to not want to follow the change4life guidance on this leaflet?

[lookdeepintotheparka]

We got the change4life booklet home today in book bags which I read through as sometimes has good recipes.

The advice was to switch from full fat milk to skimmed or 1% milk and from butter to low fat spread. I had thought that recent studies show that full fat dairy is actually better for you - especially for children.

AIBU to think change4life information is out of date - does anyone know??

I'm so pleased to read this thread. I was astonished when I glanced through the leaflet.

Exchange 'pop' for pop with sweeteners, indeed!

And the bit where it talks about exchanging butter for low fat spread (fuck, no! but leaving that aside for now...) actually reads: 'Try swapping to lower fat butters, that's a healthier swap too'.

Erm, the 'lower fat butters' they are suggesting are not butters, are they? I realise some people call all greasy spreadables 'butter' but such inaccuracy has no place in health campaign materials.

And this produced for Public Health England, part of the Department of Health.

It would be funny if it wasn't so important to get it right.

Their agenda is to get down the nhs bill for type 2 diabetes.

The fatties are costing too much money. That's why they reckon artificial sweeteners are an improvement on sugar.

They don't give a fuck about your "health".

Nothing surprises me about this kind of campaign any more. Not Since my GP recommended that I go on a diet which advocated replacing meals with Weetabix. Or that the NHS recommended I do Weight Watchers and even funded my membership.

My housemate got a change4life thing with vouchers and fridge magnets so I have to see their terrible advice every time I use the fridge and it drives me up the wall. She's following their advice so she loses weight for her wedding and making out that weight loss is the same as being healthier is really annoying. In fairness she has to use margarine not butter anyway as she is lactose intolerant but things like switching diet fizzy drinks for full-sugar ones are just so silly - all fizzy drinks are unhealthy, you may as well enjoy the full sugar version and not drink yuck-tasting sweeteners. I prefer diet coke to normal coke but only because diet coke uses the 'new coke' recipe (coke zero uses the regular recipe). I'm boycotting Coca Cola anyway so enjoying Aldi's 50p-for-2l fake coke anyway

Goodness even though it's a diet club, Slimming World is pretty sensible and you don't have to have the low-fat processed options (they are popular though). Basically you fill 1/3 of your plate (at least) with veg (raw or cooked) or fruit (raw), and the rest can be lean meat, fish, eggs, Quorn/tofu, potatoes/rice/pasta as long as it hasn't been cooked with any fat but spray oil (olive oil spray is 7 sprays a point, frylight is free). All those foods are free foods and portion size is unlimited, you are free to go back for seconds! You also get 1 portion of wholegrain bread/cereal a day and 1 portion of dairy a day, and are free to choose full-fat dairy - you just get less. You get 10 'syns' (points) a day roughly to spend on treats. You can also have a lower-carb plan or a veggie-plan, and you get more cereal/dairy portions on those. That's a very rough explanation (there are other daily options) but those are the basic rules, basically nothing is forbidden but you are encouraged to fill up on nutrient-dense food and to cook from scratch.

Saggy at the weetabix diet, and while I do understand that you shouldn't be forced to do Weight Watchers, NHS funding for the more sensible slimming clubs (WW, Slimming World etc) is helpful for those on low incomes who want to do the clubs.

I've recently lost a stone and a. half without goung near reduced fat/ sugar foods. I have "smart swapped" my usual full power coke for fruit teas when I'm out and about, and reduced sugar by making swaps for more savory and satisfying food. It's an annoying campaign as the principle is OK, it's the nature of the suggested swaps that is nutritionally poor.

DS1 has CMPA, so dairy (and also egg) is absent from his diet, especially as his alternative milk is low fat. My greatest concern about his diet has been about how to get a healthy range of fats in there. Unfortunately we've had a setback on phased reintroduction and we're back to dairy free spread again after a return of the facial swelling.

YANBU OP, if I had my way I would ban all the crap filled low fat low sugar options. I changed the way I eat last year to try and help my RA, full fat only and more dairy than ever before to help absorb vitamins and minerals and give my bones a chance plus no more 'sweetners' if I want something sweet I'll have something with real sugar in. I think I have easily twice as much fat in my diet, hardly any processed white bread etc, I haven't counted calories or portion controlled and I have gone down 3-4 clothes sizes and look amazing (IMHO ). Sadly my bones are still crap but not carrying around what must be at least three extra stone (never weighed myself so don't know exactly) certainly makes my feet and ankles happier. Cut the processed crap and look awesome

Switching from butter to "low-fat spread" is bad advice. Here's some good advice: use butter in moderation.

LittleBabyPigsus I disagree about Slimming World, I managed a week on it before I saw it as an unhealthy way of eating and ditched it (I am still losing weight without it). If you are not careful on it, you could end up eating a very high GI diet (too much pasta, rice, fruitetc) and the last straw for me was when I noticed that an avocado uses up all your 'syns' for the day, but it's ok to treat yourself to a Twirl. Ridiculous. The whole notion of labelling food as 'syns' is fucked up in my book anyway.

I looked through DS's MEND folder this week, DS is autistic and has no stop button when it comes to food....he is currently very overweight which has meant I have had to empty the house of everything he likes to snack on.

Thankfully he is not a fizzy drinks addict preferring milk or water. However, MEND says if cjikdren DO like fizzy drinks to swap these for no sugar versions. It does however recommend weaning off them in the long term. So the swap is a painless way of making a change before reducing the sweetener.

