A week ago, Childhood Obesity News explored the parameters of globesity. Many posts have taken a closer look at specific places. Today, let’s recall some of them.
In general, the United Kingdom’s childhood obesity rate is similar to ours, although the government’s way of gathering statistics is a bit haphazard—according to some American scientists, that is, and no doubt some British scientists. Not long ago, people in the UK were polled about their top ten concerns surrounding the obesity epidemic.
Like us, they favor an activity-friendly environment, with fewer fast-food joints around schools and less junk-food advertising. They would like to see hospitals and schools adopt improved nutritional standards and offer better programs to educate healthcare professionals. They would prefer stronger societal support for new parents, and better weight management services. More extensive food labeling is an idea that attracts some. As a deterrent and as a way to increase available government funds for health care, the taxing of sugary soft drinks and junk foods has definitely been considered. If all the three million citizens of the UK who are technically eligible for bariatric surgery decide to have it, the nation’s healthcare budget will be strained.
Other Interesting Places
Canada was England’s child that didn’t run away from home, and that retained more of the old country’s ways. Geographic proximity and shared language suggest that what works in Canada might also be effective here, and many Americans wish that the United States would be more like our northern neighbor in other ways as well. If Canada’s recent attempt to institute a fat tax had succeeded, we would have been tracking the results anxiously. Unfortunately, the scorn of Canadian critics was fueled by Denmark’s unsuccessful fat tax experiment.
“Globesity in Some English-Speaking Countries” went further into what the Canadian critics were so mad about, and took a peek at the situations in Ireland and Australia. Another post looked at the experiments with packaging and taxation in those two nations. Australia’s closet neighbor is New Zealand, and anyone who doesn’t already know about it might be shocked about what happened there.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Image by Mulligan Stu
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