Britain's Fat Fight

thegeordielass

Has anyone else been watching this? I've found it interesting so far and it has motivated me to get my eating back in gear.
I have to say though, I'm in Newcastle and I knew nothing of the Newcastle Can campaign! It explains the footsteps that appeared on the metro though.

NadNight

I've been watching this and think it's really good and has definitely sparked conversations about the amounts of sugar and processed foods we eat in our house.

I liked the bit where they went into the poorer communities to offer fresh fruit and veg and it highlighted an issue which is education. We all know vegetables are good for us but some people don't know how to cook them or make them taste good and see them as an effort. I think the other issue (which the show didn't cover) is how expensive fruit can be compared to crisps and sweets. It did actually inspire me to try growing my own fruit and veg!

I'd had a conversation only days earlier about how kids should be taught how to cook properly in schools. When I was at school we got told 'sugar is bad, eat your 5 a day, now lets go and make a jam roly-poly'....I'm at uni now and genuinely there are people who do not know how to cook.

It is highlighting the responsibility food chains and manufacturers have to make sure that their prouducts are appropriate for the intended market (eg. kids) or have realistic and correct serving sizes (like those smoothies and juices...they definitely look like 1 portion!)

One conversation it kicked off was after watching that, I ate a bag of sweets. I have doubt that the bag wasn't intended to be eaten in one go, in fact it says in teeny tiny letters 'one serving = 20g' . Great if I have some weighing scales to hand and am someone who weighs food. But most people don't and have no idea how much 20g of a sweet is! That bag had 8 servings in and 128gof sugar. I felt very sick. It's partially my own fault for having zero self control around the sweets, but loads of people eat the whole thing in one go. Often those big bags are on offer (confectionary sales were another good point. I used to work in WHSmiths and the sweets were EVERYWHERE).

I love these kinds of programmes about nutrition and healthy lifestyles and I do think things have to change. Since watching it I have noticed how sweets and chocolate are all over the shops, all these delicious foods constantly advertised...it's no wonder we over-eat. I suppose one good thing is that fizzy drinks are having their sugar reduced!

sussexbythesea

I am a retired food teacher i taught healthy eating for over 30 years mainly healthy meals mainly in outer London and never how to make a jam roly poly. Not sure how old you are but the licence to cook scheme from 2003 was a break through in many reiterations of my job. The programme is inspiring not least because it highlights how it is cheaper to eat milk than cook healthy ingredients. Well due for taking control of your life and avoiding #diabesity

sussexbythesea

Forgot to say that current government pulled plug on licence to cook and funding for teaching cooking in schools is abysmal and teacher training has disappeared nearly

thegeordielass

I'm a girlguiding leader and it's a shock at times how little the kids (I do 10-18 year olds) know about food. They were horrified at the idea of eating chicken and potatoes rather than chicken nuggest and chips etc. One didn't know where eggs came from and in general they just don't know how to cook. Peeling and chopping veg is a challenge! We do baking with them at times but we also try and teach them how to cook healthy meals.

Enjoying the programme still. Every time I watch it I feel bad about eating chocolate!

TheMrWobbly

Just watching it now, interesting, a bit misleading in places though I like the fact that this takes the fight directly to the companies.