The new Government advert to tackle childhood obesity was launched a couple of days ago... Now it could just be me or is it not a case of eat well and be a little more active? The advert itself makes a lot of sense, ie when we had to go out and hunt a woolly mammoth for dinner then everyone was a lot fitter! However it could be said that the general point of the advert could be condensed into the last couple of decades?
"Almost a quarter of primary school pupils aged 4 or 5 are either overweight or obese, according to the latest data from the NHS Information Centre. Among those aged 10 or 11, the proportion is a third" THE INDEPENDENT
It could also be argued that less kids play football these days, instead swapping that time to be behind the games console - or - busy lives as parents make it more convenient to spend money on fast food and lets face it "rubbish" instead of cooking a healthy meal.
Whatever the reasons it would appear that now is the time to start actively doing something about it... Maybe taking a leaf out of the Spanish or Italian book would be a good start by enjoying olive oil with every meal, cooking with the kids and sitting down to have a family meal for them to enjoy the fruits of their labour as well as becoming more knowlegable about food and ingredients. Grow stuff! even of its just herbs, why buy them if they can be enjoyed home grown - even Dad could knock up a window trough for some parsley and mint?
Living in Andalucia we can see the tremendous cultural differences regarding kids and food compared to where we used to live in the UK. Ok, so Spanish culture can't be adopted in England - that would be wrong but the healthy parts could be chosen on occasion and enjoyed with little effort and for great gain in the long term.
Any thoughts?
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