80% of Britons unhealthy

[Screeeech]

I find it almost fascinating, how we fill all of our supermarkets, corner shops, petrol stations, village stores, school canteens, to the rafters with unhealthy food, packed full of sugar, carbs and fat that is grossly over the top - then we sit with our arms folded wondering why so many people have gotten overweight, whilst proclaiming "It's all their own fault they ended up as fatties"

I think this whole thing is the end result of intense, highly competitive market conditions, combined with extremely poor governance - that is not only beyond dire and incompetent, but rife with corruption and ulterior motives.

 

[Roar87]

I find it almost fascinating, how we fill all of our supermarkets, corner shops, petrol stations, village stores, school canteens, to the rafters with unhealthy food, packed full of sugar, carbs and fat that is grossly over the top - then we sit with our arms folded wondering why so many people have gotten overweight, whilst proclaiming "It's all their own fault they ended up as fatties"

I think this whole thing is the end result of intense, highly competitive market conditions, combined with extremely poor governance - that is not only beyond dire and incompetent, but rife with corruption and ulterior motives.

Supermarkets stock what people eat, that's supply and demand.

 

[Screeeech]

Supermarkets stock what people eat, that's supply and demand.

I think it's the other way around.

People eat what supermarkets stock - which turns out to be on the whole very unhealthy, because you can make more money if you make your products full of sugar and fat - because those things taste awesome, therefore people buy it, thus the circle continues with the intention of making more and more money.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Food for many people is the only pleasure they get daily, it's still no excuse and in the long run will cause them far more pain than the brief moments of pleasure they had from eating it.

I don't see it ever being fixed apart from when medicine gets to the level you can do anything you want to your body and it can be repaired, it'll only get worse in a society that keeps focusing on wanting everything now and wanting everything fast.

 

[frisbie]

I suspect comfort eating is due to stress people are under. Ridiculous rents, the impossible task of getting on the housing ladder, insecurity at work. Having to do four jobs to survive.
Government couldn't give a ++++Alcohol is piled high in supermarkets at low prices. Greggs are queued from the time they open, supermarket shelves are packed with sweet cereals, crisps and sugar-loaded pop.
It's probably the only successful plan politicians have thought out. Many people will pay their taxes and NI but with retirement being put back, very few middle aged people will live to draw their pensions.

 

[Puzzled]

Be a lot easier to fix this at the source, force companies to find healthier ways of making the things people love.

Sure in an ideal world everyone would eat healthy food but most people eat what makes them feel good at the end of a hard / crappy day and healthy food is usually pretty dull, plus takes more effort than just shoving something in the oven. That food then makes people feel even more tired so they won't want to exercise and the cycle continues.

Amazes me how little we understand about food and how it affects the human body, seems to be conflicting studies coming out every year about what is good and what is bad. I remember watching on a horizon that they are doing work with fibre based sugars but with sugar being so cheap why would companies bother to research alternatives. Tax it heavily and I'm sure we'll see healthier versions of popular treats come to fruition.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

I think a lot of the problem now is people being stuck in sedentary office jobs with 3-hour round trips sat on commuter trains, then not enough time in the day to fit in gym sessions or proper cooking. That's despite the fact that the war generation lived on far unhealthier stuff like lard, REAL butter, full fat coke, bigger portions including bigger sized Cadbury's créme eggs, and everyone smoked 40 a day etc.

 

[UTmaniac]

Remove the train seating, replace them with exercise bikes and rowing machines.

 

[Malevolence]

It's Public Health England, so are they referring to all Britons or just those in England? I mean, if they included the skirt wearing barbarians from North o' the wall then the figures would be 'slightly' skewed.

 

[StriderX]

It's Public Health England, so are they referring to all Britons or just those in England? I mean, if they included the skirt wearing barbarians from North o' the wall then the figures would be 'slightly' skewed.

5 million vs 55 million would have to be an impressive skew...

 

[V F]

I think it's the other way around.

People eat what supermarkets stock - which turns out to be on the whole very unhealthy, because you can make more money if you make your products full of sugar and fat - because those things taste awesome, therefore people buy it, thus the circle continues with the intention of making more and more money.

