Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Obesity 'requires climate plan'

Professor James, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, was speaking in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

He commented: "This is a community epidemic that is actually a response to all the wonderful apparent industrial and economic development changes that we've seen, with a collapse in the need for physical activity, and now a targeting of children to make profits by big industry in food and drink.

"We have to change that, and it will not come unless we have a coherent government-led strategy. The issue is: have we got the political will?"

3 comments:

Nick Redfern said...

It doesn't require a political will.

It requires people to (A) stop being so obsessed with shovelling as much cheese-laden crap down their throats as they can; B) doing something beyond just laying on the couch all night, slack-jawed; (C) walk; and (D) get over what is turning into an absolute worship of shit food.

The answer lies in trying to convince people to get some air, don't do drive-thru, eat well and again - walk!

It's not hard to do. People did it for years; some of us still do.

But it's just easier for people to do nothing and focus on burgers and making their diabetes even worse and their waistline even bigger.

Mac said...

You said it, Nick.

Tony F. said...

Let's not forget the psychological impact of constant advertising, marketing and media that are distinctly designed to keep people on a certain level so that, sort of like hamsters in a lab, they keep going back again and again to the same thing.

Of course, this is all secondary to personal responsibility.

Yet another academiac who thinks he's got the answer to everything.