What should the government do to reduce obesity at the societal level?

[waistchallenge]

We're the fattest country in Europe and the upshot is what you see here: people posting threads in desperation about their weight loss struggles. I think we can probably all agree it would be easier to never have gotten overweight in the first place and to never have had to go through these weight loss efforts and experiences.

Apart from the sugar tax, I cannot see that the government has done much, if anything, to reduce obesity in this country; it's higher than ever.

I'm asking here because we all have experience of this to be on here, what-if anything- should the government do to reduce obesity in this country? What would have helped you? Or is it all just ultimately a question of personal responsibility?

The way Van Tulleken puts it in Ultra Processed People is, it’s a strange coincidence how nations seem to show a societal collapse in willpower at exactly the same time as ultra processed food is introduced.

Exactly. Of course people should take some personal responsibility for their own health, but it's getting worse so it's important to work out why. People haven't suddenly become more greedy and lazy, there's something else going on.

What do you mean by ‘bring back actual PE’? PE hasn’t gone anywhere, it’s part of the NC.

The only control we have over this is what we put in our mouths and how much we keep physically active (usual caveats for disability and medical conditions apply). We can't control the government or big companies or food manufacturers. We can only control ourselves. We don't need a nanny state. We need self control.

Under controlled clinical conditions all the reasons people give for not being able to lose weight would in most cases be disproved.

Self control isn't fun. Eating is fun. Life is short so enjoy it but enjoy it in a balanced, healthy as possible way.

Just to add that my self control is not stellar a lot of the time, before anyone jumps on me.

Our #bekind culture and aversion to being judgemental has normalised the problems.
Constantly snacking adds calories. Children no longer spend their time out playing.
Processed snacks instead of the Apple we were offered, take it or leave it. As Children a Mars bar was cut into 5 so we all had a piece not a bar each.
Adults drive everywhere, DM cycled to work when I was a child.
Adults sports classes in the evenings/ weekends need to be at Adults times. I struggled to find something starting after 7pm.
The problem won't go away unless we are prepared to be 'unkind'.

I have given up road biking. I really enjoy it but I felt so vulnerable on the road with so many near misses. I used to go out and do 30-40miles on a Sunday afternoon and maybe 10-20 midweek. Now I spin instead.

Old figures, stolen from a blog, shows that calorie intake in 2012 is lower than in 1948

Obesity rates are much higher today and I think this is due to several factors but mainly the decline in physical activity, whether it be in the workplace (manufacturing compared to desk jobs) in the home (washing machines) or in personal transportation (greater car ownership).

Calories in has gone down, but calories out has gone down even more.

I meant the pe that I had when I was a kid was far more rigorous than the pe my own children had at school. It was exercise rather than games iyswim. You came back out of breath, knackered and filthy.
I don't think children get enough exercise these days and that's more of a reason why so many people are fat than diet. Not enough exercise and all day snacking.

I'm the size of a whale btw. I'm not some teeny tiny thing and I know that it's a hell of a lot easier to help people not get fat in the first place than it is for them to get fat and then try to lose it.

Big food corporations invest huge amounts of money and brain power into getting you to overeat. The foods change the chemistry in your brains. Children and targeted. Get them young and they have become addicted. It’s not as easy as willpower. These companies literally invest in using your brain chemistry to their advantage.

You can avoid that food though and eat whole foods

I did PE in the 70’s and 80’s. We did nothing.

Cross country runs we would divert to my friends dads pub and sit there drinking cokes and crisps. Or we’d go and sit on the top field and smoke.

Used to just mess around and avoid everything. I find it hard to believe it was tougher then.

Yes on top of the meal, they wanted me to prepare 4 and it was 6 heaped teaspoons of Cadbury hot chocolate in each

there is a narrative that ‘cooking takes hours’ which is also twaddle. My children were late home from school today because of clubs - we chucked a pan of lentil pasta on - and while it was cooking popped some onions + + grated courgette + chopped up pepper a tin of tomatoes a frying plan with a splash of olive oil + some garlic. Easy supper. 12 mins maximum. There are a million different versions of similar things that people can do if they feel confident in a kitchen.

cheaper than a microwave meal, faster than walking to the chip shop… it needs a culture shift.

I think it's been shown that diet is far more important than exercise at controlling weight.

Huge issue in people being offended

Yes!

We're not even allowed to call obese people obese anymore! Aren't we supposed to say someone is living with obesity?!

Big food corporations invest huge amounts of money and brain power into getting you to overeat.

You can choose to avoid buying such foods and buy whole foods instead.

there is a narrative that ‘cooking takes hours’ which is also twaddle.

I can see your point. I don't cook properly very often at the moment for various reasons (I live alone so I'm not depriving anyone else 😅). Tonight I'll have some bagged salad, pre-prepare beetroot (sugar-free) with cottage cheese and some nuts. I'm just about to have it and it will take just moments to put on the plate. What I will concede is that the meal is probably more expensive than a "beige" meal.

That’s poor teaching rather than not providing exercise. There should be an exercise related session every school day -circuit training, organised team games, swimming, track and field etc. Get into good habits at school and there’s a chance they will continue through into adulthood.

seeing more and more fashion brands using morbidly obese models and comments applauding them for it

I've noticed that too. It's terrible and only normalises such unhealthy body shapes!

They should encourage China manufacturers to make smaller dinner plates. It may seem trivial, but dinner plate sizes have increased over a few decades, and portion sizes have increased according. You can't buy dinner plates as small as the standard size plate of 30 years ago. They're all noticeably bigger. That makes for a bigger portion for every home served meal.

What gets me about the issue of very obese models is that they skipped over healthy weight models in between that could have helped build young womens' self-esteem. It's as though there were no middle ground between anorexic and obese.

Not if you buy a large head of salad (rather than pre packed), raw beetroot and large containers of cottage cheese and bags of nuts that will last for many meals.

Clothes priced by size (like next do for children)
No plus size models
Closed pubs should turn into wellness centres who can advise on healthy eating, recipes, go through your diet and suggest changes, point you in the direction of fitness groups to support your particular needs. Eg. Age, life stage
Pay for the nhs, if you are a healthy bmi or are accessing services to make you healthier (sort of like a job centre for health, see wellness centre above) then your treatment is free. Otherwise you pay.
Free gyms & swimming pools & fitness classes
Subsidised veg, fruit and whole foods
Warning labels on UPFS and a UPF tax pay for above services.

That would work for a family but not a person living on their own I’d’ve thought.

And how are you going to approach people on medication (eg steroids) that cause massive weight gain? Will they get the thin person rates?