Eat Out to Help Out madness

[Redolent]

SiL has a phone chat with me yesterday. Told me that she and family (DH + 3 DC) had ‘really been helping out the economy’ over the last month. She sounded v tired and virtuous for her all efforts. Upon enquiring further, they’ve used the EOHO scheme pretty much twice a day, for lunch and dinner: eg 4x McDonald’s (“can feed us all for £9”) 4x KFC (“£15 and we can get a bargain bucket for lunch the next day”), Pizza Hut and some of the local takeaways.

This is utter madness. Her and her husband both have high blood pressure and are on medication, from a BAME background, high risk profession. They’ve been sold a lie that they’re helping out the economy when the economic and healthcare costs accruing from this junk food spree will be far higher.

When the UK’s covid strategy is properly evaluated in future, the lack of joined up thinking here will be rightly mocked. Obesity increasingly highlighted a risk factor for deaths, while junk food takeaways are subsidised in August.

13 days of eating junk food isn’t going to have a lasting impact on anyone’s health or obesity

They only bought 4 of each thing between the 5 of them, so they're not exactly overeating there.

Oh come on. Of all the things to be angry at the govmt at, this ain’t one. No-one forced your family to eat shit food for a month. This is 100% on them. And frankly, it’s not really any of your business what they do as a family!

I’ve also been taking good advantage of EOTHO but I’ve not put on a lb. I’ve simply chosen healthy options just to save me cooking here & there and also treated myself to the occasional pud or starter or sometimes both. To mitigate this, I then go running a few miles every other day..and I have 2 kids. Ones 6 months. I just get up early or go when they’ve gone to bed! No excuses. Except pouring rain. Then I do a 45 minute HITT in my living room. Perhaps you could suggest this to your family to keep them healthy?!

And have you taken advantage of the EOTHO scheme, or just sat bitching about those who have?

So now we are blaming Boris for unhealthy chubsters being greedy bastards? Amazing.

I think there was someone in the paper talking about how he had 'saved' about £200, well he hasn't really as if it hadn't been for that you would have ate at home and not spent anywhere near that.

Seems a very strange way of thinking about the scheme - spending more to save a bit.

I would say it is less about the diet but more about attitudes to money.

And still no one has explained where the joined up thinking is. It isn’t there. It’s a complete contradiction. See the second bullet point.

——————

New obesity strategy unveiled as country urged to lose weight to beat coronavirus (COVID-19) and protect the NHS

New package of measures and 'Better Health' campaign announced to help people lose weight.

Published 27 July 2020

• Ban on TV and online adverts for food high in fat, sugar and salt before 9pm
• End of deals like ‘buy one get one free’ on unhealthy food high in salt, sugar and fat

www.gov.uk/government/news/new-obesity-strategy-unveiled-as-country-urged-to-lose-weight-to-beat-coronavirus-covid-19-and-protect-the-nhs

You know it wasn’t just McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut that participated in the scheme? Most, if not all, cafes & restaurants did. There was a staggering amount of choice.

You’re essentially saying they were brainwashed into buying junk food by the government, but shouldn’t they have had the sagacity and presence of mind to choose more healthy options?

Is it even that serious considering that many of these restaurants were closed over lockdown? So presumably they were eating nutritious home cooked meals. A couple of weeks of junk food won’t have impacted their health if you take a holistic view.

I must have missed the bit where the government said 'go to Mcdonalds every day and eat as much crap as you can'.
Nah, they didn't say that. I expect thousands of people went and ate an average size meal. Some of them maybe even read the menus containing nutritional information and chose the things with fewer calories. Other people just enjoyed the treat after not being able to do much for months on end.

@hastingsmua1

You know it wasn’t just McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut that participated in the scheme? Most, if not all, cafes & restaurants did. There was a staggering amount of choice.

You’re essentially saying they were brainwashed into buying junk food by the government, but shouldn’t they have had the sagacity and presence of mind to choose more healthy options?

Is it even that serious considering that many of these restaurants were closed over lockdown? So presumably they were eating nutritious home cooked meals. A couple of weeks of junk food won’t have impacted their health if you take a holistic view.

