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AIBU?

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Original poster

NHS advert on TV

31 replies

JustGiveMeGin · 12/08/2021 07:40

I keep seeing an ad by the NHS about 'lockdown pounds' and how we should all be eating healthier to reverse the damage lockdown did.
I find this intensely (and probably irrationally)irritating and condescending. The damage was done when we were all locked up for months on end with nothing to do but eat and drink, AIBU to think they should back off and leave us to it now?

OP posts:
nancydroo · 12/08/2021 07:43

Yes I agree YANBU
They need to step back now

itsgettingwierd · 12/08/2021 07:45

Funnily enough I watched that a few minutes ago and just thought

"And how much money have they given a mate to mate this?"

We all know the consequences of lockdowns (and the irony of covid affecting obese people at a greater rate).

We all know eating healthy and moving more will undo that.

kowari · 12/08/2021 07:48

They allowed the damage to happen in the first place. They allowed people to believe they could only leave the house for one hour of exercise a day, made people too frightened to sit on a bench (many people need access to a seat and some benches were literally roped off), and so on.

Pinkflipflop85 · 12/08/2021 07:52

Yanbu. Those adverts give me the rage.

SquirryTheSquirrel · 12/08/2021 07:56

I haven't seen the advert and can't find it online, but it's true that we are in the grip of an obesity crisis and there's nothing to be gained by talking about who is to blame for this. People who've gained weight need to focus on getting back to a healthy weight - that's what I've been doing for the last six months - rather than wasting time blaming the government etc.

I am no fan of the government or the way they have handled the pandemic, but drawing a line and moving on is the thing to do - just remember it when the next elections come round - that's when you can do something constructive.

EatYourVegetables · 12/08/2021 07:58

YABU

Obesity is a public health problem. The NHS can help. The lockdowns were a response to an emergency and saved lives. They did cause collateral damage (to the economy, mental health, NHS waiting times, our waste lines). Now is the time to start mitigating those.

trunumber · 12/08/2021 07:58

The government did these things you speak of, not the NHS.

Obesity has a massive impact on health, and thus on an already struggling NHS.

YABU, it's only the same as the anti-smoking campaigns.

Lockheart · 12/08/2021 08:00

@kowari

They allowed the damage to happen in the first place. They allowed people to believe they could only leave the house for one hour of exercise a day, made people too frightened to sit on a bench (many people need access to a seat and some benches were literally roped off), and so on.
The NHS was roping off benches?

You learn something new every day...

LizzieMacQueen · 12/08/2021 08:01

I hear that profits are down at weight watchers.

Haven't seen that particular advert but if you live in Scotland you'll be used to the patronising messages coming from the TV.

FuckMeGentlyWithAChainsaw · 12/08/2021 08:04

While obesity is a major problem in this country and lockdowns certainly won’t have helped, I’m not sure a tv advert pissing everyone off is the answer. Wouldn’t the money have been better spent elsewhere on the problem? But of course, the government do not care about that, only about lining the pockets of their friends and by extension their own.

MoreAloneTime · 12/08/2021 08:10

This just makes me glad I don't have a lot of time to watch TV these days.

GreenWhiteViolet · 12/08/2021 08:12

I haven't seen it but I imagine I'd find it immensely irritating and condescending too.

Anyone who gained lots of weight in lockdown is well aware of the fact. Everyone knows that being significantly overweight is bad for your health. The NHS is stretched thin enough without wasting money on stupid nagging adverts.

I'm in the process of losing my lockdown weight and the existence of this advert makes me want to go and eat a cake instead Wink

amymel2016 · 12/08/2021 08:17

We are in the grip of an obesity crisis which costs the NHS millions of pounds a year. It’s something that is relatively easily fixed and we all have control over (I’m saying this as an obese person). The adverts are a bit condescending but I don’t think people realise quite how overweight we are.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 12/08/2021 08:17

The damage was done when we were all locked up for months on end with nothing to do but eat and drink

There was plenty to do, not everyone ate or drank their way through it.

Obesity is a problem and costs the nhs in terms or care not to mention people’s health. It’s right to tackle it. Just as we have campaigns re the dangers of smoking and drinking.

Dentistlakes · 12/08/2021 08:18

Obesity is a huge problem, but I don’t think an advert will do any good. People who are overweight are fully aware they need to do something about it. Only they can take responsibility and change their eating habits. I

Ponoka7 · 12/08/2021 08:28

As someone who is obese I think that yabu. I put on weight when I was seriously ill. My consultants told me not to worry about it. I was housebound and exhausted and all I could do was enjoy food. I didn't know about the possibility of CF, on recovery. Now I'm stuck not going under 14 stone. I have pain from my joints. I've struggled in the heat. I've got clothes that I'm not comfortable in. But more importantly my risk of being hospitalised from Covid has increased. My risk of blood clots was higher from the vaccination. I was on the sheilding list but my consultant said that my weight is putting me at as much risk as my medical condition.

