‘Millenniums’ set to become heaviest generation ever

Jananana. I loved your comments which brought back memories with your reference to Tesco. Myself as many others in the 60's and 70's if lucky had a local co-op although a veggie 'man' and a fish ' man' visited our estate once a week. When joy of joys Tesco opened a branch ,although it would mean a three mile walk round trip from our house and as we could not afford a car and we were not then on a bus route I would put my youngest in her pushchair after walking my eldest to junior school and off we would go to Tesco
Losing weight was not an option for me in those days.

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I think it works like that already grandetante:

Food and drink for human consumption is usually zero-rated but some items are always standard-rated. These include catering, alcoholic drinks, confectionery, crisps and savoury snacks, hot food, sports drinks, hot takeaways, ice cream, soft drinks and mineral water. ... catering and take-away food

Foods such as vegetables, pulses, meat, dairy are zero rated as long as they are not processed.
It can become rather confusing

soft drinks,
It is quite difficult to find soft drinks such as squash with sugar these days. We drink very little but DH likes an occasional glass of squash on a hot day and I try not to buy anything containing aspartame as that comes with its own set of problems and I cringe when I see children drinking this stuff.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/artificial-sweeteners-weight-gain-link-research-health-issues-diabetes-a7844611.html

So many young mothers now are alarmingly obese and are wheeling overweight children around. As many have said it is probably a combination of car ownership, internet deliveries of everything from a pizza to an new outfit, and so many fast food places in every high street. I can only recall pie and mash and fish and chips as the 'fast food' of the fifties, and these were very rare treats indeed - probably once or twice a year. I didn't drive until my mid thirties and was a wispy little creature who walked or ran everywhere in those days, usually pushing a child in a pram with lots of heavy shopping. (Sadly I am far from that shape now) We visited a swimming pool a week or so ago and a mums and toddlers group were in the pool; I think only one or two mothers looked a reasonable size out of the eight or ten young women, and one mother was truly the fattest woman I have ever seen- she must have been edging up to 30 stone - and she could not possibly have fitted into a cubicle. What a worrying situation for the health of the nation in the future.

Nonnie - I fear schools may be using BMI to decide if children are overweight. This measure was intended by its originator to be used for populations, not individuals, and still less for children. Children clearly are meant to have different body proportions from adults. Interpret BMI with great caution or, better yet, ignore it.

PS.I can now, press a button and Tesco comes on my Pc screen offering their products for me to make my choice which they will deliver without having set foot out of my door. Are we any happier 21C than 20C 60's/70's ?

Amma the BMI measurements used for children are not calculated in the same way as adult BMI. The experts are not stupid.

grandtante, this on VAT rates for food:

Food and drink for human consumption is usually zero-rated but some items are always standard-rated. These include catering, alcoholic drinks, confectionery, crisps and savoury snacks, hot food, sports drinks, hot takeaways, ice cream, soft drinks and mineral water.

So fruit, veg, bread etc. are already zero-rated..

I live near a university with a huge number of Chinese students. The female students are very slim (and very well dressed), much slimmer than many of the English female students some of whom are certainly overweight. Yes, obesity is a problem, so many people are overweight. Having a DH with type 2 diabetes (he was never obese but did drink a lot for many years but not now thankfully) and knowing how much his diabetic foot ulcer has cost the NHS (two ops and regular podiatry appts) I just wish people would heed the warnings about weight gain.

Sorry Jalima, great minds! hadn't got to page 4 when I posted the text on VAT.

Personally I feel the greatest worry is going to be the cost of obesity-related diabetes to the NHS in the future. I truly feel for the people who are currently eating themselves into this disease, because apart from the financial burden for the country, I get the impression that diabetes is largely ignored by overweight people or dismissed as 'no biggie' (no pun intended!) - so untrue.

amma is right though oldmeg that the BMI was intended for populations and is not that reliable for individuals.
It’s possible for example, for someone who trains a lot with weights to have a high BMI but this is because they have a disproportionate amount of muscle compared to the general population. The BMI only measures weight & doesn’t distinguish between fat and muscle.

Smoking became socially unacceptable, why can't over eating become the same? I do think portion sizes have gone up, no one ever has a fairy cake anymore, always a muffin which is much bigger. One of the garden centres we go to has lovely scones but they are so big we have one between us.

Nonnie - I fear schools may be using BMI to decide if children are overweight.
Well, if they are, that is a worrying trend because I thought they used to use the WHO Growth Percentile Calculator.

Yes, I know that Jsne?

Some posters may not have done though, so any information may be useful to someone OldMeg.

Only when that information is imparted with a degree of explanation Jalima.

I expect that anyone with a modicum of understanding will already know what Jane stated, yet I hardly think it applies to your average GNetter nor podgy youth.

But while truisms like this (which might apply to gym bunnies, athletes and other superbly fit individuals) are ceased upon by those who don’t want to recognise that their BMI of 30+ means they are verging in the obese.

And it’s not schools who decide if children are overweight. It’s health professionals who weigh the children and send information home. Just because the weighing is carried out at school (which is the only place that children can easily be accessed) doesn’t mean it is the school itself that is issuing warning notices,

Do people really think teachers are behind this FGS?

Unbelievable!

Seized upon!

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/fat-letter-sent-by-schools-to-parents-should-be-scrapped-say-experts-a6728891.html

It is carried out by the School Nursing Service so parents could assume that the letters come from the school and the results letters are sent via the school.

I think parents realise that this is a government initiative.

Don’t believe everything you read in papers try following this link National Database

I was actually in school before half term hearing readers and they were being called out to be measured by a health professional who had come into school. I assure you it was not in the teacher’s remit ???

Quite right Jalima x posts