Northern Light
Superstar
As a society, we face a real issue around obesity. I say this as someone carrying excess weight myself!
For some/many it is and always has been, at least in part, a genetic issue.
But its clearly one that has been exacerbated by diet choices (what we eat, and how much); and by the amount of exercise we routinely get in our lives.
I'm not a fan of heavy-handed action; nor non-action.
With rare exception, I don't think banning certain foods or mandating exercise are the right answers.
i also think 'encouragement and information' have largely proven to be ineffective.
If you get to the counter at a fast food place, and you see the calorie counts, it does little to change your order, or to make you leave an find a better option.
Likewise, being told to bike or walk to a store or work, if this is unsafe, inconvenient or unpleasant vs driving being cheaper or faster, most will make w/e choice works w/o considering a benefit to fitness.
All of that preamble is to set up this.
I don't mind this, as an emergency measure ( About 73% of the Mexican population is overweight, compared to one-fifth of the population in 1996).
But I don't think its the right answer in the medium term.
It doesn't affect the adult population, kids can still be given sugary drinks/junk food by parents, it doesn't really tackle the fundamentals; or address that kids were having cola in the 1970s with much lesser rates of obesity.
I would argue there are 2 chief culprits.
Portion size (including sugary beverages), and less exercise subtly built into everyday life.
On the former, I note that when I was a child in the 1970s; a personal sized can of coke was 284ml, not today's 355ml. Today, a 'personal' bottle of pop can be upwards of 591m, that simply didn't exist.
Likewise, in fast food, today's medium (default sized soft drink with a combo) was the large, what is now 'small' used to be the default size.
Combos also didn't really become a big thing for adults until the 80s.
The latter served to automatically add a side (usually fries) to every meal.
The portion size issue also extends to home consumption.
In the 70's a family-sized bottle of pop was 750ml. It was also glass and weighed a fair bit, and there was a deposit-return system.
That limited by portion size, but also weight and price what a family would stock.
There usually wasn't more than 750ml of cold pop in someone's fridge, never over 1.5L.
There wasn't a pantry full of it either.
Servings were smaller.
****
I don't think the exercise portion of the equation is any different.
Its about what's built in to your day.
The simple notion of having supermarket that's easy walking distance, and a pleasant walk, does wonders for shifting that 4-block walk into an every 2nd day habit.
But that's another post/rant.
For some/many it is and always has been, at least in part, a genetic issue.
But its clearly one that has been exacerbated by diet choices (what we eat, and how much); and by the amount of exercise we routinely get in our lives.
I'm not a fan of heavy-handed action; nor non-action.
With rare exception, I don't think banning certain foods or mandating exercise are the right answers.
i also think 'encouragement and information' have largely proven to be ineffective.
If you get to the counter at a fast food place, and you see the calorie counts, it does little to change your order, or to make you leave an find a better option.
Likewise, being told to bike or walk to a store or work, if this is unsafe, inconvenient or unpleasant vs driving being cheaper or faster, most will make w/e choice works w/o considering a benefit to fitness.
All of that preamble is to set up this.
I don't mind this, as an emergency measure ( About 73% of the Mexican population is overweight, compared to one-fifth of the population in 1996).
But I don't think its the right answer in the medium term.
It doesn't affect the adult population, kids can still be given sugary drinks/junk food by parents, it doesn't really tackle the fundamentals; or address that kids were having cola in the 1970s with much lesser rates of obesity.
I would argue there are 2 chief culprits.
Portion size (including sugary beverages), and less exercise subtly built into everyday life.
On the former, I note that when I was a child in the 1970s; a personal sized can of coke was 284ml, not today's 355ml. Today, a 'personal' bottle of pop can be upwards of 591m, that simply didn't exist.
Likewise, in fast food, today's medium (default sized soft drink with a combo) was the large, what is now 'small' used to be the default size.
Combos also didn't really become a big thing for adults until the 80s.
The latter served to automatically add a side (usually fries) to every meal.
The portion size issue also extends to home consumption.
In the 70's a family-sized bottle of pop was 750ml. It was also glass and weighed a fair bit, and there was a deposit-return system.
That limited by portion size, but also weight and price what a family would stock.
There usually wasn't more than 750ml of cold pop in someone's fridge, never over 1.5L.
There wasn't a pantry full of it either.
Servings were smaller.
****
I don't think the exercise portion of the equation is any different.
Its about what's built in to your day.
The simple notion of having supermarket that's easy walking distance, and a pleasant walk, does wonders for shifting that 4-block walk into an every 2nd day habit.
But that's another post/rant.