Beating Obesity Into Submission
Why aren't we able to tackle the obesity problem in this country. We're not the only ones. America, Mexico, New Zealand, Hungary and Australia are equal or behind the UK in the obesity fight. Obesity and the illnesses it causes is well documented on TV and online. Why isn't the message coming through. The information is there
Culture shifts toward fast foods has had a huge impact on our eating habits. 30 to 40 years ago, fast food was only accessible in fish and chip shops. McDonald's was only starting out in the UK then. 'Apps' like 'Hungary House' make it so easy to order food. One click of the button on your mobile, and your done. You only have to make the effort to get off the sofa and walk to the front door. Such hard work!
Eating habits are the key to healthy diets. It starts from the day you are born. What food your parents introduce to you sets up your eating habits for life. If you have a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables and meat early on, you become accustomed to that. Going the other way, if you're introduced to lots of sweet high sugar foods at a young age, this becomes your norm. Sugar, of course has that added attraction for kids. The sugar rush as well the sweet taste are too hard to resist. The food markets know this and go out of their way to tempt everyone, especially kids. The sweets are always near the checkout, at a height where it right under the noses of youngsters
What can be done? We are creatures of habit. It's in our nature. Changing addictive habits like sugar or smoking are not easy to do. Adverts focused on the harmful effects of smoking changed people's outlook. Stark pictures of blood clotting from the end of a cigarette brought the unhealthy effects home. This kind of advert applied to high sugar and salt intake could be powerful... but it has to be a sustained campaign. The campaign against smoking has gone on for over 20 years. The 'truth' campaign aimed at eliminating teen smoking in the United States started in 1999. The teen smoking rate was 23% back then. In 2016 the number was down to 6%.
Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, cancers, depression and anxiety. Severely obese individuals are three times more likely to require social care than those with normal weight. This includes hospitalisation and the associated health and social care costs. Fortunately, the incredibly delicious desserts that I’m about to share with you have no processed sugars or preservatives.
"Oh no, starving yourself is like a quick fix but is quite damaging to the body. You have to look at food like it's fuel. It's like putting wood on a fire. It's going to keep your blood fuel burning. The fire burns out, your metabolism dies down. Keep the metabolism high and you'll be burning calories all day. Look at body builders, they're constantly burning calories, but they're never hungry, but they have hardly any body fat". To keep weight down is something that takes dedication, self-determination and self-discipline.