hi people This is my 1st post on the forum and i would like to know what you all think in regards to the uk's obesity problems. I personaly think that our childeren should be taught more in schools in relation to the food they eat and excersize.they should also make cookery compulsary.I would love to bew able to cook different foods,but sometimes i struggle to boil a funking egg!!!,and as such go straight down the road to the indian and have a takeaway.Don't get me wrong i'm 12 and a half stone,but i know the fastfood is NOT GOOD.But if i don't know how and what to cook what are my options?
They used to teach cookery in schools - mind you I was useless and taught myself to cook when I left home. The best advice I can think of is buy some good cookery books - there are loads of low fat/ healthy eating ones about now - and learn to cook. Eat what you like - don't deprive yourself or think you have to live on salad. Quit going to the takeaway and make healthier versions of your favourites. And, believe me, getting a boiled egg exactly how you like it is really difficult. So do not despair! Oh, the last and very important thing, PLEASE always use free range eggs and meat.
I think schools should talk about food from an early age, including cooking it. this wont happen as the schools do not have the funding, space or time for this.
But its a very fine line they are treading - if drummed in too much we may get more annorexia/bulemia or more bullying for the overweight kid.
But some weight gain is not always about eating to much or wrong stuff but also medication and health issues has a hugh impact on people health. I should know i have gained quite a lot over the past few years as i craved sweet things. Yes i tried fruit but it did not give me the 'kick' i really wanted.
I hope I don't get told off for advertising on here as it's not my intention. A basic old-style cook book like Delia Smiths complete cookery course (the one from the eighties) is handy for the basics. That then combined with cookbooks in the style of food you like to eat (or more healthy ones - Delia is pretty traditional, and also likes her butter!) will hopefully set you off. Don't be scared of getting things wrong when you are trying to cook - I have made some truly foul concoctions in the past, but luckily have a big bin, and am good at hiding evidence!
I'd love to see more evening courses at colleges for people who have slipped through the cooking net at school/home. There are always courses for computer literacy/writing/maths, but never for anything like the basics of cooking and nutrition - bit depressing really as it iether means they've done them in the past and uptake was low, or have decided nobody would be interested - it's definately not cos everyone knows how to cook!
I would agree with boiling an egg btw - I can cook pretty well, but cannot boil an egg to save my life.
Originally posted by miss snail: Don't be scared of getting things wrong when you are trying to cook - I have made some truly foul concoctions in the past, but luckily have a big bin, and am good at hiding evidence!
You couldnt be more right! I am a student and my mum never really cooked when i was at home, never learnt anything at school so i really had to teach myself at uni. One year of eating rubbish was all the motivation i needed, and theres been many screw ups but thats just part of the learning curve! You have to not be discouraged by it and just carry on trying.
It may sound silly, but student cookbooks are great to try! Not only are they cheap but theyre also really simple and help get you started. Theres also a range of books printed by Olive and Goodfood, which are reasonably cheap small books available in most high street bookstores. The titles are such like '101 low fat feasts' and '101 cheap eats'. Personally these simple books worked for me at first and then as i gained confidence i started to try more complicated things. And never underestimate the internet as a free source to teach you the basics!
Being self taught this is what worked for me, so i hope its helpful for you. I really wish there was more taught about nutrition and cookery in schools, i would have loved it and i think starting young is definitely the way to tackle the problem of obesity, otherwise people just get too set in their ways and dont have a clue where to start to make changes, so it can be very daunting to do so
personally i think that there is too much on tv right now about peoples weight I dont have a problem with mine and watching these programmes just annoys me now although I think there should be more education in schools there shouldnt be a whole brust of it on the tv just for it to blow over and people forgetting about it to go back to their unhealthy lifestyles
I think its up to the parents to educate our kids about food, schools could teach the theory and do some of the foundation work , but for real aythentic recipes I think grannies , mums and even dads have a duty to our children. Over wieght- EAT LESS AND MOVE MORE. I have personaly gone from 16st down to 13st in three months,( sorry I am not Bragging)
I have to agree with chefchef1 - it's not all only about food, it's also that people move much less than they used to. I remember as a child I was outside pretty much all the time, because there simply wasn't much to do in the house and I would have been bored! So I was out with friends all the time, climbing trees, playing and - incidentally - exercising without knowing it. I struggle with the way children in schools nowadays are being educated about exercise, that it's a chore and responsibility they are being taught to "do"... I believe this can only lead to resentment and eventually rebellion as teenagers... it used to happen naturally without anyone "educating" us to exercise. If anything, we'd be told off for running around.
Of course, things have changed - parents are afraid to let their kids out unsupervised, and there's plenty to occupy them indoors (computer games, TV etc.)... I'm not able to offer any genius solutions, but the problem does seem obvious to me...
And yes, of course food is part of it. I personally grew up eating rubbish because my mother didn't cook, but I was never obese because I was burning it off by playing. I didn't learn how to cook at home, I taught myself (no cookbooks... just trying stuff!) and now I'm quite happy with what I'm producing.
