Families need more help with tackling childhood obesity?!

[otolith]

So am I - see earlier post for how it doesn't appear to work very well for me. It's not always reliable for individuals, but it is pretty useful across populations.

[BlackLabel]

• bump*

Childhood obesity in the news again.


"Snacking should be banned on public transport and extra taxes placed on unhealthy foods to tackle child obesity, England's outgoing chief medical officer says.

In her final report as CMO, Dame Sally Davies also called for tighter rules on advertising and takeaways.

She said children needed more help as they were "drowning in a flood" of unhealthy options."


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49975720

[otolith]

BBC said:

The most eye-catching announcement is the proposed ban on eating and drinking on public transport.

This is squarely aimed at children on the way to and from school and so will only apply on local transport - trains, buses, trams and metro networks.

Inter-city trains with buffet cars will not be covered, the CMO said.

The idea is to discourage snacking.

The ban will also apply to adults - she wants them to model good behaviour to children.

And she is suggesting there are exemptions for people who need to eat or drink because they have medical conditions that require them to.

Breast-feeding would also be allowed, while everyone will be able to drink water.

Will someone please rescue us from these fking busybodies?

[dieselgrunt]

So eating an apple on the train is now bad ?

[XCP]

I thought eating and drinking were banned on buses anyway. Certainly used to be.

[Blue62]

There seems to be some dispute as to how the data is gathered and I understand that some of the figures could be inflated, no pun intended. That said, I am sure diets are a factor, but don’t ignore the selling off of playing fields, ending of free access to leisure centre activities, taking domestic science off the curriculum and reduced accent on PE lessons.

[MC Bodge]

Blue62 said:

There seems to be some dispute as to how the data is gathered and I understand that some of the figures could be inflated, no pun intended. That said, I am sure diets are a factor, but don’t ignore the selling off of playing fields, ending of free access to leisure centre activities, taking domestic science off the curriculum and reduced accent on PE lessons.

Its
Is almost certainly diet related.

Not necessarily meals. It's the habit/comfort eating and drinking that goes on between them.

[BlackLabel]

Here's the full report if anyone is interested:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...

Other recommendations (quoted from the bbc) include:

beeb said:

Phasing out all marketing, advertising and sponsorship of unhealthy food and drink
Banning food and drink on local transport with exceptions for water, breast-feeding and medical conditions
Free water refills to be available at all food outlets, transport stations and public sector buildings
Regular car-free weekends across the country to encourage physical activity
Changing planning rules to make it harder to open fast-food takeaways
Extending the sugar tax to include milk-based drinks
Adding VAT to unhealthy food products that are currently zero-rated, such as cakes
Capping calories in food served out-of-the home to combat rising portion sizes
Consider plain packaging - as for tobacco - for junk food, if firms fail to reduce sugar, fat and salt in their products quickly enough
All nurseries, registered childminders and schools to adopt water and milk-only policies

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49975720

[Burwood]

BlackLabel said:

Here's the full report if anyone is interested:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...

Other recommendations (quoted from the bbc) include:

beeb said:

Phasing out all marketing, advertising and sponsorship of unhealthy food and drink
Banning food and drink on local transport with exceptions for water, breast-feeding and medical conditions
Free water refills to be available at all food outlets, transport stations and public sector buildings
Regular car-free weekends across the country to encourage physical activity
Changing planning rules to make it harder to open fast-food takeaways
Extending the sugar tax to include milk-based drinks
Adding VAT to unhealthy food products that are currently zero-rated, such as cakes
Capping calories in food served out-of-the home to combat rising portion sizes
Consider plain packaging - as for tobacco - for junk food, if firms fail to reduce sugar, fat and salt in their products quickly enough
All nurseries, registered childminders and schools to adopt water and milk-only policies

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49975720

So not one suggestion is to initially educate parents and if that fails, more intervention. I do look at an obese child with nothing but disgust in the parents. Not tubby, just obese and the whole tribe are the same. And always there is evidence in their fat hands to prove the guilt

Edited by Burwood on Thursday 10th October 22:35

[Mort7]

Strange isn't it - if parents starved their child then they'd face charges, but if they overfeed them, or feed them junk food, it's somehow everyone else's fault, and so we all have to suffer the same consequences.

Not unlike putting folic acid in flour used to make the bread that we all eat, because expecting pregnant women to be sufficiently aware of the need to take supplements is unreasonable, or putting fluoride in tap water because parents can't be trusted to ensure their children use a fluoride toothpaste.

Limiting portions won't make the slightest difference. They'll just buy two.

[andy_s]

'Unhealthy food' crops up a lot in the list of things to do, it would be interesting to see how they define what is 'unhealthy food' though, as really there isn't such a thing. There is unhealthy eating, but not unhealthy food.

