You’re in charge of the Gov policy on tackling obesity. Give me your five point plan...

[MrsGrindah]

I’m sick of reading lots of vague pledges . What , in your experience , would work? NB I’m not Michael or Boris just interested having struggled with weight all my life. You don’t have to cost it etc..just what do you think would work if it could be done.

Mine would be:

1. Sugar fines or levies not taxes on producers of core foods eg processed food and drink manufacturing. Fines have a completely different association than taxes
2. Weight management education running through a variety of classes eg home Ed, biology, PE etc. at school and also part of any childcare classes
3. School meals to have complete overhaul. No pizza, chips etc. More expensive yes but cheaper than the cost of obesity
4. Zero tolerance on fat shaming in schools.
5. Doctors to have more rights to refuse treatment for weight related health problems ( unless life threatening) until patients agree to a weight loss plan of action that is supported by suitably trained healthcare professionals.

As pp have said, a universal basic income or a 4 day week.
I've overhauled my entire life since being in lockdown but meal prep, shopping etc takes work. It's why a housewife used to do it (or still does) and why those who can afford it have a housekeeper/cook etc. Working 8 hours a day then commuting for 2 doesn't leave a lot of time for cooking from scratch.

In addition to more time, we also need to sort out food deserts. Local convenience stores are far more expensive than the big supermarkets. Even better would be to bring back the greengrocers, butchers etc that would serve a residential area. Maybe business incentives would help here?

That's my 2 point plan.

1. yes to investment in mental health as a public health emergency as part of ongoing investment in NHS
2. overhaul of town planning to incorporate decent social housing,secure tenancies, with proper kitchens and communal outdoor space (to grown veg,exercise etc), active transport and community spaces (where people can meet, host classes, local co-ops can run from)
3. universal basic income plus 30 hour full time working week.
4. nutrition and health and wellbeing key subject including free school meals with children actively involved in serving themselves and knowing about what they are eating and how it is prepared. 5)outdoor education as standard from nursery to high school.

School dinners served on those plates marked with the correct portion sizes for protein carbs etc.?

Get people off antidepressants and other medications that are associated with weight gain asap. Make use of the great outdoors and prescribe walking, cycling or swimming instead. This should workin a similar way as traditional group therapy. (Exercise is known to help with depression) Inlist the help of local sports clubs and organisations such as park run to implement the "prescription".

This comment is SO shockingly lacking in knowledge and insight!

Not only are these medications literally life savers for some of us, exercise for depression only helps a very little bit - and that's assuming you're not so depressed you can barely put one foot in front of the other anyway!

I've been that depressed.

In addition there are many other medications that are also essential to life that cause weight gain - I'm on steroids for asthma, I'd rather be able to breathe than lose a few more lbs thanks. And before anyone comments on asthma and weight certainly my asthma was actually at its worst when I was a size 6!

Posted too soon. I’m crap at remembering what a proper portion size is so always serve too much.

Huge societal shift needed I think. And I agree with pp that reducing poverty and inequality in general would have a huge impact But if I was in charge...

Proper funding and curriculum time for schools to teach basic cooking skills and healthy food prep (along with budgeting and meal planning for secondary children) and 'family style' meals encouraged for school lunches

Total overhaul of school PE with an emphasis on fitness and strength and improving own performance rather than competitive sports

Encouraging families to be more active together - not sure how to do this - better cycle routes, incentives for completing exercise challenges, an allocated amount of 'leisure tokens' to use at gyms/council facilities?

Investment into proper impartial research on 'healthy' diets - not funded by lobby groups etc (to provide evidence based approaches for nutritionists to recommend)

Online counselling/group support for people to lose weight by dealing with emotional/stress factors

1. stop making it school'a responsibility and make parents address their kids' weight issues

1. Offer incentives for people to exercise, such as subsidised gym, and improve all facilities

1. Ensure no person is living in poverty or in insecure housing or on crap zero hours contracts so that people can focus on healthy living and not just surviving

1. Promote healthy options in supermarkets, but only if really nutritious, not just reduced fat crap or stuff that's trying to look healthy like yoghurt covered raisins.

1. Make cycling and walking viable by having proper cycle paths separate from roads, and making sure there is zero tolerance on street harassment so that anyone can walk or run without being hassled or catcalled or shamed.

What an interesting thread. I also got fat due to working full time, a SN child and single parenting the dcs so burning the candle both ends. I was just lazy and comfort ate. At one stage, having a glass of wine or a packet of sweets was the only brightness in my day and the cheapest and easiest way to treat myself.

My 5 point plan would also involve therapy tbh

1. Give people one to one counselling so that they learn to regard food as fuel and not as a treat or comfort

1. Blank package junk food - I don't believe in a sugar tax as it's just shoved sweeteners into everything. But I would shove a higher tax on chocolates/sweets/soft drinks/crisps/cakes/biscuits

1. Annual health checks

1. Prescribe gym/swimming pool memberships (though weight is largely what you eat, you tend to feel better exercising)

1. Consider subsidised fruit and veg boxes from local farmers for people on low incomes (elderly/families etc)

In an ideal world I'd also set a limit on plate size!