TheWayTheLightFalls · 12/08/2021 08:31

I think "lockdown pounds" for most of the population will be further to "general life pounds" - the UK stats on obesity and overweight are terrible, and the NHS - and therefore its service users - will bear the brunt.

I haven't seen the ad but this is one of those issues that comes down to whether or not you feel it's the remit of NHS to get people eating healthily and moving. I'm in camp "personal responsibility" (with very few exceptions), but that doesn't solve the problem of large numbers of people turning up at the NHS's door expecting support with diabetes, joint pain etc etc.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 12/08/2021 08:33

People who are overweight are fully aware they need to do something about it

Some will be aware and know changes are needed. Many though have lost sight of what a healthy weight and size is, both for adults and children.

vivainsomnia · 12/08/2021 08:34

Nothing more to do than eat and drink? I wonder how some people managed not to put any weight on....

There was plenty of time to do family exercising. You were allowed to go out, there were plenty of free exercise videos on line.

Another 'I let myself go but don't you dare say it was my fault' post.

Obesity is the biggest cost to the NHS, billions and billions. So yes, the NHS is right to be concerned and raise the issue. In any case, the lockdown is over, so no excuse not to try to do something about the extra weight.

TheWayTheLightFalls · 12/08/2021 08:36

The damage was done when we were all locked up for months on end with nothing to do but eat and drink

I spent lockdown volunteering with the local mutual aid group and NHS responders. Without meaning to sound martyr-ish, I lost weight at first from the stress of the phone ringing off the hook with housebound people needing bread, milk and their prescriptions. When I wasn't doing that I was chasing my scooting toddler round the local park ad nauseum. I don't buy "nothing to do but eat and drink", tbh. Perhaps "stressed and the response was to eat more", but that's not the same thing.

vivainsomnia · 12/08/2021 08:36

People who are overweight are fully aware they need to do something about it
But many will put it at the back of their mind and try anything to no think about it. That's what they can annoyed at adverts like this, it brings back at the forefront, and they don't like it because it makes them feel guilty.

Losing weight is so incredibly hard. It is however a necessity for many, and no-one loses weight by just putting it out of the mind.

Pissinthepottyplease · 12/08/2021 08:42

The government did a study of 5,000 people and Zoe covid app did a study of over a million people both on exercise, diet and weight during lockdown. The gov study found people put on weight, the Zoe app found the same number of people who put on weight lost weight but interestingly the people who lost weight were those who were most over weight/unhealthy to start with. I don’t think blaming the lockdown is correct.

Ponoka7 · 12/08/2021 08:58

@vivainsomnia

"There was plenty of time to do family exercising. You were allowed to go out, there were plenty of free exercise videos on line."

Shock, horror but the NHS adverts are appealing to everyone. We don't all live in families. People who were in poor health anyway, people who live alone, people who might struggle to do an exercise video, suffered a lot during lock down.
You then start to get your 'good feeling' kick from fat/sugar combined. Plus in some areas takeaways were a reliable source of food and places like farmfoods never ran out of junk type food.
We know that part of the reason why poverty and obesity are linked is that as humans we need something to look forward to and our bodies crave what makes our brain feel good. Junk food does that.
Volunteer groups wouldn't take people who were vulnerable. Those people were cut off from family and their usual points of contacts in the health service.
Instead of being sanctimonious, try a bit of empathy.

mum2jakie · 12/08/2021 09:03

@TheWayTheLightFalls

The damage was done when we were all locked up for months on end with nothing to do but eat and drink

I spent lockdown volunteering with the local mutual aid group and NHS responders. Without meaning to sound martyr-ish, I lost weight at first from the stress of the phone ringing off the hook with housebound people needing bread, milk and their prescriptions. When I wasn't doing that I was chasing my scooting toddler round the local park ad nauseum. I don't buy "nothing to do but eat and drink", tbh. Perhaps "stressed and the response was to eat more", but that's not the same thing.

Well done for volunteering but the reality, in my local area, was that all parks were locked up or cordoned off so your toddler was one of the lucky ones!
LuaDipa · 12/08/2021 09:12

@kowari

They allowed the damage to happen in the first place. They allowed people to believe they could only leave the house for one hour of exercise a day, made people too frightened to sit on a bench (many people need access to a seat and some benches were literally roped off), and so on.
I would assume that was the government and local authorities. I very much doubt the NHS had anything to do with it. But they are having to deal with the fallout. And I very much doubt that most people complaining about this actually exercise outdoors for more than 1 hour per day at the best of times.