Do you think its because more of our food is processed? And the crap food is more readily available than ever before? We're a society that drives immediacy & convenience afterall, so we're provided with & supplied food with immediacy & convenience?
Think back to the 50's, 3 square meals a day, meat/veg & carbs were the staple. Women were homemakers & child rearers, husbands were the bread winners.
Fast forward to today, where women are career orientated, even after they've made the choice to have children. Food itself is supplied with immediacy & convenience. Day care costs are ridiculous, the cost of living is ridiculous & take away food or 'fast food' has become the 'norm' for many households? Parents are busier & never has there been more pressure to work hard to achieve the lifestyle people desire?
The result? We have the fattest generation of children, ever.
Adults are more stressed out, financially strung out & children are largely raised & educated by our government systems.
Healthcare is strained, mental health is strained & people are fatter.
I think there's a miriad of reasons for this, its not 'just' sugar, its not 'just' fat, its our current lifestyles? A lack of balance? A lack of focus on the basic fundamentals that used to be the norm?
There is no 'answer' to this. But I think the focus needs to be on solutions, rather than 'blame'.
Its about education, not extra tax. Instead of building de-salination plants & spending billions of dollars on crap thats never finished, or used - create meatier physical education programs in our schools & communities? Educate people. Hold food manufacturers accountable for the shit they're serving up to people. Bring 'eating' back to basics.
Telling people that 'moderation' is key is not 'educating' them. What moderation? Which food groups? How much? When? There is so much conflicting information out there, I'm not surprised that the fat get fatter & our kiddies are huge.
Don't eat after 6pm. Don't eat carbs, they're the enemy. Don't have ice cream, its full of sugar, don't give your kids juice, they're better off with a piece of fruit, move for 30 minutes every day. Rye bread, brown bread, white bread, gluten free, lactose free, rice - white or brown? Sugar or sweetner? Soft drinks or no soft drink? Does burnt toast cause cancer? Are our friit & veg full of pesticides? Are the bbq chickens injected full of hormones?
Why are 8yo girls getting their periods? Why are testosterone levels lower than ever before? Why is there more cancer? More heart disease? More diabetes? More strokes, more brain annurisms, more arthritis & more auto immune diseases than ever before?
Why are two year olds obese? Why are people living longer? Yet unhealthier than ever? Why are women waiting longer before starting families? Why is the sperm count lower & the fertility rate plummeting in men & women of this generation?
Is it our environment? Society? Food?
Lets just blame McDonalds for everything & run free zumba classes across the country? lol
The reasons are complex. Andy's right, its not new, its taken generations to get to where we are. There are more people than ever in our country, more food choice, almost everything is processed, we eat more, we move less. We're stressed out & strung out & we work hard with little balance to anything anymore.
We've lost our way ausbb...as a western culture, we've lost our way. We've taken great strides forward technilogically, we've discovered the god particle, we're coming up with vaccines for HIV....but we can't seem to be healthier, but in contrast, we're living longer? We're transplanting organs, we're donating blood, we're fighting to live...for what? Stuff our gob with chilli cheese fries & sit & play x-box for five hours a day?
Gahhhhhhhhhhh
The problem, is bigger than you. Its bigger than me.
But with this fight, you gotta start with yourself. With your child, with your community & your family. It amazes me the amount of 'healthy' people, with fat families? Children, parents, brothers & sisters, why? Why are YOUR family members fat? Fuck, I was the only one in my family who was fat. Through years of steroid treatment I got there, but I stayed there for WAY too long out of laziness & not knowing wtf to do to help myself. Fad diets fucked up my metabolism, until one day, I just decided to eat less & eat healthy & move my fat arse. THE END.
The battle can only be won, by doing small things, to reach a much greater goal.
Or, just gtfo & squat!
lol
