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?

I think people take less personal responsibility now. You see it all the time on threads on here so many things seem to be the fault of somebody else.

How old is the child?

My teenagers are not overweight and certainly not obese. But the point I am making is that it is extremely difficult to restrict teenagers’ access to junk food unless you prevent them from having any independence at all. I would be interested to hear if there is anyone on here who has actually done it.

Even if people consider it proportionate for a child who is 4 stone overweight (and I can see why you might, that’s very serious) I think most people would consider it overly controlling as something to do to an average size teen who is just getting into bad habits and eating less healthy food than would be ideal.

I don’t live in the UK and my young teenager saves pocket money to buy cosmetics, cheap jewellery and accessories. She would be very angry if I forced her to fund treats herself! It’s generally accepted by my kids that treats are reserved for special occasions (such as Saturday). The kids very rarely get money from family, it’s not that common here except, again, special occasions. If they do, it’s also something extra and we put them together into their investment accounts, with the children actively making decisions about buying funds and shares and then watching them go up (and down) in value.
I don’t think I have sensible kids, they love crap food as most average humans do. They are just very careful with money 😅.

I’m guessing the problem with binge eating Easter eggs didn’t start with the teenager who is hard to manage but with a younger child who was given too many treats by someone (grandparents, parents, school etc.) and hardwired a preference for junk.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

School age teens having access to spare money and their own bank accounts and debit cards is new. 40/30 years ago when I was at school it was practically unheard of. When it come to how children were parented in the 80s got a lot wrong, but there wasn't this issue of overweight children that seems to be everywhere today.

That’s very interesting - another way in which the food culture here makes it extremely difficult for individuals to establish good eating habits against the prevailing mood. I think most teenagers in the UK would be horrified at the idea treats were only for Saturdays….

Not from what I know, there are no grandparents and her mum is one of those obsessed with her looks and weight types.
There's definitely something going on with the daughter though, she seems very sad. Like I said the waiting list for children's mental health services is not good enough by a long shot.

I was a teenager in the 80s and we didn’t have bank accounts but we certainly had money, just not a huge amount of it compared to the cost of snacks. As an infant school child the norm was 10p a week which meant roughly 10 sweets! By secondary school you probably got enough to buy a bag of crisps every day, unless you were saving for something else, whereas now it would be more like a six pack a day. Obviously there is a lot of variation but that was roughly the ballpark in my experience.
By 16 most of them in my area have part time jobs (and a lot of them by 14 washing up in restaurants or helping in stables) and of course then the sky is the limit on how much food they can buy if they want.

Oh they do moan about treats and sugar a lot, but not to the point of trading the 50th lippy in the collection for a bag of candy. The message that junk food is bad for you is drilled into them early on at school and at home. Both also do sports - again, the message that sport is good is everywhere and the sports we excel at as a country are free (although the equipment comes at cost).

On the other hand my daughter had fitness tests at school two weeks ago and they were kids who ended up puking afterwards, so the problem of kids not being fit and active enough is definitely also present (from my experience quite marginal though).

It’s very interesting hearing about other countries.

Can you say which country? You may already have said it

I am surprised how many teenagers supposedly spend their pocket money on junk food

Don't they have any interests or hobbies? My ds spends his pocket money on computer gadgets and my dd on clothes and make up.

They are well fed at home and don't seem to crave junk food, or certainly not enough to spend their limited own money on it.

The message that junk food is bad for you is drilled into them early on at school and at home.

Isn't that the case in all countries? I certainly hope so!

Ds spends it on clothes, hobbies like gym and caving / climbing and cooking stuff. He’s a little bit older (university) but has generally been the case

and socialising

I think most teenagers in the UK would be horrified at the idea treats were only for Saturdays…

Depends on how you define 'treats'!

If you mean a cake or a burger & chips meal out, then those are occasional treats (less than once a week).

If you mean a small piece of chocolate for dessert, then no problem to have that daily imo

On the subject of children buying food around schools:

Just thinking back to the 60s/70s - on the 10 minute walk home from senior school we used to pass a chippy (closed after lunchtime and didn't open until 17.00 back in the day) and two or three corner shops. So there wasn't the opportunity to buy food, plus we simply didn't have the money

The sheer all-day availability of food to tempt kids e.g Greggs, MacDonalds, kebabs, etc just didn't exist.

A weighing bridge and laser scanner which analyses your height and age at the entrance of each store that identifies you as being obese or not. Red token if you are obese and a blue token if you're healthy which is then presented at the till and the red token means you have to pay 10% more.

A green token is handed out if you are medically except such as being on steroids etc.

This poverty and stress cause obesity

The sheer all-day availability of food to tempt kids e.g Greggs, MacDonalds, kebabs, etc just didn't exist.

Actually McDonalds definitely existed in the 1980s and my friends and I would have a burger occasionally. It was on our home from school.

I feel that too many posters are trying to blame circumstances (too many tempting junk food outlets) rather than taking responsibility for your and your children's eating habits?

1. Reduce poverty, income insecurity and stress in people's lives (a key driver). Allow people hope and dignity and time.
2. Make all school meals free and healthy, teachers sit with pupils at lunch time as per nordic countries
3. Ban on junk food advertising
4. Subsidies and marketing spent on fruit and veg etc

Yes it's called an obesogenic environment

Cinema tickets should cost more for obese customers, as should airline tickets!

Billions spent per year of UPFs, food treats can sometimes be the only ones parents can afford.

I did, yes. I’m in Sweden. There are obese kids around (one child in my son’s class), but in general being outdoorsy, doing everything in moderation (lagom) and exercising self-control are still culturally ingrained to some extent. Also alcohol which I think it’s part of the problem in the UK is very expensive here and access is severely restricted.

Also lower levels of poverty/inequality