Are we an unfit nation?
I’m afraid on this rather wet and bleak morning I’ve been tipped over the edge. One news article on ‘healthy towns’ is the culprit.
These ‘so called’ healthy towns have shared a pot of £30 million to encourage local people to generally live a healthy life. Whether this is by an exercise scheme, growing your own fruit and vegetables, or making a city more breast-feeding friendly, it’s all working towards combating the ever growing problems of obesity.
This is just another example of how we are living in a nanny state. No-one, well apart from my parents, occasionally my significant other and the laws of the land, tells me what I should and shouldn’t do. Soon the population will be filled with nobody taking responsibility for their actions, as all their actions could be attributed government policy.
Imagine our traditional big breakfasts being banned because they are too unhealthy, or other foods that you love taken from the shelves because of their fat content. How would you feel about that?
I understand that we should eat better, exercise on a regular basis and generally look after ourselves, but this just takes the biscuit… no pun intended. Obesity is a problem, but for the most part it’s self-inflicted. We don’t eat the right things, we eat too much food which is bad for us and we don’t get enough exercise. But this is all because we choose too. I’m just your average 6ft, 13st 28 year old, I eat some good things, I eat some things that are bad for me, but I exercise on a regular basis. It all balances itself out. I know what food is good for me, at the same time knowing that some foods aren’t, but to be fair, these are the ones that usually taste the best.
For me, it’s about getting the balance right, and I believe that this should be the case for everyone. There is no excuse for not getting it right. People are not taking responsibility for their well-being.
The main reason for this initiative is to ensure that the future resource of the NHS is not taken up by people suffering from obesity. Unless people have a genuine medical condition, of which obesity can come in to it, people who shun their responsibilities by not eating the right things and not exercising should not be treated. No doubt we’ve all, or have in the past, contributed to the NHS through our National Insurance deductions I want to see our government ensuring that our money is spent in the right way and I don’t think this programme is going to help.
Let’s be firmer with people who aren’t taking their well-being seriously, as well as the parents whose job it is to ensure that their children are eating the right things and that they get enough exercise.
