Obesity: Have 20 years of policies had any effect?

[Borchester]

Anyone with a BMI over 25 needs a talking to. Anyone with a BMI over 30 needs a serious talking to. It's all about self control, something so many people refuse to accept they are responsible for.

That is a very simplified view Barry. I have spent the best part of 35 years working around the world, therefore 35 years in hotels. For example, China is MSG personified, USA is lard city. My wife was a chef in an Italian restaurant so when I'm home I eat healthy, problem is that's only 20% of the time, the other 80% I'm restricted to the food culture of where I am. At present I am working at LCY airport and my choices are, hotel which is not the best, Chinese, Indian, Lebanese or some micro pop-up stalls that have been granted licenses by the council.

So no, I have very little options for food. The caveat to this is that I drink too much red wine, my bad. But my point still stands that it is not necessarily down to personal choice.

Pappy's beef that Boris doesn't regulate what he puts in his mouth is pathetic, and quite frankly is just another anti blue attack.

According to Petronella Wyatt, Boris's ex girlfiend, Bojo runs and cycles and plays sports and never loses a pound because the only thing he likes more than a plate of sausages and chips is a bigger plate of sausages and chips.

If possible, I will vote for him twice.

These people won't accept their part in having type 2 diabetes through a crappy lifestyle, it's all genetics. So the sooner they all die off and stop spreading their crap genes the better.

Hard to tell. I had just finished a bowl of organic blackberries fresh from my allotment mixed with Cote D'Or vanilla ice cream, which made be made from crushed asbestos for all I know, but which does taste delicious.

I blame my type 2 diabetes on everyone else, but don't really make a fuss about it as long as the supply of Metformin holds out.

[Nick]

Anyone with a BMI over 25 needs a talking to. Anyone with a BMI over 30 needs a serious talking to. It's all about self control, something so many people refuse to accept they are responsible for.

That is a very simplified view Barry. I have spent the best part of 35 years working around the world, therefore 35 years in hotels. For example, China is MSG personified, USA is lard city. My wife was a chef in an Italian restaurant so when I'm home I eat healthy, problem is that's only 20% of the time, the other 80% I'm restricted to the food culture of where I am. At present I am working at LCY airport and my choices are, hotel which is not the best, Chinese, Indian, Lebanese or some micro pop-up stalls that have been granted licenses by the council.

So no, I have very little options for food. The caveat to this is that I drink too much red wine, my bad. But my point still stands that it is not necessarily down to personal choice.

Pappy's beef that Boris doesn't regulate what he puts in his mouth is pathetic, and quite frankly is just another anti blue attack.

According to Petronella Wyatt, Boris's ex girlfiend, Bojo runs and cycles and plays sports and never loses a pound because the only thing he likes more than a plate of sausages and chips is a bigger plate of sausages and chips.

If possible, I will vote for him twice.

These people won't accept their part in having type 2 diabetes through a crappy lifestyle, it's all genetics. So the sooner they all die off and stop spreading their crap genes the better.

[Nick]

In essence, type 2 diabetes says your lifestyle is shit and you need to change, that is your problem to fix, not the governments.

That is a rather ignorant and excessively judgemental statement. Type 2 diabetes can often be a genetic inheritance. Diet and lifestyle can help manage it but cannot prevent it if it is in your genes.

Ignorant? At least I can spell my name!!

Genetic inheritance means what? You got it from your parents.
All that says is that maybe your parents had a bad diet and developed type 2, therefore increased your chances of having it through genetics.
How did the first person in history get type 2? It ain't genetic is it.

[Borchester]

Anyone with a BMI over 25 needs a talking to. Anyone with a BMI over 30 needs a serious talking to. It's all about self control, something so many people refuse to accept they are responsible for.

That is a very simplified view Barry. I have spent the best part of 35 years working around the world, therefore 35 years in hotels. For example, China is MSG personified, USA is lard city. My wife was a chef in an Italian restaurant so when I'm home I eat healthy, problem is that's only 20% of the time, the other 80% I'm restricted to the food culture of where I am. At present I am working at LCY airport and my choices are, hotel which is not the best, Chinese, Indian, Lebanese or some micro pop-up stalls that have been granted licenses by the council.

