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?

Money 🤷🏽‍♀️

It wouldnt surprise me if councillors got back handers by developers. School probably wanted a better building and the site was ripe for development. Lots of fast food places there now!
Quick ish win for the school vs loss to future health/ fitness.

More PE, movement and activity based learning in primary school.
Children should not be sat at a desk for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Just read in guardian article about school meals being more beige since external caterers brought in.

Nor should adults

Thin countries aren't thin because cookery is taught in their schools FFS! It is completely socially unacceptable to be fat in Korea and Japan, they work some of the longest hours in the western world and they do not have an obesity problem at anywhere near the same level as the UK.

I agree - we've got to make it socially unacceptable to be overweight.

We're actively encouraging obesity by modelling them in fashion magazines

GPs aren't allowed to call patients obese anymore - they are instead living with obesity'

Do you think people do not realise they are overweight? I got fat because I ate too much. You can put all the excuses up but the simple truth is that most people who get fat, absolutely know they are fat and how they got there.

Why don’t more families do activities like Park Run? Easy way to exercise as a family.

They absolutely don’t.

I am amazed at that then. I ate too much and got fat. I have friends who ate too much and got fat.

If people do not realise the connection between eating too much and gaining weight then that is really sad.

I don't think everyone does know though. Plenty of people just don't grasp the concept of calories in/calories out and think that becuase a banana is "healthy" they can eat all of them.

Because park run is early in a Saturday morning and the last thing a parent wants is to be dragging kids out of bed yet again ?

Because park run once a week doesn't overcome the damage caused by sitting at a desk from 9 to 5 ( add in the driving to work and that's 8 to 6 sitting ) ?

There was a poster on here who wore a size 22 and said her weight was normal and people said she looked slim.
A friend was told to watch her weight put her at higher risk during pregnancy by her midwife. She was outraged as she’d already lost weight so how dare anyone shame her.
My brother is an xxxl but cooks from scratch and eats a lot of veg so he thinks he can’t be unhealthy or overweight and just has big bones.
No one I know who’s told their child is overweight from the school health checks believes it or thinks it’s fair.

On any thread about dress size people say the average is 16 as if that’s healthy for anyone of any height or dimensions and any size below that is thin.

@AnneLovesGilbert is not wrong.

It’s interesting that Japan and Korea are coming up all the time here. Companies have to weight and measure the waist circumference of each employee every year and anyone above the recommended weight/waist size has to see a dietician to lose weight.

As a nation we’d explode if that happened.

The truth is that we put on weight over years and expect to lose it over weeks. I’ve lost weight but it has taken MONTHS to lose weight and is boring - counting calories, exercising, not drinking etc. Add the odds are against me as the entire society is set around eating out, drinking alcohol and having coffees to go.

My own view is that we need NHS supported support circles for (say) 3 months run by local volunteers who are encouraging meeting, walking together, talking about their weeks.. Social connections. It’s easier to take a pill though.

Well if this thread has taught me anything, it's that the average MN poster seems to have very high expectations of a government. And a very low sense of personal accountability.

There is no one size fits all approach to healthy eating. A combination of better diet, dealing with emotional eating and more exercise would help. Maybe access to weight management groups attached to GPs. Not everyone can access SW or WW and they seem more keen on flogging their products rather than getting people healthier. Lots more walking groups for those who struggle. I am not sure a sugar tax will help.

@AnneLovesGilbert you say “On any thread about dress size people say the average is 16 as if that’s healthy for anyone of any height or dimensions and any size below that is thin.”
Well size 16 probably is the average hence this thread about what we can/should do to change this. Saying 16 is the average is not the same as saying it should be the average.

As far as I'm aware The NHS run a program across the country called ONE YOU. I used it in 2018 to quit smoking, they also run weight loss programs.
When stopped smoking I went in once a week to see a nurse who prescribed tablets. I think the weight loss program is the same and also provides exercise classes, weigh ins and help with meal planning.. All free.

I know!
Can you imagine!
Posters even object to childhood weight and measurement programmes and are offended if told their child is overweight.

I think what PP means is that size 16 is regarded as healthy (by some) because it’s average.
I saw a post from a fashion influencer a little while back who was ‘calling out’ Zara or Mango because of their sizing, using that exact argument.
She said 14 or 16 is the average size, so Zara need ‘to do better’, rather than that there might be an issue with people getting heavier.

Children enjoy park run - why wouldn’t they want to go. Make exercise fun! Might then encourage family exercise during the week.

@inamarina but if 16 is the average size then we do need clothes in a wider range of sizes. It’s not for a problem for Zara to solve, they are just there to cater for demand.

‘Children enjoy Park Run’ - now there’s an overgeneralisation if ever there was one!

If parents are negative about exercise, children will be. What’s your suggestion - don’t teach children that exercise can be fun?

lol no, it’s do the exercise that they enjoy.
Mine like climbing, wild swimming, hillwalking. They absolutely hate crowds and I can’t think of anything they would dread more than running in a crowded park.
Other kids like football and find mountains boring. Others like dance. Etc etc etc.
There are so many stories on Mumsnet of people being put off exercise at a young age by being forced to do things they don’t enjoy and only rediscovering it later when they realise they can do things at their own pace and in their own way, I think it’s really important not to have a one size fits all approach.