WHO: Governments should regulate fast food to slow obesity

How about people control their own food intake overall to control obesity. Stop depending on someone else to do it for you.

If government wants to slow obesity, fast food prices and convenience should be applied to healthier foods and vice versa. Or it could focus on educating people and encouraging the practice of Preventative medicine.
Instead it's gonna keep letting big corn dictate food prices and get tied up in legislation that helps only the people who don't need it.
Not a big fan of government meddling, tbh.

Absolutely, don't like government meddling but how else do you solve the HUGE control that corporate Sugar and Corn giants have over the food industry?

Yes education is vital, and thank goodness there is a lot of good information out there now about the sugar in processed foods and just exactly how sugar/insulin affects weight.

I'm just so thankful for the internet and all the info I've learned these past few years that have greatly helped me in shedding weight. Years ago I never knew to what extent the hidden sugars were included in our processed foods, and just how toxic harmful those hidden sugars can be.

I am not sure if links can be added in these posts but if not there is a wonderful video on youtube called "The Skinny on Obesity" I highly recommend it for anyone interested in educating themself.

I do think it would be good to prohibit the advertising of certain foods to children.

Why would this help? Are the children driving themselves to the fast food places and buying the food?

I do think it would be good to prohibit the advertising of certain foods to children.

Why would this help? Are the children driving themselves to the fast food places and buying the food?

Because advertising to children works. It works incredibly well. Children see ads, demand the foods, and parents buy them. There's a reason that so much advertising to children is for food.

Are they going to remove all high caloric foods from grocery stores too? Take my wine and cheese from me and Im going to blow something up. My cheese is 100 calories an ounce! A mcChicken is 300 calories. You do the math.

I agree let them try and take my favs...

But I am Canadian so maybe we don't have to worry.

'

LOL, being Canadian makes me worry LOL, have you checked out who's at the helm lately?

Harper our illustrious robotic leader LOL

don't put more money into useless regulations. Put the money back into the educational system. Start with the children in elementary school, and include education on nutrition, physical fitness, and finances, and have classes on all three in every grade, every year, until they graduate. Then you have educated, healthy people going out into the real world who know how to manage their money, stay fit, make good nutritional choices, and will still keep the fast food industry in business by going there only occasionallly.

Well this is a thread about reducing obesity rates in large populations. Your only response appears to be that you don't want government regulation. Well, OK. But you have no alternatives.

So you're effectively saying that you're either 100% fine with the increasing obesity problem, or that you don't care enough to spend 2 minutes thinking about it.

strawman argument mate....

I want people to make their own choices and live with the results.

You seem to think that "we have to do something".......
I don't.....
And I sure as hell don't want the government to "do something"

So don't tell me I haven't "thought" about it....
Because I have, and I gave you my answer....

And you are the example of that answer.
You made a choice and set goals....and amazingly you are not obese. Congrats!!

don't put more money into useless regulations. Put the money back into the educational system. Start with the children in elementary school, and include education on nutrition, physical fitness, and finances, and have classes on all three in every grade, every year, until they graduate. Then you have educated, healthy people going out into the real world who know how to manage their money, stay fit, make good nutritional choices, and will still keep the fast food industry in business by going there only occasionallly.

Now this I agree with. This is what an actual idea looks like. Implementing this sort of thing isn't easy, which is largely why it hasn't been done yet, but it's still an actual idea.

Contrast this plan - which involves actual concrete actionable items - with "people should just lose weight." The latter is a great idea, but..... they're not doing that. They're doing the opposite of that. Sitting around waiting for them to change isn't exactly effective.

Well this is a thread about reducing obesity rates in large populations. Your only response appears to be that you don't want government regulation. Well, OK. But you have no alternatives.

So you're effectively saying that you're either 100% fine with the increasing obesity problem, or that you don't care enough to spend 2 minutes thinking about it.

strawman argument mate....

I want people to make their own choices and live with the results.

You seem to think that "we have to do something".......
I don't.....
And I sure as hell don't want the government to "do something"

So don't tell me I haven't "thought" about it....
Because I have, and I gave you my answer....

And you are the example of that answer.
You made a choice and set goals....and amazingly you are not obese. Congrats!!

So would you agree with the statement that you're sufficiently unconcerned with the trends in obesity rates to think that anything about public policy should change?

So here is an interesting article.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/2/who-tighter-economicregulationneededtoreverseobesityepidemic.html

"Unless governments take steps to regulate their economies, the invisible hand of the market will continue to promote obesity worldwide with disastrous consequences for future public health and economic productivity," said Roberto De Vogli of the University of California, Davis, who led the study.

The researchers compared the number of fast food transactions with body mass index (BMI) in 25 high-income countries between 1999 and 2008.

