The FastDay Forum

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-19/a ... se/6144806
Doesnt surprise me but you would think the health messages would get to the young ones somehow

I hate to sound like a grumpypants old person, but I think a lot of this is excessive screen time (during which it's waaaayyyyy too easy to stuff chips and such in one's face) and inadequate activity. Plus soda, which is bad news whether it's sugary or diet (I guess I'm lucky I can't stand the diet stuff; gave up on high fructose corn syrup more than 10 years ago). I was quite thin as a youngster and ate a lot of crap; didn't catch up to me till I started yo yo dieting (when I should have just gotten some exercise, sigh....I was 130 pounds when I started all that). Now, if I tried to eat such garbage, I would feel horrible and it wouldn't be worth it to me (like a hangover). But for those who eat that way every day, I guess it's like "fish in water," they just have nothing to compare it to.

I worked for years as a writer for a health insurance plan. They kept coming up with all these "healthy" messages, acting like no one knew any of this. News flash--WE KNOW! And guess what, we are tired of being nagged and bossed around. Young people notoriously don't like being told what to do, especially by authorities, including parents and teachers.

I mean, at least in the U.S., if someone doesn't know that junk food is bad for them and can make them fat, and vegetables are good, they have been living under a rock. Some other issues are more confusing (coffee? chocolate? meat/protein/soy? you get my point) and not so clear cut. And that's another reason why there are so many fad diets; people want a quick fix and not to have to "be good" all the time. The irony about 5:2/fasting not yet having official health results is that MOST of these diets not only don't have such experiential evidence, they are obviously unhealthy! I for one, am thrilled with 5:2; I can literally have my cake and eat it too...5 days a week! Yep, weight loss can be slow, but since I'm just gonna eat this way for the rest of my life, heck, it's fine. Plus, in theory I'll have less extra skin once I get down to fighting weight. And I can keep an eye on my face (face or ass, remember) to make sure I'm not overdoing it (once I hit a healthy weight, I'll reassess my goals).

I am a fan of Michael Pollan, who writes about the social history and politics of food. A lot of our problems can be put in the lap of corporations who want to sell us fast food, prepackaged food. I just read yesterday that research shows a correlation between time spent preparing food at home and obesity. The more time a culture spends preparing food at home, the less obesity. We have been sold a pup. They tell us that cooking takes too much time, that buying prepackaged food from the cooperation will save us time to do other things that are more enjoyable. But it turns out, most of that 'free' time is now spent watching screens. I see the kind of food little kids have in their lunch boxes at school and it's horrifying. A tiny minority of children have fruit or non packaged foods. The whole culture needs to change. Meanwhile these corporations are selling this shit food to 3rd world countries and their problems are just beginning.

The price of some take-away food can vary and be a factor for a lot of people - its cheaper to buy chips, hot dogs, pies, dim sims, etc. than it is to get a nice healthy salad, stir fry or sandwich. At a local food court the biggest queues are at Maccas and Hungry Jacks not at the Sandwich places.

cheers
Maggie

Here in the U.S., I was talking to a director for many Head Start preschools in California. Although they are located in public elementary schools, the pre-schoolers are not able to eat the same served to the elementary students because that food does not meet the stricter health standards of Head Start. The pre-school children and their teachers sit together and eat family style. The food is prepared--actually cooked rather than being pre-packaged. So, I think it is a systemic problem exacerbated by a political process that is owned by corporations. I imagine it is similar in Australia. Are schools there under the same pressure to reduce wasted time (i.e. recess and physical education) as in the U.S.?
So feed them crap food and force them to sit longer, and then send them home where parents are afraid to let them be outside alone because it isn't safe. Kids no longer know what real food is or what it is supposed to taste like. My husband says I get too worked up about this, but when I look around and see the sheer number of quite overweight and unhealthy people and think about the health problems that are awaiting them, I see red.