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The
medical chatterrati are a tad confused about fatties.
We
have doctors saying that the current plague of obesity should not be regarded as
a sickness but as an aberration. NICE is saying that doctors should not make a
big issue out of it for fear of damaging the patient’s ‘self-esteem’ (if they
had any, they wouldn’t be obese).
The
Chief Medical Officer says that today’s generation will have a shorter life expectancy
than their parents. There is an opinion that goes further; that this will be
the first generation to be outlived by its parents.
The
real cause is a simple one - gluttony.
People
get overweight because they eat too much.
If
you stuff in more energy that the body uses, the body piles it on.
There
is no such thing as ‘junk food’; there is only food. But the body needs more
than burger and chips. If your diet is largely carbs you will continue to feel
hungry because your body is looking for other stuff, such as fruit and veg.
Another feed of revoltingly slimy, carb-rich KFC and on goes both the weight
and the vicious circle.
We
are told that the cost to the NHS is in the region of £500 million a year.
Ambulances must be strengthened; stretchers and operating tables have to take a
weight of 55 stone – yes, one-third of a ton. There was a recent case in which
the Fire Brigade had to cut through two walls to extricate a monster who was 63
stone.
Never
mind the nurses who have to lift and turn.
And
it is common to see young people heading for a hip replacement in their early
30s.
Is
anything to be done?
Probably
not, in the short term.
The
answer lies not in medicine but in social attitudes. Extreme obesity needs to
be seen as socially unacceptable, much like smoking. Fatties should be given a diet
sheet, not medication, as if gluttony can be countered with a pill. Parents of
obese small children, a frequent sight, should come under the severe scrutiny
of Social Services.
In
the long term the problem will be solved by premature death.
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