Did anyone watch "What are we feeding our kids?" on BBC1

[MarchXX]

Here's link.

i astounded that there has been little to no research of the effect of UPSs on our brains and bodies. The results on Chris (after one month) were dire indeed.

Chris's brain scans before and after were shocking but not surprising as UPF food manufacturers spend multi££££millions on research to find the perfect bliss point to skewer and keep new addicted consumers eating their products again and again.

I was interested in the huge increase in our consumption of UPF foods since 1980 but would have liked to see the difference from 1970 or 1960 because when I was a child growing up (in 60s) there was virtually no UPF foods in our home, all meals were cooked using fresh meat/fish, eggs, veg and fruit with some dried/tinned goods and no ready meals/takeaways. Eating out (or takeaways) was a very rare treat indeed and snacking between meals was frowned upon and not encouraged.

The representative from the food industry was, not surprisingly, reticent about their role in the deteriorating health of our nation's population. Nestle's success in infiltrating remote communities with their UPF-packed supermarket-boats and creating new addicted consumers (and an obesity epidemic) was an eye-opener but not at all surprising seeing as their role in exploiting breastfeeding mothers in third world countries is well known, too.

Anyway, did anyone watch it. What did you think?

Does anyone remember the adverts encouraging kids to 'eat xxx between meals without ruining your appetite'? Why? Because the norm was not to eat snacks between meals and clever marketers had to find a way to change that behaviour. They were very successful, too

Yes indeed:

[quote Arbadacarba]Does anyone remember the adverts encouraging kids to 'eat xxx between meals without ruining your appetite'? Why? Because the norm was not to eat snacks between meals and clever marketers had to find a way to change that behaviour. They were very successful, too

Yes indeed:

[/quote] Absolutely

A finger of fudge is just enough
To give your kids a treat

🤔🤔🤔

Apart from the brain activity experiment, did this show really tell us anything we don't already know?

I think there was a programme on a few years ago which cited the finger of fudge advert as the beginning of a huge problem with sugary snacks. I also remember a product called ‘seven minute meals’ which you basically deep fried. My mum thought it was atrocious. I thought it looked great, because the advert was catchy.

Also consider the marketing of sugary cereals with cartoon characters to target children - Frosties and Coco-Pops for example. We never had them as children, not for health reasons but because they fell into the (large) category of foods that my parents considered 'a waste of money' but the adverts were always on during children's TV in the 80s.

@Arbadacarba

Also consider the marketing of sugary cereals with cartoon characters to target children - Frosties and Coco-Pops for example. We never had them as children, not for health reasons but because they fell into the (large) category of foods that my parents considered 'a waste of money' but the adverts were always on during children's TV in the 80s.

Yes As well as the freebies “to collect” 🤔🤔 My mum never fell for it and only stuck to porridge which I obviously thought was boring but now I am so pleased

I saw some Peppa Pig coco pops in the supermarket the other day which was a particular low for cereal manufacturers

@ivykaty44

Industrial food started in all earnest in the 1970s and industrial food manufacturers started selling “ snack” & “convenience”

4 decades later we see on an interview that profit comes before health for these companies 😂

It’s not about eat less nice more, it’s literally about the food wiring your brain to seek more and it’s poisonous. One month on an 80% ultra processed food diet to replicate what 20% of youngsters are eat, and it’s changed his brain 🧠

That’s a terrifying statistic

Think of the time, energy, money that parents spend on car seats / sun cream / stair gates etc etc... yet provide junk food for dinner. Mind boggling.

Agree with previous posters that a big problem is people do not know how to cook from scratch anymore and don't enjoy cooking. Although it does surprise me given the number of cookery programmes on TV. That combined with the huge marketing push on convenience food is why we are where we are now.

And I totally think parents are to blame for obese children. I get there are exceptions in terms of medical conditions but it is shocking the number of obese children in my children's school and you can see why when the parents turn up with a bag full of sweets and snacks every day after school and then post all over Facebook pictures of non stop takeaways and excessive convenience food eating.

Another factor is the huge rise in takeaway food outlets, coupled with the fact these are now 'delivery' outlets more than takeaway outlets.

As a child in the 70s/80s Iiving in a medium-sized town (it may have been different in cities) there were a couple of fish-and-chip shops within walking distance and that was it for takeaways. No pizzas, kebabs, burgers, curry etc. A takeaway was something quite rare, and someone had to walk to fetch it.

Nowadays, Deliveroo et all offer a plethora of different 'takeaway' foods to your door at the press of a button. It seems quite normal for some people to have delivered food at least once a week.

An occasional takeaway will do no harm but when it becomes a routine part of a diet, that's when the damage can start.

Back in the 90s, I lived with a partner who had a serious Dominos Pizza habit, and I succumbed to this too ... the weight piled on, naturally. By the time we split up I was 15 stone at 5'4.

I do find a Dominos (or similar) pizza 'ultra palatable' alas and will go on eating it long past the point when I'm genuinely hungry. I don't eat them anymore - I think the last time must have been about 2 years ago - but I still sometimes find myself craving one. I think there's definitely an addiction factor in play.

