This Obesity drive in the news

[Piffleoffagus]

is it the Governments fault?
I understand that it is in the Govts interests to address obesity, as it is obviously a massive drain on the NHS, but is it their fault?
Hmmm... A junk food tax? healthy food VAT reduction?
Why is obesity on the rise? Are people suffering with illlnesses which predispose them to obesity, is it from childhood, is it down to no control?
I'm baffled that people can let it go so far without seeking help. Esp in the case of children.
Am I naive, I am really interested as to me it seems an easy thing to spot and solve, aside from those with thyroid or other problems which need specialist ehlp etc...

Food for thought...no pun intended.

Researchers (2003) found Stoke-on-Trent has high unemployment, low incomes, poor schools and relatively high crime rates. I think that was the year it was voted 'worst place to live'. This year it is second in the obesity list (to Manchester I believe) and also pretty close to the top of the list of places where you are most likely to have heart disease.

Actually I live here and its really not that bad .

As an aside, my sons are example of how complex the diet/exercise/obese equation is.

They they both like the same food more or less. Often home cooked trad stuff (cauli cheese, stew, grills, scrambled eggs, pasta). They also tuck into the odd mcdonalds, pizza, fish fingers. I have stopped buying in chicken nuggets and most other child orientated convenience food. They never lived on this stuff anyway. They both like fruit. The eldest likes vegetables more than the youngest does. That's the only difference in their diet really. Of course thee eldest eats more - but then he is 5.5 years older.

My 10 year old is definitely on the chunky side, definitely not average in weight. But he is not getting any bigger (trousers still fit from 18 months ago) My youngest is wiry and slim.

Same diet, same lifestyle, same family, pretty much the same amount of exercise. Yet differnet shapes.

The income/obesity link is interesting in that in India and Indonesia, the opposite is true. It's the wealthy who are overweight, with their westernised eating habits, such as McD's, KFC and Pizza Hut, and swanning around in their Mercedes and BMW's. Such foodstuffs are off the radar to most people as far too expensive when you're living on a dollar a day.

On the opposite tack, a clinic I know of in Jakarta that feeds undernourished children recently carried out a survey of mothers. They found that the mothers of underfed children knew just as much about feeding children as mothers of healthy children but, for whatever reason, just didn't use that knowledge. That seems similar to what PollyT has to say in the Guardian link, but in reverse.

I read about the Government's plan to tackle obesity yesterday - then I open my local Weekly paper this morning to find :

Local Council are approving the proposed plans to sell off 2 large "open-spaces" currently belonging to 1 college and 1 school

Planning Permission is being sought (and likely to be approved!) for a new Chip shop to be opened at the bottom of our road - across the road from the school and just down the road from the newsagents - therefore offering a choice of sweets/chocolates and chips during the day !!!!

"Actions speak louder than words" springs to my mind!!

Is victoriapeckham badmamma? Really?

I've been pondering this. Dh used to be a skinny thing when I first met him- now he's getting porky (not obese but definitely a few rolls). He's always eaten a lot but I think the main problem now is that he gets no time to play sport. W have thelongest working hours in Europe - and he fits well into that bracket. Got to be a factor in some cases (as we're looking at soicety as a whole.)

agree with you re longest working hours, jimjams, must surely play a part in the huge popularity of convenience food, observed across all social classes...

Totally agree JimJams!!

When I met DH he was skinny!! He played in a football team at weekends, with training during the week. Also played golf regularly.

Now he's commuting up to London, getting up at 4.30am, leaving at 5.00am so by the time he gets in at 7pm (ish!!), he's totally shattered. Then he's got to eat etc.

Sorry to sound like an ad but ... I've just started the GI diet last week. The book is a good read. The diet was designed mainly for healthy heart cholesterol and against diabetes and I find the food not particularly restrictive although of course it is low fat low sugar and only reasonable amount of some carbs. I haven't really paid that much attention to portion size as I figured that so much cooking of fresh low fat foods plus no chocky etc was a big enough change from one day to the next and I have lost over a kilo in three days.

There is one section that actually talks about how dieting has a much higher impact on weight than exercise and it only recommends half an hour a day of walking.

The meals and guidelines are also fine for the whole family. It focuses on filling meals that mean you don't go looking for the nasty snack in between, although it encourages snacking on fruit, yoghurt etc.

How could those kids that you guys are talking about fit in a mars bar or a packet of chips at 8:30am if they had porridge or muesli or an omlette or wholemeal pancakes and a yoghurt smoothie for breakfast?

