A few thoughts on the government’s war on obesity from someone who used to have an eating disorder:
-Obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise are big public health problems in the uk.
-shaming and focus on individual responsibility when it comes to weight does not work

-You have to address societal factors. People eat shit food because it’s convenient, quick and cheap. People will eat better if they have disposable time and income, security in housing and work, and education on how to easily cook healthy food

- poor diet and little exercise are both linked to a range of health problems independently of weight. This should be the focus not on people’s weight
-a healthy diet is in essence eating a wide variety of food in moderation. You can still have cake!

-calories on menues will make eating out hell for many people with/with histories of eating disorders and/or disordered eating
-calories on menues and sugar taxes etc also promote views on food and diet that are unhealthy

-obsession over calories, sugar, fat , ‘bad foods’ etc leads people to develop unhealthy relationships with food. It does not make people healthier.
-some people do manage their healthy diet by tracking calories and nutritional values of what they eat...

... and they can still eat out because most chains have nutritional information on their websites. The current system works
-putting calorific information on alcohol is almost laughable given what an unhealthy relationship so many brits have with alcohol. Focus on that

-Calorie counting was how my eating disorder started. And that is not an uncommon experience
-Societal concepts on ‘thin = good’ also fueled my (and many other’s) eating disorders. Placing value on people based on weight is disgusting

-Focus on getting everyone to eat a healthy diet and to do the recommended amount of exercise. Don’t focus on fat people.
- Like most public health problems obesity, diet quality and exercise will only change if their are major societal changes

-The government need to tackle poverty, insecure housing and jobs, systemic racism, access to childcare, access to green spaces, and lessen the amount people work if they want to really tackle obesity

All the fat shaming approach by the government will do is make people deemed overweight feel bad and encourage people to develop unhealthy relationships with food. It will not make the nation healthier

Along with societal changes I talked about the government needs to: make fruit,veg, ‘healthy’ proteins cheaper, put pressure on corporations to make their frozen/canned goods and ready meals ‘healthier’, improve access to green spaces

And the government need to drop this focus on obesity (which will only harm those deemed obese), and obessesion with calories and sugar. They need to focus on promoting a healthy, varied diet and encouraging everyone to do the recommended levels of exercise

Finally: eating should be something people enjoy, or at the least something you don’t have strong feelings about. People shouldn’t feel scared about certain foods, or feel guilty about eating. That is not healthy