Blunt questioning this week from full-time doctor and part-time Ralf Rangnick lookalike Michael Mosley in Who Made Britain Fat?
Dunno, Mike. But I couldn’t help noticing the massive Just Eat advert that Channel 4 ran just before your programme started.
And ditto Premier Inn’s “As much brekkie as you can handle!” advert in the first break.
I could also suggest that TV schedules, bloated by hundreds of cooking shows that encourage us to indulge in lavish and lardy food, might have played a small part in the obesity crisis.
Then again, if TV had that much of an impact I guess we’d all be in drag and escaping to the country and/or sun.
Luckily, I had a firmer answer for another of Mike’s questions: “We’re the second most obese country in Europe, so what’s stopping our Government solving this crisis?”
That’s simple, Mike. Boris Johnson is clearly waiting until we are the fattest nation in Europe so he can boast about being No.1 in something again.
Mosley’s alarming findings certainly confirmed something needs to be done.
Children as young as three have fatty liver disease that could lead to them needing a transplant in the next 20 years.
New research strongly suggests exercise is not the long-term weight loss solution everyone hoped it might be.
And a coffin maker revealed that orders for extra large caskets now account for almost 20% of his business.
The worrying thing is that the Government still appears to favour the personal responsibility approach.
Sadly, some people’s personal response to the news about exercise will probably be “Great! No point jogging!”
And others might take one look at the supersized coffins and say “Ooh, they look comfy.”
Still, Mosley did end this first part on an optimistic note: “Next week, I come up with recommendations that I think a truly visionary Government should embrace.”
Great. Now all we have to do is elect a truly visionary Government.
