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?

Depends how much of it you eat. Like most things.

Good for them. As feeling shit about how you look doesn't help weight loss either.

How could we run society if only 1/3 of adults are apparently acceptable in your eyes? What would be the effect of ostracising 66% of the population, do you think?

The food that they typically eat, will have a lot to do with that as well though.

My job is sedentary. I'd probably be a bit lighter if I did manual labour for 16 hours a day as my forebears did, but frankly fuck that.

My job is sedentary. I'd probably be a bit lighter if I did manual labour for 16 hours a day as my forebears did, but frankly fuck that.

Totally agree, I remember sitting through the 5 month weaning chat with my youngest. The HV was incredibly condescending re processed foods (the sentiment of which I agreed with, but the delivery was poor) and was herself very obese. I sat there thinking if it’s so easy why aren’t you doing it.

Totally agree - I’ll be honest, I’ve suffered with ED’ers but always maintained a healthy weight. I always thought overweight people lacked self control and were greedy, listening to Chris Van Tulleken’s work and his book “Ultra Processed People” totally shifted my thinking.

True, @kitsuneghost - but maybe knowing about nutrition is different to knowing the skills necessary to cook properly. I think that, without the basic skills and knowledge, it is a lot harder to eat a healthy, cooked from scratch diet.

Loads of people are in denial about their weight.

The only way to tackle it to make a huge difference is dystopian level stuff like rationing WW2 style or no NHS treatment if you are over a certain BMI. I mean the very rich could still circumvent this. Neither of these things will ever happen.

Type 2 diabetes is prevalent in my family as we are genetically predisposed. My mother managed to stick to healthy eating and managed to not develop diabetes, it was an effort and I do the same. She lived till in her nineties. My siblings all got fat, they did nothing even knowing this. One has actually bloody died from complications and another is going the same way. I mean she warned us all, her Dad died young from diabetic complications but this was when treatments were far less advanced.

Teach nutrition and cooking in school to 16.

You can’t get a slot at our local council subsidised gym. It’s already limited to an hour or so a day for a “family swim” and I’ve been turned away. I am incredibly fortunate to pay for a membership at a health club for my kids so we swim alot. But it’s an enormous expense and I know it’s out the reach of many families.

Chris Van Tulleken talks about “food deserts”

I find this shocking tbh
Both DD's early 20's v aware of sugar consumption, upf etc
Both of their boyfriends are verging on militant about whole food diets - completely independent of each other and only met once. And yes - they both cook so not expecting DD's to pander to a whim or anything
Maybe linked to gym going?

For starters, education, primarily. Also better regulation of all the health and fitness roles/professions. I'd consider also what we can do to limit the circulation of junk information by unqualified people via various media outlets online and offline.

People do have agency and responsibility for themselves, but they need to be able to trust the sources of information they turn to for help.

One difficulty tho, is that food issues are rarely about food alone, they're tied up with all kinds of other stuff going on in people's lives and the world around them. I've generally had a decent diet and physical health all my life, the root causes were parents, biology education at school. My own efforts were laid upon those foundations

(I will admit I am very lucky as I've never struggled with weight so you can tell me to bugger off). But I'm in the office today and it's scary seeing the number of colleagues who drive in but sit at their desks or in the kitchen during lunch, then drive home. Regardless of whether they go for a run before or after work, being sedentary for 8 hours regularly is dreadful for health. (Currenly doing my 20 min mile, in the rain around the business park that I've done for years).

I like this. I’m overweight and think this would actually help me. However, not sure how it would work for the farmers.

I avoid my GP like the plague, @waistchallenge, because I know, for damn-sure, that whatever condition I go in with, it will inevitably be blamed on my weight.

I have long covid at the moment, and dh is keen for me to go to the doctor, to see if there is any help available for me, but I am very reluctant to go because I know that they will blame it all on my weight. I know my weight is part of the issue, but since having covid, I have serious symptoms that I simply did not have before I got covid and was hospitalised.

I went to my GP because, having come of my antidepressants, I had become seriously depressed again, and needed urgent help. He would not stop talking about my weight - in his mind, the only reason I was depressed was because I was fat - nothing to do with childhood bullying trauma when I had suicidal thoughts - and it got to the stage where I was on my feet, in floods of tears, about to leave the surgery in a much worse state than when I'd arrived - and I would have been driving home in that state! In the end, he reluctantly agreed to stop talking about my weight, but instead called it 'the thing I am not allowed to mention' - sarcastic bastard! In the end, I left, and had to make my own appointment to see a psychiatrist - I got no help from the GP. He couldn't - or wouldn't - see that my weight is a symptom of the depression, not the cause.

I know that being a healthy weight is important, but GPs need to be sufficiently tactful that people like me feel comfortable to go to see our doctors. We need help, but experience has taught me to expect condemnation.

Exercise will help to keep you fit, but does very little to aid weight loss.

Poor diet, driven by the massive food corporations is at the heart of this.

The government needs to reduce the prices of whole foods, teach people how to cook and enable more people to reduce working hours by raising the minimum wage to be a realistic living wage.

Fast food and delivery should be taxed more highly - it's so easy when you're tired to just order in a load of UPF.

Even though food prices have gone up food as a percentage is still much cheaper than many years ago.

It was also completely unacceptable to eat or drink in the street when I was growing up or snack. It just didn’t happen.

It’s not an opinion, they invest a lot of resources into doing exactly this.

Exercise will help to keep you fit, but does very little to aid weight loss.

I wish people would stop trotting this line out on mumsnet.

If my GP pointed out my BMI/weight was a little high, I'd point out that they should be looking at where I carry my weight, as my height to waist ratio is in the middle of the healthy range. And that my BP and cholesterol are very good. The fact I do currently get weighed once a year for contraception didn't stop me getting into the obese zone for weight a few years ago. And I knew exactly what I weighed anyway, it wasn't a surprise.

I think what would really be an incentive to me to lose those last few pounds would be cold hard cash or real discounts off things. Like really cheap private medical cover. But no insurers seem bothered either way by my weight.

Certainly even a stone heavier I find everything more difficult so that in itself an incentive not to put weight on.

But currently I feel fit and healthy, I look it (I think), I am healthy by all measures except BMI (26) I fit well into train.and plane seats, and clothes (size 12). I do want to get down to BMI 24 but there is very little external motivation to do that, and my inner motivation varies!

The food we eat (UPF) is highly addictive. There’s also an epidemic of poor mental health among children and adults in this country - food (especially high carb/sugar) is often used to numb difficult feelings and to provide comfort (or a ‘treat’). In my view you have to take a holistic systemic view - how do we create a happier society where people feel good and are therefore more likely to want to exercise and eat well? And how do we ensure that healthy food and activities are easily accessible to everyone (and get rid of the crap stuff)?When life is stressful and a bit shit (which it is for many right now) then doom scrolling and comfort eating is far more appealing than a jog and a salad.

So much of this has been my experience too! I'm so sorry!

On a side note, I get pissed off with the promotion of 'fresh' fruit and veg as being healthy.

Frozen is fine for many things and for some veg actually better at keeping nutrients than fresh. It's also significantly cheaper to buy with some things eg French beans.