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The Forum > Article Comments > An open letter to the anti-fat brigade: enough is enough > Comments

An open letter to the anti-fat brigade: enough is enough : Comments

By Michael Gard, published 27/2/2007

Have you ever noticed how often nutritionists change their mind?

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No, Dewi. What needs attention is the public's limited understanding of what 'science' is. All we usually get is a two-minute curio tacked onto the end of the evening news. Inevitably people get disillusioned with it.
Posted by bennie, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 2:45:43 PM
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oops. On re-reading your post I just repeated what you said. In any case the general understanding of science and scientific issues is woeful.
Posted by bennie, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 2:49:22 PM
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If the author is going to make such contrary claims, he needs to back it up much more effectively than he has done. As it stands, it's not particularly engaging, nor does it even appear to be well researched.
Posted by TurnRightThenLeft, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 4:07:02 PM
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There is also the day to day issue of self sufficiency and "walking". I used to walk 2 km to school from year 2-6 and even further from 7-9, and after year 9, I caught 2 trains connecting to a selective school, and still had to walk a km to school.

No one ever thought of guarding me like I was a little emperer.

Come to think of it, we did so much walking, running when late, shopping for mother, walking to the bank to do mother's banking: at 12, and at lunch time it was the same every day. A sandwich and an apple. We drank water from the tap. Fizzy drinks were for spoilt children. Mother had 4 others to raise, so we never questioned this.

No one dared to be labelled "spoilt children". Self sufficiency was a measurement of our maturity, and in the playground, if mummy did everything for you, you were a "mummies boy". If you ate the cakes, you were spoilt sick.

Today you can't even tell them that they are fat. That is considered "verbal abuse". The adults think that discipline is abuse, but the opposite is true. Discipline is the same as welfare as they need to learn to be self sufficient.

It is a tought world out there, and they can't carry mummy in their brief cases for the rest of their lives.
Posted by saintfletcher, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 4:22:40 PM
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Saintfletcher,

Your generalisations are worthy of a quote from the Four Yorkshiremen, Monty Python’s Flying Circus:

“…THIRD YORKSHIREMAN:
Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to 'ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o'clock at night and lick road clean wit' tongue. We had two bits of cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at mill for sixpence every four years, and when we got home our Dad would slice us in two wit' bread knife.

FOURTH YORKSHIREMAN:
Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before I went to bed, drink a cup of sulphuric acid, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad and our mother would kill us and dance about on our graves singing Hallelujah.

FIRST YORKSHIREMAN:
And you try and tell the young people of today that ..... they won't believe you.

ALL:
They won't! “

While not disagreeing with all you have said, have you considered that some things have changed? Maybe there was not so much advertising directed at children in your time and perhaps more food was prepared in the home from basic ingredients.

Another thing, cars are faster now, there are many more of them and road rage is commonplace so I don’t think I will be sending the seven year old for a long walk to school. So maybe people need to base their decisions on facts and reason rather than rule of thumb.

I don't believe it is ethical for the community to stand stand aside and do nothing while faced with a health epidemic from such preventable diseases as Type 2 diabetes. It is unreasonable to put all of the responsibility or even the main responsibility on youth or on ther parents. Of course we need better education, some limits on child advertising and the like.
Posted by Cornflower, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 6:05:29 PM
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To the author

Thank you for your article.

Gekko, Cf3t, and Saintfletcher - thanks your for your posts.

Cornflower - I am greatful that I grew up with Grandma and Mum cooking home stuff. I am grateful that I grew up without TV until I was 17 years of age. I choose not to have a mobile. I choose not to have a dishwasher. I choose not to have a microwave.I am glad that when I ran home from school (2ks) to beat my brother to the arorroot biscuits and milk, tell Mum all we had done, and then get out and practice hockey and cricket. I could give you many more wonderful memories. My husband and I still go camping, boating and walking. We both share a 60th birtchday this year. Ho Hum.

Cheers
Kay
Posted by kalweb, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 9:42:57 PM
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