Government tackling obesity missing a key element

[HeeeeyDuggee]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53546151

Government have announced measures to tackle obesity

AIBU to think that although it’s all well and good banning buy 1 get 1 free and advertising before 21:00 what they really need to do is make fresh fruit and vegetables and good quality meat cheaper for people to buy.

It may be a regional thing but buying enough veg for the week here costs a fortune and it goes off within days. Where as you can buy a massive packet nuggets and chips for much less.

Pre covid it was bad enough for lots of families but given the ramifications on jobs and the economy I think lots more families will struggle to afford decent healthy food.

Ps not a fat persons bashing thread I myself am over weight

People swap one addiction for another if they’ve got that personality type. And I do think many obese people just eat too much of ‘normal’ food rather than gorging on pies all day

Me! I definitely have an addictive personality. I also eat well but overeat and don’t move enough. The issue from an addiction point of view is you need to eat - you don’t need wine or cocaine or to spend 16 hours a day doing something you love and finding the balance is tougher if your addiction is food rather than beer.

I’m not as convinced it’s all about junk food. I think a lot of it is about snacking and the effects of maybe 2-300 calories extra a day. It is very easy to go over with a cake.

I think a bigger issue is sedentary lifestyle. I live in an affluent area and under normal circumstances it is quite rare to see a fat child. However, post Covid, I’ve seen more than usual and some of my daughter’s friends have visibly gained weight. I know myself that I was much happier when my 4yo started nursery again as I knew she was being active all day. when she was at home on my working days it was much harder and we used tv a lot. I can also tell that she is playing differently at the park now they’re open. Getting enough active play for children is really vital and felt like I had to really work to provide that whereas normally she’d be running around with her friends, doing swimming etc and generally doing lots of activities.

Of course, Saint Boris didn't exactly help the obesity crisis by declaring:

"You must stay at home."
"I am forcibly closing the gyms, swimming pools, and recreational sport."

The fact that he allowed the pisshouses back before gyms and swimming pools says a lot about his priorities.

And we're still not allowed to do recreational sport.

Also, as mentioned above, many people have not learned the skills of how to cook.
There has never before been easier 24/7 access to that information. Ever

Not everyone had access to / is able to use the internet.
What about people with physical / mental disabilities?

I quite agree with pp who say that (a) it's not simple (b)cooking/nutrition needs to be properly taught in schools and (c) school sports/active play should be fun, not stressful (d) portion control is important.

Another point is that expectations of normal, everyday food have changed drastically since the 1950s/1960s. Two generations of children have been brought up to think that food should always be rich, sweet, salty, very plentiful and exciting.

In the 1950s/60s, meals were much simpler and plainer, at least everyday. Plain-cooked meat or fish and plain vegetables, too. Lentil or vegetable soups. Bread and jam or fruit for pudding. No snacks, routinely. Just 3 meals a day. And, to be honest, by today's standards, they were often rather boring. Cakes were for special occasions. Crisps were for birthday parties . Etc etc. That style of cooking was (very properly) criticised when compared with more exciting cuisines. But it was not intrinsically unhealthy.

High calorie, refined carb dishes like pizza, pasta and lasagne were real novelties, and eaten rarely, as treats. Burgers from high street chains were almost unknown. So was fried chicken. (The first KFC and the first Pizza Express in the UK opened in 1965, the first McDonalds in 1974). Creamy, sugary coffees in large mugs were simply not available until the 1990s.

Of course we can't turn the clock back. But the old-fashioned diet, however boring, did not make so many people overweight. Can we learn anything from this? I don't know...

Portion size is a huge thing - it's really easy to get an 'extra' 200-300 calories a day without really thinking about it.

It would help if packaging had to have the portions prominently displayed (one portion = 3 chicken nuggets, one portion = 1/4 pizza) and packets for stuff like pasta and rice were easy to measure out. I weigh them when I'm dieting but really who can be arsed to weigh everything all the time and scan the packets in detail to see what a 'portion' is supposed to be?

(I am unable to eyeball portions, even after several months of weighing. I can't be the only one who's really bad at estimating weight.)

I'm not blaming individual parents for children's changed expectations. There are all sorts of reasons, and, in some ways, the change has sort of crept up on us.

