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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Government tackling obesity missing a key element

770 replies

HeeeeyDuggee · 27/07/2020 09:32

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

OP posts:

Gwenhwyfar · 28/07/2020 14:15

"people think it's just the poor who are obese🤷🏻 That's not the reality."

No, but it's MUCH more common in low income areas so it's totally relevant. Also, cost affects more people than just the poor. Many people will make decisions based on cost even if they're not poor.
I'm not on the breadline. I never buy cherries and I will only buy raspberries frozen. I don't have good enough teeth to just bite into an apple so if I want one on the go it's the more expensive pre-sliced.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 28/07/2020 14:43

@Gwenhwyfar

"people think it's just the poor who are obese🤷🏻 That's not the reality."

It is relevant, but discussion cannot simply be just "how about this then?" "But the poor with no freezers".

All the threads end up the same. It's multiple issue issue and yet it usually ends up overrun by this.

Most people I know buy frozen berries with occasional fresh ones because fresh are expensive. It's just a normal thing.

I am sorry, but that apple is just an odd example which actually shows how ridiculously these threads go with the buts. Have a banana on a go on slice apple at home, if it means you otherwise have to buy expensive sliced one.

I don't even get what you.wanted to actually say by that post tbh.

You also don't need to eat onions and potatoes all the time if you are on a budget. Common sense really. It's just wrong to say that.

The fact that you lived for 10 years without freezer because you didn't think ahead when buying has absolutely nothing to do with poverty issue...

TinkersTailor · 28/07/2020 14:48

@Alloverthegrapevine

Plus a lot of those "people in poverty" do have freezers and cookers. Some, in the most extreme circumstances don't but the majority do.

Having no appliances is much more common than you'd believe.

However, most of the time it's about those in poverty paying through the nose for their utilities via key metres, therefore being unable to afford to run the cooker/hob for enough time to cook a meal.
The gas/electric metres run down very quickly.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 28/07/2020 15:00

The gas/electric metres run down very quickly.

I have them and they don't run out as quickly as some posters would make people believe... And I cook a lot. That said there obviously are people who will have problem to afford the fuel. Again though. It's a small group in a grand scheme of things.

kateluvscats · 28/07/2020 15:04

Bag of frozen veggies are cheap, and it's not just a cost issue when most people I know who are very overweight buy at least 3 takeaways a week which are expensive.

ghostmous3 · 28/07/2020 15:07

A lot of people know how to cook and know what a healthy diet is..or rather what they should be doing.

Aside from the poverty element which is a valid point people really really just dont like fresh fruit and refuse to eat it. Not just those on low incomes either.

I do know several people one of them a relative..overweight but one is thin who gag at the texture of certain fruit, dont like veg in any shape or form and wont touch chicken because it looks funny
And they dont like this or that. So thier diet is junk. Nuggets, chips, jars, crisps, etc and then their children get fed the same crap. One big cycle and it's very hard to break

Gwenhwyfar · 28/07/2020 15:09

"You also don't need to eat onions and potatoes all the time if you are on a budget. Common sense really. It's just wrong to say that."

My point was the cheap veg aren't very nice, at least to my taste. I like aubergine, broccoli, courgettes, etc. I don't much like potatoes and onions. Carrots are OK, but you can't have carrot soup every day.

"The fact that you lived for 10 years without freezer because you didn't think ahead when buying has absolutely nothing to do with poverty issue..."

Of course it does. People on lower incomes find it harder to make big purchases even if it ends up cheaper in the end. Look up the boots theory of socio-economic unfairness.

The apples thing - yes, I have bad teeth, but so do a lot of people on low incomes. Slicing it at home obviously not an option for a snack on the go. I think more options for healthier and cheaper snacks would be good. Lockdown excepted, people's lifestyles means they need to eat on the go sometimes.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 28/07/2020 15:10

Slicing it at home obviously not an option for a snack on the go

Are you joking. Apple - slice it - bag it- take with you. Seriously.

Gwenhwyfar · 28/07/2020 15:11

"people really really just dont like fresh fruit and refuse to eat it. Not just those on low incomes either."

