UK Edition
Yesterday was World Obesity Day. But who is to blame for the globe’s current fatness epidemic? I’ll tell you. The culprits are the morally corrupt scientists and politicians who allowed themselves to be manipulated by food suppliers into saying that obesity was due to lack of exercise.
They wrongly advocated a low-fat, high-carbohydrate and high-sugar diet which greatly increased the profits of the food industry.
In fact obesity is caused by eating too many calories – fuelled by just such a high-carbohydrate and high-sugar diet. Fat actually has a useful effect on weight control, contributing to a sensation of fullness, so preventing us eating too much.
By contrast, when carbohydrates and sugar enter the stomach, the food quickly moves on and there is no feeling of having had a full meal; hunger returns and the consumer starts to eat again. Oatmeal and eggs for breakfast is a sensible start to the day as they satisfy hunger and discourage snacking later.
Fat has been wrongly demonised. But a low-fat, high-carb diet is not very appetising, so the food industry has added increasing amounts of sugar to make it more palatable.
It is not, of course, the job of the Government to tell people what to eat. But there is an obligation to publish the facts, and the facts are clear: there is one cause of obesity and one only – eating too many calories. Certainly different bodies deal with food in different ways – some people seem able to eat a lot and stay thin whereas others appear to eat little and be overweight. But the fact remains that it is impossible to be obese unless one is taking in too many calories.
Genetic, psychological and metabolic factors have all been blamed for obesity. But while these may help to explain why people eat too much, none of them are the cause. There are no medical conditions that cause obesity. Thyroid deficiency does leads to weight increase but, again, only if too many calories are eaten.
Only a fraction of calories eaten are used up in exercise. This is not rocket science; anyone on a machine in the gym can see on the screen that a 30-minute workout only burns 250-300 calories – the calorie content of a 100g bar of chocolate. One has to run for miles to take a pound of fat off.
Obese people do not have to increase their activity one iota in order to lose weight; all they need to do is eat less, pure and simple. This is good news, because many obese people cannot take more exercise and to tell them to do so is demoralising.
How can people be helped to avoid an unnecessarily early, unpleasantly complicated and lingering death from obesity and its complications: amputations, blindness, heart disease, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, joint disease, strokes and dementia (to name but a few)?
The answer is smaller portions, and food that satisfies (including a moderate amount of fat and five portions of fruit and vegetables a day). Starting a meal with a slice of wholemeal bread and a glass of water will help reduce how much is eaten.
Avoid high-carbohydrate and high-sugar food. If you cannot afford the right food, eat less of the wrong food. Obese children must be taught the elements of nutrition, shopping and cooking.
Many people will need help from dietitians and psychiatrists. But if they do not take action this lethal obesity epidemic will kill more than the influenza epidemic of 1919. We need an obesity strategy. It should say simply this: OBESITY IS KILLING MILLIONS, COSTING BILLIONS and the CURE is FREE. EAT LESS.
Lord McColl is a Professor of Surgery and was shadow minister for health from 1997 to 2000
There is one cure for obesity and one only: eat less. It's that or the fatness epidemic will kill more than Spanish flu