13 January 2010
I was thinking - Archive
I had a discussion and a few thoughts of my own about overweight lately. My feeling is (and I'm no expert!) that our behaviour around when and how we eat has changed over the last several years and I do wonder if this is having an impact on our weight. Remember when we all used to sit at the table for meals, Mum, Dad and the kids, and talk... thus taking a longer time to eat and respecting the cook's efforts. We also never bought food on the run - to eat alone in the car or sitting on a pavement amongst rushing people and traffic. My question is, does the absence of structure around meal times and the presence or otherwise of a social setting - so the context of eating - have an impact on whether we gain weight? My strong belief is that it does indeed. I'm trying to be aware of making meal times an occasion again, and giving food reverence. I'm approaching the purchase, preparation and consumption of food with more respect.
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2 comments:
Yes I agree that structure does have an effect on eating. I find that when I am on holiday, I can't keep track of what I have eaten nor the amount of exercise I have had. This is much easier within a structured working environment but many don't have that nowadays.
As to comparison between now and the past, yes we had much more structure once and a lot less choice. Despite a focus on healthy food and healthy living now, I feel that people are not walking the talk. What we regarded as treats once, have become everyday food. Many children go to school and eat a bag of chips, can of fizzy drink, 'yoghurt', and a 'muesli bar' (all treats full of sugar and fat) on a daily basis. Why? Because it is easy to organise and parents are up against some very strong peer group pressure. So what has changed? Is it busier lives leading us to take easy options, more disposable income allowing us to eat more treats???
I agree Wendy, and I think with the changes our society (western I mean) has made to allow more personal freedom, we've given people the signal that anything can be justified. We all want more and we want it NOW. There are no restrictions really - see it, want it buy it. I don't believe we're poor in New Zealand, or that people go without very much. But our general over-eating and the abuse of food really worries me.
I just read that we're making bigger hospital beds now, to cater for the obese, and there's a new emergency room in one NZ hospital specifically to cope with people who are so big they can't be shifted easily. I wish we could have addressed good food/bad food in the GST changes or in some way that would impact on the entire population... and I wish the government would take much more responsibility for educating and supporting people in making healthy dietary changes. And in attacking obesity.
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