the lastest report has shown a clear differance between north and south, eating habits and lifestyle leading to a higher life expectancy in the south


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6035225.stm


any thoughts folks


mine are simple, atitudes in the north lead to less concern about personal health until that person has clear evidence of the damage they are doing to themselves,
i do not believe the differant is due to money issues or availabilty of a health choice, having lived in the north i can say the health options are available there too, when money is tight i understand the need to provide cheap filling food which all the family will eat and not waste, but it is cheaper to buy the ingrediants and make the food yourself then to buy it prepared, however i can see the problem of doing this on a daily basis when both parents work, my suggestion would be to do as others do and had one mad cooking day and freeze them for use during the week.
education and warning are often ignored due to deeply held social tradition of seeing it as government interference. and let us not forgot the phase "it is what man do " used as a excuse for unhealth lifestyles

your all weebles and we are skinny bastards apparently

I just eat celery and drink water

not like easy and his fried mars bars

dont knock the mars bars till youve tried them

I blew away in a strong breeze last week

another good reason for being a lard bucket

Yeah sod it, back on the kebabs for me.............at least i'll stay in the same place in a storm

why do i bother

It's a gross generalization of course, but is it possible that we in the North have developed a more 'stodgy' diet over the years?
I don't think the pace of life is that much slower than down south, or if it was it isn't anymore. I'm afraid I couldn't say exactly what the factor is that decreases our life expectancy, and I suspect it is no one factor, but a cumulation of them. Straws on the camels back sort of thing.
Perhaps even a genetic component is at play.

education is not to blame as everyone is given the same info


self-motivation is a factor, but can not explain it all

genetic plays a part in obesity, and medical conditions, but not in smoking, or alchol misuse


how do we alter these facts, the government is already educating our childrens in health eating and substants misuse, also advertising how to remain health, running smoking cessation clinics,

any ideas on what else can be done

I agree with you, ice. It's motivation, not affluence - if people are too busy working to cook properly, it follows that the work must be generating enough income to buy proper food in the first place. If they haven't got time to cook, they can still buy convenience foods that are not fattening or junk. I don't believe people are working such long hours they've not got time to feed themselves properly - the cost of living is cheaper in the north, and people find time for leisure activities so there's no excuse.

I think it's a question of intellect. At the risk of generalising, I should think there are more blue-collar workers in the north than the south, and it's these who don't want to be bothered to think further than the pub, the chippy and the fags. Sorry if I've offended anyone, but my OH's huge family are from the north, and there are enough of them to recognise that hardly any of them want to know about healthy eating or not smoking. It's only when they have a heart attack that they suddenly - sometimes - start to realise that their lifestyle might be to blame. (I've tried to train mine out of his - dare I say it - working-class attitudes... - it's a battle though!)

Everyone was poor during the War - women worked long hours in factories etc. but nobody was obese because food was rationed so nobody could eat too much. Can you imagine the rection to rationing, nowadays? I lived from hand-to-mouth when my kids were small in the 70's, but we ate properly.

Even in the south where I live, it's mostly the people from the sink estates who are obese. There's a message in there, somewhere...

There, that's my rant over...


Not quite over - what can be done about it? Probably nothing - you can't educate people who don't want tobe educated. (I added this bit also because I forgot to tick the reply alert box...hope someone replies!)

well put Porkie

i hear what you are saying about the type of work, in the past when manual work was the main source of income man had to eat filling food, but the work there did prevented any health risks, now however the case is differant as there are more sedate work everywhere.

as for intelligence i must disagree it does not follow that folks in the north have a lower iq , i think we must look at social factors, atitudes to food, smoking ect

could self image play a part,

I don't think it's as simple as a north-south thing, which makes it sound as though there is no porblem in the south but a problem in the north. In fact, there are problems that are just as bad in the south that averages hide.

Obesity - real obesity - isn't about just 'motivation' but about image: obese people have to overcome a chronic lack of low self-esteem and the reasons for that before they can tackle the obesity.

Education generally is a problem - it's not whether "everyone gets the same info", but whether they get any at all. Food education about what to do with real food is negligeable in this country, and supermarkets have been allowed to build up entire empires selling processed 'convenience' foods, etc. tp 'make things easier'. Note that the Jamie Oliver school dinners program took place 'darn sarf' in Greenwich (for the most part), and that he (get this) had to teach the dinner ladies how to cook: one of the women there did not know what to do with runner beans...!

