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

"He'd said strawberries - something he loves but that you don't have that often."

The reason why we don't have strawberries often is the price though isn't it? If they were cheaper I'd have them all the time, or at least when in season.

People don’t realise how much they eat - they eat huge portions without realising they could feed two people, and we have too much of a snack culture here. If everyone stuck to breakfast, lunch and dinner, and no snacking (like on the continent), we’d be okay. I tend to snack a lot too so I’m not claiming to be better! But I do think these two are major issues. And all the soft drinks, so much sugar people don’t realise they’re drinking all day.

Fruit and veg is already so cheap. You can get cheap cuts of meat if you buy after hours and then freeze.

@AnneLovesGilbert

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?

If you run you need good shoes and a couple of good sports bras so it's not free. More affordable than the gym I agree.

Access to healthy food is a major problem in some areas -- in some poor urban areas both grocery stores selling fresh fruit and veg and cashpoints are in very low supply.

Poverty is a cause of obesity.

If this government truly gives a shit about health they wouldn't be forcing the austerity agenda to the point that families rely on food banks. When you are that poor you choose the hot fatty salted chips over a salad because it's more satisfying and your child will definitely eat it. When you are middle class you can afford to waste money on mashing avocado for your baby to spit out 20 times before it decides it likes it. For example.

Similarly who has time to cook after a 40 hour job on your feet in a retail job, 90 minutes commute each way on public transport with a stop off at nursery to pick up your child? You just want something quick and tasty and you don't have the money for healthy pre-prepared meals. Both parents working; who has time to cook the healthy fresh food???

There's so much research on this. They have no excuse for blaming individuals for making poor choices when they are the ones making poor choices for how they structure society and make it impossible for people to live healthily on a minimum wage job.

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?

Perhaps he misunderstood. He’s a kid, it happens. It seems obvious that the context of the lesson was, there are certain foods that you shouldn’t expect to eat every day and which should be saved for treats, like chocolate or pizza.

It doesn’t fundamentally change the meaning of the word ‘treat’.

Exactly, so when they're available and affordable we treat ourselves to strawberries but children are being taught that it's only a treat if it's processed and full of fat and sugar.

Using the Mars bar comparison, a punnet of strawberries is only about 3 mars bars though? It's the seasonality (even if available they won't be as good out of season) and they fact that they don't keep very long that means most people don't have them more often surely?

I haven't rtwt either, but I am always astounded by the volume of food people eat. Plates piled high of whatever food, healthy or unhealthy, has become the norm. We seem to have lost sight of what is a normal portion. Go out anywhere and I can never finish a meal, a restaurant owner friend, says his biggest complaint is always that people want "more". I would gladly have half as much and pay half the price.

Even at the cheap end of the market, ready meals, pizza's and pasta's marketed for one, can easily feed two, particularly children.

Gregg Wallace is ‘out there’ he’s on prime time telly, broadcasting to the nation. I’m not sure how much more out there you can get.

@FlamingoAndJohn

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’.

It's usually in tiny writing somewhere, though. It would at least be a step in the right direction.

@AnneLovesGilbert

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?

Hmm. TBF I do a lot of walking (approx 7 miles a day).

You need decent walking boots and - especially if you are overweight - you are likely to need to replace them at least every 1-2 years. It also helps if you have summer and winter shoes as you need something cool in summer and waterproof in winter. Plus the right socks make a bit difference to reducing blisters etc (remember blisters on someone who is obese or has T2 diabtetes can be very dangerous).

It's not as expensive as golf or a gym membership but you could realistically expect to spend £100-200 per year on 'walking'. Running is even more.

Of course, if you mean walking 20 mins to the shop then none of this applies. But 20 mins to the shop is not going to make a great difference to weight or health in the long run.

I think people who make unhealthy choices do it more from habit and ease, rather than cost.

I kind of assumed that BOGOFs were designed to clear stock of non-perishables and make room for newer stock.

Food costs have escalated sharply since lockdown, and I don't see how making food more expensive will help anyone. People aren't going to suddenly have more time or energy to cook from scratch than they did before.

I think it's just another way to take more from the people who have the least in terms of both time and money.

TV advertising is in major trouble, as there aren’t enough advertisers willing to advertise. If the junk food adverts can’t appear until a certain time, that’s another chunk of revenue gone, and that means fewer new programmes. It’s all connected, like it or not.

@Alloverthegrapevine I don't think you quite got my point, I know things like smoking are hard to stop but the minute you stop, you are a non-smoker and look like a non-smoker. The minute I get a taxi home from the pub I haven't drank and driven. But the day I eat healthily (or the week, month) by habits may have changed entirely but I will still be fat. I will still look fat to the outside world. Hence the woman who was losing weight still getting a twat throwing a burger at her in the street.

I would gladly have half as much and pay half the price.

(PP on restaurant serving sizes).

I bet you would, but surely you know that it doesn’t work like that? How much of the cost of a restaurant meal do you think is represented by the cost of the ingredients? They still have to pay staff and cover the costs of the building and utilities etc.

Why do restaurants offer mega plates as an option? Because enough people like eating large portions. If they didn’t the restaurants wouldn’t offer them.

Meat should be a fuck load more expensive and very much less available because it's terrible for the environment and not great for your health.

