Foresight Obesity System Map

[Clive]

Is not a case of the message not getting through though, there is no message , it got through with smoking

you are a good example - you only changed lifestyle when you HAD to after a health scare ......... would you have exchanged if that hadn't happened ?

The message is clear re diet and exercise but MOST choose to ignore it

 

[Jackov Altraids]

people need sticks IMO if you really want change

most know they should eat better, exercise more, drink less, fly less, drive less etc .............. but few do anything about it until they HAVE to

But do government really want change?

In a service economy such as we have, all those things you rightly think should be reduced, are actively encouraged!

Somebody who walks to the greengrocers and butchers everyday and lives happily and healthily isn't giving the multi-nationals any money. That will never do.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

Looks like we are getting an updated sugar tax and a salt tax in the UK. I think we need an ultra processed food tax, but apparently they are very difficult to define and therefore tax. Which is a shame, but might still happen.

I’m sure there was someone on R4 a couple of months back arguing that highly processed vegany-type foods shouldn’t be classed as ‘ultra-processed’ as that might put people off eating them

 

[Clive]

But do government really want change?

In a service economy such as we have, all those things you rightly think should be reduced, are actively encouraged!

Somebody who walks to the greengrocers and butchers everyday and lives happily and healthily isn't giving the multi-nationals any money. That will never do.

I think government do want change / need it - they will simply not be able to keep the NHS going otherwise under the weight (bun) of obesity related health issues

......... and its justifies lots of new tax / duty for them !

 

[farmerm]

Problem is food as become a drug
I would love to pig out on chocolate and cake every day , but I had a health scare 15 years ago ,so the will to carry on living and stay healthy overrides the desire to eat junk food

Your desire to stay healthy overriding the desire to eat junk food is sad;u not an strength shared by the majority of the population! High sugar, high fat food combined with effective marketing makes such products more addictive than alcohol or nicotine. You only have to take a glance around any healthcare setting to see just how many health professionals, people who witness the health consequences of a bad diet every day, are unable to override their junk food desire.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

I think government do want change / need it - they will simply not be able to keep the NHS going otherwise under the weight (bun) of obesity related health issues

......... and its justifies lots of new tax / duty for them !

Government - yes
Conservatives- no. Must respect peoples right to a crap diet and give their money to their friends in big business.

 

[DaveGrohl]

I found this one more shocking - Diet is a bigger issue than any pandemic we have seen recently !

Lol to the LDL cholesterol. It’s like saying cows are causing climate change because they emit methane. Good to see high fasting blood glucose making an appearance though, quite a surprise really which makes it weird that they included an LDL circle.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Whilst the fundamentals of obesity aren't super complicated from the diet point of view for most the reasons why diets are so poor for some/ a lot of people can be more complicated.

Its easy saying "eat less pies" to someone if you have the level of education/ self-respect/ upbringing/ kitchen skills etc needed to do that but a lot of people don't. If their parents fed them badly from a young age the challenge for them is going to be so much harder. So this is where I do have sympathy for obese people

 

[Clive]

Whilst the fundamentals of obesity aren't super complicated from the diet point of view for most the reasons why diets are so poor for some/ a lot of people can be more complicated.

Its easy saying "eat less pies" to someone if you have the level of education/ self-respect/ upbringing/ kitchen skills etc needed to do that but a lot of people don't. If their parents fed them badly from a young age the challenge for them is going to be so much harder. So this is where I do have sympathy for obese people

agree 100%. - its very related to education

 

[slackjawedyokel]

It’s also related to personal / family circumstances. All very middle class saying everyone should cook from scratch, but if you and your family live and sleep in one room, and you only have a single ring to cook on, that becomes tricky and a McDs or a KFC look more attractive.

 

[SilliamWhale]

agree 100%. - its very related to education

To be fair healthy eating education is on the cirriculum in the primary schools now. Big focus on health and my children seem to get the concept of what is healthy/ unhealthy.

But I still think it would be very hard to educate a fat family out of eating habits of 20 years. You see it on telly now and again and someone called Jamie/ Jimmy/ Hugh/ Tom etc will try and buy some veg for fat people and they all pretend to like it etc.