If you're any low-income family any where in the country, you're more likely to eat a disproportionate number of processed convenience foods and junk food, such as MacDonalds, crisps and coke; and if you look at the statistics, guess what? The south is - on average - better off than the north. But it's not a north v. south problem, it's a problem right across the country. For some people, other factors are going to come into the equation which suddenly turns a food problem into an obesity problem.

The really sad thing - one that says so much about this country - is that none of this stuff about food is new: the British generally has always had an odd attitude to food, and has always lacked a general culture of food appreciation (unlike in other countries, which would never have the concept of 'celebrity chef' the way we do, because it would be normal). Orwell writing in 1936 moans about the processed foods of the day:

"the English nation...[is] generally ignorant and wasteful of food...the English palate...now rejects good food almost automatically. The number of people who prefer tinned peas and tinned fish to real peas and real fish..." [The Road to Wigan Pier, emphasis in original].

Now it's frozen foods that are reheated, but the trend was there in the '30s.

food and nutrition is taught in schools from the early years, kids are given the right guaidance on what the body need to remain health, the problem with school dinners started in the eighty when school dinner services had to cut the cost of thier food and also keep the numbers of kids wanting school dinners up, there did this giving the kids want there wanted ie chips pizza burgers ect, now more money is avoidable the school dinner service can start to give the kids good food however there are doing this at a cost of asking the ladies to work very hard for very little money and keeping staffing lower then what ia needed, dinner ladies do know how to cook but was not able to do it before because of the cost concerns

the information on good nutrition is avoidable everywhere from tv shows to government info advertise and food adverts


if you studied the trends in food consummion you will find that more folks then ever are eating fresh rather then tinned veg.


i will agree the self image and depressions play a factor in a persons diet as the need for a food boust is increased(sugar)unempolyment plays a part here i feel. and when folks work there do get lower wages, but the cost of local veg and fruit is cheaper, then in the south,
as i say on a low income you can still eat health and is infact cheaper, the problem being the time factor when both parents work and the idea of food wasted when the family refuse to eat the food that is made therefore wasting money

I was gobsmacked when my daughter (not my son, significantly), had "cookery" classes at school and was told to bring in a packet of CAKE MIX...This was in the 80's. Are things any better now?

i am sorry to say, i think the answer is no, although they are taught about good nutrition, they are not taught how to prepare simply foods.with my kids, i have find that most of the time cookery is taught as part of the technical block therefore it can be taught by the woodwork teacher, who may have little skill in this area.
however may i say the school's workload and area which they are now being asked to cover is much bigger then before, there is just not enough time in the school day to teach the kids everything.because i think cooking is a lifeskill, i think the parents must take on some responabity here, i have taught my kids how to cook simply meals and will conitnue as there go through there teen years. however i do see that not all parents have the time or desire to do the same, and this will continue to be a problem. this may will be a cause of obiesity as people are not able or have doubts in their abilty to provide a health meal and may well resort to buying conveniants foods.

as for smoking and alchol misuse, i think the problem should be tacked on the home and school front, the schools in this case can get the message across without judgement and present the facts in a suitable way for the child to understand,

I think years ago the north south divide was greater than it is now, and people have become more health conscious and exercising regularly, also the winters years ago in the north were always worse than darn sarf
which could affect average life expectancy etc .. Im not sure how different eating habits really were/are between the two ?

As far as parents and kids, i feel a lot of parents at the moment dont really care too much what their kids eat,or for that matter how they behave, a bit of a sweeping statement but in the working classes in the south its really evident. Stand next to mums and dads in tesco's and you see the S**t they buy for the kids,
to eat, but its economics too .

Glad to see someone else isn't afraid to use the term "working -classes", though this really should include non-working, IYSWIM, because it's they who tend to eat and feed junk - so time isn't a reason here. Fizzy drinks and pizzas and processed stuff is far more expensive than proper ingredients, so it can't be a money issue.

What then are the "working classes"? It implies blue-collar, manual workers who, I'll say again, haven't often (not always, it's true) got the "nous" to think further than the nearest convenience packet. If they thought about it they'd be conscious of the problem and try to do something about it, surely?
Maybe it isn't intellect, but insight...

