smaller portion sizes there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering just the opposite OP. I live in Georgetown, and I see so many fit young women going to Soul Cycle, yoga, etc. that I don't think girls/young ladies every looked this great. Maybe it's an urban vs. suburban thing.

I had the same experience at my neighborhood pool in NE DC this weekend. Most all of the younger people were slim/fit and attractive and every time I turned around more were coming! I'm usually with my kids and don't pay attention to what's happening on the adult side of the pool.

[Anonymous]

I wonder whether this also has to do with the emphasis on sports in high school, which seems to matter so much for college admission. Many teens who will do lots of sports in HS get used to eating a lot. When they stop practicing sports intensively, the diet may be difficult to adjust? I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cheap, quick calories are plentiful in this country.

It takes time and/or money (or advanced planning) to eat right, whereas you can feed your family a drive-thru diet quickly and easily.

Kids don’t really actively play outside anymore. Most of them are on devices.

Also, with regard to HS sports, in a lot of cases, you need to have prior experience to make the HS team. It costs money (and parental time) to get this experience in the younger grades.

Very few people adopt a healthier lifestyle in college.

All of this. When I was growing up (I am 41), there were plenty of kids who took up sports in high school, and played on high school teams. It was also free - you just had to buy your shoes.

What I have noticed is that young people are not "young" fat, they are "old" fat. Young fat is just kind of chunky, but firm. Old fat is droopy, with a huge gut and back fat. There was no one that looked like that when I grew up. Now, you see really little kids with old people bodies. It's hard to come back from that.

I don't know if it is the food or what. I do know that kids go to Starbucks and Chipotle or whatever a lot. We rarely if ever used to go and get take out, and some of these kids are doing this on an almost daily basis.

This all or nothing is interesting- I wonder if it could be as a result of parents tracking kids early, and thus you are a "sporty" kid who goes to soccer 5x /week or you are NOT .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering just the opposite OP. I live in Georgetown, and I see so many fit young women going to Soul Cycle, yoga, etc. that I don't think girls/young ladies every looked this great. Maybe it's an urban vs. suburban thing.

Give them a few years and see what happens.

Insert a tracking device on them and look them up 2-3 years from now.

[Anonymous]

I have heard snorting a little cocaine every once in a while helps out in keeping the body looking thin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cheap, quick calories are plentiful in this country.

It takes time and/or money (or advanced planning) to eat right, whereas you can feed your family a drive-thru diet quickly and easily.

Kids don’t really actively play outside anymore. Most of them are on devices.

Also, with regard to HS sports, in a lot of cases, you need to have prior experience to make the HS team. It costs money (and parental time) to get this experience in the younger grades.

Very few people adopt a healthier lifestyle in college.

All of this. When I was growing up (I am 41), there were plenty of kids who took up sports in high school, and played on high school teams. It was also free - you just had to buy your shoes.

What I have noticed is that young people are not "young" fat, they are "old" fat. Young fat is just kind of chunky, but firm. Old fat is droopy, with a huge gut and back fat. There was no one that looked like that when I grew up. Now, you see really little kids with old people bodies. It's hard to come back from that.

I don't know if it is the food or what. I do know that kids go to Starbucks and Chipotle or whatever a lot. We rarely if ever used to go and get take out, and some of these kids are doing this on an almost daily basis.

This all or nothing is interesting- I wonder if it could be as a result of parents tracking kids early, and thus you are a "sporty" kid who goes to soccer 5x /week or you are NOT .

Yep. And “sporty” kids usually come from middle/upper middle class backgrounds, and are thus are already more likely to eat right/exercise.

The fit get fitter, and the fat get fatter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am heavier now than i was in 1989

I’m not. I’m a 44-year old woman, and I weigh about the same. The best part is that I am still physically able to do everything I could 30 years ago.

It makes me sad to see this. I have a relative I care about who is in her mid-twenties, and she’s easily 60 lbs overweight. I worry about her health once she’s my age.

In 1989 I was a baby so of course I weigh more now than I did back then.