Obesity is just poor decision-making!

I remember once looking through an old family photo album from the 30s and 40s and remarking how slim everybody was then. Tall athletic looking men and ladies in fitted dresses with very trim waistlines. Nobody seemed to be overweight! I asked my Mum why. She said it was probably because there were no (or very few) processed foods then and the only take-away was fish & chips. During wartime there was rationing so people just ate less.

Dare I suggest that rationing some foods now might be a way of addressing the problem. It could perhaps be an experiment for 2 years and see if it made a difference. Would people even accept that now?

Maybe there could be a limit set on the number of fast food outlets in every town, just one of each type - chippy, MacDonalds, indian, chinese etc etc. Likewise coffee shops. We don't need so many.

I agree teaching/encouraging children to cook is essential. Some of my GC enjoy cooking but mainly cakes and biscuits. However, I had 3 years of cookery lessons at school but did it encourage me to cook - NO!! I've always hated cooking. Too much time spent messing about preparing ingredients in a hot kitchen only to watch it disappear in minutes at the table. But our three sons like cooking and one of them, at least, eats fairly healthily.

One minor point regarding an error in the date in the OP - the report was publishedin July, 2020. Here's the link:-

www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-obesity-government-strategy/tackling-obesity-empowering-adults-and-children-to-live-healthier-lives

I am overweight, not grossly but certainly obese on the chart (5’5” and size 16). Both OH and I are good cooks and love our food. We make delicious meals with excellent ingredients including loads of fresh veg. and almost everything is cooked from scratch.
We enjoy our meals, look forward to them, and although we don’t eat an excessive amount we are both heavier than we should be. Reducing our intake so that we are hungry will make us miserable.
What would you do?

"^I just wondered if food banks could be organised differently to get fresher food to people^" - but how in a practical sense do you do that? Many food banks don't have their own fridges or freezers to be able to accept fresh produce and if users don't have the facility to store or cook them at home, it's another complicating factor. It would be great if we could somehow get all the wasted food from supermarkets etc to those who need it most, but it's the logistics of doing that which are the barrier.

Callistemon21

Pittcity

The sugar tax doesn't work, same as the rise in taxes for cigarettes and alcohol. People will still buy if they want it.
I am happy that the sugar tax is going as I can't tolerate the toxic artificial sweeteners that have taken it's place.

I live in a city centre and we have no butchers, greengrocers, bakers or fishmongers other than occasional market stalls and supermarkets.

And now Truss is planning to scrap tax on sugary foods

I can't say I'll be sorry to see the back of that, too. I agree with Pittcity that artificial sweeteners come with their own problems and are a ticking time bomb.

I’m a bit confused regarding sweeteners. The cancer preventing podcast I listened to said to avoid sweeteners but a ZOE app one said they were preferable to eating sugar. I’ve bought some Stevia which is supposed to be natural sweetener. A doctor friend of DH’s said she’d never eat aspartamine which I do try to avoid.

My family comes from Irish and west country farming stock.
Photos that exist show all great grand mothers as short and fat.
All the men were lean and short.
The women did hard work in the home and on the land.
As Ww mentioned earlier, we dont have all the answers yet.
We certainly cant trust the info coming from lobbyist and influencing the gov.

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned smoking.
I'm in my mid 70's, and when I was growing up, the majority of adults smoked cigarettes. They were affordable then, and people smoked as an emotional boost, among other things ..."You're never alone with a Strand!" etc.
Move on into the late '60s and the government started really nagging us about the dangers.
I, like many other adults, managed with great difficulty to give it up.That was 30 years ago. I'd never even reached 9 stone until then.
But in the last 30 years I've got heavier and heavier.
(Divorce, bringing up a child on my own, working full time -life hasn't been a bed of roses.)

I live on my own with my cat. I don't drive, I'm not rich So what do I do? I eat more than I should!
I bet I'm not the only one with this sort of story.

My mother was one of those women who could eat as much as she wanted and still stay very slim indeed. I unfortunately appear to have inherited the genes from my father's side of the family - the women on that side were all, and I quote my mother on this "short and stout". I grew up eating the same as my mother - all fresh home-cooked food, fruit and vegetables from our own garden etc - yet while she stayed as slim as a pencil, I put weight on at the merest mention of a cake!

I’ve bought some Stevia which is supposed to be natural sweetener
Maybee I think that is fine, but it is probably more expensive to produce than aspartame and other artificial sweeteners so manufacturers of mass produced drinks etc may be reluctant to use it.

