Obesity in Shetland

[Rivlins]

That study sounds very very dubious... seeing how it was done for a drug company that has an "anti-obesity" drug to sell... also this:

But Ms Robinson said the Shetland statistics had been based on 1,000 patients at a single GP practice.

I'm curious now to know which practice it was

[Brink]

Ice-cream?

 

Kind of you Fjool. Make mine a 99?

[Guest Anonymous]

Speaking as a person who has been obese for most of my life, and struggled to do anything about it, I would have to, (only on this rare occasion), come down on the side of the supermarkets for being the best suppliers in Shetland of healthy food.

Certainly they sell a lot of calorie and fat laden products, but they are the easiest accessible source of fresh fruit and vegetables, and normally at reasonable prices compared to smaller shops who can't afford to risk stocking too much of a product which is likely to rot before it is sold.

 

But in Shetland, what is eaten is not really the problem, it's the lack of exercise. And that starts from a very early age.

How many kids walk anywhere these days? If you can encourage them to go anywhere away from the TV or games system, you have to drive them. I guess every parent on this forum has the feeling that they are little more than an unpaid taxi driver for their kids.

Shetland is very good at providing facilities for kids, such as leisure centres, but wouldn't it be better for the kids if they walked or cycled there, rather than being driven there? Or would they refuse to go if they had to exercise to get there?

 

Having said all that. I only eat junk food now, and my weight is normal for my height with a BMI of about 22. And the reason for that is simply exercise,,, and not living in Shetland.

[Carlos]

A thought.....

 

Is it just me, or do Shetland folk maybe have legs a bit shorter than average for our height?

 

With the BMI as dodgy as it is, and inch or 2 longer on the body and shorter on the leg would likely tip a fair number of folk over the "obese" borderline, enough to cover the 5% or so the study shows anyhow.

[Guest Jonathan]

A thought.....

 

Is it just me, or do Shetland folk maybe have legs a bit shorter than average for our height?

 

With the BMI as dodgy as it is, and inch or 2 longer on the body and shorter on the leg would likely tip a fair number of folk over the "obese" borderline, enough to cover the 5% or so the study shows anyhow.

 

Shorter legs? An interesting theory, perhaps all the tall people over the centuries have been blown off the island by strong gusts leaving only stockier built people to breed, evolving not just a culture we now know as shetlanders but an entirely separate race of people, maybe akin to the mythical dwarves? Of course being built as such, so low to the ground, such hobbies as pole jumping and long distance running are out of the question leaving only feasting on wild boar on open roaring fires to be had as a hobby...... and thus leading to increased weight.

 

Or! Perhaps it's that there is very little to do in Shetland other than drink and eat, much like the rest of Scotland.

Days seem to revolving around "what's for dinner" or "fancy a drink?" Perhaps with the new music/arts/cinema complex coming, in conjunction with the current sports centre, more activities other than food and drink might let us see a change.

[Carlos]

You could probably come up with something about lower centre of gravity, and more upper body strength being optimal for swinging axes too......

[paulb]

are you you saying shetlanders are short fatties! AS A SHORT FATTY of corse its my fault and yes it will kill me quickly. but saying do exersise will cure servere obesity is a load of male cow muck. its the same with dieting ive lost more weight than an average man in one go but guess what it comes back a body will only allow you to starve it for so long. the pills are only good for a maximum of a 5% weight loss. and can only be used for 6 months. ive wanted gastric bypass surgery for a number of years but i cant afford the £12000 it would cost. the wife is not keen on the 1 in 10 chance of death either. the nhs is no use in helping there is a two year wait even before they will think of helping. to get help you need to see the dietian and guess what shetland does not have.

 

im not surplised that this has come up its a diversion. the goverment are failing to solve the health inequalities in scotland. this is why we start hearing from mp's smp's trying to make out that its an individuals responsabilty. lets blame the fatties and forget that the worst health with the shortest life expectancy is in the poorest most deprived areas. its a lot cheaper to blame someone than cure the underlying causes.

 

i will never take health advice from a right wing tory mp. spend money curing deprevation never.

[Guest Jonathan]

You could probably come up with something about lower centre of gravity, and more upper body strength being optimal for swinging axes too......

 

True enough! but these activities are usually restricted to up helly aa which also centre's around drinking and eating thus counter acting an otherwise healthy exercise that could be available!

[Strawb]

Just been to Solottis - we did a count, 30% obese and that was being conservative....

 

What scintillating company you must keep, that your lunch is spent counting fat people???