So no, I have very little options for food. The caveat to this is that I drink too much red wine, my bad. But my point still stands that it is not necessarily down to personal choice.

Pappy's beef that Boris doesn't regulate what he puts in his mouth is pathetic, and quite frankly is just another anti blue attack.

According to Petronella Wyatt, Boris's ex girlfiend, Bojo runs and cycles and plays sports and never loses a pound because the only thing he likes more than a plate of sausages and chips is a bigger plate of sausages and chips.

If possible, I will vote for him twice.

[Barry]

To deny price and lack of time as factors is to ignore reality. And I speak from personal experience. I often work long hours, sometimes getting home very late and having to be back in very early. I am thus not inclined to take lectures from retirees with all the time in the world over my failure to find the time to cook. Sometimes I just need something quick in the microwave for 8 mins. And therein lies the price problem right away. As a diabetic I need to try and eat healthily, but the low fat, low sugar ready meals cost twice as much as the standard ones. Low fat, low sugar bread also costs a lot more for smaller loaves. And if you want lean meat instead of the high fat stuff you have to pay through the nose for it. And the healthy options free range eggs are also much more expensive. Whilst a cheap bag of frozen chips costs substantially less than potatoes and is much quicker.

I try to eat healthily because I have to and it costs me a fortune. Many of the healthy options are more expensive which is a fact. And except for days off I don't have an hour spare to cook a healthy roast dinner, or a decent stew. Again, I work long hours so will take no lectures from retirees with all the time in the world.

To pretend that both price and time constraints are not both factors is to deny reality in order to cast blame, which is too satisfyingly easy for some.

Strawman alert:
Please quote where I have given lectures.
I have admitted I am a bit overweight. I've not given any lectures. Just suggested you stop making excuses for the inept.

[Nick]

Anyone with a BMI over 25 needs a talking to. Anyone with a BMI over 30 needs a serious talking to. It's all about self control, something so many people refuse to accept they are responsible for.

That is a very simplified view Barry. I have spent the best part of 35 years working around the world, therefore 35 years in hotels. For example, China is MSG personified, USA is lard city. My wife was a chef in an Italian restaurant so when I'm home I eat healthy, problem is that's only 20% of the time, the other 80% I'm restricted to the food culture of where I am. At present I am working at LCY airport and my choices are, hotel which is not the best, Chinese, Indian, Lebanese or some micro pop-up stalls that have been granted licenses by the council.

So no, I have very little options for food. The caveat to this is that I drink too much red wine, my bad. But my point still stands that it is not necessarily down to personal choice.

Pappy's beef that Boris doesn't regulate what he puts in his mouth is pathetic, and quite frankly is just another anti blue attack.

[srb7677]

In essence, type 2 diabetes says your lifestyle is shit and you need to change, that is your problem to fix, not the governments.

That is a rather ignorant and excessively judgemental statement. Type 2 diabetes can often be a genetic inheritance. Diet and lifestyle can help manage it but cannot prevent it if it is in your genes.

[srb7677]

Thank goodness we have lost the genius from Stoke who couldn't do maths but considered himself greater than Einstein. . He would be supporting srb in all he says.
He couldn't even sort out his council tax.
OK rant over. Just had another whisky and lemonade - don't want to put my BMI over 26!

To deny price and lack of time as factors is to ignore reality. And I speak from personal experience. I often work long hours, sometimes getting home very late and having to be back in very early. I am thus not inclined to take lectures from retirees with all the time in the world over my failure to find the time to cook. Sometimes I just need something quick in the microwave for 8 mins. And therein lies the price problem right away. As a diabetic I need to try and eat healthily, but the low fat, low sugar ready meals cost twice as much as the standard ones. Low fat, low sugar bread also costs a lot more for smaller loaves. And if you want lean meat instead of the high fat stuff you have to pay through the nose for it. And the healthy options free range eggs are also much more expensive. Whilst a cheap bag of frozen chips costs substantially less than potatoes and is much quicker.

I try to eat healthily because I have to and it costs me a fortune. Many of the healthy options are more expensive which is a fact. And except for days off I don't have an hour spare to cook a healthy roast dinner, or a decent stew. Again, I work long hours so will take no lectures from retirees with all the time in the world.

