The government has announced several ideas in recent weeks to combat obesity. From weight loss injections available on the high street to banning advertising of so called ‘junk’ food at certain times of the day, to encouraging everyone to lose 5 Lbs. Whilst the ideas are many and varied I believe that they have forgotten one key factor – education. In this weeks podcast (listen on iTunes) I share my views on them all, and what I believe would be more sensible.
Why are we getting fatter and fatter?
We have a multitude of weight loss plans, low fat meals, calorie controlled meals, sugar free foods. Ad yet, in the Western World, we have been getting fatter every year. In this weeks podcast episode I air my views on the proposed measures. And my thoughts on labelling, of both food and humans, as healthy and unhealthy.
I am extremely concerned about the long term effects that a weight loss injection might have on people who may already be suffering from gastric issues. Obesity is a very complex issue and whilst I understand that it is a driver for many chronic illnesses and a factor cited as one to raise the risk of contracting CV-19, I do not believe that administering a weight loss injection is the answer. And in fact I believe it could cause more long term damage.
From working with clients for many years I’ve seen first hand how food packaging and labelling can be misleading. Parents buying low fat fruit yoghurts for their children without realising they are full of sugar, or in my opinion even worse, full of artificial sweeteners. Cereal bars claiming they are a natural high grain bar, but forgetting to mention that the second ingredient is sugar. I could go on, and in this episode I do!
If the focus was on education and understanding. Helping everyone understand what a healthy diet looks like, and how there are many other factors that can affect our health and our weight. Then we would have the tools we needed to make informed choices. It isn’t about banning unhealthy food, it’s about balance.
This is a personal view and I respect that not everyone may agree.