But it's happened, all the same.

It would help if packaging had to have the portions prominently displayed (one portion = 3 chicken nuggets, one portion = 1/4 pizza)

They do though. And many people, including myself, think ‘fuck that’.

Can i let you into a secret. I dont like lentils.
Im not overweight

In my opinion it is a much more holistic approach that is needed - everyone's points here are valid, but it can't be a quick fix. Healthier meals can be cheap, but people need the education to know how to cook healthy meals with cheaper ingredients. Egg on toast rather than a sausage roll for lunch, simple pasta sauce, baked potato with tuna etc ... all just as cheap as chips and nuggets. Education is key - bringing back cooking lessons and also nutrition lessons - I honestly feel that if people understood just how nasty some of the chemicals in processed foods can be, then they would make better choices. Access to outdoor space, exercise etc and also banning junk food adverts, making packaging plain and also having stricter laws on nutritional content and value of food sold in shops (so manufacturers also have responsibility). But it's a massive change from everyone ... not sure it would ever happen. Studies have also shown the benefit of children having the school meals provided for them (even in affluent areas, those that has the free school lunches had positive health benefits overall).

@Oliversmumsarmy

I have done my fitness pal and monitored my calories. I average around 1500 calories per day I also do about 8000 steps per day

However I only sleep on average between 4-5 hours per night.

If I could sleep 8 hours then I would be fine but I can’t. I take Melatonin to knock me out at 3 or 4am then I am up at 8.30 to 9.30am.
I am knackered but my brain won’t allow me to go back to sleep

Regardless of what I have eaten or what exercise I did if I do get 8 hours then the weight falls off me.

For me it isn’t about calories in and calories out but sleep.

Yep, I agree with that. I've been very slowly losing weight for years at a pound or two per month. I've managed to put on half a stone in the last 3 weeks despite no change in what I'm eating nor exercise. I've literally done nothing different. The only change is that I've had week after week of really poor sleeping, i.e. can't get to sleep, then awake/asleep on off all night, then awake from around 5am unable to get back to sleep. It's the only thing I can put my finger on as to why my weight has shot up so much and so quickly!

@wagtailred

Can i let you into a secret. I dont like lentils. Im not overweight

I love lentils. I’m a fat fuck. I don’t think lentils are the answer.

It's always baffled me that it's cheaper to buy a Mars bar than a banana or an apple

Is it? 7 bananas is £1 from asda, and I buy 6 kid sized apples for £1.09 whereas 4 Mars bars is £1.50 or maybe £1 if on offer.

@Jaxhog

I suspect the real answer is to offer cooking lessons!

Yes I agree. Sorry havent RTFT yet. But the issue is that people dont know how to cook and dont have the time or inclination to learn. Why would you learn how to cook and spend an hour per night cooking when you can get a frozen ready meal which you know the kids will eat, stick it in the oven and then in 30 minutes it's ready.

@Frazzled193736 posted this early in the thread:

Fat people know they are fat. They also know how to lose weight.

I know what foods I should be buying and eating but I don't. I know what exercises I should be doing, but I don't.

She is absolutely right.

As other posters have noted, 98% of people over the age of twelve know that eating loads of crisps, chocolate, KFC etc will make you fat, but plenty still do it, because they want to and because they like the taste.

Has displaying the calories in muffins and millionaires’ shortbread etc in Costa coffee shops stopped people from buying them to go with their 500 calorie latte? What do you think?

Why do Deliveroo, Just Eat etc have so many customers? Because people like eating calorific takeaways.

It’s not an education problem. It’s not because fruit and veg cost too much: both are cheap.

The only thing that will work is making obesity less acceptable, like smoking or public drunkenness, and reducing the opportunities to buy crap food at an artificially low price. Why is a big pack of Twixes so cheap? Why do we think that we should be eating party food every day? Why are massive bags of crisps normalised? I don’t remember piles of Doritos and greasy dips being an essential component of watching a film at home when I was a kid. We all just need to grow up!

