Hello Everybody,
Obesity is a pandemic and we really must do something about it. Part of the problem is that people just do not understand the risks of being overweight. Those who do often misunderstand the information they receive and what they should do about losing weight or prevent obesity.
Many adults have heard they should eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. But what is a portion? It is 80g - about the size of an apple.
Over two thirds do not know how much exercise they should take each day. It is a minimum of half an hour.
Two thirds do not know the maximum recommended intake of alcohol. Four units for a man and three units for a woman. But what is a unit? It is half a pint of beer, a small pub measure of spirits or a standard pub measure of sherry or port. A small glass of standard strength wine is one and a half units. All rather a lot to keep in ones head on a night out with friends. A card giving this information, small enough to slip in a wallet, might be a good idea.
The British Government, in a move that looks like desperation, is now targeting the middle aged in what it calls its Change4Life campaign. Leaflets are being distributed and a short advertisement will appear on TV. Sadly the whole thing is so dumbed down that the annoyance and stress induced by silly voices and inflatable puppets in the advertisement could result in comfort eating and increased obesity. There is a slogan - ‘Swap It, Don’t Stop It’. See what I mean? But there is nothing wrong with the theory, just the presentation. Things suggested for losing weight or to prevent obesity include:
‘Food Swap: Fill up on healthier food, like fruit and veg instead of food that is high in fat or added sugar.
Toast Swap: White bread has very little fibre, so swap your white toast for wholemeal or wholegrain.
Spritzer Swap: A good way to cut down on alcohol calories is to have a smaller glass of wine topped up with soda water.
TV Slap: Think about the sports you enjoy watching on TV and get out and give them a try.’
All a good start, and we hope your favourite TV sport is not F1 Motor Racing.
Obesity is in part a blue collar problem. A construction worker spends his day at hard physical labour, in theory he should be slim and fit. But he eats a full English breakfast, a sandwich lunch and drinks several pints of beer after work. At weekends he treats his family to a meal at McDonalds and may well go to the pub afterwards with his mates. He is living proof that you cannot lose weight by exercise alone. Any football match crowd of working class males will be predominantly overweight.
Of course there are plenty of obese white collar workers, but there is a trend. An unskilled labourer will, on average, live to 72.7 years of age. A professional such as a doctor, chartered accountant, or qualified engineer will live on average to 80.00 years of age. There are factors such as housing and health care to consider, but the bad diet and tendency to smoke of manual workers definitely reduces their lifespan.
I do not think that for a lot of working class males a government advertising campaign will do any good at all. Obesity is a lifestyle choice and that’s all there is to it. But for those, of whatever coloured collar, who do want to begin a walking for weight loss program or any other type of exercise program and to choose a healthy diet to go with it, the information should be there.
I commend the British Government’s attempts to prevent obesity, even though it has not produced that card for my wallet. It would just be rather nice if, in its advertising, it did not assume that everybody who is overweight is stupid.
See you soon,
Peter Stockwell
16 February 2010
Photo. Ball Gut Photo Guy (Flickr)
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