Obesity really is down to poor decision making but it is not that simple. Personally it was down to sugar and sugar addiction and I also mean the carbs that turn to sugars very quickly eg white bread

I used to have a very active lifestyle, horse, cycling, big garden etc and I had no trouble keeping excess weight off as I was also cooking for a family

Then there were two of us and my weight was rising, I quickly lost weight after my husband died but bit by bit it went on again and then some. The only way it has come off is the very slow way, the old fashioned way really and I took the decision to eat at 6.30, 12 and 5 and that was it plus trying my best to stick with low carb, apart from breakfast. Vegan keto food has been wonderful for filling me and being very low carb

I have not had fizzy drinks for 14 years and gave up milk a year ago. I do eat meat and fish now and then and make veg soups with green lentils. I hard boil 6 eggs so I can grab one if I get that awful mouth hunger. It is also my decision to keep on with informal exercise, so I regard heavy work in the garden as muscle building and I add aerobic exercise to that by cycling and it starts with a steep hill a mile away

It is not easy to avoid pastries and cake but I do and as long as I can keep on the downward trajectory of 1-2lb a month then I am happy. My long-term health counts on me meaking good decisions for myself

Do you know, I wonder if those that judge the most haven't done 12 hour shifts on a low wage with a family/home to look after and all life's other worries. I honestly think some people on low wages just exist day to day in the UK, it's a shame they are judged as well

I have put on weight lately. I know why. It’s because I’ve been sitting down a lot (due to not being very well) and have been eating a lot of crisps and chocolate. It’s totally my own fault. As I’m getting better I’m exercising more and the weight will come off. Eat less, exercise more. That’s all there is to it.

Blondiescot

"^I just wondered if food banks could be organised differently to get fresher food to people^" - but how in a practical sense do you do that? Many food banks don't have their own fridges or freezers to be able to accept fresh produce and if users don't have the facility to store or cook them at home, it's another complicating factor. It would be great if we could somehow get all the wasted food from supermarkets etc to those who need it most, but it's the logistics of doing that which are the barrier.

Suppose one specified day a week was for fresh food donations, it was collected that day and available at the food bank the next day. Most fresh food would be on the supermarket shelves for longer than that.

Different areas served by the food bank would have different donation and collection days.

Lots of veg last much longer than that. At the moment I’ve got carrots, onions, celeriac, potatoes, squashes, tomatoes, apples, in the kitchen without being in the fridge.
All of those can be eaten raw or with a minimum of cooking.
Oranges last a long while too and other veg.

I suppose I’ll always be the sort of person that looks for a solution to a problem.

JaneJudge

Do you know, I wonder if those that judge the most haven't done 12 hour shifts on a low wage with a family/home to look after and all life's other worries. I honestly think some people on low wages just exist day to day in the UK, it's a shame they are judged as well

And yet, working class people from the northern mills and mines working killer shifts and bringing up families weren't overweight.

And, perhaps most importantly, fat kids were rare.

We're off balance.

One of the things that puzzles me is something that I read in a post upthread about what to buy for foodbanks: people needing tinned food, for example because they only have a microwave to cook in. Well, I'm just thinking.... you can cook veg in a microwave. It's usually quicker in fact then doing it in a saucepan. Ditto, say, fresh fish and lots of meat stuff.

So I think the foodbank requirements are really about storage rather than people's cooking facilities.

they didn't have access to food as we do and people used to die very young rather than get fat
what an aspiration

The research says that obesity is correlated to a greater tendency to a range of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, at least 12 kinds of cancer, liver and respiratory disease. The research isn't wrong.

But, I note that many of you telling your personal stories are talking about becoming overweight in later life. I would suspect that the diseases listed might be more likely to be caused by early, long term obesity. I don't know, it's just a suspicion. But it does seem likely that long term exposure to any risk factor would greatly increase the risk.

So our obese children now may be more likely to suffer from these diseases than older people who gain weight as a result of no longer living such active lives.

Yes weight and our relationship with food is a very complex issue.

Along with all the other factors mentioned here, many people suffering from trauma or abuse, past or present, can use food in a dependent way to 'self soothe'.

Let's show compassion. It's easy for an emotionally and financially secure, (slim) person to moan about the cost these people are to the NHS. We need to be grateful that we are not in their shoes trying to cope with often unimaginable grief, loss, anxiety, fears etc.