Yes, I'm not a huge fan of healthy food myself, but I don't eat huge portions so not overweight. Of the healthy food I do like though, I like the expensive ones much more. Berries are much nicer than apples, avocadoes much nicer than potatoes.

TinkersTailor · 28/07/2020 15:13

@SchrodingersImmigrant I've worked with a lot of people who are in poverty and had to physically watch as someone's metre guzzled up their balance at an alarming rate to believe what they were saying. I was astounded.

In the grand scheme of things it is a small problem, but a problem all the same.

BatleyTownswomensGuild · 28/07/2020 15:14

It also fails to acknowledge that a lot of households have two adults working full-time jobs. The days of mother at home spending ages created a home cooked, nutritious meal are long gone.

That said, I think there are simple things many people can do that might help. I snack far too much between meals and move too little. I think I can easily cut down calories....

Gwenhwyfar · 28/07/2020 15:19

"Are you joking. Apple - slice it - bag it- take with you. Seriously."

I meant something you buy on the go, not a prepared picnic!

Staplemaple · 28/07/2020 15:19

The apples thing - yes, I have bad teeth, but so do a lot of people on low incomes

The picture being painted of people on low incomes is quite intriguing. So far we have fat, illiterate, lazy with bad teeth. Fucking hell.

Gwenhwyfar · 28/07/2020 15:21

Staple - costs over a thousand for implants. I'm happy with my income now, but that's still expensive.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 28/07/2020 15:26

@Gwenhwyfar

"Are you joking. Apple - slice it - bag it- take with you. Seriously."

I meant something you buy on the go, not a prepared picnic!

One apple to take with you isn't a prepared picnic. If you know you eat on the go take it with you or buy a soft food.

This has nothing to do with poverty! If someone cannot afford good snacks on a way, take them from home. This is ridiculous

Porcupineinwaiting · 28/07/2020 15:31

However cheap your food has to be, if you are overweight you are eating too much of it.

Oliversmumsarmy · 28/07/2020 15:32

Are you joking. Apple - slice it - bag it- take with you. Seriously

Won’t it go brown after a few hours?

NoWordForFluffy · 28/07/2020 15:33

@Porcupineinwaiting

However cheap your food has to be, if you are overweight you are eating too much of it.

Succinctly-put!

Porcupineinwaiting · 28/07/2020 15:34

A generation ago poorer people did mostly live on a fairly monotonous diet including lots of carrots, potatoes, onions and cabbage with maybe a few beans or a bit of stew meat thrown in if you were lucky. Maybe not exciting but it was healthy.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 28/07/2020 15:37

@Oliversmumsarmy

Are you joking. Apple - slice it - bag it- take with you. Seriously

Won’t it go brown after a few hours?

There is nothing wrong with brown apple. If you don't want it to go brown use lemon juice. The shop ones aren't freshly cut to order either. You can also diy "vacuum pack it".

Gwenhwyfar · 28/07/2020 15:38

"Maybe not exciting but it was healthy."

Yes, but you won't entice people back to that now. Better to have cheap, convenient healthy options that people actually like and stop incentivising junk.

Porcupineinwaiting · 28/07/2020 15:49

@Gwenhwyfar that would be the ideal but it is damn hard to combine cheap, convenient, tasty, low calorie and healthy in one dish.

Gwenhwyfar · 28/07/2020 16:16

" If you know you eat on the go take it with you or buy a soft food."

We have different ideas of what 'on the go' means. For me, it's not something planned.

Oliversmumsarmy · 28/07/2020 16:28

SchrodingersImmigrant

I don’t think I have ever eaten an apple when it has gone brown and certainly not one that has been sliced into a plastic bag and kept to heat up when you are out.

I rarely use plastic boxes for food and even when I do I line the box with kitchen roll before putting sandwiches in there so the plastic’s chemicals dont seep into the food.

DishingOutDone · 28/07/2020 16:45

There you go then @Oliversmumsarmy, that'll be where you're going wrong

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