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

It maybe sounds a bit extreme to some....it certainly would have to me when I was overweight, but I have gotten rid of my £65 a month travel pass and I cycle to work every day 30km round trip). Unless it is really extreme weather.

That’s £65 a month back in my pocket (although cycling is also now an expensive, uh ‘hobby’). I had all the excuses before, it was far, cold, raining, didn’t want to be lugging clothes back and forth, etc, etc. Eventually, I sucked it up and got on with it. At first it was hard work, I was slow and I hated it. Now, it’s a quick and efficient method of transport, doesn’t seem far at all. I hop on my bike without giving it a second thought and I’m burning calories at the same time.

If the Government put money in building better cycling infrastructure, we’d be able to use our cars less and be much fitter.

I’ve lost almost 5 stone just by moving a hell of a lot more and eating less Duffy. It’s not rocket science. That’s with an under active thyroid too.

Your ‘bullocks’ is someone else’s truth.

The thought of doing what you detailed in your post exhausts me actually.

@Goatinthegarden Cycling or running to work is great, but lots of work places don’t have shower facilities so that stops you cycling or running to work. Or they’re like my workplace, there is a shower but its also the cleaning cupboard so you had to shower and not get four vacuums cleaners wet at the same time.

A much, much easier time would be had if most overweight people had never gone on that first diet Absolutely. Health, not weight, should be the focus. Get the first right and the second will sort itself. Focus on the second only, and you can easily sacrifice the first.

If the Government put money in building better cycling infrastructure, we’d be able to use our cars less and be much fitter.

This is also true. Much better cycling routes are needed, to allow safe cycling, especially for those who are not (yet) confident cycling.

Alloverthegrapevine I remember on Hugh's Chicken Run which was many years ago he said farmers make about a penny a bird on £3 chickens. The way human beings treat animals in factory farms due to our desire for cheap meat every day is a disgrace. I hope in fifty years time it's one of those thing we look back on and shudder about.

I would love safe cycling routes. Im too scared to cycle my route to work but im sure i could build up to the distance.

I've just looked up the cost of monthly membership at the 'council' gym and pool. To fit in with work, I have to use peak times - and it isn't open early enough for me to go before work (as I start just after 7am).

£93

Ninety three pounds.

Ninety fucking three pounds. Plus £40 joining fee, plus £10 card fee, plus £25 induction session. And is so 'cheap' because you're only locked into a year's contract.

And the bastarding pool is still shut for that.

The poshest gym in town is £63 and has a pool that is open (for half an hour each person). Plus, some of their classes are actually running.

I'm not able to go for a run or cycle because I've got automimmune disease/arthritis/EDS and need the safety of using purpose built equipment for joint stabilisation and the support of water for aerobic exercise. Having somebody who is qualified around also helps me not get injured, as well, something I do with alarming regularity from such things as walking.

I record everything I eat and drink. I do not eat shit or have massive portions.

If somebody tells me to ride a bike, I will tell them to fuck right off. But give me cheap gym membership, I'm there.

[quote SimonJT]@Goatinthegarden Cycling or running to work is great, but lots of work places don’t have shower facilities so that stops you cycling or running to work. Or they’re like my workplace, there is a shower but its also the cleaning cupboard so you had to shower and not get four vacuums cleaners wet at the same time.[/quote]
My work has a grim shower and I used that as an excuse for ages. I shower before work, put on cycle gear, luckily it’s too cold up north at 7am most days to get sweaty, but when I get to work, I have a wash and put on my work clothes. If I am sweaty, the dodgy shower is always a backup option. I keep a hairdryer, toiletries and make up at work. No one has ever complained (trust me, my colleagues would tell me). Then I shower when I get home too. It isn’t ideal, I’m a bit phobic about being sweaty, but it really has made a difference to my overall health. I also no longer grab a coffee or bacon roll on my commute, or pick up a pre dinner snack on the way home.

It’s absolutely ridiculous.

People are responsible for their own choices and they have free will; offers and adverts shouldn’t be banned for everyone because some people have no willpower and don’t know how to self regulate their food intake.

@CoronaIsShit I tend to discount any advice that involves the word "laziness" straight away.
I'm on the wrong side of middle age and I have lost and gained so much weight in my lifetime - congratulations on your loss by the way and I hope you never put it back on.

Round here there's an open air gym, provided by the council, that is free to use. Also, of course, there's also good old walking or running, you tube videos for exercises etc.

