The Moose: In denial

Many Britons 'In Denial' About Obesity

Britain is a nation in denial about obesity, according to a new survey.
Just under a quarter of the UK population is officially obese, but only 6% of people believe their weight problem is severe enough to warrant that description, the National Slimming Survey suggested.

Isn't the saying something along the lines of if you deny you're an alcoholic then that's the first sign that you are one? So most of the people who were surveyed think they are not obese, and probably think the whole obsession with weight is bollocks anyway, so those who have a vested interest in public health just put it down to us being in denial. Nicely done.

The public health industry becomes more and more like a religion every day. You can't argue 'faith' with facts any more than you can argue this.

Surely the people who were questioned for this survey can tell if they are obese or not. The 'quarter of the UK population' statistic is rubbish anyway. Obesity used to mean very fat, now it just means anyone who fails the highly flawed BMI test. But that's just me speaking from behind my denial.

Now the Government is launching a healthy eating campaign called Supermeals, which offers help with planning meals as well as discounts on ingredients.
Recipe packs are being distributed to four million homes. Everyone else can take part online.

Good. More tax money down the tube.

Public Health Minister Anne Milton said: "Over 60% of adults are either overweight or obese and we have to turn that around.

Two answers to that.
1) It's not the place of the Government to be pestering people about their weight, even if, (quotes Monty Python) and I want to be absolutely clear on this, even if they are obese.
2) 60% of adults are not fat. Sure there are quite a few fatties about, but if you go into any public place and open your eyes you can see that it isn't over half of us.

The Mitchell Waite family, from Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, are living proof of what healthy eating can achieve.
Mum Jo has lost four-and-a-half stone, and she welcomes the Supermeals campaign.
"Money off would help because then more people would be able to afford fresh ingredients rather than opting for pizzas and unhealthy food," she said.

Yes I'm sure you wouldn't mind a bit of money off. Pizzas and unhealthy food do not cost more than cooking for yourself though. Me and Mrs Bucko have a take away roughly once a week as a little treat to ourselves. We can't afford to do it daily because it costs roughly twice the amount of a home cooked meal.

It's not just the cost though. We don't want to get fat. If we were to turn into huge fat whaps after gorging daily on kebeb shop tucker it would be our own fault though, not some problem we could blame on society or lack of Government 'help'. Yes it is nice to stop at the chippy on the way home occasionally after a long hard day rather than cooking, yet doing so remains a treat as we are aware of the consequences of doing so too often.

I'm not having a go at fat people who do these things that we don't, that's their choice. My only problem is those who believe the Government should put a stop to it, or those that think the Government should protect them from themselves.

Son Josh has also lost weight. Both Jo and Josh aim to lose more weight with the help of Supermeals.

Good for you. And when you can fit into it, would you also like the shirt off my back?

The BBC also has the story

Families encouraged to eat healthily on the cheap

An effort to convince families in England that they can eat healthily on a budget is being launched.
Four million recipe leaflets will be mailed to families already signed up to the government's Change 4 Life public health campaign.
Three supermarket chains have also agreed to offer discounts on products such as fruit, vegetables and fish.

I don't see the need for the expense of 4million leaflets. Why doesn't the health minister just get on the telly box during the X-Factor and say, "You can eat healthily on a budget. Look into it". Jobs done then isn't.

There's no point in mailing out four million recipe leaflets when recipes for everything imaginable are freely available on the internet.

You don't even have to look hard. Watch this. Julia? Do you have a good recipe for rabbit? Check the comments box in a while.

But Labour criticised the move.

Of course they did. Unnecessary spending of public money? Labour must be dead against that.

Shadow public health minister Diane Abbott said: "They're calling this public health but it's just a glorified advertisement for big business. This is a government that doesn't take its responsibility around public health seriously.

My mistake. Not spending enough is the problem. When will these people get it? The Government has no responsibility to public health. There is no public health. There is my health and there is your health. We bear our own responsibility to the two and they never join up.

Dale Rees, a spokesman for the British Dietetic Association, said the initiative was a positive step because the recipes would help those who wanted to cook but did not know the ingredients involved, the steps needed to prepare them or how to cook adhering to a budget.

Here's another 'initiative'. 1268 recipes, all for free and at no cost to the taxpayer. Isn't private enterprise amazing.

dietician.

Evidence yes, we know all that. Now why not leave people alone to make their own choices and deal with them, before we have a nation of totally state dependent imbeciles.

On a final note, here is a picture of Diane Abbot, the Shadow Health minister.