They found that, as the average number of annual fast food transactions increased from 26.61 to 32.76 per person, average BMI increased from 25.8 to 26.4.

Thoughts??

Oh for goodness sake, I dont know where to start here. What are they supposed to do exactly?

During childhood, it is up to the parents to control what kids eat. After that, it is down to the individual. It is not the fault of fast food chains that people are obese. They have not been misleading. People know what it is in their food, but they continue to eat it. The results of eating excess food are plain to see.

It is down to people - lifestyle choices, portion sizes, exercising, self-motivation - not the responsibility of fast food companies who are making a living just like anybody else.

As far as parents control over obese children:

Yes you can control to a certain extent (making their lunches, cooking their meals at home etc.), but once they are in a school cafeteria, even though you've made them a healthy lunch, kids will toss out their lunches and go buy the crap that is being called "lunch" in our schools.

I've worked in schools and you have no idea how many kids ditch their lunches and opt out for fries/chips pizza etc.

Oh and if you think not giving them money to buy the crap works, think again. Kids can be very resourceful in sourcing out ways to get their friends to contribute to obtaining junk foods.

Hey person. Look at the other picture on my account. I was fat. I didn't sit around and wait for somebody else to do something for me. I got up and went to the gym. Started doing some reading on nutrition and educated myself. I learned my own body and now I'm not fat. I don't feel sorry if a person doesn't decide to do something for themselves.

Your personal experience has nothing to do with this. It's great that you lost weight, but most people are not doing that. The population is getting fatter. That's a fact. Do you have any interest in anyone doing anything about that, or are you content to let it continue to happen indefinitely?

Hey person. Look at the other picture on my account. I was fat. I didn't sit around and wait for somebody else to do something for me. I got up and went to the gym. Started doing some reading on nutrition and educated myself. I learned my own body and now I'm not fat. I don't feel sorry if a person doesn't decide to do something for themselves.

Your personal experience has nothing to do with this. It's great that you lost weight, but most people are not doing that. The population is getting fatter. That's a fact. Do you have any interest in anyone doing anything about that, or are you content to let it continue to happen indefinitely?

Then start stroking checks mate and get something started.....

Well this is a thread about reducing obesity rates in large populations. Your only response appears to be that you don't want government regulation. Well, OK. But you have no alternatives.

So you're effectively saying that you're either 100% fine with the increasing obesity problem, or that you don't care enough to spend 2 minutes thinking about it.

strawman argument mate....

I want people to make their own choices and live with the results.

You seem to think that "we have to do something".......
I don't.....
And I sure as hell don't want the government to "do something"

So don't tell me I haven't "thought" about it....
Because I have, and I gave you my answer....

And you are the example of that answer.
You made a choice and set goals....and amazingly you are not obese. Congrats!!

We don't each live in a little autonomous bubble. Health care costs impact us all, and whether that care is delivered though a government program or private industry doesn't make much of a difference. You're going to be paying for the health of your countrymen either way. So '**** 'em', isn't really an answer.

So would you agree with the statement that you're sufficiently unconcerned with the trends in obesity rates to think that anything about public policy should change?

I am concerned with my life, and my family's lives......

Outside my four walls, is outta of my control.

I would rethink your way of living. If you limit your concern to only your immediate family then God help you when all the "other" people out there that you don't worry about cause your taxes to go up (their health problems are part of your costs, like it or not).

Also if and when you have children, good luck on them not being influenced by outside stimuli (i.e. other people) You don't live on an island you're part of this world and there are lots and lots of people in it that DO effect your life whether you are aware of it or not.

ANd it should be out of the governments control

Our government wasn't set up to protect us from ourselves....
They have a hard enough time protecting us from other countries, and bad people

Outside my four walls, is outta of my control.

I see. That's a very enlightened view. Enjoy your increased health care costs, lowered worker productivity, increased morbidity, etc., due to diseases of lifestyle.

Throwing your hands up in the air and looking around as your own society gets fatter, more unhealthy, more useless, and more expensive isn't really a plan I can get on board with. I'm not very excited about paying more and more of my own money to take care of a population that is getting fatter and fatter.

If you're OK with that, so be it.

Again you throw up straw men arguments....

I am sorry, but did someone force you to eat right and lose weight, or did you decide that on your own???

I mean what you want is for somehow, people will be forced to eat right and live healthy....
Just like they are told, say no to drugs.....and drugs are illegal....yet people still get them.

Health care costs will continue to rise due to more government intrusion into that arena....

You want your little diet utopia, Bloomberg tried that in NYC, didn't work out to well.....

Something of this nature is very personal.....no one can force you to eat right....
And my God how many info mercials are out there promoting exercise and "health" foods.....
If that ain't working, I don't know how you think government is gonna make it happen.