Not everyone has the ability to have 'self control'.

And as for gastric bands.. no one wants to have this surgery for the fun of it... they are in a very bad way when they are faced with this choice. .. and their journey to this point must surely not have been an easy one.

Overweight people are not greedy or lazy or uneducated... they are often struggling.

Obesity is also the result of trauma, comfort eating during stressful times, some medications, inactivity due to disablity of some sort, hormonal and emotional problems. These causes need professional intervention and management to address the core problem/s. If it can be accessed at all that is. Lack of motivation and low self worth play a big part.

Then there are the vast range of sugary snacks, so much processed food, and the willingness of shops to stock so much of it. I see row upon row of chocolate, sweets, biscuits, cakes and my personal bugbear - cans and bottles of fizzy drinks - in local small shops. For profit no doubt. The fruit and veg bit at the back of the shop taking up 2 ft of one shelf space if that.

Then there is laziness. Those who spend hours sitting, watching TV, Netfix/Sky etc - so so many channels. Lazy 'cooking' when it doesn't take much time to cook 'pure' food - eggs, chicken, veg, fish, spag bol, chilli etc - it isn't difficult or particularly time consuming. I'm amused when a delivery of ready made pizza costing £££'s is chosen over one bought and freshly made in a supermarket which is a quarter of the rice and takes minutes in the oven.

I'm 73, a bit overweight but nothing much and I'm aware of controlling what I eat each day, although I do enjoy my food. I've the family shape of my mother and grandmother so I think genes do play a part in our shapes.

I think people should be more aware of what they eat and read what is in the processed food on offer nowadays. The fewer ingredients in something the better. I read labels constantly [some lists of ingredients are horrifying] and look for natural ingredients, if not I don't buy. I avoid processed food as much as possible. But I'm lucky, I'm fit and well, am active and walk as much as I can. When I was a child in the 50's/60's our family were all slim and yet we ate very well so I try and emulate our diet then. Seems to be working....with a daily treat thrown in!

Well said, Philippa111 - it is a very complex issue and a little compassion would go a long long way. Unfortunately, whenever weight and obesity are discussed on here, it always brings out the holier than thou brigade.

Also, in a small town near me was an amazing greengrocers who sold quality fruit and veg at very good prices. I would even drive there [10miles] to shop there. The place was always busy, buzzing and they did a good trade.

But I now hear it's shut down, which is tragic. I don't know why, maybe falling profits I don't know but I mourn the loss of places like this. They don't seem to ever return. Instead come coffee shops with coffees the price of a small meal and hefty, calorific, expensive sugary snacks lined up as you order. Consumer demand dictates that these places seem to thrive.

www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/michael-mosley-made-britain-fat-review-government-ministers/

I watched the Michael Mosley programme in March. Very interesting and informative. This article link explains the key points made

Growing up in the 60s we used to eat well, quite probably a similar amount of calories, the big difference is exercise, we had to walk or cycle to school, PE and sport was much more than today. Homes were not centrally heated you used energy to keep warm, school rooms were not notably warm either.

It’s far too soft and easy today.

Blondiescot

Well said, Philippa111 - it is a very complex issue and a little compassion would go a long long way. Unfortunately, whenever weight and obesity are discussed on here, it always brings out the holier than thou brigade.

indeed

welbeck

Blondiescot

Well said, Philippa111 - it is a very complex issue and a little compassion would go a long long way. Unfortunately, whenever weight and obesity are discussed on here, it always brings out the holier than thou brigade.

indeed

But how are we, collectively, going to be able to further our understanding and implement measures to improve the situation if the government takes the view that it's every man or woman for themselves and not the task of government to take a lead on helping to overcome it?

bluebird243

Also, in a small town near me was an amazing greengrocers who sold quality fruit and veg at very good prices. I would even drive there [10miles] to shop there. The place was always busy, buzzing and they did a good trade.

But I now hear it's shut down, which is tragic. I don't know why, maybe falling profits I don't know but I mourn the loss of places like this. They don't seem to ever return. Instead come coffee shops with coffees the price of a small meal and hefty, calorific, expensive sugary snacks lined up as you order. Consumer demand dictates that these places seem to thrive.

Yes
Our local butcher sells quality meat and cheeses very often cheaper than the supermarket. I was surprised.
If not enough people use it, it will likely go bust shich would be a shame