The NHS did run a scheme a while back where they paid you to lose weight, it was called a pound for a pound. It didn't work, even that couldn't get people to lose weight. I know, I was one. Still am obese and eating good but can't afford to eat totally healthy, my children need to eat as well

I am not lazy, I suffer from serious depression, and can actually comfort eat without realising. But I am trying.

The government cannot really do much to help because you need to change society, move back to small shops and no supermarkets or online food shops, until they came along obesity was rare.

Obviously that isn't going to happen, so we need to change our thinking, and that isn't easy either.

Going to be a long slog 😁

@MitziK Where do you live? Gyms are much cheaper here and I live in Zone 1. I pay the top level so it includes use during all opening hours, swimming pools and no additional cost for classes for £48 per month.

[quote SimonJT]@MitziK Where do you live? Gyms are much cheaper here and I live in Zone 1. I pay the top level so it includes use during all opening hours, swimming pools and no additional cost for classes for £48 per month.[/quote]
I was thinking that but the other way. Both the council and private gyms are a lot more expensive by me (not a highly desirable area).

I'd like an electric bike (auto-immune arthritis that can play havoc with my knees so it would be good to help out on some of the hills that are part of my commute) - but I've wanted one for a long time tho' with recent increases I don't fancy my chances of ever affording a decent one (plus insurance premiums).

They are always fat bashing threads

So we have a major health problem
We know we have ! You only have to go out of your house to bloody see it
We also know it’s one of the reasons we had a higher COVID death rate (I think?)

But we can’t ever discuss it because it’s fat bashing

It’s a bit like the BLM movement , this generation can’t fix it . It’s on the kids

Our kids need to healthy , sustainable and non racist because this generation don’t seem very interested in change

Unfortunately kids whilst wonderfully more aware and non biased than our generation LOVE unhealthy food

And it doesn’t cost money to exercise
It’s just bullshit excuse
Sorry 😐 go for a walk , run , mow the lawn , kick a ball in the park , Do some yoga online

We need to stop making excuses

We need a cooking show that shows how to cook cheaper food.More people would eat beans and lentils if they knew what to do with them.
And please not Jamie Oliver.

Look I'm fat so I get it but yep there are some pretty ridiculous excuses here. Walking is free. Eating less costs less. Fruit and veggies cost pennies. The truth is you could pay people to eat vegetables and they still wouldn't - they'd take them and the money, throw the veggies away and use the cash to buy junk food.

More people would eat beans and lentils if they knew what to do with them.

Yes, if only we had some sort of network on which information like this was shared. That we could all access. Some sort of... world wide web.

I live in Geneva where the vast majority of people are slim (sadly I am far from slim). When I come back to the UK I’m always really struck by the massive amount of food - multipack offers/meal deals in the supermarket, the huuuuuge muffins etc in coffee shops, generally big portions etc etc. Food is everywhere. When I watch UK TV I really notice how much take away food is on offer. Here is very different. People eat at very set times, they eat full meals at a table, snacking is not a big thing at all, generally people don’t eat on the streets, food is v v expensive - so you avoid wasting it, fruit and veg is much more seasonal and I notice I cook according to season much more than in the UK. Also there’s virtually no ‘diet’ food available. I’m always looking in skinny women’s trolleys & while there’s a certain amount of crap in there, most of it is fruit & veg, full fat dairy, meat etc. Also, walking is a big thing - virtually no shops open on Sunday so everyone gets out for a walk.
I LOVE going back to the UK and eating all the good stuff - but if I lived there I would be the size of a house - there’s way too much temptation.

Yes, if you think about the Rotherham mothers stuffing turkey twizzlers through the school fence after Jamie Oliver made the children have healthy meals.

I remember this. Christ, those women were idiots. There were two of them, and they were taking orders from all the kids, not just their own, to go to the chippy instead of the kids eating a healthy school lunch. They were proud of it as well! They were on the news carrying on as if they were freedom fighters.

More people would eat beans and lentils if they knew what to do with them

I do know what to do with them, and I can't eat them. They are horrible, wind inducing, bowl inflamming, nasties. I do love a Chili though, only without the beans !!!!!

A surprising number of adults in this country have difficulties reading. If you can't read very well, you're not going to look up recipes online. And research about healthy eating is beyond you. You're just going to buy familiar food that you know how to cook.

I’m wondering how this is all going to go down with the anti-mask-don’t-tell-me-what-to-do brigade.

Oh my goodness, people are fat because they can't read? It may be a factor for some but it's really not the reason we have an obesity crisis. How many here have admitted being obese? Most of them can read and write to an adequate standard.

According to this thread people are fat because they're poor and can't read.