The Obesity Problem

It seems to me that there is lots in the news lately about obesity and sugar, but even though there is now more information than ever available to the public, the obesity epidemic isn't getting any better.

It's a fact that the developed world has a serious obesity problem, some call it an epidemic.  Obesity causes a whole host of health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc..  You've all heard me talk about this incessantly.

I was truly saddened to read an article this week about a survey carried out on 550 obese people by Nuffield Health in the UK.  The results say:

• One in five obese adults would rather be fat than have to watch what they eat.
• 17% admitted they have never tried to lose weight.
• 48% are resigned to remaining obese because they lack the will power to diet.
• A quarter of those surveyed said that they don't have time to exercise.
• One in seven said they would rather risk their health by being over weight than to have to exercise.

The researchers also surveyed 3,100 British adults who were of varying weights:

• 39% of people claim not to eat healthily  because it's too expensive.
• 14% think they lack time to prepare a healthy meal.
• 10% said they didn't know how to eat healthily.
• 40% said that seeing obese people in their area of residence is a common occurrence.
• 38% said childhood obesity is normal.
• 43% want stricter regulations on "unhealthy" food and drink chains sponsoring high profile events.
• 40% said school meals should be regulated.
• 55% said the blame lies in the food industry.

So, who really is to blame for obesity?

The food industry:

Our food has changed beyond recognition in just a few decades.  Our grandparents ate meat, fruit, and vegetables - healthy home cooked meals produced from scratch.

Industrially produced "food" such as hot dogs, doughnuts, biscuits, hamburgers, etc., did not exist.  The problem with the industrialization of food is that it has stopped being food.  It is highly processed, and packed full of additives to give it a longer shelf life.  Even fruit and vegetables are picked early and shipped long distances reducing their nutrient quality and they are also covered in pesticides, and don't even get me started on GMO produce!  Meat and fish are farm produced and are fed on anything other than their natural food.  Cows are shot full of steroids and antibiotics to make them grow bigger quicker - the same happens with chickens.

We are constantly assaulted with advertising from major food corporations such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, KFC, Coca Cola, Pepsi Co. - where you can get a quick and easy "meal" for your hectic lifestyle.  Soft drinks are packed full of sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFC).   

I could go on and on about the food industry but this post would be too long and I'd probably bore you!

Medical Staff/ Government Bodies:

This is a tough one.  Lots of GPs are over worked and don't have the time to dedicate to people with a complicated problem such as obesity.  There is next to no help subsidized by the health service and surgery seems to be the main solution.  Bariatric surgery or gastric bands have many associated risks.

From what I read in the news, lots of people have found help through slimming groups such as Weight Watchers or Slimming World, but not everyone can afford to join.

So how about the National Health starting slimming groups - providing information on how to eat healthily and exercise and support for those in need.  A major factor for success in dieting is to have the emotional and psychological support.

Could governments do more to restrict the good giants and make them reduce things like sugar and salt content and advertising?  A new group, Action on Sugar, that I talked about last week has just been put into action to challenge the food giants.  I wish them luck, it is never too late to try and change things.

The individual:

Our bodies' digestive systems have not changed in 10,000 years.  It was not designed to eat refined, processed foods high in sugar.  HFC is so anti-natural that our bodies can't cope with it.  Lots of people don't realize that our bodies are not equipped to cope with anything other than natural foods: fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and poultry.

The human body was designed to live in a harsh world where food was scarce.  Our ancestors, the hunter-gatherers, lived mostly on what they could gather (fruit and vegetables) and what they could hunt.  And hunting was not an everyday occurrence.  These was no way of keeping food, so if they were lucky enough to catch an animal they had to eat it as quickly as possible before the meat went off.  They would then live off fruit and vegetables until they could catch another.  So, the human body, in those times, stored everything it got because it didn't know when it was going to get more food.

The body literally has not changed in this aspect.  It still stores everything as it still believes that it is living in an environment of scarce food and not in a world of abundance.

The fact that food abounds in all shapes, forms and flavors is literally killing us.  Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to move a lot to catch their food, we have progressively become extremely sedentary.  We can even go to a drive-thru and not even have to even get out of the car to pick-up food.  Or we can have it delivered.

Obviously it is up to the individual as to WHAT they put in their body.  I really can't believe that people don't know about what is healthy and what isn't.  To me, it is obvious - but then I am a Clinical Nutritionist.

There are hundreds of excuses that people use to explain away their weight problem:

• It's my genes.
• I've tried every diet that exists and nothing works.
• I lost weight and then put it all back on again.
• I can't shift my baby weight.
• I could comfort eat for England!

And so the excuses go on and on.

The simple truth is that diets don't work.  You may lose the weight initially but the minute you stop dieting it will come back - and then some.  Why?  The answer is simple, if the way you eat on a daily basis has made you fat, changing your diet and restricting certain foods will help you lose that weight.  However, the minute you go back to eating the way you did before you went on a diet, will just make you put all the weight back on again - just like it did the first time!

Any change in diet has to be a lifestyle change - forever, not just for a short period of time.

It really isn't rocket science.

So who do you think is to blame?

My opinion is that everyone is to blame.

The food industry for producing unhealthy food.

Medical staff and government bodies for allowing the food industry to do what ever it wants.

Humans... no one force feeds you.  You have a choice.  Eat healthy foods, there is loads of free information out there to tell you how.

My only worry is that healthy food seems to be too expensive for some people - that is a real problem.  When it's cheaper to buy a meal at McDonald's than it is to go to the supermarket and buy healthy food then there is a very real and worrying problem.

Social Nutrition:  You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com