To think we need more back to basics education about food, cooking, etc

[Notcontent]

Just this morning I was reading yet another article about doctors calling on the government to tackle rising childhood obesity. It's obviously a serious and growing problem. Yes, in some cases medical issues or genetics may play a part, but for the most part it's to do with the food we are consuming.

My view is that while things like the sugar tax, etc. are a step forward, ultimately it's about people understanding what might be a healthy breakfast, etc. I think that unless something changes, we are heading for disaster in terms of diabetes, etc.

There is a general huge misconception about nutrition, it's not as simple as the concept of apple verses chocolate. I had a row with a friend who is doing slimming world as it's all about calories. She tels me about eating "fat free yoghurts" or weight watcher ready meals as they are only x hundred calories. She's alarmed that i eat nuts, greek yoghurt and avocados because they are "fattening".

I know otherwise bright people who can tell me that crisps are a treat food but couldn't actually nutritionally balance a week of food.

It's "normal" to eat white bread and pasta rather than wholemeal which costs no more money.....

Kids menus in pubs make me want to scream. The pubs in affluent areas tend to be a bit better but asrrghh thete is no such thing as "children's food" it's smaller portions of just food. That's what sets our taste buds up for life.

Being able to shop carefully and cook healthily are great life skills.
But what if you don't have a fridge or a cooker, or even a gas ring?
What if you have to share a sink and a tap with several other people?
What if you don't even have a table or any other surface to prepare food?
What if you have pay a very high price for gas and electricity (as anyone who is poor probably has to) or live in premises where the supply of energy is unreliable?
It is complex.

Eat more veg, fullfat dairy, eggs, pulses, lean meat and less sugar. Your 5 a day should not be 3/4 fruit and you shouldn't be a lazy twat and eat processed food.

Anyone who says eating healthy is more expensive needs a kick in the metaphorical ballsack and also needs to learn how to cook properly.

Willow i lost ten stone on slimming world the first time.....doing it their way.

I regained 4 stone when DH had his heart attack and got ill.

I lost that 4 stone regain eating in a similar way that you do. A lot of SW suggestions are too high in sugar.

Wando i could not have lost that 4 stone regain if i was on JSA.

I couldnt have afforded the eggs or the fresh fruit or veg.

YANBU

But it wouldn't solve the issue entirely.

Would be a start though

I notice when we discuss healthy eating etc in here soneone always beings up people that dont own a fridge or cooker. I'm not blind to the world, i know these people exist but they are a minority. Through my line of work i meet a lot of "poor" families i.e. living of benefits in housing association or council property. The nutritional stare is bad a huge amount of the time. These people ALL have white goods and means for cooking & have the time to do it. I do thinj the what about if you can't afford electricity is not the main problem but the exception.

Willow
My son was in exactly that position and working full time.
I know other young single people in the same boat. The only private rental accomodation they can afford has no cooking or food storage facilities.

A pack of 5 or 6 bananas is generally in the region of 80p to a pound.
Tesco currently have them on offer at about 50p.
Even with that in consideration...
1.5kg bag of chips will feed yourself and/or your kids for much longer and costs about 75p. So sure. In this case the healthy item is better price wise, but when you look at price per meal it's a very different story. If you don't have much the aim is to
Reduce waste (frozen/canned food).
Feed yourself for as long as possible on as little as possible. a bag of chips for eg will do that. A pack of 5 bananas? Not so much...

I just went back to re-read the OP. It wasn't specifically about those in extreme poverty, just that basic cooking and nutrition knowledge might help reduce childhood obesity.
When I think about some of the young people I know, late teens in my DC peer group, none come from deprived backgrounds and yet there are several who have grown up on junk and convenience food. I'm not sure that lessons at school would be enough to counter growing up in a home where there is no cooking. This is nothing to do with being so poor as to choose between bananas or chips, it's a lifestyle.
Eating healthily in extreme poverty is a different matter.

cocklodger a 1.5 kg bag of chips will feed yourself and your kids for much longer and costs about 75p. Well, no it won't, really. Chips on their own won't feed you, you need other things to go with them to make a meal.
You really have to plan a whole menu out to use money most efficiently and to get as much nutritional value as possible. That is a life skill that some people just don't have.
My own personal experience of poverty in relation to obesity has taught me the opposite - I always lose weight when I go through a period of being very short of money. Why is that? I think it's because I learnt from my Mum how to make simple meals from cheap ingredients. So I don't need to buy the ready meals, frozen pizzas, packets of custard creams, etc.
To be fair, I do have a fridge and cooking facilities (though limited compared to many people) and I was able to budget for electricity, albeit through a keymeter. So I guess in those respects I was better off than some people.

I think people forget about really cheap healthy food. Dahl for example.

