The scale of the child obesity epidemic was revealed in yesterday’s latest results from the Government’s National Child Measurement Programme. The programme was launched in 2005, with the aim of weighing and measuring every child on arrival in the first (reception) year of Primary School and repeated in the last year of primary school. Up to now, 80% of children have been weighed and measured. From the statistics, their body mass index can be calculated and compared with the ideal for their age and gender.The results are startling!
When children first start school, 22.9% of four and five-year-olds are either overweight or obese, indicating that the problem starts at home. By the time children leave Primary School in year 6, it has got worse, with 31.6% of children overweight or obese. In both age groups, boys are more likely than girls to be overweight.Childhood obesity is more prevalent in London than anywhere else in England and Wales, with 11.3% of four- and five-year-olds and a huge 20.8% of 10- and 11-year-olds having a severe weight problem. The south-east coast has the fewest overweight pupils - 14.9% in the reception class. The south-west has the fewest overweight children in year 6, at 14.9%.
So the Government’s strategy of giving feedback to parents isn’t working since, the data suggests the obesity problem gets worse from the time children are first measured in their school reception year. Dawn Primarola the Minister said “We’re not going to stem the tide overnight but through measures such as providing the right information and support to parents to ensure a healthy diet and regular exercise for children, and increasing participation in sport and healthy eating, we hope to support families to lead healthier lives.”
There’s lots of evidence from the USA that information alone just doesn’t work. This is a war! Food producers & supermarkets are savvy. They are targeting households with tight budgets and little time for preparation of meals. Cheap manufactured food tends to be high in fat,sugar & starch. Physical exercise amongst kids is a record low levels. Physical activity now competes with Telly, computer games and the Internet for children’s spare time.
What’s the solution? There are no easy ones. I suspect a combination of regulation to remove some unhealthy products from shelves and the tax system to make junk food more expensive relative to “healthy” food will be required. However, I don’t think any of the political parties are ready for this until the situation reaches crisis proportions and the NHS bills for our unhealthy lifestyles become near unaffordable for taxpayers.
The chart shows the trend line in real (adjusted for general inflation) house prices from 1975. It shows house prices peaking in 1989 and dropping below the trend line for over a decade. This was a significant factor in Thatcher’s removal from office and the tarnishing of the Conservatives for a generation.
What House Price Crash?
It’s likely that 2007 represented the peak of house prices during during New Labour’s tenure, Will there be a crash? Nobody knows! But, if you believe the past is a pointer to the future then, fasten your seat belts for a slide as big as the rise!
In the middle of the last house price crash,in the early ’90’s, the TV programme Spitting Image was at its peak, bashing the Tories at every opportunity. You can see their skit on the house price crash in the video below, based on the Madness hit “Our House”…great stuff!
The Government appear determined to diminish the traditional role of GP surgeries through walk in clinics (WICs), polyclinics and now clinics in supermarkets.
J Sainsbury has signed a deal to offer out-of-hours GP appointments, opening up another revenue source for Britain’s supermarkets.The company said yesterday that it hoped to be able to roll out the service to other stores, depending on the outcome of the six-month trial. Asda is understood to be close to signing a similar deal that will see a family doctor operate out-of-hours clinics at two of its stores.
So let me just think this through…..Sainsbury & Asda clearly want to attract more customers to their stores, No problem with that. But wait a minute, most people who go to their GPs are usually ill. Some of those who are ill will have infectious diseases………………errrr don’t think I will be food shopping at Sainsbury or Asda!
Selling food, particularly fresh food and a marketing strategy which seeks to specifically attract sick customers is probably a business strategy that graduates of Harvard Business School are not familiar with. Sainsbury’s slogan is “Try Something New Today”, like perhaps flu? Yes let’s try that for the weekend.
I’m sure the Sainsbury marketing department believe this is a wonderful opportunity to develop a one stop shop for their customers……..alcohol, ciggies, french fries, crisps, chocolate and your medication all in one shop!
Although the sun has now set on the days of British Empire, I always wondered where the phrase “The Sun Never Sets on the Empire” came from. It’s meaning is wonderfully illustrated in the picture below with the animated sun moving across the globe and passing over just some of the British dominions (one for each hour of the day) . Click on the map to see the animation of the sun. It takes 5 seconds to load the animation.
If you want to read more about the history of the Empire visit THIS great site
