I have always enjoyed eating; it's a miracle I don't weigh 200 kilos, rather than just under 100.
Obesity is a serious first world problem. Both the UK and the US lead the world in fat people.
What I cannot understand is how it's usually the 'poor' who get fat on their expensive diets of junk-food, takeaways, and supermarket ready meals. Personally I couldn't afford to live like that; nor would I want to.
I have just looked-up the UK prices for Kentucky Fried Chicken. 6 bits cost £10.50, 10 bits cost £13.50, and 14 bits cost £16.50.This is obviously not cheap, when a whole ordinary chicken from Sainsbury's Online costs between £5 and £7.
I don't even wish to consult Mr McDonald's price list.
Jamie Oliver had the right idea, but maybe he should have pestered the Ministry of Education rather than the schools themselves. It is now URGENT to teach children about nutrition, obesity, and the medical consequences of no exercise combined with a bad and expensive diet.
It has recently been announced that childhood Type 2 Diabetes is massively on the rise, and that it might eventually prove the downfall of the NHS. Kids aren't even allowed to play team sports any more, since some clever-dick decided that being 'winners or losers' wasn't PC. Now they walk down to the chippie instead, and end-up as fat diabetics.
Obesity is a main cause for all diseases which we have. I love eating! But now in diet which is a sad thing to reduce wait.
ReplyDeleteFrom childhood need to be careful in eating healthy food in limited quantity...
Children need to be taught about nutrition. When I was at school I used to buy Apples as a snack; most children these days wouldn't even consider that an option.
DeleteIt is the same the world over. I never eat junk food which, I suppose, is why I only weigh 55 kg.
ReplyDeleteI'm very proud to say that I've never eaten at McDonald's. I did once go to the one by Marble Arch, but that was simply to time the delivery, from order to arrival. We didn't eat the result.
DeleteAs a teacher I noticed this generation of young parents haven’t a clue about food preparation. The children’s lunchboxes were appalling. I am worried they will grow up not knowing what real food looks like. You can even buy apples peeled and sliced in packages. Instead of being able to name subordinate clauses and adverbials etc, I would rather they spent that time learning about food and health.
ReplyDeleteI did hear that when Jamie O was attempting to improve children's school diets, parents were arriving at the school gates and handing them burgers and bags of chips.
DeletePreparing and cooking food comes naturally to our generation. Buying takeaways or ready made food comes naturally to current generations. Microwaves are a way of life to them.
ReplyDeleteTime for some change methinks. Convenience foods will now never disappear, it's a matter of trying to find a happy ballance.
DeleteI have eaten at McDo's and we like the convenience of it, price and the 'conveniences' available, plus the dog is welcome in the garden. Oh, and our regular choice chicken and fish taste good. But we are not there every day, week or even month.
ReplyDeleteAs to the world problem of obesity, I often think of the downfall of the Roman Empire with Bread & Circuses, feeding and watching others exercise.
Maybe I should gird my loins, and go there one day; although I can't see it.
DeleteFast food is just part and of it. Long drawn out family meals and fatty pork add a few pounds. Fresh homemade bread, thirst quenching cold beer, everything swimming in olive oil which mustn't be wasted.
ReplyDeleteActually maybe it is fast food. Greeks have been eating the above mentioned for centuries but it is only in the last few years with the arrival of McDs, KFC and those other American giants that they have an obesity problem.
They say the same about the high consumption of Duck Fat here. It sounds like a disaster, but the people are surprisingly healthy.
DeleteCouldn't agree more, and I've never eaten at McDonalds, KFC, Subway or any other fast food outlet, over-priced rubbish but for some reason extremely popular.
ReplyDeleteI will confess to enjoying the occasional fish & chips, although the traditional chippy is now something of a rarity, being replaced with an assortment of Chinese, Indian, pizza, kebab and many other foreign cuisines.
I've also noticed the amazing choice of ready meals in the superstores which only needs minutes in a micro-wave, even seen ready-mashed potatoes and prepared veg in plastic bags.
All good for the manufacturers of micro-waves I suppose.
It astounds me to see young women at the supermarket checkouts, with a whole week's worth of ready meals in multi coloured boxes.
DeleteI do agree that children need educating about this, but alongside it so do the parents. Charlie and Jemima might well be converted to healthy eating, but it's the parents who ultimately make the choice for them, and it's getting to be more and more a lazy parent/ convenience for them issue. Bad parenting is a serious issue nowadays. We are on a campsite at the moment, and are surrounded by it. Maybe my next post. At the moment it's early morning, a baby is outside, with only to very young siblings looking after it. The parents are still in bed after getting pissed....again.
ReplyDelete*two*.......not enough tea yet
DeleteAll one can hope is that the children of today make better parents tomorrow. Many of the present crop are pretty hopeless.
DeleteYep
DeleteI've always cooked from scratch but then I've had the luxury of being able to be a stay-at-home mum. If both of us had been in full time employment (not 9-5 anymore but 5-9 as Jane Fonda says) I probably would succumb to the convenience foods.
ReplyDeleteI wonder. I always have a very busy day, but manage to prepare two proper meals a day. I think it depends on 'choice'.
DeleteMy desert-island items would be a chopping board and a knife! I belong to that ancient group of women who collected quality items for their 'bottom-drawer', and I know how to use them. This concept seems to have gone out of fashion. There's often no room for a table in many modern houses, and children are allowed to choose what they each want. There is no waste in my kitchen, menus are planned and shopped for. It comes down to discipline and learned habbit. Without an example for them to follow, I'm not sure that we can blame the young of today.