We never had takeaways as a child and going out to eat was a treat - proper pizza at a little Italian place. That was it.

@Happyschool

I strongly back the buying whole ingredients and using quick recipes as family life is busy. There are so many easy cook books to help with simple ideas, which I do need.

The canned tomato v Lloyd Grossman debate isn’t as simple as I’m a bit wary of the tins when tomatoes are so acidic- I googled it and found a better explanation but it’s only from google so I am only throwing it in as a question ! I tend to use Passata in a glass bottle or fresh tomatoes .

Copied from a quick google search :
Fredrick Vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A, gives us the scoop:

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

Oh god that's frightening, we eat canned tomatoes all the time. Wth is that doing to my teen boys?

We have rapeseed oil too as I thought it was better than vegetable oil, I didn't think of the pesticides 🤦‍♀️

This whole eating healthily thing is a minefield.

[quote Arbadacarba]Does anyone remember the adverts encouraging kids to 'eat xxx between meals without ruining your appetite'? Why? Because the norm was not to eat snacks between meals and clever marketers had to find a way to change that behaviour. They were very successful, too

Yes indeed:

[/quote] Not the point of the the thread I know but I used to have a dress and shoes like that and the white socks too 😳

Who's got time at 8pm to cook a meal from scratch. It would be 10pm before you had finished eating it.

Omelette
Stir fry
Slow cooker casseroles for when you get home at 8pm

@Nonmaquillee. car seats, don't get me started on children in cars...

Apart from the brain activity experiment, did this show really tell us anything we don't already know?

what did you know afterwards that you didn't know before?

industrial food makes you anxious, sleep deprived and gives you piles. I knew the later but not the 2 former, may explain the rise in mental health issues

Not the point of the the thread I know but I used to have a dress and shoes like that and the white socks too

Interesting too that the surroundings - a gleaming, newly-built concrete estate complete with tower-blocks - would have represented somewhere desirable to live at the time, but that type of estate nowadays is usually run down and not very appealing, if it hasn't already been demolished.

what did you know afterwards that you didn't know before?

I'd been separating food into processed/unprocessed. I recognised, of course, that a chicken nugget is a lot more processed than a piece of cheese but I didn't know there was an official 'ultra-processed' category.

I also didn't know that eating habits could affect your brain circuits.

What strikes me is what am I supposed to do about the dairy allergy child? We can drink milk, use butter, have plain yogurt and fruit. But she has to have oat milk (or similar), dairy free yogurt, and apparently these aren't good

@BessMarvin

What strikes me is what am I supposed to do about the dairy allergy child? We can drink milk, use butter, have plain yogurt and fruit. But she has to have oat milk (or similar), dairy free yogurt, and apparently these aren't good

I don't think the programme was suggesting you have to eliminate UPFs altogether, just reduce your consumption to pre-1980s sort of level to avoid the obesity risk.

I doubt the inclusion of oat milk and dairy free yoghurt will affect your DD if her diet otherwise is unprocessed/minimally processed in the main.

@BessMarvin

What strikes me is what am I supposed to do about the dairy allergy child? We can drink milk, use butter, have plain yogurt and fruit. But she has to have oat milk (or similar), dairy free yogurt, and apparently these aren't good

It depends on the brand I guess, but I wouldn't say something like Oatly oat milk would be classed as a UPF. UPFs are ultra processed. There's not a shopping list of mystery ingredients in Oatly. Maybe 5-6 ingredients all together, some if them being water, oats, vit D.

oat milk (or similar), dairy free yogurt, and apparently these aren't good

where have you got this information?

Thanks for responses, I think she eats reasonably well otherwise

@ivykaty44

oat milk (or similar), dairy free yogurt, and apparently these aren't good

where have you got this information?

Earlier posts on this thread

@BessMarvin

What strikes me is what am I supposed to do about the dairy allergy child? We can drink milk, use butter, have plain yogurt and fruit. But she has to have oat milk (or similar), dairy free yogurt, and apparently these aren't good

As long as the rest of her diet is good and minimally processed it'll be fine.

I don't think anyone can cut out upf's completely can they? It would be a pretty miserable existence anyway.

What I didn't like about the programme and the categorising of all those foods as ultra processed is there's a big difference between a kid eating cornflakes and oat milk, a cheese/ham salad wrap, tinned soup etc and one eating burgers, chicken nuggets and chips everyday. Surely in this scenario it's not the upf making the kid fat, it's the choice of the upf?

@BessMarvin

What strikes me is what am I supposed to do about the dairy allergy child? We can drink milk, use butter, have plain yogurt and fruit. But she has to have oat milk (or similar), dairy free yogurt, and apparently these aren't good

If you can afford the fresh, not UHT milk with fewer ingredients, and the plain unsweetened yoghurt- defrost and wiz some berries then mix in, you'll have a much more "healthy" dairy free substitute