[khitajrah]

A thought.....

 

Is it just me, or do Shetland folk maybe have legs a bit shorter than average for our height?

 

With the BMI as dodgy as it is, and inch or 2 longer on the body and shorter on the leg would likely tip a fair number of folk over the "obese" borderline, enough to cover the 5% or so the study shows anyhow.

 

Shorter legs? An interesting theory, perhaps all the tall people over the centuries have been blown off the island by strong gusts leaving only stockier built people to breed, evolving not just a culture we now know as shetlanders but an entirely separate race of people, maybe akin to the mythical dwarves?

 

Don't forget one leg being shorter than the other so that they can walk along the peat hills with ease, not unlike the wild Scottish haggis.

[khitajrah]

the nhs is no use in helping there is a two year wait even before they will think of helping. to get help you need to see the dietian and guess what shetland does not have.

 

People don't need a dietician to eat sensibly. I believe there are more important things the NHS need to spend their money on.

 

Excessive fatty & sugary foods + lack of excercise = weight gain

 

No amount of pill popping, surgery or faddy dieting is going to change that equation. There are many books written on the topic of healthy eating and there is always Google.

 

Fruits, veg, carbohydrates, moderate dairy and meat + moderate excercise = optimum body weight.

 

Don't they teach this in primary school?

It's funny how bodies are designed.

[Para Handy]

I was just wondering who they are going to pick on next people who have one eye or people who walk on the cracks in the pavement. How about people with cancer, they cost a lot of money for the health board as well? maybe only healthy people will only be aloud to use the NH services? that will cut down waiting times, not every one who are obese are bad people in fact just because the majority of people are small they assume that everybody has to be the same as them it is just another form of racism and bulling if you had picked on black people or chinese people new labour would be making laws to stop that. Maybe you would like to put them all in concentration camps along with jehovah's witnesses, homosexuals, and persons accused of "asocial" or socially deviant behaviour. Where do you draw the line. There are obese people who have worked all there lives and paid there tax and national insurance the same as all you perfect people out there If some people are happy being over weight what right do others have to say otherwise if there not braking the law it is nobody else’s business what other people look like. How long until the Swastika Flag is flying above number 10

 

The population of Shetland was 21,988 in 2001 does any one really care what % of the people are obese there must be more important things than that to worry about in the Shetland Islands

[khitajrah]

I was just wondering who they are going to pick on next people who have one eye or people who walk on the cracks in the pavement.

 

If a significant number of people started deliberately doing something to themselves that resulted in them having only one eye left, I believe the government and the NHS would have to devise some sort of strategy to tackle the problem, the same as if a significant number of mothers' backs became broken because of crack stepping something would have to be done. Yes, it would attract media attention.

 

not every one who are obese are bad people in fact just because the majority of people are small they assume that everybody has to be the same as them

 

Who said obese people were bad? Not I. I also believe the majority of people are average, falling within healthy BMI limits. Small is different kettle of fish.

[Spinner72]

Whilst there is an undoubted problem with junk food and the effects of general laziness within modern living, i think the generalisation of that in respect to the "average" shetlander and the percentage of "clinical obesity" (meaning the BMI thing) is unfair.

 

I know for a fact i would fall into the category of obese, and always have done.

 

Yet I grew up in a traditional shetland lifestyle. Plenty of chores, all veg and meat homegrown, peats for heating and manual labour for money. I think if you're eating entirely organic (as it's now known), and think nothing of doing 8-10 hours physical work followed by a few more hours mucking out and feeding, before a shower and a few more hours dancing with the sweat flying every weekend, to be caled unfit is frankly a joke.

 

My point being basically that of Davy Cooper in todays Shetland News article - some of us are built this way, but i'm damn sure we're much fitter than many white collar city workers who may have a great BMI, but aren't built to last...

[Fjool]

I think you're right, Spinner. BMI is far too simplistic a way of looking at the matter. It's just a technical term to describe a person's body density really.

 

The association with fitness is only statistical. People with a BMI of over 22 are more likely to get ill, but it doesn't mean that every single person is going to. Some, like yourself, are muscular and have a higher BMI. However, statistically people with a higher BMI are more likely to be unhealthy. A high BMI can cause health problems.

 

In my case my BMI is certainly because I've been getting fat and lazy... the Wii says I'm over-weight and, I know if I don't take action, I'm on my way to obese. Not exactly delighted by this, of course. But I must say that I feel healthier and happier being over-weight than I ever did when I was under-weight.

 

Still.. more jogging required!

 

and less pies.