ReplyDeleteIf they can no longer learn at their mother's apron strings, then perhaps they should be taught at school, otherwise the future is pretty bleak.
DeleteI am a great believer in ‘ everything in moderation ‘ . I haven’t had a Maccy D in years but, like Potty, they are fine on the odd occasion. When we were young, fish and chips was the only takeaway available and we only had it as a treat on high days and holidays. I cook every day and I can make things from scratch faster than it takes to order a takeaway ! The trouble is, people abuse the convenience of takeaways and convenience foods and we now have a problem. When we were young, fish and chips was the only takeaway and we only had it on high days and holidays . XXXX
ReplyDeleteI can't even remember having fish-n-chips as a child. My mother was a good cook; she discovered Elizabeth David just after the war, and we ate very well. Nothing fancy; just good well-seasoned food, mostly grown at home.
DeleteThe 'poor' in this city are deluged with cheap so-called junk food. Special offers, supermarket specials, two-for-one offers - 2 giant pizzas for the price of one. Rows of soft drinks at the supermarket, the larger the bottle the cheaper the price.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for actually preparing & cooking your own food; much easier to buy takeaway.
Alphie
The problem is that it all costs so much more than a healthy do-it-yourself meal. Where's the logic?
DeleteBring back 'Housecraft' lessons at school I say! We learnt to do everything from scratch, starting with, amazingly, how to butter a slice of bread and then working on from there until we were doing roast dinners, full meal planning and shopping and happily using a pressure cooker. Not only that we were doing sewing and laundry as well. Kids these days haven't a clue, I feel sorry for them and their future families.
ReplyDeleteHealth and nutrition play such important roles in everyone's lives, that it's essential to study them.
DeleteTeaching children about nutrition is valuable, but children don't buy their own groceries. It is the parents who make the decisions regarding their children's meals. I obviously can't speak for what happens in England, France, etc., but I think convenience and laziness plays a big part in meals, or lack of meal making. I grew up with a mother who made most meals from scratch with fresh ingredients. That is not what this next generation sees. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteWe're already lost with the present lot, time to concentrate on the next!
DeleteI take my grandkids every Friday to the farmers market and we go to a farm to pick Strawberries etc. They like it. They also cook. They are learning nutrition in school and we don't go to mcdonald's or KFC. You have to put some effort into it. My daughter works long hours and still cooks. The other part of obesity is physical activity, and too much time on the electronics.
ReplyDeleteThat's it; education and exercise.
DeleteCarbs cost less than protein. Fresh food is more expensive than boxed food. Quickly made food is more convenient for a busy household with two working parents who are scrambling to pay the bills and are stressed out. Obesity is a very big national problem that was addressed by our former administration but it was met with disdain. It is not only the food people eat but the lack of movement and exercise. Playing is no longer done outside, but rather in in their rooms with their phones.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree that fresh is more expensive than boxed, otherwise how do all these outlets make so much money by making people fat?
DeleteFresh food here is cheaper in summer, but in the winter when it is shipped from other parts (South America), the price triples (and probably more with the tariff war). For those who are poor, a box of Mac and Cheese can feed a family of four and is much cheaper than three green peppers. For some working people who make minimum wage and have to decide on how to pay rent, utilities, health care costs and food, food is the only thing where they can economize. You won’t find too many poor people eating in fast food places, but you will see them working there.
DeleteIn my humble opinion, people eat all sorts of rubbish, not because they are thinking about the nutrition but about the gratification and comfort it can bring.
ReplyDeleteI asked a 10 year old girl how often they had a takeaway meal, she replied "quite often, my mum can't be bothered to cook".
If I'd done a 9 hour day on my feet, I may not feel like it but I always cook. The washing up sometimes gets left until the morning though!
I'm the same Christina. It doesn't matter what the circumstances, I'll always cook. Last night I was really tired and cooked Spaghetti; very simple, very quick, cheap, and delicious.
DeleteSome of the meat sold in supermarkets is not fit for your dog. OK maybe it is. But I remember meat from Canada intended for zoo animals ending up in supermarket sausages in Austria and supermarket meat that had 'gone off' ending up on kebab stands in Berlin. And unsold supermarket yoghurt being sent from Germany to Hungary for the expired dates to be removed. And so it goes on. Every week in the papers there are adverts for a whole kilo of minced meat for example for let's say €3:49 or even less.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't like to know where much of the EU supermarket chainfood is sourced.
Horrible. Here everything gets given away at the end of the day. I've heard of people changing the 'sell by' dates; that should be a prison offence.
DeleteMy rules with food now that I live alone are quite simple. As you know I eat out with a friend a lot but we always choose healthy salad type meals (maybe a few chips to go with them but lots of greenery too). My shopping for home includes salad veg spinach, lettuce, eggs, wholemeal bread, and little else. I don't take milk in either tea or coffee. My philosophy is that if you don't buy chocolate and cake you can't eat it late a night when the will becomes weak.
ReplyDeleteA little chocolate does wonders for the spirit; at least that's what Lady M tells me!
DeleteIs that really true about kids playing team sports? It is probably the same here but I was horrified at the diets of my partner's great nephews and nieces in England.
ReplyDeleteIt's all going wrong. No exercise, no fresh foods, no decent role models. One wonders where it will end.
DeleteOh for God's sake. When will over-fed geriatrics like you understand that poverty and exploitation always lead to ill health? Just because a fast-food chain targets the ill-educated, it doesn't mean that you should send missionaries out to council estates to preach the advantages of balsamic vinegar and quinoa.
ReplyDelete