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Childhood obesity strategy "lite"

(283 Posts)
JessM Thu 18-Aug-16 19:57:54

Under Cameron the Dept of Health was toiling away, developing a strategy for reducing childhood obesity, which seems to be steadily rising, fuelled my all those sugary drinks and snacks and exacerbated by the lack of activity in young lives.
Today we have the final version released, with several ideas removed.
Sugar tax on soft drinks will add a few pence per can/bottle.
Encourage food producers to reduce the sugar content of foods. breakfast cereals, yoghurts, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, morning goods (e.g. pastries), puddings, ice cream and sweet spreads.
And some warm words about promoting 60mins exercise per day (50% in school)
The content has been criticised because plans to crack down on special offers on things like cakes and biscuits have been withdrawn and again it is a light touch "lets try and persuade food producers" approach rather than anything more punitive.
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf

Will any of this actually do a thing to encourage parents (particularly those on low incomes) to reduce their children's consumption of pop, sweets, chocolate, cake, biscuits and ice-cream? And is a slight reduction in the sugar in cereals or baked beans going to make a difference?

Jalima Tue 23-Aug-16 18:51:42

I feel like agreeing with the poster who is the healthiest! Proof of the pudding and all that!
No proof at all really; some diseases are hereditary, other conditions can be workplace related, environmentally related etc etc and are not at all diet-dependent.
Perhaps some peoples' pancreases (is that the plural?) do not work as efficiently as others, due to hereditary conditions; perhaps ongoing research will uncover more reasons.

Of course, eating too many sugary puddings may provide the proof that becoming obese as a result is not a good thing.

JessM Tue 23-Aug-16 18:37:55

Does anyone really believe that T May cares about poor kids?
We shall see.
I - and many experts - would like to see her regulate supermarkets and stop them doing all these special offers on snack foods, sugary foods and confectionary. To get into Waitrose this week you have to walk past banks of them. However this has been removed from the strategy.
I think poor children need more protection from the unscrupulous manipulations of the industry - but I seem to be in the minority on this thread.

daphnedill Tue 23-Aug-16 17:56:06

Thank you, thatbags, for that link.

For people who don't like links, here are a couple of quotes...

"Although the incidence of child obesity has fallen in the UK over the past few years, it is growing in low-income households."

"Shouldn’t a government that claims to care deeply about social justice be doing more to change this, to challenge businesses whose irresponsible practices tend to have a disproportionate impact on the poorest? True, the main front to act on is deprivation itself — the deprivation that drives such appetites. As George Orwell once suggested, “a millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits, but an unemployed man doesn’t . . . Unemployment is an endless misery that has got to be constantly palliated.”"

"And we must be honest that if you have less money — if you are less able to afford the consolations or the off-setting benefits of family days out, gym memberships, holidays — then you are inevitably more vulnerable to the temptations of cheap unhealthy food, cut-price booze or get-rich-quick gambling."

It's been mentioned somewhere on this thread that there's a strong correlation between obesity and deprivation, especially in certain areas. There was also a suggestion that poorer and unhappy people 'comfort eat'.

It should be blatantly obvious to politicians that there are an awful lot of people in the UK who feel 'out of control' (to borrow and adapt a famous slogan).

daphnedill Tue 23-Aug-16 17:41:26

I don't understand why you think my posts are contradictory, obie, and I still don't understand your questions.

The normal course of diabetes is for the pancreas to give up completely. Consistent levels of high blood glucose can lead to circulation and nerve problems (and amputations), cardiac problems, blindness, erectile dysfunction (in men), slow healing, gum and tooth problems and a host of other problems. I don't have any of those, nor do I have any of the other problems often associated with age, so I would say I'm healthy.

Having diabetes is a hassle and I've become interested over the years in nutrition, because I want to be able to control it. That's it really.

Anya Tue 23-Aug-16 17:22:35

An interesting read bags

obieone Tue 23-Aug-16 14:07:23

Lobbyists 1 Poorer people 0

obieone Tue 23-Aug-16 14:06:10

Great link again, thanks.
This is what I have become concerned about, whether Theresa May will live up to her hype. First sign, not good.

thatbags Tue 23-Aug-16 13:55:23

Article from the Times today by Clare Foges on the subject: "We need the PM to become Nanny Theresa".

obieone Tue 23-Aug-16 13:50:48

I found the posts in the last 24 hours difficult to follow and somewhat contradictory.
By your admission, apart from diabetes you are healthy.

People who are healthy are probably doing a lot of things right, food wise.

daphnedill Tue 23-Aug-16 12:28:34

@obieone

I don't understand your questions @12.14.50.