I’m saying that the government cannot on one hand end BOGOF deals on high salt, sugar and fat foods (as it plans to do very shortly) and subsidise fast food places at the same time. It’s utterly contradictory.

Also, the sad truth is that people here have NO idea what the takeaway landscape in these highly deprived areas are. Walk out onto the main road and you’ll count 10-15 fried chicken, pizza, burger places. The choices aren’t as staggering for everyone as some people here would like to think.

Are they responsible for their own choices? Yes. Is the government’s plan to reduce obesity also lacking in credibility? Yes yes.

I think there was someone in the paper talking about how he had 'saved' about £200, well he hasn't really as if it hadn't been for that you would have ate at home and not spent anywhere near that.

This!

Stop when your (not) winning OP. McDonald's launched a triple cheeseburger today. It's no one's fault but my own if I buy one and I'd be fuming if I was judged for it

@Discobar - similarly if I completely ignored all COVID guidelines and rules then caught the virus it would be no one else"s fault but my own.

Yet I would place a burden on the NHS because of my actions and I a m and n no doubt that My actions would be judged by people and rightly so.

But coming back to the triple cheeseburger- obesity is a major contributing factor in covid deaths.

It doesn't work on takeaways.
It's her choice how she spends her money. Plenty of places involved were not fast food places. If it has helped individual restaurants stay afloat great. It's not an excuse to pig out twice a day though - but her choice, it has nothing to do with the concept as a whole.

What @ComtesseDeSpair said on P1.

You are being ridiculous. This is not a fault with the scheme at all.
Quite frankly, even if they did choose to eat fast food 13 times in the last 31 days - that isn't going to have a big impact if they normally eat healthily. If they don't, then I hardly think you can blame the Gvmnt for their diet.

This has been a real success in economic terms to get the restaurent / pub / cafe industry moving again, and also a real success in terms of giving people who haven't left their house much in months, the confidence to start going out again. Two really positive things.

As a pp siad, we've taken advantage of the scheme several times, and it hasn't resulted in massive weight gain nor coronaries here. I couldn't eat out twice a day, as I'd be overwhelmed by it - I guess if their bodies can take it, they were already eating a lot of that sort of food anyway.

For god sake, it was only for a few weeks, they could have just not gone to those places you know. They are using it as an excuse to eat fast good everyday they are adults!

You sound insane op I would be more worried about your mental health than what ppl are eating

Oh for the love of God... First we had people ratting people out about social distancing and gatherings and now you moaning as some people ate some take aways! Seriously OP get a life!!!

They chose to eat at a fast food place you cant blame the goverment , they could of home-cooked a meal for less than £9 or gone to a pub or restaurant and had a healthy meal but they chose a fast food place no one made them go there

My sister had it all worked out in her head, down to the village cafe every morning for a filled roll and cuppa, lunch in subway and a trawl of all the restaurants for dinner. It turned out you couldn't book anywhere though so she only ate out a couple of times. She's size 8 and completely healthy though if that makes it more acceptable.

I had a lovely Japanese meal complete with seaweed salad and cherry green tea. Is that acceptable for you?

@Discobar

Stop when your (not) winning OP. McDonald's launched a triple cheeseburger today. It's no one's fault but my own if I buy one and I'd be fuming if I was judged for it

Launched? Thats been a staple on the Aus maccas menu for years now

This is hungry jacks/burger kings latest offering here
www.hungryjacks.com.au/menu/what-s-new/mega-jack

OP, your relatives sound much more fun to hang out with and much nicer to eat with

It's very clear that with the links and quotes the OP is posting this isn't about SIL at all and that they have own agenda.

What a lot of froth.

Are you honestly implying the government are to blame for people deliberately making their own choice to eat junk food to the point of obesity?! Dont be bloody ridiculous.

OP you do know that there has been research to prove that every judgemental thought knocks 1 minute off your life expectancy? Your junk food loving relatives may just outlive you.

NB I'm aware that the above is a lie, but it should be true in an ideal world.