Obesity is set to become a bigger threat to health than smoking...🍔🍟🌭

Hi everyone,

This to me is a shocking thought as we in the UK are the 6th wealthiest country in the world and the US is the wealthiest and yet we have a staggering prediction like this.

So whats gone wrong? We have global markets and access to fabulous foods from all over the world and yet obesity is a growing health issue and the scariest thing for me is for children who rely on their parents/guardians are becoming more obese than their parents, so its a downward spiral.

Earlier this year I walked past a pub and outside an over weight young woman who was over weight and inebriated looked at me and smiled and said to her friend life's to short...and I thought and you're making it shorter...

In part it's down to slick advertising of processed foods but it's also down to 'us' the consumer what choices we make.

And I think that the real problem is too many people don't know or care or even think about what they are really eating and have busy lifestyles and want fast food and instant gratification.

To me there is a lack of awareness of what we are really eating and then making the right choices for us, it sounds too easy but it works.

My advice is be mindful of what you eat and why.

And food for thought does over eating sweet or comfort foods make people happy or unhappy...

So what is the answer...take responsibility for what you and your loved ones eat...

Here's the article in todays independent:

independent.co.uk/news/heal...

[mx5mada]

Obese smoker not good then?

[Hidden in reply to mx5mada]

I wouldn't have thought that it would help...But we've known about cigarettes and lung cancer and associate food with health and well being...

[mx5mada in reply to Hidden]

I was just thinking that I see a lot of larger peeps seem to have breathing difficulties and smoke as well! I am just out of obese at 10st 3 only 5ft!

[Hidden in reply to mx5mada]

Me too and you're doing something to lose weight so good for you. 😊

[mx5mada in reply to Hidden]

Was 13 now 10

[Hidden in reply to mx5mada]

Well done you thats fantastic, so keep it up 🏃‍♀️

[mx5mada in reply to Hidden]

Jerry I am doing the do I really want it method wait 10 mins then ask question again it’s usually a no! Worked to hard to get this far

[Hidden in reply to mx5mada]

Hey I'm sorry I misunderstood you and you're right not to put yourself under pressure to achieve more. 🙏

[mx5mada in reply to Hidden]

Why you sorry I am achieving much! Couch to 5k ! Walks! Sailing! I was weak with food not helped by cakes at work and home not bought by me ! I now find that if I wait 10 mins and properly decide if I want to shove big cake into mush I usually don’t want it! Same with booze! If I fancy a drink I ask is it because someone else has one! Then I lose the urge or better still I choose not to have one! And no you may have misread my last post🤪😂😇

[Hidden in reply to mx5mada]

I understand, so good logic. 😊

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to mx5mada]

You’re doing great! Keep up the great job!😀👍

[Hidden]

I think the problem is the same throughout societies and most politicians don't look like good examples of health and well being to me.

I feel the same with this forum as my weight varied between 142 lbs and 145 lbs most of my adult life and now because I'm more aware of nutrition my weight is around 135 lbs and I'm 5' 10"

So it's great that we all encourage one another to eat healthier and be healthier...

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to Hidden]

I weighed myself today and I was surprised that the scale said 128 pounds. I’m not complaining since it’s been higher when I was still in high school (1994-1998). Since being on the group and doing lots of activities, the weight is going down, but slowly, so I can understand what you mean about the Politicians, Jerry. They need to take a closer look around themselves.

[Hidden in reply to Activity2004]

Good for you Leah and maybe politicians have an ulterior motive...

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to Hidden]

It’s a possibility!😀👍

[benwl]

Because they make a lot of money in tax revenue from tobacco, but also the general trend of liberal democracies is not to ban things outright as it interferes with peoples freedom. Notice the trend towards liberalization of marijuana for example.

What is inexcusable is how the tobacco companies respond to falling sales in developed countries by dumping their product onto the developing world.

[benwl]

It is - but that decision takes place in a wider environment where there are degrees of advertising, peer pressure, price, access to information etc.

So smoking rates in Europe are falling because of the bans on advertising, higher costs due to taxation, plain packaging, warning messages etc.

And I think the same is true of diet, it's much harder to chose to eat healthy when the wider environment is so obesiogenic. Unhealthy food is cheap, widely available, and heavily advertised, with the food companies resisting health labelling.

People can still make a choice, but it's heavily skewed towards bad outcomes because of this environment.

[Hidden]

As some have mentioned, yep, money rules. Politicians take money from Big Food and Big Pharma. The diabetic associations (ADA, CDA, don't know what's in the UK) all promote continuing to eat carbs and sugar and just "managing your diabetes" as opposed to reversing it which people are doing every day now by changing what they eat. And those organizations take money from Big Pharma that want you on their drugs until you're 6 feet under. We are surrounded with processed, carb-laden junk everywhere and unless your parents were "off the grid", you were raised on it and don't know anything else. It is indeed a personal choice, but it's an uphill battle that doctors may not support because they're completely brainwashed into the prescribe-a-pill mentality, and no nutritional training to speak of.

Carbs are addictive, they create lethargy, and they make you hungry again in 2 hours. Clear win for Big Food. If you haven't seen it, get a copy of Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss. amazon.com/Salt-Sugar-Fat-G... My latest purchase- The Hacking of the American Mind: the Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains by Robert Lustig amazon.com/Hacking-American... It sounds so very conspiratorial, but there's just too much evidence to ignore all this. And WAY too much money involved for big business.

Like you say, it's so very distressing to just look around and see obesity and the accompanying chronic disease that's at least in the making if not already there for those people. The institutions of medicine, education and government aren't going to change; too much money involved. It's gotta be a grassroots movement that's helped along greatly by sites like this.

"You deserve a break today!" We have McDonald's to thank for that mentality.