I always remember reading an article about the eating habits of "urban poor" to make a huge generalisation (ie people with less money, less regular lifestyles, less well paid jobs etc) and they are not all going to magically become cooks with nice kitchens but access to cheap nutritious fast food is something a lot of the urban poor in a lot of countries have with street food which is basic, nutritious, cheap, home cooked food but we have the yankee processed fast food route here

 

[JP1]

Don't forget the forecast of dementia cases tripling ; obesity and eating ultra processed foods has got to be high on the list of culprits

Global dementia cases could triple by 2050 unless 'risk factors' are addressed, study finds

The study suggests that the number of adults living with dementia around the world could increase from an estimated 57 million in 2019 to 153 million by 2050.

news.sky.com

 

[Clive]

To be fair healthy eating education is on the cirriculum in the primary schools now. Big focus on health and my children seem to get the concept of what is healthy/ unhealthy.

But I still think it would be very hard to educate a fat family out of eating habits of 20 years. You see it on telly now and again and someone called Jamie/ Jimmy/ Hugh/ Tom etc will try and buy some veg for fat people and they all pretend to like it etc.

I always remember reading an article about the eating habits of "urban poor" to make a huge generalisation (ie people with less money, less regular lifestyles, less well paid jobs etc) and they are not all going to magically become cooks with nice kitchens but access to cheap nutritious fast food is something a lot of the urban poor in a lot of countries have with street food which is basic, nutritious, cheap, home cooked food but we have the yankee processed fast food route here

Biggest issue is still price IMO - the cheapest Kcal's are ultra processed junk food - some have no choice but to eat as cheaply as posable


Junk food needs to become the most expensive option - taxation is the answer and that tax can help support the NHS that will be dealing with the consequences that are to some extent now not revisable for a generation

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

Biggest issue is still price IMO - the cheapest Kcal's are ultra processed junk food - some have no choice but to eat as cheaply as posable

Do they have to eat so much of it ? I’ve heard it said, ” theres no such thing as bad food “. Isn’t it just a simple equation of calories consumed over those expended.

 

[SteveHants]

It’s also related to personal / family circumstances. All very middle class saying everyone should cook from scratch, but if you and your family live and sleep in one room, and you only have a single ring to cook on, that becomes tricky and a McDs or a KFC look more attractive.

Also, highly processed food is cheap and convenient - with in-work poverty on the rise, these things are important - people are both cash and time poor.

It's no good saying food needs to be more expensive when more and more people are turning to foodbanks in order to eat, the price of heating is set to skyrocket etc.

I agree that food should be more expensive, but he proportion of wages spent on rent has never been higher. Something needs to give. Either we have more council houses, rent caps or more secure tenancies (or a combination thereof).

 

[Bald Rick]

We need a fat tax. Everyone has a weight to height ratio. Give them 12 months to diet down to it and after that tax them.

I'd be broke within weeks ..........

 

[Courier]

Looks like we are getting an updated sugar tax and a salt tax in the UK. I think we need an ultra processed food tax, but apparently they are very difficult to define and therefore tax. Which is a shame, but might still happen.

Also looks like the import market for cheap sugar is about to be opened up .....

 

[Henarar]

It’s also related to personal / family circumstances. All very middle class saying everyone should cook from scratch, but if you and your family live and sleep in one room, and you only have a single ring to cook on, that becomes tricky and a McDs or a KFC look more attractive.

Why would you only have one ring to cook on ? Is it because all the money was spent on junk food drink and fags

 

[deleted user 837354]

Big companies being allowed to poison people selling them carp and then the tax payer has to pay to pick up the pieces.

 

[deleted user 837354]

I think it does to a great extent - nothing changes peoples behaviour more than the cost

if fuel price was x10 I guarantee there would be less cars on the road and if flights we x20 the price there a lot less planes in the sky

I used less Glyphosate this autumn as its was more expensive - we all are influenced by cost

Well I never, I just saw Clive advocating additional taxation.