(NaturalNews) Recent announcements in the press have confirmed the declining state of health and increasing obesity statistics in the UK. It is now clear that we were fitter, slimmer and healthier 50 plus years ago. Indeed no such thing as 'obesity statistics' even existed because 'fat' just wasn't an issue -- feminist or otherwise!
Researchers seem to agree that, with the average woman's waistline (for example) having burgeoned by almost 25% between the end of World War II and 2004 to some 34 inches, we were better off under rationing.
During the war years people walked more, ate less, and consumed a generally healthier and better balanced diet. Meat was in short supply and people ate a greater proportion of vegetables, many of which were home-grown! Butter was measured in mere fractions of a half-pound block per person per week. Yellow fats, as we know them, didn't really exist - and what was called 'margarine' was still unpleasant enough that there was little incentive to consume a great deal of it!
During the war, and post-war years for some time, people were rationed to just 2 ounces of butter per week; as little as 2 ounces of cheese per week; no more than 4 ounces of bacon per week; and one egg per week - when available! The nett result of this period of austerity was that the general health and well being of the public was far greater than it is in today's Western world of plenty!
Back in the world war years people 'pulled together'. These difficult times were renowned for the pervasive spirit of community and mutual support that flourished during a period of adversity. A far cry from today's world of disaffected youth, stressed out parents, abuse of recreational drugs, binge drinking, and increasing rates of violent crime and domestic dis-harmony!
George Orwell's classic novel "1984" indicated, on its post war publication, that it was already appreciated that a nation's working class 'proles', if kept in continuously austere conditions, were easier to manipulate and control. "Slavery is Freedom" and "War is Peace", the banners in that nightmare future scenario proclaimed!
Indeed it could be observed that today, in the West, we are often 'virtually' enslaved by our jobs in order to maintain our precious freedoms. It also seems that the concept of 'War is Peace' is a fairly apposite description for how the supposed 'war on terror' is frequently used by politicians to distract us from other 'prickly' issues.
Human nature seems to be such that when we have almost all we could ever need, we simply want more! We appear to have fallen prey to the belief that you "can't have too much of a good thing". It is becoming clear that, whilst we may arguably be misled about the definition of what should be classified as "a good thing" when it comes to food, our waistlines testify that you certainly can have too much of it!
So, it comes to this that in October 2007, the British Government have deigned to announce that parents will now be told if their children are getting 'too fat' after their statutory medical weigh-ins at the ages of 5 and 10, whether they have asked to be told, or not! What is wrong with this you ask? Well surely parents really ought to be able to see that their children are getting too fat for themselves, and actively be doing something about it. If they are not, then simply telling them that their kids are obese can hardly be expected to ring many changes in the household feeding habits.
This news follows hot-on-the-heels of research that has shown that that the disastrously booming obesity statistics in the UK are merely a result of the 'facts of modern life'. The 'fatties' of Britain have been asked why they are obese, and their response is that they blame 'society'. Apparently it is not their fault that they have become fat and unhealthy. It is all to do with the 'stresses of work' combined with the effects of 'labour saving devices' and 'convenience foods'. Such is the pathetic excuse of folks who feel they can't personally be held responsible for blatantly pandering to their own weak wills!
It is certainly evident that whilst the media seems to regale us weekly with ever more admonishments about the parlous state of our body-shape and our declining health, it won't be until we are forced to it that we will actually do something about it! Cue World War III, perhaps?
About the author
Al G Smith MSc BSc - Has been working and teaching in the food related sector for over 30 years and is currently a website publisher (
http://www.gonaturalandorganic.com) and Independent Representative for the World's first extensive range of Certified Organic skin care and cosmetics (
http://www.saferalternative.com).
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