TW: This article discusses sensitive issues such as eating disorders.
Following the revelation that obesity is a factor affecting Covid-19, rumours about new ways to tackle obesity have been circulating. From a study of nearly 17,000 hospital patients with Covid-19 in the UK, those who were obese had a 33% greater risk of dying than those who weren’t. A separate study has also shown that obesity doubles the risk of dying from Covid-19. Although these research findings are worrying, the subsequent measures that have been implemented to minimise obesity are not justified.
“Going to a restaurant should be a relaxing experience, not a time to worry about how much weight you’ll gain if you choose one meal over another.”
Firstly, the government wanted to introduce calorie counts onto restaurant menus. They also publicised the plan to ban all ‘buy one get one free’ offers on unhealthy foods, but there was a significantly greater uproar surrounding calorie counts on menus – and understandably so. Going to a restaurant should be a relaxing experience, not a time to worry about how much weight you’ll gain if you choose one meal over another.
This will have a negative impact on those experiencing or recovering from eating disorders. It’ll either worsen their condition or be counterproductive to the progress they’ve made. Those who don’t struggle with negative eating behaviours will soon fall into the trap of choosing a meal based on its calorie count.
The government need to realise that this will cause a huge increase in mental health problems among young people. There are not adequate mental health services for the individuals who need help now, let alone when the numbers increase. The importance of having a balanced diet needs to be promoted, and not an obsession with numbers.
Shifting the responsibility onto those going out to eat is unacceptable. It’s the government who need to make the changes to counteract obesity. Reducing the price of the ingredients needed to make healthier meals and increasing the prices of unhealthy alternatives would be a suitable start. Instead of labelling every meal on a menu with its calorie count, restaurants should be promoting healthier options or restricting those calorie counts to a smaller section of the menu.
Elsewhere in the anti-obesity campaign Michael Mosley, a qualified doctor and health professional, made an appearance on This Morning to promote his new show ‘Lose a Stone in 21 Days’. He told viewers that those who appear on the show are advised to eat just 800 calories per day. Those who took part in his wife’s trials ate 800 calories per day for eight weeks and lost an average of 20 pounds.
So disappointed to see a medical professional on #ThisMorning advising people to eat 800 calories a day in order to lose weight. People may want to lose weight, but eating 1200+ less calories than what you should is not the answer.
— Katie Wheatley (@_KatieWheatley) August 5, 2020
This completely ignores the recommended daily calorie intake of 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men. People may want to lose weight, but eating 1200+ fewer calories than what you should is not the answer. Again, this is triggering for those who are experiencing or recovering from eating disorders. Hearing that eating 800 calories per day will allow them to lose a significant amount of weight in a short period of time validates disordered behaviour, that many sufferers spend years trying to resist.
During his programme the eating disorder charity Beat reported a 50% increase in calls to its helpline. This man is praying on people’s weaknesses and desires to lose weight to help promote his new programme and his wife’s new book which is, unsurprisingly, a recipe book full of meals which are suitable for his famous diet of intermittent fasting. Quite simply, it is nothing more than an exploitative money-making scheme, one that should not be given air time on a popular daytime television programme. It is not acceptable.
Should schools weigh pupils to make sure they shift the pounds they’ve put on during the lockdown?
— Jeremy Vine On 5 (@JeremyVineOn5) August 10, 2020
Health experts want two weigh-ins in September and then in the spring to keep kids on track. But could this just create a generation of calorie counters? #JeremyVine pic.twitter.com/ueY4K2v99u
Jeremy Vine’s tweet also sparked controversy recently, with the suggestion that students may be weighed at school. This was met with great uproar, as thousands of accounts shared their personal experiences with facing the scales at school, and the consequent impact it has had on their relationship with their bodies, even into adulthood.
It will encourage the shaming of children who are deemed to be ‘too small’ or ‘too large’. It will insight bullying and discourage students from going to school. It will see a huge rise in mental health problems in young people. We should not be encouraging anyone to compare themselves to one another, especially the young, impressionable minds of primary school children. Young students will undoubtedly ask one another how much they weighed and from the moment this happens, it’ll have a negative, long-lasting impact on them for the rest of their lives.
Obesity is a health threat, but these suggestions are not the answer. They will cause far-reaching and permanent damage to many lives. The government and health professionals are supposed to lead the way and have everyone’s best interests at the heart of their decisions – but, in this case, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you want to seek help or advice, below is a list of resources:
- Helplines you can call by Beat Eating Disorders.
- Information on Help & Treatment For an Eating Disorder by Beat Eating Disorders.
- Find eating disorder support services by the NHS.
- Information on eating disorders compiled by the NHS.
Katie Wheatley
Featured image courtesy of @yunmai via Unsplash.
Katie Wheatley
Fashion Editor at Liberty Belle Magazine. Co-host of the Just Us Three Podcast. Trainee Journalist at the University of Sheffield. Twitter: @_KatieWheatley