Aussiesim ... why did you decide on the GI diet? Haven't heard much about GI but I think it's going to be big so just wondered where you got your info from about it?

have been lazy and not read thread properly but imo this is more about guilt/emotional issues and food used as compensation than that kids eat more junk now. lets face it in the eighties, lots of people were less aware of healthy foods ate white bread, marg, fried food, lots of meat. i don't think there is anything wrong with a child drinking a can of coke. i wouldn't give it to ds, but would certainly not make it a forbidden thing. food has become such an emotional issue even for children now. v young children have become image conscious and started to feel guilty about eating the wrong foods...this is how you put on weight. we all know people who eat what they want when they want and are thin (my sister is one of them, subsisted on a diet of crisps and fat coke for most of her adolescence)...i don't think this is genetic, she just doesn't see food as a big deal: and therefore it isn't for her. she's as likely to miss a meal or eat an exceptionally healthy meal as go to macdonalds, food is just fuel and what she feels like. by contrast i eat v healthily, am conscious of good and bad food choices and have always struggled with my weight (i'm not obese, just never happy with how much i weigh). i associate food with treating myself well, with hedonistic pleasure and with comfort. i eat when i'm bored. these are what lead to food disorders.. when parents use food as a reward, or by contrast the middle class parent model of never giving sweets or crisps and wholemeal everything, is i think v destructive. food shouldn't be an issue for kids. they should be running around like headless chickens so much they don't have much time to think about it...perhaps this is also a problem, we're all so paranoid about paedophiles that we don't let our children out to play any more. i could go on and on, this is such a biggie, but i really believe, that it's not about food primarily...i know most will disagree but...
having said all of that, i don't think there is any harm in banning junkfood advertising

sophable, I agree with you! I don't think it is about food intake primarliy. It's about lifestyle and what mental associations food gives you. For these reasons, I don't think children should be totally forbidden junk food either.

I also think junk food advertising should be severely limited, and definitely feel vending machines have little place in school canteens. But I suspect even if a total ban, this would not, in the short term, reduce obesity in children or make people eat healthier. If you're talking 10 years then maybe yes.

Definitely think us working the longest hours in Europe, doesn't help the UK health levels either.

another one here agreeing with jimjams! My dh was very skinny when I met him. The first thing my mum said when she had met him was 'he looked like he needed a good dinner down him!' Now he is overweight, but he works extremely long hours, has a long drive to and from work and is completely knackered when he gets home. We do walk the dogs/children in the evening but its still not THAT much exercise for a grown man is it?

also agree with tigermoth about the advertising thing. My son, who is 2 knows the McDonalds adverts and knows what toy is coming this week, so when we are anywhere near a mcdonalds its chips and buzzlightyear - or whatever, and he is only 2 1/2

Message withdrawn

I think the govt could also ban tuckshops/vending machines in primary schools rather than encouraging schools to allow them...

Also agree with sophable about not having "forbidden" foods. DD eats some junk at times (esp parties) but I'm not bothered because her overall diet is excellent.

Pancake, I read an article in 'New Woman' that compared the five high profile diets of the moment e.g., Atkins, South Beach and a few others and the article rated GI diet the highest saying it was easy to follow, healthy and effective esp for long term weight loss. I watched my DH and my Best Friend do Atkins and it is effective and quick but a PITA and when they stopped they both just packed it back on.

I was in a shop opposite our local secondary school at lunchtime the other day, and the kids were all buying things like pasties, crisps, chocolate and coke for their lunch. One girl bought a bag of five donuts because she fancied them and none of her friends wanted to share. Wonder how many she ended up eating?

Oh, and my personal bugbear is why do leisure centres sell so much c* food? It's all chips and burgers, or vending machines full of chocolate and crisps. I was looking for a healthy snack after swimming the other day and the best they had was some go-ahead biscuits or a mouldy looking apple. These places are run by our councils!!

Agree with you about the junk food sold in sports centres JeniN - it seems so inappropriate after taking exercise to be offered crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks from a machine as suitable refreshment.

But you also have to look at the price of sports centres - our local council run one is way out of the reach of families even on reasonable incomes, let alone poor families. And they have passports to leisure for those on income support, but that's no good to low income working families, and no good for single parents - by the time you've paid for a creche place, you're paying about £7 for a swim. So most residents don't swim!

Agree that it mainly comes down to parents, but government could do an awful lot more to help - like banning advertising to children, funding education properly so that McDonalds branded posters aren't hanging in the home economics (or whatever the current jargon word is for it) room and ensuring that at least one hour of PE a week is on the national curriculum - we've had literacy hour and maths hour, so why not PE hour? They could also pass legislation which most parents would support, to establish miminum nutritional standards for school meals. And ensure that vending machines with fizzy drinks and junk food are not sited in or near schools.

wordgirl

where did you get those figures about Italy?

I'm a bit surprised but obviously things may have changed since I was a child!

Though I think that the lack of exercise in Italian children is much worse than in the UK.

Hi Webmum, sorry for delay in replying but have just got back from holiday and have had to learn how to do a link . So here goes (with any luck!)
try this

I had a feeling that would happen. Try again

Woohoo! Am now feeling ridiculously chuffed at my techno wizardry.