Britain to restrict promotion of unhealthy food

I think it was both as with a number of campaigns, smoking, drink driving, you need the law and a cultural shift.

The difference is that people can't give up eating and there isn't the same kind of social stigma

That’s an interesting point about stigma Growstuff. At one time, if you didn’t smoke, you were considered odd. A friend who did nursing in the 60’s once told me it was virtually obligatory in nursing circles to smoke. I think the stigma attached to smoking only really developed after the ban came in, and people could feel the benefits of not breathing in other people’s cigarette smoke.

As regards obesity, I think there is stigma - or at least some obese people perceive there to be - and that is why the concept of ‘fat-shaming’ has arisen, and groups have proliferated online defending the right of people to be obese and calling out others who fat-shame people.
I agree people can’t give up eating, but they can modify what they eat and they can modify their emotional relationship with food.
But that takes courage and enormous effort and the desire for change, and I think public health campaigns which are often seen as hectoring or nannying aren’t really what motivate people.

*JaneAinsworth, the last line was somewhat tongue in cheek, I had just been reading about the way Christmas was banned and policed dureing the 17th century and it held many reminders of the way lockdowns have been imposed and it got me wondering whether a government that had so successfully controlled the country with one draconian set of measures, followed by another, could easily give up the habit.

I mean after a year when many people did not work and got paid, it would be easy to suggest that we should make up for lost time in later years by working through the Christmas period.

I had just been reading about the way Christmas was banned and policed dureing the 17th century and it held many reminders of the way lockdowns have been imposed and it got me wondering whether a government that had so successfully controlled the country with one draconian set of measures, followed by another, could easily give up the habit
That’s a relief MOnica you had me worried there
Interestingly I was watching a recording of a webinar from the Economist today & one of the speakers made that very point, that the State having been able to exercise power during the pandemic, would make it easier for it to retain power, or assume greater ones, in the future.

It is a question many people are asking.

janeainsworth IMO The emotional relationship with food is much overlooked. It's complex and I'm no psychologist, so I can't comment too much.

I think it's a bit odd when people complain about the "powers that be" stopping them from eating bad foods, such as those parents who passed unhealthy food over the school fence, when schools tried to introduce healthier options. What they seem to be saying is that the state is trying to get their children to be healthier, as though it's a crime against freedom.

Why is it that people overeat when they're unhappy or stressed? I guess I'm lucky because I can't eat when I'm stressed. I also think a picture of a really fresh-looking, colourful salad is more appetising than a chocolate cake.

I spent most of my life binge eating/dieting. And when I smoked I chain smoked. In fact, this past year is the first year in my life since I went on my first diet at the age of 16 that I’ve actually enjoyed cooking and eating. The over eating never made me happy: it was as if I was punishing myself in some way. I guess some of us have addictive personalities. The more I worried about what smoking was doing to me the more I smoked. Nicotine being one of the most addictive substances in the world imo. It is very complex.