Citizen editor: Taxing fizzy drinks is not the answer to solving obesity crisis in Gloucestershire and beyond
WE live in a society of consumerism whether that is the clothes and gadgets we want to buy or the level of food we put in our mouths – more is definitely more.
At the end of the day, it is very hard to stop a parent allowing a child to eat badly – after all, we rightly live in a society where people are free to make lifestyle choices.
But the crackdown on obesity as recommended in the report yesterday, if we are not careful, could simply heighten rather than lessen the obesity crisis in Britain.
After all, one surefire way to make fizzy drinks and fast food more desirable is to make the drinks more expensive and remove takeaways from our street corners so they are craved rather than taken for granted.
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But if the obesity crisis is just about the food we put in our mouths, then why were there not more overweight people around in our childhoods when butter, not low-fat spread, was the norm and it was suet puddings not sushi on the menu?
Exercise, that's what. When it was not all about taking a car everywhere and there were not gadgets making everyday life easier people could get away with consuming more. At the end of the day, if children run around all day and night then they can afford to eat more calorific food.
If they sit playing computer games all night and then consume a McDonald's it stands to reason their waistline will get bigger.
Dan Fivey has it right today that education is the key here. The more people realise that lifestyles have to change and not just the food on the plate then nothing will truly change.
KIMBERLEY Seville is an inspiration. How many people dream of giving it all up to help others? She has actually done it.
She went to work in Kenya as a voluntary teacher and her experiences there helped her set up the charity Devotion Africa which is now changing people's lives.
This charity, which is run thousands of miles away from Quedgeley, helps fund children's education back in Kenya.
We wish her every success with her work. Visit www.devotionafrica.org for more.
2 Comments
by geraint2010
Tuesday, February 19 2013, 12:08PM
“Why not tax sugary drinks? After all most things perceived as being "bad for you" (e.g. cigarettes and alcohol) are heavily taxed. Clothes and fuel are essentials yet they are taxed. There are lots of sugar-free drinks on sale that presumably would not attract a tax and it is cannot be beyond the wit of the big drinks companies to develop further sugar-free varieties that are every bit as appetising as their popular sugar-saturated brands.”
by lordigaga
Tuesday, February 19 2013, 8:59AM
“At the end of the day, it is very hard to stop a parent allowing a child to eat badly.
NO ITS NOT! YOU FEED YOUR CHILD, DON'T FEED THEM JUNK!”