Tackling Obesity – A Shared Responsibility

Obesity is also a subject close to my heart because, at age 11, I was clinically obese.

It wasn’t my fault, or even my parents’ fault. They fed me a better than average diet, they cooked meals from scratch, they even grew a few fruit and vegetables in the garden.

Yet, despite this, I was around 15-20 kilos heavier than I should have been for my age and height.

So, what was going wrong?

If you look back into my ancestry, my grandfather on my mother’s side, was a tall broad man, we endearingly called ‘Bumpa’ because he was round like ‘humpty dumpty’. His sisters were also on the plumper side.

With this knowledge, my parents resigned themselves to the fact that I’d inherited my grandfather’s wide size and was destined to a life of being overweight.

I’ve since learned and am living proof that we don’t have to be a slave to our genes.

Secondly

The food that I was eating, despite being ‘average’ for the time, was clearly not suiting me.. My body was screaming out, ‘please do something‘! All I needed to do was listen.

During my tweens and teens the most obvious ‘signs’ included acne on my face, chest and back and unexplainable excess weight, but looking back to younger years, there were more subtle symptoms too like chronic ear infections, tiredness and digestive problems.

At the time, desperate to help me, my parents sought advice.

But the advice for anyone overweight in the 1980’s, which largely hasn’t changed in 40 years, was to…

Cut fat and count calories

And that wasn’t particularly helpful.

Seriously unhappy with the way I looked and the lethargy I felt, I embarked on this low fat, low calorie diet.

It was difficult to maintain and tasted bland, all of which only compounded my misery, and isolated me further.

But did it work?

The little weight I lost, I gained back plus more, because I never addressed the underlying issues.

Fad diets

Then through my teenage years I embarked on many fad diets, some more successful than others, but when nothing stuck, I began my own research on what constitutes a truly healthy diet. I did a lot of reading, I experimented on myself, and by the age of 18 I had cracked it.

Just a few simple concepts I discovered along the way

Cutting calories may help you initially lose weight, but it also lowers your metabolic rate, so you gain fat back more easily.
Eating low fat is a miserable and ineffective way to lose weight and keep it off, as fat makes things taste satisfying and helps keep you full. Plus it is needed (in certain forms more than others) to boost your metabolism.
Junk food is more than just sweets, chocolate, crisps and chips.
You have the power to change your metabolism from a fat storer to a fat burner just by the way you eat.
No one particular diet fits all.

The biggest lesson

I learned that to achieve and maintain your ideal weight, it’s important to find a healthy way of eating that you enjoy, that makes you feel good and that you can follow easily…… FOR LIFE!

Plus the earlier you learn to do this, the easier it is to stick to.

What was the outcome?

For the past 30 years I have weighed the same. I’ve also overcome all of my other chronic health complaints, without the need for drugs.

This, of course, was the reason why I trained as a Nutritional Therapist.

Since completing my training, I’ve helped numerous adults and children achieve and maintain their ideal weight.

Each time it has been slightly different, but the main aim has always been the same; to find a diet that suits their likes, lifestyle, cooking skills, cultural and spiritual beliefs.

One that is easy to follow and tastes great.

This has never been a problem, because adults have control over the food that they buy, cook and eat.

But what about children?

There’s a huge childhood obesity problem in the UK and USA and this only seems to be getting worse. I have to confess that I’ve always struggled with children, even my own. My daughter has the same love of food and genetic propensity to gain weight as I do.

Whilst my long and lean husband and son get away with eating a supersized fast food meal every day without gaining a pound, I just have to look at one and I balloon. Certainly, this doesn’t seem fair. But life isn’t fair.

And now I believe that it’s a blessing in disguise.

Because, we all need to learn to eat well.

NOT just to be the correct weight, but also to live a long and healthy life free from chronic illness and pain.

Being slim doesn’t always guarantee good health. I believe that the earlier you learn to eat well and say no to unhealthy, processed, refined, treat foods, the better chance you have of remaining slim and healthy when you’re older.

If you ‘get away’ with eating rubbish when you’re young, it’s certainly much harder to change habits later on.

In a funny way, I’m grateful that I had to learn the hard way, because it’s taught me so much about staying fit and healthy.

Our outcome….

With regards to my daughter, we are winning!

She’s a keen learner, a good cook and an adventurous eater which certainly makes it easier to steer her in the right direction.

She also loves sport. She does notice her skinny friends who seem to get away with eating whatever they like, but I remind her that I was the same at her age, and now approaching 50 I feel better than ever. I encourage her to stick with it knowing she’ll benefit long term.

It’s tough being a parent

It’s frustrating for parents of children that are considered overweight.

Because life is against you. There’s always someone pointing the finger of blame, but at the same time there’s temptation EVERYWHERE!

Supersized popcorn and pick and mix at the cinema. A free ice cream with a kids meal. The ice cream van at the playground. The vending machines at the swimming pool. Not to mention the endless birthday parties, playdates, picnics, BBQ’s.

Then there’s the rows and rows of unhealthy foods lining the shop shelves.

This is something I believe the government needs to address.

It’s not fair on parents who are trying to do their best.

Sugar and processed foods are now considered the new tobacco, but they’re still everywhere!

And being the parent that always says NO is incredibly tiring. Plus, I’m not a fan of excessive control or bribery, because it tends to backfire.

As soon as a teenager has the freedom and money to spend, they’ll go buy junk food especially if they have been restricted as a child.

So, what’s my solution?

As a parent, firstly, you need to set a good example. You can’t expect your child to eat healthy foods if you’re not. Cook and get them involved in the process. Make it tasty and enjoy eating healthy foods together as a family.
Secondly, you need to help your child to discover a sport or a way to exercise that they enjoy and can continue to enjoy through life. Even if they’re not ‘sporty’, activity is a necessity.
Thirdly, I believe that there needs to be a complete review of what’s on display to children, because all this temptation is not fair.

Finally, and this is a big one…….

But always my preferred solution,

Education, education, education!

All school kids should receive a free healthy lunch every day. NO SUGAR!

Cooking and nutrition needs to become a core subject in schools, with the emphasis on a variety of season fruit and vegetables.

Children should be taught what a healthy diet is and how to achieve it through budgeting, meal planning and cooking.

They should be leaving school at 16 feeling confident in the kitchen and knowing how to prepare several basic, but cheap and healthy family meals from scratch.

But how do we achieve this?

Small steps, and everyone on board to help.

Have you or your any family member struggled with your weight. Have you learned any valuable lessons? Please share your story.