No. Heavy manual labour in the industry died. People were eating this same junk in the 80s and 90s to a certain degree granted it was mainly fish and chip shops. They burnt it off in the steel mills and such.

 

[malachi]

I'm not surprised, look at state of some of the people in the UK compared to other parts of Europe, especially females. Then quick to complain when they are diagnosed with diabetes.

 

[Tefal]

I find it almost fascinating, how we fill all of our supermarkets, corner shops, petrol stations, village stores, school canteens, to the rafters with unhealthy food, packed full of sugar, carbs and fat that is grossly over the top - then we sit with our arms folded wondering why so many people have gotten overweight, whilst proclaiming "It's all their own fault they ended up as fatties"

I think this whole thing is the end result of intense, highly competitive market conditions, combined with extremely poor governance - that is not only beyond dire and incompetent, but rife with corruption and ulterior motives.

Ive never filled a supermarket with anything.

Nor have i ever been forced to buy or consume anything from a supermarket.

It is thier own fault they ended up fat.

 

[V F]

I'm not surprised, look at state of some of the people in the UK compared to other parts of Europe, especially females. Then quick to complain when they are diagnosed with diabetes.

I wonder what todays average weight is for the UK. Remember a time most people said they need to lose a few lbs? Now you read/hear so many people say they need to lose 5 - 9st plus.

www.bigdudeclothing.co.uk

 

[Mr Badger]

It does say in my daily paper that the calorie count for male adult of 2500 is now out of date - it was recommended for people just after the war but people of today do not do the amount of physical things they did then.

Back then they were able to allow for the calories being offset by smoking 40 Woodbines a day.

 

[Energize]

It will be another excuse for our government to implement some more communist measures like restrictions on businesses and more and more tax, just look at the sugar tax.

 

[Screeeech]

No. Heavy manual labour in the industry died. People were eating this same junk in the 80s and 90s to a certain degree granted it was mainly fish and chip shops. They burnt it off in the steel mills and such.

I don't agree with that at all,

Heavy manual jobs were never really any good for keeping fit, they made you a bit stronger than the average person, but on the whole - exercise isn't really all it's cracked up to be for losing weight, - if you've looked at the latest research, it starts and ends in the kitchen. (I'm a part time aerobics instructor so I regularly deal with the super-fit and people looking to lose weight)

Also, in the 80s and 90s the contents of your average supermarket were drastically different to today, there was far far less sugar for a start, there were also hardly any takeaway chains compared to today, let alone online delivery - (justeat, deliveroo, etc) in the 80's especially, there were far fewer "carb heavy" foods than they are today, like pizza.

Ive never filled a supermarket with anything.

Nor have i ever been forced to buy or consume anything from a supermarket.

It is thier own fault they ended up fat.

You can say "it's their own fault" to a certain extent, but not the whole extent, not unless you're very naive and simple.

In 2015 the percentage of overweight adults in the uk was 62.9% and rising, at what point do do we start to wonder that it *might* not be useful to simply blame them all and shrug it off? 70%? 80%? 90%? do we get to the same point as America, where involvement of major fast food companies directly buying into and influencing government policy is normal? Is it still "all their own stupid fault" when guidance written by WHO on halving the amounts of sugar is thrown out and ignored?

It seems clear to me, that this problem runs far, far deeper than people simply making bad decisions about what food they buy, when 1/2 of the food for sale in your local shops is loaded with excess sugar at harmful levels, I don't think it's fair to dump the blame for all of this, at the doors of the consumer.

 

[Dis86]

Screeech, dunno about you but all the shops near me sell fruit and vegetables as well as lean meats...

 

[cainer]

this thread is bullsh.. brb Pizza delivery is here!

 

[Uther]

Screeech, dunno about you but all the shops near me sell fruit and vegetables as well as lean meats...

A lot of it comes down to attitude, and willpower I suppose. It's easy to eat badly, you have to think about eating healthily. I have a bowl of fresh fruit, and a tin of chocolates in front of me now. I'm eating the chocolates...
I know it's bad, but I'm still doing it.