To pretend that both price and time constraints are not both factors is to deny reality in order to cast blame, which is too satisfyingly easy for some.

not really fair it's not a lecture and being older doesn't neccesarily mean retired,as I said with education  a freezer  a bit of spare time and you can cook ahead for microwave later,even without a freezer it's still possible to cook a fast healthy meal.

Apologies. Upon re-reading the response you quoted I realise it sounds harsher and more snippy than I intended it to be. Maybe it would have been better without reference to retirees because the rest of my points still stand.

[Nick]

No.

In particular, the advert lobby has pointed to the proposed new regulations on junk food adverts, and stated that the UK has the most regulated environment for childrens advertising in the UK, has had so s#for some time, and it has done absolutely sod all. with that track record, it seems starkly obvious more of the same is a waste of time which will achieve nothing except give the assholes in government the nice warm feeling that have done something, when the facts are that whet thay have "done" has achieved nothing at all

What has not been addressed at all is the amount of salt and sugar in processed food.
As  a type two diabetic the amount of salt and sugar in a tin of baked beans is a national scandal. I have seen nothing in Bojo The Clowns proposals to address those issues.

So it's Boris's fault because you can't stay away from foods that you KNOW are bad for you. The salt and sugar contents were the same during the Blair administration, this isn't a Conservative manifesto promise to take out all diabetics.

You're a diabetic because you can't control the amount of bad stuff you stick in your gob. I assume you don't drink petrol? If you did, it isn't the governments remit to detoxify petrol to a safe drinking level.

In essence, type 2 diabetes says your lifestyle is shit and you need to change, that is your problem to fix, not the governments.

[srb7677]

And OK I was only saying that cheap healthy food isn't out of reach,depending on distance and wait I suspect that you could make something far more nutritious,healthy and cheaper as quickly or not much longer than a trip to a takeaway.
And as I said it really is down to education,I'm not saying those atthebottom of the heap always have those skills  but they can be acquired.

That's probably true but after a long and tiring day at work, people do not always feel they want to spend time cooking at home. The problem here is we no longer really live in a society where one partner doesn't work or only works part time and has the time, inclination, and responsibility to do the cooking. Increasingly both partners work full time because they have to to cover high housing costs. I just think we should recognise that reality and understand that a greater frequency of takeaway meals is the inevitable consequence. The days of full time housewives are fast disappearing. It's a different age today and I am not really sure that it is a better one in every respect.

[cromwell]

Thank goodness we have lost the genius from Stoke who couldn't do maths but considered himself greater than Einstein. . He would be supporting srb in all he says.
He couldn't even sort out his council tax.
OK rant over. Just had another whisky and lemonade - don't want to put my BMI over 26!

To deny price and lack of time as factors is to ignore reality. And I speak from personal experience. I often work long hours, sometimes getting home very late and having to be back in very early. I am thus not inclined to take lectures from retirees with all the time in the world over my failure to find the time to cook. Sometimes I just need something quick in the microwave for 8 mins. And therein lies the price problem right away. As a diabetic I need to try and eat healthily, but the low fat, low sugar ready meals cost twice as much as the standard ones. Low fat, low sugar bread also costs a lot more for smaller loaves. And if you want lean meat instead of the high fat stuff you have to pay through the nose for it. And the healthy options free range eggs are also much more expensive. Whilst a cheap bag of frozen chips costs substantially less than potatoes and is much quicker.

I try to eat healthily because I have to and it costs me a fortune. Many of the healthy options are more expensive which is a fact. And except for days off I don't have an hour spare to cook a healthy roast dinner, or a decent stew. Again, I work long hours so will take no lectures from retirees with all the time in the world.

To pretend that both price and time constraints are not both factors is to deny reality in order to cast blame, which is too satisfyingly easy for some.

not really fair it's not a lecture and being older doesn't neccesarily mean retired,as I said with education  a freezer  a bit of spare time and you can cook ahead for microwave later,even without a freezer it's still possible to cook a fast healthy meal.