Ww first alerted me to this and as a result of the discussion in one meeting next time I went to my mums for dinner I took one of my plates with me - it was almost double the size of mums 70's plates!

They don't even fit in the bloody cupboards! I've tried to find smaller ones to no avail! But what I have done is bought ones with a larger "border" and I endeavour to only fill the center and not pile high but this definitely makes it harder for people to assess a reasonable portion

Lifelong food addict here in recovery and been sugar free for 25 years.
Agee with PP's

1. Teach emotional coping skills and treat overeating as an attempt to self medicate feelings (from trauma in some cases).
2. Restrict access to crap processed food by taxing it and disallowing it prominence e.g. near tills and in service stations etc.
3. Proper home economics lessons and exercise/sport lessons and facilities
4. Cycle paths and walking and green spaces in urban areas - reclaim streets
5. Reduce long working hours and improve work life balance

@MrsGrindah

School dinners served on those plates marked with the correct portion sizes for protein carbs etc.?

Yes I was thinking about this.

Doesn't matter how many times the children in my class (or my 3 yr old) tell me parrot fashion about 'healthy and unhealthy foods' they can only eat what's put in front of them. There is also an element of peer pressure to conform so I think healthier habits could be cultivated with the right approach.

They should be encouraged to consider what makes up their meals, where their food comes from, how it is prepared. Specific useful knowledge that they can take forward into their adult lives.

I do think this is a parents job but many don't have the skills/knowledge these days so I think schools need to step up.

Home economics made as important as English and maths.

Free sports clubs - for example kids football teams charge subs - they have to pay to hire halls or fields, outfit etc. Make it free.
Swimming pools and leisure centres as well.

Also home economics to be proper home economics..not just baking classes which is what I had badged as home ec.

1. Allow children to choose from a variety of exercises in PE at school. Not just for this week we are doing long distance running as not everyone likes that.
2. Compulsory school lunches for all infant and junior schools.
3. Easy and cheap access to gyms/pools for all ages including sessions for those of us fat people who are embarrassed to exercise in front of others.
4. Make fruit and veg cheaper
5. Better mental health services

In my fantasy world;

1. Put crèches in gyms/leisure centres so that parents can actually work out.
2. Change the relentless work work work culture to give people the time to focus on their own wellbeing.
3. Encourage local independent shops selling high quality ingredients for people with no opportunity to visit the supermarket on a regular basis.
4. A bigger amount of physical activity at school so that fitness just becomes a way of life.
5. Education so that children know what a balanced diet is and how to produce meals that are healthy.

Never going to happen though.

It's a joke when people say they haven't time to cook from scratch, but they stand there and micowave 4 meals taking as long as making a quick stir fry with pasta.

A five point plan sounded like making me do work

People can be prescribed free personal coach / trainer who visits them at home, understands their lifestyle and pressures and can make exercise and healthy eating fit in around their job,family, routine etc.

Reduced price healthy foods if you sign up to the weight loss scheme

Help to buy trainers, workout gear, bikes etc

Ban those stupid plimsolls for PE that the children can’t run in!

@awhitemouseinthehouse All work will be marked and handed back by Friday!

When little kids are overweight stop calling it puppy fat, which sounds cute. How about calling it parent fat because those kids are too young to be buying that food themselves.

Adult playgrounds with swings,slides,climbing frames, obstacle courses all set on sand.(not those off putting outside gyms).
Some cooking programs just for healthy eating on a budget and aimed at families with young children and time poor.If we can tackle child obesity we stand a chance.Obese children have so many difficulties from bullying to low salt esteem that make it so difficult to get and stay slim as an adult.
Better good plain tasty food at least
in primary schools,talking about healthy eating but giving teachers good teaching packs that includes seasonal eating for veg(linked to finding out what it is,what can be grown at school,tasting food) and uses easily affordable healthy foods that the most conservative would eat(and suggestions for tweaks for the more adventurous)
Community cooking lessons,give people the confidence to cook different things and taste them.
There was s decent,healthy,affordable food out there but we need to be helped to know what it is,how to cook it in a way that our families like and most of all to loose the snacks between meals so that we loose the feeling of being hungry and don't know when we're full.

Affordable/free exercise classes in every town/workplace/community/online that are a realistic starting point for people at different levels of obesity/unfitness/overweight to get them moving.

So many exercise classes around but I think you have to be at a certain level to enjoy them.

Research into sugar addiction and changing carb heavy diets

Supermarket menu cards so that you know what to buy and how much it costs.q

1, Getting the message across, loud and clear, that for the overwhelming majority of fatties, obesity is a choice. You, and you alone, are responsible for what you choose to put in your mouth.
2, Getting the message across, loud and clear, that for the overwhelming majority of people, being a healthy weight is also a choice.
3, In terms of public health, obesity is the new smoking, and sugar is the new tobacco, so treat it as such.
4, Tax increases worked on tobacco, so impose high and progressively escalating taxes on foods high in sugar and fat. (There should obviously be exceptions for foods which are naturally high in healthy fats, eg olive oil, avocados, oily fish, unsalted nuts etc etc.)
5, VAT cuts on gym memberships, exercise clothing & equipment, bikes sports Club membership sports coaching etc. More cycle lanes, everywhere.