Campaigns promoting healthy lifestyle and how to include more fruits and vegetables in our diet have been around for some times. But yet, fast-foods and on-the-run lunches are still popular.
Hungry Jack’s new burger raised concerns about its nutritional value. It contains 71 grams of fat with four meat patties, four slices of cheese and a rasher of bacon, but no salad.
Despite their great advertising to attract people to eat their burgers, Hungry Jacks is not forcing anyone to eat them. It is just that people are too lazy to cook or to prepare their own lunch. Everyone’s excuse is life is getting busier and no-one has the time to sit down and eat proper food. This is not a valid excuse as dieticians have plenty of tricks to eat well and healthy quickly.
As Solutions Food Management Julie Gilbert says the promotion of such food is irresponsible and could be dangerous for our health.
“If you are consuming this as a regular food then you’ve also got the risk of gaining weight, which could lead to obesity and all the health problems that come with that,” she says.
The government is said to do little in helping the population to improve their health. As far as I am concerned, no-one else except my parents were responsible of what went into my mouth when I was little. People should not blame others but themselves for teaching wrong eating habits to their children.
Teenagers are the ones tempted by what they see on television. They do not have much money either to spend on their lunches and consequently they are the ones eating burgers when they should be eating good food for their development.
By Lucie Prost
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2 comments:
I agree to a certain extent.
Bad diet and obesity is a grass-roots problem. Always has been, always will be.
Weighing up social conscience with government responsibility (and possibly corporate responsibility) has always been a tough call.
You make a good point about the government. Here in QLD is the ailing health system with hospitals overburdened and extended waiting lists. They focus their attention on fixing this.
What about education? Teaching kids the importance of a good diet and regular exercise at school (introduce it into the curriculum, make it a compulsory subject like Maths).
But the government can only do so much. Corporations are doing too little as they exploit ignorant consumers.
Social conscience takes precedence over all else. You were lucky, your parents were intelligent and got you into good eating habits.
But for most, laziness is an inherent part of their existence. And health gets pushed down the agenda. How do we fix it?
Like all things we look inwards. We have surely evolved enough to see whats good for us and whats not. We look at ourselves for the necessary change, or as Gandhi put it:
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
You identify a part of the problem with an indulgent country: Australia - the second fattest nation per capita behind the USA.
comment by Daniel Challis
I agree. I guess teens would be more vulnerable to flashy advertisements and great looking (fast) food. I also agree with you when you say nobody else expect parents were responsible for what went into your mouth as a child. Having said that, I think a lot of it depends on how teens and children are influenced (in terms of what they eat) at home. If they see their parents/caretakers eating healthy and having sweets and desserts in moderation as well as exercise, they’d know and feel the difference in consuming fast food regularly. Schools too could reiterate what’s being said at home. This means parent teacher interaction on the issue is important for affective results. Exposing young people to exercise and healthy eating would make a huge difference in their views on food as they get older.
Also in terms of obesity and being a technological age, I think reminding young people that physical activity isn’t just work but can be fun is important. With technology constantly and frequently upgraded, it’s hard not to be drawn to video games and the latest electrical accessory. I too personally hate the fact that I can’t go a day without checking my email (in case I miss something) but that’s just the age we live in. Never the less, we should just be supportive and try to positively influence teens and children so they make the right decisions in the foods they consume as they get older.
By Teza Altez
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