Honestly having worked with food and done slimming world and gone to a nutritionist,

People really DONT know what healthy food means,

"Dont be so patronising of course I know what's healthy"

Then youve got the whole low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat, no sugar brigades confusing people,

The general government advice is low fat is better when actually for children, active people and those who are dieting, full fat can actually be more filling and better for you

There was a thread on here about portion sizes that everyone was shocked that 1 sausage was given when actually that IS a portion!!

A portion of chips Is tiny ,just over 10 chips!

A lot of people don't know this at all.

I think convenience food which a lot of us rely on, is cheaper for unhealthy things,

Chicken nuggets are nothing compared to £5 for a bag of chicken breasts, fish fingers are pennies compared to frozen fillets,
Packaged salads are expensive for one meal, if they bulk bought vegetables and rice they could make a few vegetarian dishes that might be cheaper but many people don't have the time or want to.

People don't want to cook from scratch or bulk cook or eat stew or soup everyday, even if it is cheaper.

I think knowledge surrounding healthy eating is so skewed. There are so many diets/ways of eating out there - Low Carb, low fat, slimming world, weight watchers, dukan, 5:2, paleo etc etc - that many of us have lost sight of what healthy eating is. Agree as well that portion size is an issue. I was really bad at this too, eating far too much even if it was healthy food. I'm doing SW, but even though pasta is 'free' I only have a handful and bulk out on veg and protein. The people I know who are shocked 1 pack of micro rice serves 2 (I used to be shocked too). My parents are guilty of this too - when mam makes a bolognese she uses 500g mince for 3 portions (no veg), I quite happily make the same amount make at least 5 portions by bulking it out with veg.

The price difference doesn't help either. A tesco value pizza and value chips is £1.75, a meal for a family and under 2 quid. A punnet of strawberries costs 2 quid, if you've got children to feed which will you choose? Fruit and veg are ridiculously expensive (admittedly apples and pears aren't but you'd soon get fed up of them) and it's a lot cheaper to buy crap. Add in the fact that it takes less time and energy to bung stuff in the oven and it's no wonder we're not eating the healthiest. I do slimming world and while I eat varied and healthy food (eg porridge and fruit, pasta in a creamy mushroom sauce with spinach and lettuce, vegetable fried rice) I wouldn't be able to do that if I was on UC. Supermarkets certainly don't help.

I work in a supermarket and they don't help matters. They have 'sweet free checkouts'. Yes, great except there's bags of popcorn, 'healthy' cereal bars, smoothie pouches etc. That's besides the fact that the end of the aisles facing the checkouts are adorned with pick n mix and chocolate. And that last month you could get 2 big pots of pick n mix for £3 wheras yet again strawberries and raspberries were 2 pounds. Which really annoys me, because working on the tills you could see parents saying theyre only getting them because of the offer, or that they hadnt realised they were on offer and now may as well get a second for free. Not very responsible. I think big retailers have a lot to answer for.

I admire food banks and often give (once every fortnight for example) and I understand they can't accept fresh things so happily pop in pasta sauces/passata/pasta/soup/cereal etc. At the same time I wish I could pop in something that really resembles a meal - a loaf of bread, bit of fish, some mince or chicken, some cheese, some yogurt etc. Understand it's not anyone's fault it's only preserved stuff they accept and it does make sense, but just wish there was another way

I don't judge but working the checkouts I sometimes feel sad. A mum buying school dress for her daughter, who she's told me is 6 next week, and while keying in the barcode as it won't scan, I see it is for age 10-11. Also seeing entire food shops that barely feature anything resembling a fruit or vegetable. I'm not perfect (definitely not), no one is, it does make me a little sad for the children though. Also aggravates me how the vouchers staff get are for money off salmon, chicken, water, exercise equipment and salad, yet the customers get money off aunt bessies steamed pudding or ben and jerrys ice cream

Time is a problem too. I've started cooking easy meals when I get in from work (chicken and rice and veg, stir fries etc) but I work in a sedentary job. I rarely work longer than 10 hours, and even if I work 10 hours I get 2 half hour breaks so enough time to eat food I've ready prepared. I live 15 mins from home, my jobs not very stressful. That's not the same for everyone. Some people are shattered emotionally and physically after work, some work long hours, some have long commutes (esp. in cities). In those cases it's perfectly understandable reaching for a pizza/ready meal in the shop on your way home. Time is a big problem I think, we all spend so long doing other things that healthy meals take a back seat. I know you can batch cook (I do) but that again takes time and effort. I don't know what the solution is, but there is a problem. I think education is the way to go but that still causes issue - I'm 22, living at home and trying to eat healthily in my house is difficult sometimes. Let alone if you're 13 and know from school what you should be eating, but your parents won't listen and you can't buy the other food for yourself.