My mum taught me to cook - wouldn't buy anything she could make or grow, though she didn't go out to work, but I taught my kids in turn. Where and when did parents stop teaching their kids these things? Maybe I was lucky - my Mum wouldn't have the "new" convenience foods when they first appeared because "you don't know what's in it" I've always read ingredients labels and used to get the p*** taken for it - no-one would go shopping with me 'cos it took too long! Now we're being *advised* to do it...

I did'nt mean any offence, just trying to define a class of person who are somewhat limited when it comes to money,(albeit badly ) lol... Money might be needed when it comes to food etc , but not when it comes to passing things on . such as social graces etc..

i live in the north and im a size ten
ride horses and swim everyday
and i dont eat kebabs lol
i think people from the north and south r just the same no different
dont eat different
or have more money
theres rich people and poor people in both
its whether u can be botherd to eat proper and exercise

There are always exceptions, Kelly!

ye but all im sayin lol is all of my m8s aswell there like me and live in the north so im confused i spose lol

kelly, the city where you live is indeen a poor one,
i was brought up in yorkshire, a ok area, moved to live in a poor area of yorkshire, lived in a good area of the midlands, and now i live in wales, i have seen at first hand the differants in living standards in those area, the availablty of local fresh food and the sports facilaties, there is a clear differants in standards, and what kind of food you can buy and the prices of them, to my mind there is a very big differance,

i live in the country in a house that cost like 750,000 lol
where i live the small country village is well expensive
i live on the border of cheshire
and its very very posh lol
maybe if u go into stoke itself its poor but not where i live it aint! by far

maybe theses simple facts exlain why you are able to choose a health lifestyle, the gap between the rich and the poor proportion of sociality is grewing, we must tackle these problems as a whole nation , not on a personal level, our children need to be taught about good diet and money handling skills,
there need to learn to cook good simple healthy foods on a budget, the fresh local food must be affordable to all,
on a low income where both parents need to work, there is little time for food preparation and therefore that is way there turn to junk food, the abilty to cook simple fresh meals would help here, then both parents could help, not only in cooking but also in buying the food,
schools can only do so much, there need to educate our kids but we as parents need to take on the responabilty to teach our kids to cook and manage the family budget,

Also note how many fast food places there are in poorer areas. It's quick and easy. Kids get addicted to fast food in no time and then you have fast food addicted adults. It's a vicious circle. I don't think it's a case of North versus South though. I think it's the same across the country.

(Hey Kelly - are you part of the "Cheshire Set"?! lol. I know Cheshire. I'm in Manchester although originally from the south).

i agree its the same across the country!!

cheshire set??? lol whats that
i live near alsager if u no that where i live is right on the border of cheshire

Nope. Never heard of Alsagar (sounds like a herb!) lol. The Cheshire Set are very wealthy people who live a particular lifestyle in Cheshire - they even made a documentary about them a few years ago! Cheshire's famous! (Love the cheese).

alsager

pretty pic 2 lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsager

lol

ye i no what u mean now lol

looks nice, down in somerset we have some nice countryside with cows, sheep, tractors but then you go into the towns and life just goes downhill

lol same here
but i live in the country so its nice

i use to live on a farm, literally you would need a car to go anywhere, it was about 3 miles to the local village shop, parents sold up and now living in a village, im living in a town (nice part) just because it's closer to work but sooner be in country

i lived on a farm till i was 15 then i moved in witha boyfreind bad i no!!! lol
but it was like 4 5 miles to the nearest house in the middle of a wood
with lakes
and i had horses
i used to ride horses for england junior team

Wow Kelly, it looks beautiful. Really gorgeous. My dogs'd have a field day in that lake.

oh r,we is farm boyz from wes country we is. its me and doodman you all get stuck behind on country lanes,we done need to move hay with tractors we just do it for a laugh to wind you urban dwellers up.

lol
it be a long time since me drove a tracor, i tis drive a combine arvester so i can peek over them hedges and p*** those car drivers off that are beyind me. the other day caught a couple laying on top of each other, nearly ran over the b*gg**s i did, i say nearly ran over the *u**er*

hey do you still ride now ,you must be good, i used to have 3 neds, still ride when i can now but not for a bit due to job.

no i gave it up when i got into lads lol
god that sounds bad but i mean when i got to that age!
i regret it loads!!!!!!!!!!!
and im gona get horses again soon

yes i was sponsored by rtb and was trained by jeff goodwin
and mark maguire

well when you do can you get a spare one for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee please

erm ill think about it