I cringed yesterday when I saw an advert on TV for McDonalds. The soundtrack was ‘return of the Mack’ by Mark Morrison. It showed families whooping and cheering because they could once more buy crappy nuggets, chips and shakes. I don’t know WTF is in those ‘shakes’. It was presented as if the parents bringing home the McD takeaway bags were delivering a precious gift to their deprived children, who were practically weeping with joy. Horrendous. This on the same day the government announces steps to combat obesity!

@ComDummings

Honestly I think many obese people are addicted to food. As smoking rates have plummeted obesity rates have skyrocketed and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. People swap one addiction for another if they’ve got that personality type. And I do think many obese people just eat too much of ‘normal’ food rather than gorging on pies all day.

I'm an ex smoker and I did put weight on when I quit. The trouble was, I didn't do anything about it, I let it get worse and I ended up with a BMI of 35. I did finally get control over my eating habits again and I lost the weight thankfully I've noticed a really negative attitude creeping in over the last few years, that gaining is something that just happens to us, especially women, something that's out of our control. So we accept the extra stone after each pregnancy, we accept the extra weight after menopause and we buy into the myth that you need an expensive foods and to go to the gym to be a healthy weight. I think this kind of attitude is really dangerous and that is what needs to be tackled.

And to the person who doesn't want to soak lentils, try red lentils. Give them a good rinse then cook for 10-15 minutes, done.

I think you’ll find most fat people are well aware of the shame they carry, it’s often one of the main causes of emotional eating.

Yes, but you can also buy a banana for about 12p from every local supermarket on your way home. We shouldn’t raise the price of all food, or make it harder to access so that we can police what people are eating. We need to ensure that people are aware of their choices and empower them to make ones that benefit their health.

Well it worked for smoking. Hidden away and expensive.
Also only available in massive packets so reducing the temptation of an impulse buy.
Way more places sell a crappy snacks than a piece of fruit.

@florascotia2

Excellent point.

Through sheer lack of time, I've been eating meat and two veg style meals the past week or so.

Potatoes boiled in the steamer base steaming veg in the top bit, and some meat on the grill. Whole thing is ready in twenty minutes, and a bit of butter gets whacked on the potatoes. Very simple unrefined meal but tasty too.

They need to get Gregg Wallace out there showing people how to "eat well for less" I love that programme but I'm constantly surprised by people who dont realise that cooking from scratch can be cheap and doesnt take forever.

@Gwenhwyfar

" If you’re happy the way you are, absolutely fine. "

I'm very happy not to have to start cooking 20 hours in advance thanks as I'm sure many people are. Not overweight either. I was just pointing out that it would be easier if tinned lentils were available.

Opening a packet of lentils and putting them into a bowl of water is NOT "starting cooking 20 hours in advance" FFS!!

It is merely thinking ahead just a little and planning accordingly.
Just as I do if I think "We'll have chicken curry tomorrow" so I get the breasts out of the freezer the night before ready to marinade the next morning.

Seriously, stop embarrassing yourself.

In general support of everyone discussing the multi-faceted nature of obesity - Foresight's Obesity Systems Map.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296290/obesity-map-full-hi-res.pdf

They need to sort out what's taught in these cooking lessons first. My DC have done "cooking" at school since nursery, but the vast majority of it was assembling things from prepared ingredients and usually sugar laden. DS1 did it for GCSE but learned very little about preparing a balanced meal, he did learn to cook but there was a lot of cream and sugar.

They also need to decide what the healthy eating message is in schools. For example, a coloured, flavoured, artificially sweetened ice lolly meets school meal requirements, being low in sugar, far and salt, but a slice of homemade fruit cake in a lunch box is somehow frowned upon. DN came home confused after being asked what kinds of foods were treats. He'd said strawberries - something he loves but that you don't have that often. He was told, no strawberries are not a treat. How have we got to a place where to be considered a treat, something has to be bad for us?

@KitKatastrophe

They need to get Gregg Wallace out there showing people how to "eat well for less" I love that programme but I'm constantly surprised by people who dont realise that cooking from scratch can be cheap and doesnt take forever.

The food in that programme doesn't look that nice or that healthy to me to be honest.

Outdoor hobbies are too expensive for most people.

How much does walking or running cost?

I just had a brisk 40 minute walk in a brief dry spell this morning am I expecting a bill in the post?