LIVINGLIVING
KEEP IT PERSONAL?
Angela Coffey looks into the latest thinking
about diets and dieting. This time, it's personal.
W
hen former
newsreader
Michael Buerk
said that obese
people should
be free to indulge - that it could benefit
society if they were left to eat and drink
what they wished, which would lead them
into an early grave and result in fewer
older and infirm people to look after - his
controversial comments were picked up
by the wider press, no doubt adding more
fuel to the 'fat' fire.
Writing for the Radio Times last year,
Buerk stated that obesity shouldn't be
classed as a disease to encourage people
to seek treatment, adding: "You're fat
because you eat too much."
Of course, being overweight or obese
goes much further than people simply
'eating too much'. It's these sorts of
comments, along with being constantly
bombarded with mixed messages about
healthy eating and diets that only add
more confusion and stigma around this
very weighty issue.
Calories in, calories out?
As a nation, we're bulging at the seams.
According to a recent report by the NHS,
26% of adults in England are classed as
obese.
Of course, you don't need to be obese
to want to lose a few pounds. There's
always a new promise to shift excess
pounds once and for all - at your bank
account's expense, of course. Globally,
the weight management market is mega
business, predicted to reach $348.1
billion by 2025.