Given the need to get weight down this makea some sense. To be fair, MEND also recommend exercising for 60 mins a day.

What a sensible article from the Mail. Unfortunately they have also recently run one in which "scientists" advocate banning butter.

These mixed messages are really hampering the healthy eating cause.

Mail article says couscous is a grain, but it's made of durum wheat, same as pasta. Which is a grain but not in it's own right.

Slimming World do recommend going for the whole grain versions of pasta and rice etc though. I agree re avocado......I'd rather have that than the Twirl any day.

Likewise the selling of their HiFi bars (you can have two for a B choice) is messed up. The B choice should be about fibre in as healthy a way as possible.....not about two sugary snacks.

DS has an SOS day (Sweets On Saturday...or Sunday) and I limit the fruit as he has no stop button. You can eat low GI on Slimming World.....it's just about making healthy choices. My friend is vegetarian and always follows their Green plan.....she has lost over 3 stones and kept it off for nearly three years now.

I went to a health visitor conference once, it was absolutely shocking, all the major confectioners were there with 'professionals' flocking around their stands where they were giving out processed Junk saying they were "showing health workers how they could help people to see how they could eat their foods as part of a healthy diet"
All the formula producers were there, with enormous stands again with a lot of nodding health professionals listening intently and nodding away to the sales people and picking up freebies.
Breastfeeding organisations only affording tiny stands got no attention.
The dietetic organisation is very similar taking sponsorship from breakfast biscuits and sweetened yogurt . I'm not sure if they still have junk food sponsors for their study days, but cpd training is put on by formula manufacturers for midwives and HVs .
Big business has a massive influence over the advice we are given, even in our own homes. I'm a capitalist , but think the NHS should protect itself against this influence, not help.

I don't buy food that has more than a few ingredients, preferably no ingredients, and cook myself- that said, I am still overweight! :(

Goodness semi skimmed does still have the same calcium etc in it, you are right about that but it is better to give the full fat version to children in particular. The fat in the milk is "good fat" and as it's only 3-4.9% anyway why not keep it as a pure product rather than buy something with elements stripped out on a false basis of "health".

Lostinwales share your swaps diet?! I refuse "diets" as I think they have fucked up my mums and sisters perfectly normal weight by creating a yoyo situation . I would like some more sensible suggestions!

uri back up thread!!! That's EXACTLY what someone else said to me yesterday! Awful....

One thing I always get is that it's the perfect people who don't need change for life that are the most critical ones.

Personally I think becoming healthier is a process, a bit like those giving up smoking need nicotine replacement products.

I'm very happy to continue with all of the swaps I'd already made well before change for life came about. It's what's kept my weight under more control than it has ever been my entire adult life.

Those who doubt it are those who least need help anyway. Those most in need of obesity help are those who most benefit from the suggestions for calorie reduction in a way they can maintain.

What are views on olive oil spread? Just interested really we use butter now but used to use olivio

We were invited in for school dinners yesterday, where the children were offered low-fat (ie high-sugar) yogurt and no-added-sugar squash. That fits Change4Life but is utterly stupid.

If low sugar matters, don't give sugary yogurt. If it doesn't, don't give low-sugar squash. I was amazed it wasn't water though, given that they're only allowed water in their drinks bottles during the day.

Thinking of writing something constructive to the LA (school doesn't control content of meals).

That's what I am thinking too joys um. It IS a process and for those most in need it has to be a gradual process.

If you are not careful on it, you could end up eating a very high GI diet (too much pasta, rice, fruitetc) and the last straw for me was when I noticed that an avocado uses up all your 'syns' for the day, but it's ok to treat yourself to a Twirl.

A family member appears to do exactly this. She's lost a load of weight but, IMO, she has done so by eating less of crap food (1% milk, weird spreads, sweetener-riddled drinks, processed carbs, with plenty of credits left for nutritionally-void 'treats').

I have the feeling she thinks I'm neurotic about food, but her view on what constitutes a healthy diet baffles me.

Change4Life is supposed to be about lifelong changes for healthy living, not short-term weight loss. Their tips in this leaflet and campaign are not lifelong.

Others have been - eg the me-sized meals thing, five-a-day, and how to get/keep active.

We had the leaflet todays as well, to be honest they can shove it up their backsides (mature I know) but both my kids are smack bang in the middle of their healthy weight bands, they have never had low fat or low sugar anything.
Home cooked meals with no added salt or sugar and a fizzy drinks and chocolate as a treat. No issues I am quite sure if I did these swaps we would all be unhealthier than we are now.

We had the leaflet todays as well, to be honest they can shove it up their backsides (mature I know) but both my kids are smack bang in the middle of their healthy weight bands, they have never had low fat or low sugar anything.
Home cooked meals with no added salt or sugar and a fizzy drinks and chocolate as a treat. No issues I am quite sure if I did these swaps we would all be unhealthier than we are now.

We had the leaflet todays as well, to be honest they can shove it up their backsides (mature I know) but both my kids are smack bang in the middle of their healthy weight bands, they have never had low fat or low sugar anything.
Home cooked meals with no added salt or sugar and a fizzy drinks and chocolate as a treat. No issues I am quite sure if I did these swaps we would all be unhealthier than we are now.