What proportion of the
US population is overweight or obese?
Two thirds of the US population is obese.
Is the life expectancy
of children in the USA greater than that of their parents?
No, the life expectancy of children in the USA
is shorter than that of their parents (they will die ten years younger on
average than their parents).
What kills the
greatest number of Americans every year?
Every year, it is the diet-related diseases
which kill the greatest number of Americans.
How much do Americans
spend, per year, on health problems related to being overweight?
Americans spend $150 billion dollars a year on
health problems related to being overweight.
What is peculiar about
Huntington?
Huntington is the place where there is the
biggest proportion of overweight people in the USA.
What, as regards
eating, are the problems in the HOME context?
In the home context, the problem is that the
parents do not know how to cook properly and so do not teach their children how
to cook. Families eat really badly (mostly pizza, hamburgers, French fries, etc.) and in huge quantities.
What, as regards
eating, are the problems in the SCHOOL context?
In the school context, there are several
problems regarding nutrition:
- the pupils are fed junk food rather than fresh
food;
- the dinner ladies are told what to do by
accountants rather than by nutritionists (the aim is not to feed the children
correctly but to feed them as cheaply as possible);
- there is inadequate food education (the
children do not even recognize fruit and vegetables).
What, as regards
eating, are the problems in the MAIN STREET (i.e. work and
social) context?
People also eat badly in the main street
context. The problems are:
- the domination of fast food restaurants
(portion sizes are too big and it is very poor quality), of supermarkets (they
supposedly “just sell us what we want”), and of the major food companies (who
sell food products that are largely processed and full of additives);
- misleading labelling of products;
- work canteens do not encourage healthy eating
habits.
What, for Jamie
Oliver, are the solutions to the problem of increasing obesity?
For him, there are several solutions:
- Children have to be taught about food at school
(learning ten recipes is part of “life skills”);
- children have to be fed properly at school (to convert
school canteens over to making proper food is not so expensive);
- supermarkets should have “food ambassadors” to
explain to their clients how to feed themselves correctly;
- families have to learn to cook and pass on their
knowledge to their children;
- brands should put food education at the heart
of their businesses;
- the Government has to put pressure on fast food
restaurants to change what they do so that we change our eating habits (this
will take several years);
- labelling has to be “sorted out”, i.e. be
transparent;
- corporate America has to feed its
staff properly;
- the people (“angels”) who are already fighting
against obesity (including Mrs Obama) have to be helped to do their job;
- community canteens like Huntington's Kitchen need
to be set up to educate people about good food and provide healthy meals made from local products at
reasonable cost;
- a strong, sustainable movement to educate,
inspire, and empower people to eat better.
Do you think this
"Food Revolution" could work in France?
Only 10% of the population is obese in our
country so we do not (yet) need a “revolution” in our eating habits... Don't you agree?