Non-meat proteins much better for you, and v v much cheaper. I don't think a lot of people are educated on how to eat well for cheap tbh, it should be more focused on in school.

I was fat for a long time. I have PCOS and insulin resistance so losing weight was hard. Looking back I can see why.

My mother hates cooking, always has and found it difficult. She bought ready meals for us as kids. She was also shattered from working so much and we were latch key kids, so quick and easy was the most important thing. My brother still can't cook and buys cheap oven food. My mum lives off jacket potatoes and tinned food.

Home economics was crap in school. They were teaching us to make apple tart or cakes when people in my class didn't know how to boil a potato.

I was very poor for a while. Chicken nuggets etc were cheaper and I couldn't have the oven or hob on for long because I was on a pre pay meter. I was also working long hours and didn't have the energy to get up earlier to slow cook stuff.

Being fat also makes you tired. I hated PE in school, I liked swimming but we never did that as there wasn't enough time to get changed after. We only did aerobics which I despise.

I got trapped in buying low fat everything but was always hungry. I hate being hungry. I realised then too that there is palm oil in everything now.

The only things that helped me lose weight were going part time so I had energy to cook. Finding out I had rheumatoid arthritis meant I was limited in what exercise I was allowed to do, so i focused on food instead. I tried keto, which helped but intermittent fasting made the most difference and seemed to undo the years of yo yo dieting. I also was in therapy but used that to also discuss my emotional eating and how food was a reward or consolation for me. I have lost 7 stone.

I remember once seeing a nutritionist through the NHS who was useless. He said i just had to eat less so have a single plain chicken breast for dinner with a tablespoon of veg. For lunch a plain green salad, no dressing. I just wouldn't stick to that, it was boring and I would be too hungry. This was 10 years ago though. People who like rich junk food are never going to enjoy food like the above.

Being fst is about a lot more than junk food. It is your relationship with food. Learning to cook and the generational issues. Time and cost.

Plus add to that fussy children who won't eat lentils or healthy foods. Sure you can tell them eat what you are given but that doesn't work with all kids (didn't with me) and many people don't want the stress. Not to mention how many herbs and stuff you need to make things like that taste nice- a store cupboard is expensive

I think the government also needs to look at long term mental health issues surrounding obesity. Yes there are people who are obese due to not having the knowledge or funds to change their lifestyles. But there are also many like me who have an embedded unhealthy relationship with food.

I don’t envy who has been handed this as a project initiative
At all!!!!

It’s a Massive problem but it’s so systemic and deep seated and almost feels like it can’t be fixed to be honest

It’s everything , our culture , our diet , our economy , our sedentary lifestyle

Where the fuck to start

Honestly I think many obese people are addicted to food

What about those who aren’t addicted to food.

@WhoWants2Know

I think people who make unhealthy choices do it more from habit and ease, rather than cost.

I kind of assumed that BOGOFs were designed to clear stock of non-perishables and make room for newer stock.

Food costs have escalated sharply since lockdown, and I don't see how making food more expensive will help anyone. People aren't going to suddenly have more time or energy to cook from scratch than they did before.

I think it's just another way to take more from the people who have the least in terms of both time and money.

BOGOFs, multipacks, etc aren't about clearing out stock. It's all pre-planned and paid for by the manufacturers, not the retailer. It's a deliberate ploy to inflate the price of single items in order to make the regular BOGOF or multipack seem excellent value. In reality, the BOGOF/multipack price IS the normal, correct price, so people buying single items are being massively ripped off. The entire food distribution industry is a fraud.

The big players avoid regulatory action for price fixing, etc., by the use of "retro bonuses" or "marketing contributions". They can honestly show the regulator that they pay 50p for a tin of beans they sell at 55p, so a 5p profit or 9% gross margin which no one could object to as being profiteering. But behind the scenes, they "charge" the distributor thousands for "marketing" i.e. a cost for giving more shelf space, or for placing their products on the ends of aisles. They sometimes also charge back for "retro discounts", i.e. an extra 5p per can if they sell say 10,000 cans in a certain month.

The issue is also time and decent cooking skills.

I hate fizzy drinks though, they're the worst. If you could stop kids getting onto those it'd make a world of difference. Also this treat and snack culture.

Fruit and veg are cheap! Most veg can be boiled/oven cooked so really nothing complicated.

It seems obvious that most govt measures will be pointless if people don't want to change. And yes, it is easier to put a ready meal in the microwave than it is to wash/cut/cook vegetables. And a fast food might be more tempting than boiled veg. But at some point it comes down to individual responsibility, doesn't it??

Short version: healthy food is available, we all know what is healthy, some people choose not to eat healthily because it is easier - we can't really do anything about it if they don't want to change.

but you could realistically expect to spend £100-200 per year on 'walking'
I do a lot of walking - minimum an hour a day, as we have a dog. I walk in either my wellies or dedicated trainers. I don't think it averages out at even £20 a year on the walking - the dog costs a ridiculous amount though!

[quote Badbadbunny]**@Gwenhwyfar* 3 of my local supermarkets DON'T sell tinned lentils. Yes, they may have dried lentils, but who's got time to soak overnight?*

You do know you don't have to sit up all night to watch them don't you? You are allowed to go and do something else, such as watch TV or go to bed. They aren't going to rampage through the house if you leave them![/quote]
That made me LOL @Badbadbunny