What am I supposed to be persuading you about?

daphnedill Tue 23-Aug-16 12:26:33

@Jalima

I was diagnosed with diabetes before pregnancy. As a result, my health was monitored very closely both times. Strangely, I didn't put on any weight during either of my pregnancies and ended up lighter post-birth than before, despite craving for (and drinking) full sugar Coca Cola, which I wouldn't normally touch.

Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy are at high risk of developing a permanent condition through no 'fault' of their own.

Although T2 diabetes is associated with obesity, there are many people (like me) who have never been obese and other people who are morbidly obese who don't develop diabetes. There is on-going research about the role of stress, because there seems to be some link between cortisol (the 'stress hormone') and diabetes, but nobody is yet clear how that works. Pregnancy puts the body in stress mode, so it's possible there's a link.

obieone Tue 23-Aug-16 12:17:54

You said you have diabetes upthread dd. Even I cant forget things that fast!

You sound healthy to me dd, apart from the diabetes.

I am listening to you in that case!

obieone Tue 23-Aug-16 12:14:50

How? In what way? I dont think so unless you can persuade me otherwise.

daphnedill Tue 23-Aug-16 12:14:45

Is my diabetes in your filing system, obieone? wink

Yes, I have diabetes. As I manage it well, mainly through diet and minimal medication, I'm also amazingly healthy. I sometimes wander into the Health forum and am very grateful that I don't have (and have never had) the conditions mentioned.

I was diagnosed as diabetic nearly 30 years ago and was told it was progressive. I'll never be cured, but it can be managed. Somebody who has had diabetes for as long as I have would expect to have some serious symptoms by now. The fact that I don't have any is a reflection of my diet.

petra Tue 23-Aug-16 11:47:23

obieone good health is subjective.

obieone Tue 23-Aug-16 11:23:10

I feel like agreeing with the poster who is the healthiest! Proof of the pudding and all that!

obieone Tue 23-Aug-16 11:19:29

Those posters who have contributed since yesterday on this thread - are you all healthy[I know daohnedill has diabetes] if you dont mind me asking?

Jalima Tue 23-Aug-16 10:55:28

Queen Mary, jingls, calling imperiously from the sitting room grin

X post dd as it took me so long to type or amend on this tablet!
I had a friend who developed diabetes in pregnancy and it did not go afterwards although she was told it might.

JessM Mon 22-Aug-16 22:14:04

Yes absolutely right about juices being marketed as healthy. Recommended amount for an adult per day is a small wine glass - and not a full one!
Smoothies too - I stopped buying them because husband glugging down half a pint at a time - a hell of a lot of fructose.
Someone on a food programme on TV compared luxury ice-cream with the kind you get from ice cream vans and decided that the whipped kind from the van much lower in calories than gelato. 99 anyone?

daphnedill Mon 22-Aug-16 22:13:49

No problem, thatbags, but just for your information, the form of Vitamin A from animal sources is called retinyl palminate. Veggies obtain their Vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene, so technically they're in the same situation. The vitamins do NOT form part of the fat.

daphnedill Mon 22-Aug-16 22:08:22

What I meant, thatbags, is that fats and vitamins are distinct molecules.

I'm sure you realise this, but all foodstuffs can be classified as containing macronutrients (fats, carbs and protein), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and trace elements.

Most foodstuffs contain a combination of different nutrients, but it doesn't mean that the nutrients themselves contain other nutrients.

thatbags Mon 22-Aug-16 22:05:54

moon

Thank you for sending me to bed with a smile on my face.

Love gransnet ?

thatbags Mon 22-Aug-16 22:03:51

So vitamins that are dissolved in the fat of a piece of meat are not in the fat. Are they in the meat? Are the fats in the meat? Is (or rather, was) the meat in the animal?

Is the sugar that someone dissolves in their cup of tea not in the tea (the drink not the leaves)?

I thought a solution of something meant that the something that is in solution was now in the substance it was dissolved in until extracted by some method such as evaporation.

Sorry, dd, I am not getting your 'pedantry' at all. Never mind. Please don't go to any more effort to enlighten me. I'm actually happy to think that I get my vitamin A from animal fats, and I don't think this thought will bring me any harm smile

daphnedill Mon 22-Aug-16 21:34:56

@JF

What's wrong with carbs and fat in moderation? Both are nutrients and the body needs them to thrive. Sorry, but it really isn't a bad meal substitute once in a while and no worse than a ham sandwich. Nobody needs to obtain every single nutrient in a single meal.

No, the vitamins aren't in the fat. They're dissolved in the fat, as they are in the fat of a sausage roll.

jinglbellsfrocks Mon 22-Aug-16 21:23:55

I wouldn't worry about that missed vocation dd.