Conditions and Diseases « Dr Alf's Blog

This is an amazing MUST READ article from the BBC about the rise of global obesity. Check it out!

via BBC News – Obesity quadruples to nearly one billion in developing world.

Personally, I hold the major food and drink multi-nationals responsible for the rise in global obesity and the related healthcare time-bomb. These huge organizations have massive marketing budgets, frequently targeted at children and peer pressure; this creates dependence and addiction. Most governments seem to be too weak to challenge these large organizations.

Unless there is concerted action, I fear an increasing percentage of millennials will die before their parents!

Picture of an Obese Teenager (146kg/322lb) with Central Obesity, side view.Self Made Picture of an Obese Teenager (Myself) (146kg/322lb) with Central Obesity, Front View. Feel Free to use. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Any thoughts on what can effectively be done to reduce obesity either globally or in specific high risk countries?

English: These children, playing in a public space, vary in their proportion of body fat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

self-made picture of child who weighs somewhere between 200 and 210 pounds. i blocked out his face for his own protection. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is an interesting piece of research published by the UK’s Department of Education. It’s well WORTH A READ.

via School food: head teachers’ and school senior managers’ perceptions survey – Publications – Inside Government – GOV.UK.

The large scale survey interviewed head teachers’ and school senior managers’ on their perceptions on school food.

Personally, in times of extreme austerity, I struggled with the value-added by this survey. For me, I would have liked to see a series of research questions to be addressed or perhaps even a hypothesis or two. Also I was uncomfortable with the research methodology, given such a large survey.

However, what really concerned me was the wider context of the survey. For me, the survey questions were largely simplistic and failed to address more fundamental questions in contemporary UK society about stunning and increasing levels of childhood obesity in the UK.

Let me express it differently, as an open question: