NHS Buckling Under Strain Of Obesity Crisis

[Northerner]

Obesity is a substantial public health crisis in the western world, more so in the UK, and the prevalence of it is now increasing rapidly in developing countries.

Conservative estimates suggest that as many as 250 million people or 7% of the world population are obese.

In England 62% of adults were overweight or obese in 2012, which equates to 57% of women and 67% of men.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity is lowest in the 16-24 years age group, and generally higher in the older age groups among both men and women.

The most common measure of weight status is BMI (Body Mass Index), defined as weight in kilogrammes divided by the square of height in metres. Adults of all ages are usually classified as obese if their BMI exceeds 30kg/m².

http://news.sky.com/story/1423364/nhs-buckling-under-strain-of-obesity-crisis

 

[Austin Mini]

You have only to look what people are putting into their shopping troleys in supermarkets, its frightening the ammount of sugar that passes through the checkouts every minuite.
Fruit and veg are never discounted only the stuff thats not good for you.
Something needs doing and soon otherwise the diabetivc clinics are going to be chock a block!

 

[Copepod]

I have to disagree about fruit and veg never being on offer at supermarkets.

I often buy budget lines of vegetables - slightly less cosmetically perfect, but who cares? eg 1.2kg carrots for 69p. I also buy reduced price fruit and veg at the end of their best before dates, but they stay good for days or weeks after. Eg 500g brussel sprouts for 39p, reduced from 69p, but usually 99p; 110g bag of babyleaf salad for 29p, reduced from £1.25; whole savoy cabbage for 69p [normal price, but very good value]; 3 pomegranates for 49p, reduced from £1.49.

 

[banjo]

Have to agree with you Copepod about the reductions on fruit and veg - i buy a reasonable amount of it every week as you do. Pears,chinese leaves, celery and grapes were this weeks best buys from the not perfect range lol.
Though i also am amazed at what goes though the tills sugary items and the amount of booze amaze me - but is it cost? or not much time to cook properly?, laziness? and not enough awareness? that leads to this, as the cost of fruit and veggies certainly are not that high even full price.
Is there a direct link between sugar intake and diabetes?
i have never had loads of sugar never, never been obese - was overweight by 2 pounds though and now have diabetes

 

[trophywench]

Two things banjo

1. Excess weight causes resistance to insulin - so even overweight T1s sometimes take Metformin too, otherwise they have to inject far more insulin than is good for the human body, even for small amounts of carb. (it has been estimated in the past that your average non-D produces and uses approx. 20u insulin a day. I'm not overweight and never have been, I'm not ever so big at all - size 12, 5ft 4ins - and before El Pumpo I was using approx. 32u a day - now down to c 22u since I need a lot less basal than I did before as now it's only going into me in the right amounts exactly when my body needs it)

2. Because IR is a companion to T2 anyway, if the IR appears first the extra insulin the body produces to do the job (pancreas running faster to stand still) can cause the person to lay down extra body fat cos that's what insulin does whether it's your own or injected - so until they get proper treatment - the Diabetes caused the fat, not the fat causing the diabetes!

As you and a good many other T2s know, it isn't just overweight that causes it anyway. Pity the someone can't explain that to the press isn't it?

I had a RIGHT rant last night on our Motorhome forum cos someone T2 was asking about driving and there was a lot of Mutter Mutter if you weren't so fat you wouldn't be diabetic, etc.

I went apeshit and I was typing with my teeth gritted, told them these were offensive remarks and said amongst other things So how do you think the person who is ONLY diabetic cos he had to take heavy duty steroids when he had his brain tumour feels when he hears YOU saying THAT?

LOL

 

[HOBIE]

When I see young people with a full bottle of Coke & eating Pizza I think in a few years time they will regret. & not just a small pizza 😉

 

[Northerner]

When I see young people with a full bottle of Coke & eating Pizza I think in a few years time they will regret. & not just a small pizza 😉

I don't think it's so much the Coke and pizza - we had fizzy pop and when I was younger I could eat a scabby horse between two bread vans! There was usually only one or two overweight kids in the class, and they generally had other problems or bad genes. I think the main problem is that they are so less active. Too many cars and smart phones to occupy them, half of them don't even talk to each other any more, they tweet instead! 😱

 

[KookyCat]

I think inactivity is the key, that and people being time poor so jumping to convenience food. I don't think sugar is really that much of a factor so much as high carb food in general. Also healthy food is made very unappealing for the most part. I was truffling round the DUK website and the tips for healthier alternatives make even me turn up my nose and I love whole foods, I'm a fully paid up member of the natural whole food club and have been for twenty years. Don't even get me started on the tyranny of low fat yoghurts and low fat spread and ruddy low fat cheese. The general message seems to be "since you clearly can't control yourself you must eat twice your body weight in genetically manipulated cardboard". Can't imagine why we have a nation of people with eating disorders 😉. Healthy diets need to be appealing so people don't feel deprived and maybe we'd have a chance. Oh and if we could stop making people feel guilty for being overweight we might have half a chance of helping them to lead a healthier lifestyle because they wouldn't fall into the trap that is emotional overeating.

 

[robert@fm]

As you and a good many other T2s know, it isn't just overweight that causes it anyway. Pity the someone can't explain that to the press isn't it?

I think the problem here, as always, is the traditional tabloid attitude — "as long as it's sensational, who cares about accuracy". 🙄 As has been shown numerous times, if over a Bank Holiday weekend there are numerous casualties on the trains and roads, and someone sprained their ankle getting off a fairground ride, it's that last incident which will get all the press, complete with all the "amusement rides are a deadly danger!!!!" nonsense being trotted out again.