Obesity

[Blue Hills]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57144922

Pretty awful data.

2/3 of those admitted with obesity related issues are women it says.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Just read that. I wonder how much more there will be now that we've all been locked up for nearly 18 months. Must have been a lot of comfort eating and drinking going on.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Junk-food adverts
Pressure is piling on the government to take radical action to address the obesity problem.

Last month, doctors, academics, campaigners and public-sector experts wrote to the prime minister, urging him to stick to a landmark government proposal to ban junk-food advertising online and on social media - after fears it could be ditched.

The government says it has a clear plan to introduce a ban on junk-food adverts on television before 21:00.

It has now finished a consultation with industry and how far it is prepared to go with restrictions online will be revealed in the next few weeks.

This is a waste of time, Obesity is both a mental & physical issue, thinking that adverts on TV will solve the issue is head up their arriss time.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I do agree that we need an assault on the junk food advertising, taxes on junk food sugared drinks etc or the country will have to pay to upkeep an more expensive NHS and welfare programme.

 

[derrick]

This is a waste of time, Obesity is both a mental & physical issue, thinking that adverts on TV will solve the issue is head up their arriss time.

Will not solve all issues, but it's a start,
Subliminal advertising really does work, claim scientists who found that people subconsciously respond to flashed messages - especially if they are negative. Researchers found that briefly displaying words and images so quickly that people do not even consciously notice, does nevertheless change their thinking.

 

[Drago]

Massive punitive taxes on junk food. If peole cant afford it, then they won't eat it. May as well lock the thread now.

 

[Deleted member 35268]

The problem has been amplified by services like Deliveroo and Just Eat, people don't even have to get off the sofa to get their calories.
And the only "treat" people have been able to have out is a Drive Through from Mc-edees.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Massive punitive taxes on junk food. If peole cant afford it, then they won't eat it. May as well lock the thread now.

Yep that really worked for cigarette smokers didn't it, as i understand it's now on the increase again, have you noticed how many more TV shows have smokers in them, not something you saw a few years ago.

Will not solve all issues, but it's a start,

Do you really think it is? my wife is obese, it's nothing to do with what she sees on TV, there's a mental side of it of which she won't seek help, there are no NHS services available anyway, but there's also an hereditary side of it, she comes from a line of overweight people & has fought it for 50 years & lost most of the time.

 

[battered]

Massive punitive taxes on junk food. If peole cant afford it, then they won't eat it. May as well lock the thread now.

Go and have a look at the people in a takeaway. They are the people who can least afford the extra cost. Same goes for smokers, 20 fags a day is £10, or £300 a month. Who has £300 a month to literally burn? Yet they do. It's not driven by affordability. It's about the psychological need for gratification. This is a bit more complex than taxation. Raising the price won't work unless you aim to tax it at 1000%, in which case you may as well make it illegal, at which point people will simply eat in. I can eat in a pub for the same price as a takeaway. I can get a supermarket pizza for less again. Obesity isn't about what's on your plate, it's about what's in your head.

 

[HMS_Dave]

I was once over 27 stone...

Taxes wont fix the issue. Food can be every bit an addiction as any hard drugs. Yet hard drugs with its high expense and risk is accessible even to skint people. They find a way...

Food is still a requirement for living so you can't remove yourself from the addiction, you have to learn to control it. Which everybody can do but it's finding your way which is the difficult part and which many require help for, None of which is making the price of food unaffordable...

 

[Eric Olthwaite]

If we look at countries around the world, there's not a great deal of correlation between obesity levels and junk food prevalence. For example:

- The highest obesity rates in the world are seen in Pacific island nations, where what we call junk food is unheard of
- Obesity rates in the US are similar to those in Libya and Iraq

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_body_mass_index

So I think it's a great deal more complex than simply blaming junk food.

 

[Blue Hills]

Just read that. I wonder how much more there will be now that we've all been locked up for nearly 18 months. Must have been a lot of comfort eating and drinking going on.

True, i count myself lucky in that the worst that happened to me was a loss of fitness in the second dark lockdown. As someone who does most of his drinking in a couple of fine local spoons my drinking went seriously down. Not the case for many i think - i well remember the alcohol shelves at my local sainsburys being stripped nearly bare.

 

[byegad]

I do agree that we need an assault on the junk food advertising, taxes on junk food sugared drinks etc or the country will have to pay to upkeep an more expensive NHS and welfare programme.

I'm obese, I was at BMI of 31 prior to lockdown and a little more now. (I gained 3 kg over lockdowns)

I can count on one hand the number of burgers I've eaten in the last 50 yrs, and I've never had a KFC or similar.
I don't drink sugary pop, and prior to March 2020 rode 6 miles a week, went birding at least once a week and spent a couple of days walking around various local towns.

I very much doubt that a ban on adverts will have any effect.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I'm obese, I was at BMI of 31 prior to lockdown and a little more now. (I gained 3 kg over lockdowns)

I can count on one hand the number of burgers I've eaten in the last 50 yrs, and I've never had a KFC or similar.
I don't drink sugary pop, and prior to March 2020 rode 6 miles a week, went birding at least once a week and spent a couple of days walking around various local towns.

I very much doubt that a ban on adverts will have any effect.

Decades ago I went on my first visit to the US and was shocked by the sight of obesity all around. I also noticed that junk food ads were in your face all the time. At that time fast food was few and far between in the UK and hardly any ads except for soda drinks.

France which has broad based gastronomical heritage bar none and with wine sipping on a daily basis till today have very slim people and good health. We don't have the food heritage and we have swung the American way.

Even if it helps 50% of the people it will go a long way.

We got to try to save the next generation.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

We don't have the food heritage and we have swung the American way.

Maybe we don't have the gene heritage either