[srb7677]

Thank goodness we have lost the genius from Stoke who couldn't do maths but considered himself greater than Einstein. . He would be supporting srb in all he says.
He couldn't even sort out his council tax.
OK rant over. Just had another whisky and lemonade - don't want to put my BMI over 26!

To deny price and lack of time as factors is to ignore reality. And I speak from personal experience. I often work long hours, sometimes getting home very late and having to be back in very early. I am thus not inclined to take lectures from retirees with all the time in the world over my failure to find the time to cook. Sometimes I just need something quick in the microwave for 8 mins. And therein lies the price problem right away. As a diabetic I need to try and eat healthily, but the low fat, low sugar ready meals cost twice as much as the standard ones. Low fat, low sugar bread also costs a lot more for smaller loaves. And if you want lean meat instead of the high fat stuff you have to pay through the nose for it. And the healthy options free range eggs are also much more expensive. Whilst a cheap bag of frozen chips costs substantially less than potatoes and is much quicker.

I try to eat healthily because I have to and it costs me a fortune. Many of the healthy options are more expensive which is a fact. And except for days off I don't have an hour spare to cook a healthy roast dinner, or a decent stew. Again, I work long hours so will take no lectures from retirees with all the time in the world.

To pretend that both price and time constraints are not both factors is to deny reality in order to cast blame, which is too satisfyingly easy for some.

[cromwell]

A major problem is that most of the cheaper foods in store are the crappy high fat ones whilst most of the healthy options are more expensive. Is it any wonder therefore that poor people - for whom every penny counts - tend to eat the cheap crap? And is it any surprise that this contributes to obesity and related diabetes amongst poor people?

The simple answer is to somehow make the healthy options the cheaper options, but that is easier said than done. If you do it by taxing the cheaper crap to artificially make it more expensive that will hugely increase costs for the struggling poor. If you do it by subsidising the healthier options to make them artificially cheaper, how is this to be paid for?

There is also the issue of working long hours for those who may be less poor but still struggling and who thus lack the time to cook prepared meals all too often. This can often result in an excessive intake of high fat takeaways. The problem here is that too many couples need both partners to work just to pay the bills, the main driver of this being extortionate rents and house prices, and sometimes also low pay.

Hang on there you're poor so you waste money on takeaways? The answer really is education healthy food needn't be expensive or that hard or long to cook.

I was not really saying that. It is lack of time to cook for hardworking couples that is a major driver of takeaways. But the need for both to work often full time is largely driven by high housing expenses and sometimes less than stellar individual incomes.

And OK I was only saying that cheap healthy food isn't out of reach,depending on distance and wait I suspect that you could make something far more nutritious,healthy and cheaper as quickly or not much longer than a trip to a takeaway.
And as I said it really is down to education,I'm not saying those atthebottom of the heap always have those skills  but they can be acquired.

[Barry]

Thank goodness we have lost the genius from Stoke who couldn't do maths but considered himself greater than Einstein. . He would be supporting srb in all he says.
He couldn't even sort out his council tax.
OK rant over. Just had another whisky and lemonade - don't want to put my BMI over 26!

[srb7677]

A major problem is that most of the cheaper foods in store are the crappy high fat ones whilst most of the healthy options are more expensive. Is it any wonder therefore that poor people - for whom every penny counts - tend to eat the cheap crap? And is it any surprise that this contributes to obesity and related diabetes amongst poor people?

The simple answer is to somehow make the healthy options the cheaper options, but that is easier said than done. If you do it by taxing the cheaper crap to artificially make it more expensive that will hugely increase costs for the struggling poor. If you do it by subsidising the healthier options to make them artificially cheaper, how is this to be paid for?

There is also the issue of working long hours for those who may be less poor but still struggling and who thus lack the time to cook prepared meals all too often. This can often result in an excessive intake of high fat takeaways. The problem here is that too many couples need both partners to work just to pay the bills, the main driver of this being extortionate rents and house prices, and sometimes also low pay.

Hang on there you're poor so you waste money on takeaways? The answer really is education healthy food needn't be expensive or that hard or long to cook.

I was not really saying that. It is lack of time to cook for hardworking couples that is a major driver of takeaways. But the need for both to work often full time is largely driven by high housing expenses and sometimes less than stellar individual incomes.