Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
16 January 2009
09:3512927Some very disturbing statistics in yesterdays Dover Express (page 8) about Dover's alarming problem with obesity. I will just give two headlines which struck home to me
1. Dovers children are the most obese in all of Kent
2. A quarter of all adults in Dover are clinically obese.
The problem seems to be getting worse but Im not sure how this can be. We have had very considerable and fanatastic coverage from the government warning of the dangers of obesity, an action some people would call nanny stateism, but yet we the public seem to take no notice. The information from the government has almost reached saturation coverage and passes through into our supermarkets, what we buy, what we see on televison, (for example the five a day fruit thing) but despite all this coverage the problem is getting worse.
Some people shreek in horror at anything that smacks of the nanny state, but lets face it where would we be without the nanny state, on smoking, on heart attacks, on strokes, on the need for exercise, well its endless.
People dont have the sense to follow the right path on their own and we have to spend millions on advertising trying to get them to do the basic...to save them from themselves.
Losing weight of course isnt easy, thats why we have a weight loss industry making zillions per year. it requires effort but its an effort that pays off in real terms. Thank God for the nanny state, where would we be without it. All dead I expect.
Guest 670- Registered: 23 Apr 2008
- Posts: 573
16 January 2009
09:5512928I agree with much of what you say Paul. Fortunately I weigh the same now(11 stone) as I did when I was 18. My personal opinion and I'm wearing my hard hat, is that people over-indulge in the food department. Too much fast food crap and fried stuff as a whole is not particularly good for you, couple this to the lack of proper exercise and you are on a disaster course.
We should not have to lose weight in the first place because if you eat sensibly you won't put it on.
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,018
16 January 2009
10:0112929Paul you will have seen my postings on here many times when I advise how many people are receiving benefits within our district .It naturally follows people on low incomes not all but some with low educational skills will find solace in a bag of chips and a fag .Look around and you will see people walking up the town with burgers and chips .Food that fills you for a time .People on a low income base are not sitting down to fresh fruit salads and fish .A friend of mine a former teacher tried to help a young girl with a family by teaching her how to survive on cheaper cuts of meat .ITs so much easier to throw fish fingers and chips in the overn than prepare a casserole which takes awhile to cook .many people use a car or buses not the hard way of way of walking to the shops.
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,018
16 January 2009
10:0212930Dave you beat me to it .Mind you I could lose a pound or two .
Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
16 January 2009
10:1112931I'm the same as you Dave, still got a 32inch waste too.
A right couple of racing snakes eh,
I remember last year standing in a kebab shop ( once in a blue moon ) and a couple of large women came in.
They ordered the full works and when asked if they wanted salad with it they said they had better because they had just finished a keep fit and slimming class and can we have a large bottle of coke too.
I nearly bit my tongue in half trying to stop myself laughing.
Ian...
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
16 January 2009
10:1112932Some more lovely prejudices. thank you once again.
Guest 670- Registered: 23 Apr 2008
- Posts: 573
16 January 2009
10:2212934I don't know what you mean by prejudices Bern, I think Ian and I were purely highlighting the fact that gluttony and eating the wrong food are the main causes of obesity.
Clearly Ian you are like me eat to live as opposed to live to eat. Certainly at Christmas I ate no more than I would at any other time of the year.
16 January 2009
10:4012937Well here's my 2 pence worth.
I am obese. I have no idea what I weigh, but at just 5ft 1inch I should "according to statistics" weigh 8stone. I was 8 stone once MANY moons ago after a starvation diet which not only made me VERY unhappy, but caused my teeth to decay at an alarming rate. I also looked anorexic.
I would certainly not say I am totally healthy, because carrying around the weight I do is not right, however I do get good excercise, mostly through walking carnival routes.
I know where my food problem lies, in that I eat very little throughout the day, and then eat one meal late at night. I never touch breakfast.
I was overweight as a kid, was seeing dieticians at 11. I can honsetly say I was not happy either thin or going to see so many people telling me I was fat.
In the west midlands there has been an initiative that the GP refers the overweight person to I think it's weight watchers (who normally charge) but because there is a referal from GP the class is free.
I have never understood why I would want to pay someone whatever it is per week to lose my own Fat.
For those on low incomes and budgets people just don't have the money to spend on going to weight watchers.
There is also like Sue says social issues, our kids are not taught to cook properly in school unlike I was, where we learned to cook balanced nutricious meals.
Fruit and veg although now reasonably priced lots of people will not buy, simply beacuse they have not learnt the basic cooking skills to some of the veg, lots of people now lead very hectic lifestyles, with many parents still working when their children arrive home from school to often empty houses, so therefore they either cook convinience foods or snack on crisps. There are lots of issues involved.
It would be wrong however to put labels on people who are obese as being lazy or eating to much, because in BOTH cases for me this is not so, I know where my problem lies. I don't actually eat at regular times, and when I do eat I eat late, so there are lots of contributing factors to why there is still a large proportion of the population being obese.
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
16 January 2009
10:5012940Ay MANDIE
You cannot class everyone the same.