[DocJock]

Mort7 said:

Strange isn't it - if parents starved their child then they'd face charges, but if they overfeed them, or feed them junk food, it's somehow everyone else's fault, and so we all have to suffer the same consequences.

Not unlike putting folic acid in flour used to make the bread that we all eat, because expecting pregnant women to be sufficiently aware of the need to take supplements is unreasonable, or putting fluoride in tap water because parents can't be trusted to ensure their children use a fluoride toothpaste.

Limiting portions won't make the slightest difference. They'll just buy two.

Water fluoridation works through an entirely different mechanism to brushing with a fluoridated toothpaste and have completely different outcomes.

[Pinoyuk]

I noticed that gross overweight mothers see to almost want their daughters etc to be gross overweight to. Maybe they feel better about themselves ?
We have a friend who’s daughter is 9 and she is huge for her age . No exercise .Eats what ever she wants with the TV and iPad both on . Never goes out for nice walks .Mother looks like a monster .father is trying to change the whole way his daughter eats etc. But the Mother says “its ok” and wants to do nothing . Its mainly down to lazy parents. What’s in shops is not the problem. The problem is patents not been in control and laying down the law to their kids

[witko999]

andy_s said:

'Unhealthy food' crops up a lot in the list of things to do, it would be interesting to see how they define what is 'unhealthy food' though, as really there isn't such a thing. There is unhealthy eating, but not unhealthy food.

This is something that really annoys me in the media. Basically anything that's not low calorie seems to be classed as unhealthy. As a none obese person it drives me insane that everything follows an obese-centric viewpoint.

[Agammemnon]

andy_s said:

'Unhealthy food' crops up a lot in the list of things to do, it would be interesting to see how they define what is 'unhealthy food' though, as really there isn't such a thing. There is unhealthy eating, but not unhealthy food.

As a dietician once said, there's no such thing as a bad food, only a bad diet.

[sbarclay62]

Why do other countries not have this problem? Spain, Germany, Italy, France and other countries with similar size and income as UK? Or do they?

Similar to alcohol intake what is or has been Britains issue with it, again compared to the above nations?

I don't agree with banning snacks, BOGOF etc but I do find it ridiculous in a super market you have one whole isle for fizzy juice, another for crips, another for biscuits, another for sweets.. Then the fruit and veg is about 10msq (which mainly consists of multi packs that need 3 weeks to ripen!)

[Shakermaker]

sbarclay62 said:

Why do other countries not have this problem? Spain, Germany, Italy, France and other countries with similar size and income as UK? Or do they?

Similar to alcohol intake what is or has been Britains issue with it, again compared to the above nations?

I don't agree with banning snacks, BOGOF etc but I do find it ridiculous in a super market you have one whole isle for fizzy juice, another for crips, another for biscuits, another for sweets.. Then the fruit and veg is about 10msq (which mainly consists of multi packs that need 3 weeks to ripen!)

You probably need to go to a different supermarket then. The fresh fruit and veg section at my local Tesco is 4 aisles, as it is at Sainsburys.

And its the first thing you come to.

Many though would cite this as a kind of psychological spacial usage thing. Put all the "naughty" stuff at the back because people have then walked past the healthy stuff they should get and then think its OK to "treat" themselves to a pack of crisps/bottle of coke/jumbo toblerone because they've already got their healthy fill

[gazapc]

andy_s said:

'Unhealthy food' crops up a lot in the list of things to do, it would be interesting to see how they define what is 'unhealthy food' though, as really there isn't such a thing. There is unhealthy eating, but not unhealthy food.

I believe an advert for strawberries and cream at Wimbledon fell foul of the London Underground ban on 'unhealthy food' advertising.
Is sugar filled orange juice healthy?
What about caffeine filled coffee?

[Mort7]

DocJock said:

Mort7 said:

Strange isn't it - if parents starved their child then they'd face charges, but if they overfeed them, or feed them junk food, it's somehow everyone else's fault, and so we all have to suffer the same consequences.

Not unlike putting folic acid in flour used to make the bread that we all eat, because expecting pregnant women to be sufficiently aware of the need to take supplements is unreasonable, or putting fluoride in tap water because parents can't be trusted to ensure their children use a fluoride toothpaste.

Limiting portions won't make the slightest difference. They'll just buy two.

Water fluoridation works through an entirely different mechanism to brushing with a fluoridated toothpaste and have completely different outcomes.

Not a requirement for adults though, is it?

[DocJock]

I never said it was. I was simply pointing out the error on your statement.

Fluoride in tap water is not a substitute for fluoride in toothpaste. They have two entirely different effects.