Is obesity the responsibility of the NHS?

[snookspooks]

I've read a few posts lately where posters say the NHS isn't doing enough to combat obesity. As far as I am aware people are taught from pre-school age upwards about healthy eating and the importance of exercise and a healthy lifestyle. This continues through secondary school. I don't know about in further education but I don't remember any from my own FE days. We have access to NHS information online about healthy lifestyles, and the information is repeated in pregnancy and post-natal days by midwives and health visitors (that was my experience but I appreciate it might not be the same for others). We are given the information and it's up to us as individuals what we do with that information. The idea is we use it to prevent getting obese in the first place.

If people do get obese, through whatever factors, and there are many that contribute to this, is it up to the NHS to fix this or should the onus be on individuals? What happened in countries without an NHS style system?

Cancers are mainly preventable but the NHS provides treatment for those but then we can't fix cancers by ourselves, or heart disease, or strokes, but obesity is something we can treat ourselves. I'm not saying it's easy but it is possible. Of course obesity is linked to those diseases/conditions so it's not straightforward.

Is too little responsibility put on those who are obese?

I don't think it's straightforward and I think it's impossible to give treatment for some partially or completely self-inflicted conditions but not others. It's an ethical nightmare. What do other countries do?

Walking and cycling the commute is a big thing in that.

People are genuinely frightened of that here.

They might sweat!

They might get wet!

@QuertyGirl I can't walk. It's why I get pip.

Thank goodness I can wfh. 🙄

Glad that you have that option. The vast majority of people can walk, cycle or use means other than cars.

Parents of obese children should be fined and the money given to the NHS

Why?

@Jonei

Because it would make @Bucketheadbucketbum feel all righteous? No other reason really

My mum is physically disabled and can't walk but she goes to seated Pilates and seated Zumba. You see double amputees on the news-casualties of the war in Ukraine-exercising. Maybe some people just give up and aren't interested in finding a way that works for them but rather adopt the frame of mind that says I can't do that rather than HOW can I do that.

Exactly.

Plus once a person is over weight it's an issue yes but you can't assume people want help. Imagine how offended people would be.... once your an informed adult I doubt a nurse lecturing you about BMI is going to help.

Well if the double amputees in Ukraine can do it 👏🙄

I can't find any seated exercise classes near me that I can get to. There's one on a Thursday morning at the leisure centre but I work.

I pay for a private pool membership so I can walk in the water (which is the only walking exercise I'm allowed to do) at times that suit me.

@theGooHasGone

So what part of what I said was untrue?

Do you think obese people want to be obese?

Some will, sure.

But the majority?

No.

So my comment remains true.

I know you want to make a moral judgement on it and hold yourself superior but unfortunately it doesn't work like that

You're not better than anyone because you're not obese.

You just have a different life experience than they do .

Again, @snookspooks what more personal responsibility should I take? What do you think I should be doing that I am not doing?

Do you really think people are scared of getting sweaty or wet in the rain? Things they would need to think about:

• Is there enough time in the morning to cycle/walk first to nursery/school and then to work and fit in a shower/freshen up before I’m expected to start?
• Is the cycle route safe?
• Do I have the money to buy or hire an adequate bike and helmet and child seat for bike and waterproofs?
• Are there facilities to shower/freshen up at work? Even just to change?
• Is there somewhere safe to lock up my bike while I walk my child into the nursery/school building, and is there a safe bike storage at work?

Walking is obviously simpler but a bit more limited in terms of distance and time. Public transport somewhere in between perhaps, if you have sufficient of it where you live.

My point is our society is built around car use so to use a different form of transportation is more effort. Some people face more barriers to these things than others do, and it’s often people on lower incomes. I don’t think their fear of getting sweaty or wet is the main obstacle to walking or cycling to work when you really think about it.

Children r not taught how to eat, learn about hunger quees, eat when hunger stop when full , not restrict food which causes restrict/binge cycle, children r taught about diets and distorted eating is seen as normal and people wonder why we have a obesity crisis.

I use margarine and vegetable oil. I'm a size 8. They're not the problem. Crumbling mental health and treating it with comfort food is the problem for many. People are poor, sad and fed up.

I can't speak for anyone else, but when I was overweight it was entirely my own fault. Too many calories, which I knew about, too little exercise, which I was aware of. Nobody but me to blame. In essence I chose to get fat.

In the same way I now choose to be slim and active. Again, not the responsibility of the NHS.

Someone upthread mentioned the book The Miracle Pill. It is one of the best books I've read about health and how most of us don't move enough.

People don't actually care about other people's heath or what they cost the nhs.

If they did they'd be clamouring to euthanise everyone over 75.

They just want to judge looks and feel morally superior because overweight pe(in their opinion) aren't nice to look at

You don't necessarily need a shower after a two mile cycle ride- not once you get used to it. A decent deodorant and a hairbrush is fine.

People are scared of rain. It's used to justify driving a mile on here- seen it a few times.

Safety and infrastructure are a problem. Mainly because of twat drivers. So they drive, which is ironic.

Bikes are much easier to acquire than a car.

The nhs ‘healthy eating’ guidelines are pretty rubbish and out dated. In that respect yes I think the nhs are culpable and need to do better. Controversially I think banning fad diet books would help!
and perhaps look at health rather than obesity alone as a factor. Many with low/ normal bmi don’t have a good diet either and possibly are very at risk nutritionally from eating little. I think the group that statistically do
the best are actually slightly overweight women (perhaps there is a reason for a little middle age spread)

@Jonei @QuertyGirl

Because by allowing them to be obese (providing poor food and sedentary lifesyle) their parents have increased their risk of all forms of diseases x3 and shortened their life expectancy by 20years

Evidence is there, people don't want to see it.
Obesity is a multisyste lifestyle disease. Its entirely preventable.

They'd notice if a fine was introduced, and that money could be used to treat the obsese

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/obesity-children-death-premature-life-expectancy-comparison-report-warning-a8173921.html%3famp

https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0640/

But if it is the case that people are more likely to be obese because of factors to do with poverty, then you are exacerbating the problem, not solving it. Why would you do that? How does this help these children and their families?

Why is it to do with poverty? Its about making poor food choices and bad lifestyle choices. You can eat healthily cheaply, just takes more effort than packaged food.

I have tried to access help through the various NHS programmes that run locally, one has no groups within an hours drive of our large town, and seemed to be mainly during the day, another has groups but they seem to be geared to people who are not working as the majority are during the day, I think there is one evening one. I am tempted to set up my own group for people who work

Absolutely not. People should take responsibility for their weight. There is enough information and help out there, it’s up to the individual to do something about it. This comment excludes people who have put on weight due to prescribed drugs of course. But as I said it’s all down to responsibility in the individual. Use the resources available.

I disagree, I don’t think kids are properly educated about food or health in schools. Children should be actively cooking weekly up to 16 years so that they can put a huge variety of dishes together blind folded. PE needs a total rethink, it needs better integration into day to day life and be more accessible to girls who often withdraw from sports. Secondly tax unhealthy foods heavily, enough to cover nhs dietary and obesity health related costs.

Walking, running, push ups, star jumps, squats are all free and can be done anywhere.

People don't want to do it though, takes effort. Easier to blame the government