I'M very lucky i can eat wot i want and stay same weight cosi burnn it of easily
if anything i need to put some on!!!
but i do feel for those who do everything poss and it still stays on, must be hard.
not always because someone over eats, can be a lot more to it.
Guest 643- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,321
16 January 2009
17:1912983I'm one of Dovers obese too. Two years ago at a routine check I was found to have dangerously high blood pressure which was attributed to my weight. My doctor told me in no uncertain terms that I was a prime candidate for a heart attack or stroke if I didn't lose weight. She told me I must cut out salt from my diet and she gave me a list of food in three columns, ones I could eat any amount of, those to eat sparingly and those I should avoid altogether. Frightened, I got straight onto it and the weight just fell off me. I was eating fish or chicken with steamed vegetables, no desserts and cereals for breakfast. At lunchtime I had a wholemeal salad and chicken or prawn sandwich. I wasn't hungry and once the weight started coming off it spurred me on. By the summer I was able to wear shorts and a swimming costume and had dropped four dress sizes, I even wore a bikini in Majorca that year. Then I had a big upset in my life. I had lost five stones and felt really good, but when tragedy struck I took comfort in eating and soon put back three stones of the five I lost. Now I'm trying hard to lose it again. I need willpower I know but I will do it because I value my health. I'm angry that I let myself go but only I can put it right again. All I would say is this. Losing weight is about eating and drinking the right foods at regular intervals. Only you can do it and you have to do it for you - no-one else. Good luck to anyone who is with me in trying to lose weight - again!!
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
16 January 2009
19:1212991in my opinion the health fascists needed a new target, they had got smoking banned from public places.
the same people who droned on about how smoking causes every disease know to man and the odd broken leg too,
suddenly changed tack and blamed obesity for the very same diseases.
the more that they rattle on about these things that we do, the more people will do the opposite.
most people need a prop in life, whether it is food, tobacco, alcohol or drugs.
just a fact of life.
16 January 2009
20:5613003I am fat, I eat and drink too much. Sue me.
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,695
16 January 2009
21:3213011People put on weight for lots of reasons, some societal, some psychological, some educational etc.
We should avoid tarring all people with the same brush of prejudice.
Having said that I like Dave and Ian am very lucky as I weigh pretty close to what I was when I was 18 and my waist size has only gone up an inch. It helps that I am teetotal, vegetarian and do not own a car so walk or cycle everywhere.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Guest 643- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,321
16 January 2009
22:0013013There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
Guest 670- Registered: 23 Apr 2008
- Posts: 573
16 January 2009
22:3013015Yes there are people who through no fault of their own are obese. My daughter is overweight but then she has a thyroid problem and cannot help her weight.
It is the people who have no disorders who should take more care of their bodies.
I do not drink alcohol at all and I too have no car which is perhaps why my weight has remained more or less the same over the years.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
17 January 2009
09:1813028Very open and honest postings here that have to be admired. Its a problem with many aspects to it of course and is recognised that its not an easy affliction to beat. In many cases our best way of victory is to pass on the right and proper information to our kids so hopefully they can see the signs perhaps of too much indulgence before its too late. We can all win that way.
Interestingly there was a new initiative on weight loss featured on the local bulletins late last night. I didnt catch all the details as had been out on the tiles and wasnt all that focused but it seems the NHS is looking at a new scheme that pays the individual if they lose weight. Its having a trial in some areas it seems and could be a step forward but is it a good way to spend NHS money? There is up to several hundred pounds on offer if you lose considerable weight. It costs short term, but saves on health problems long term...so the theory goes anyway.
Legendary MP Anne Widdecombe doesnt think its a good way to spend the NHS resources. Is it a good way to spend NHS resources?
17 January 2009
10:3613033No!!!!!! I have sympathy with those who struggle with their weight, but the bottom line is, if we eat or drink too much and don't exercise enough we get fat. And it's me who puts the food in my mouth!!!! Encouragement to exercise, support with diets, but not this kind of waste!!!! (Waist??)
Guest 666- Registered: 25 Mar 2008
- Posts: 323
17 January 2009
14:3513039Bern, know what you mean I was a lean 28inch waisted 9stone waif back in the 70's, now 34inch and over 13stone......will be back on my bike from monday and circumstances should reduce my intake too.
Am missing performing and the associated setting-up and breaking down of gear, seemed to keep off the pounds lifting 17kg speakers et-al.
Hope I can tone-up a bit over the coming months
Oh Boy!, That'll be the day.........
Guest 667- Registered: 6 Apr 2008
- Posts: 919
21 January 2009
08:1213375I love this Doctor
Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life, is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies.? ?What does a cow eat?? Hay and corn.? And what are these?? Vegetables.? So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system.? Need grain? ?Eat chicken.? Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable).? And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products. ?
Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one.? If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain, Good!??
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you???
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Seeds of another fruit, the cacao pod fruit!!! It's the best feel-good food around!
Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: ? ?If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me. ?
Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape! ?
Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.
And remember:
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride"
AND.....For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION ?
Eat and drink what you like. ?
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
21 January 2009
10:5613394Thankfully I don't speak English
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".