Together, they’re the home of pasta, pizza, gelato, croissants, cheeses and rich sauces. Yet France and Italy have much lower obesity rates than the UK. How is that so, and are there lessons we could learn from our European neighbours?
Ultra-processed foods and drinks, including snacks, are abundant and heavily marketed in the UK, which helps drives the problem, says Wilding. “It’s probably partly the way the supermarkets and corner shops operate in the UK,” he says. “It’s actually quite hard to find a local medium sized shop or motorway service station with food that’s not ultra-processed. So, if you’re working anti-social hours that’s what you’ll tend to pick up on the way to and from work because that’s what there is.
Equally importantly, food sits at the heart of French and Italian culture; the whole process of shopping, cooking and sitting down with friends and family to eat is a central and enjoyable part of life. This delivers health benefits.“The pleasure we get from food sends signals to the digestive system to start working, so you’re less likely to snack afterwards,” he says. “And to get pleasure from food takes time.
Eating slowly and mindfully is also good for our weight. “Eating slowly decreases the amount someone eats, as does thinking about what you eat, for example, not eating something quickly while on the go or while watching TV,” says Cecchini.take their time to enjoy food, according to the OECD research, which shows they rank first and second highest in terms of time spent eating and drinking . In the UK, we take just 79 minutes on average to eat all our meals and snacks.
“There are more common features than differences between countries," he says. Scientists have tried to account for differences in the prevalence of obesity, “but there’s no data to confidently explain what the reasons are for these different trends.” The evidence suggests that improving the quality of our diet in the UK, along with doing more physical activity, would likely help reduce the prevalence of obesity here. “But these need to be supported by policies,” Wickremasinghe says. Speeding up the introduction of new restrictions on advertising and promoting unhealthy foods would help, he says.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why coach Sean McVay has kept pondering retirement, and why the Rams admire him for itSome teams might grow frustrated if their head coach considered retirement in back-to-back offseasons. Not the Rams. Not with Sean McVay.
Read more »
Why I’m Abandoning ‘Standing Jeans’ – And Why It Took Me So LongThey're not good for us physically or emotionally. So why do we keep wearing them?
Read more »
Caring Together in East of England says it is facing closureA charity is appealing for support after its funding stream dries up.
Read more »