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Why are we getting so fat?
Poverty and obesity
Low- and middle-income families are the worst affected by obesity and its inherent diseases. In less affluent areas of the country there is less access to good exercise facilities and information about the positive benefits of physical activity.
The lack of exercise in these less affluent neighbourhoods is compounded by the fact that investors are unwilling to provide recreational facilities because of the threat of vandalism, the lack of expendable income amongst local families and the low level of interest in exercise in general.
The cost of eating well is also an issue with lower-income families. Fast-food chains are constantly competing to slash the price of their fat-loaded foods - with some outlets offering an adult burger-and-fries meal for less than a couple of quid.
The hidden danger is that, while a burger and fries might seem a reasonably modest meal, research conducted by the Medical Research Council has found that most fast food is very 'calorie-dense', meaning that people unwittingly eat far more calories than they would estimate are contained in the portion size.
So while fast food is cheap, fresh foods can be costly and organic ranges are pricier still. Another consideration is the decline of local mini stores and independent greengrocers and butchers. With many small businesses disappearing and being replaced by out-of-town supermarkets, it's harder to get hold of healthier foods.
Ironically, although the best bargains and multi-buy deals are to be found in supermarkets, some householders - particularly those without cars - simply can't afford to travel there and back. It's no wonder, then, that some families will rely on a high-fat, high-carbohydrate chip butty to fill them up.
Supply and demand
The question of why there's so much convenience food on offer in our supermarkets is up for debate. Advertisers say that they're responding to public demand; the public says it's responding to advertising; supermarkets say they're responding to consumer feedback.
There's no doubt that the supermarket giants, for the most part, hold the key to what we eat. They know what we want: food that's tasty, visually appealing, cheap and quick to prepare: they can provide it, but at the cost of much of it being loaded with fat to bring the price down.
New-style loyalty cards, offered by supermarkets such as Somerfield, collect data on which products are most frequently bought by cardholders. As a result, these are the products most likely to be re-stocked and discounted for higher sales. This suggests that if we bought enough healthy items, they would eventually become the supermarkets' mainstays and more likely to be subject to special offers.
Cooking - a lost art?
With supermarkets offering around a 1,000 new convenience ranges each year, even those who can afford to buy and cook from fresh tend to rely on ready-meals to some extent, and 'real' cooking is becoming a lost art, despite endless cookery programmes on TV.
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