The Task Force on Obesity has called for public submissions to help in the battle against obesity. In an open letter, Haydn Shaughessy offers his advice
Dear Learned Members,
I am obese. At six feet tall and weighing in at a variable 95 to 100 kilograms, my body mass index (BMI) trips over from the cuddly to the obese on an intermittent basis.
On the other hand, you won't find much fat on me and I can see my toes. Technically I must be one of those who can't say no to seconds, though I avoid sweets. Like many people who play sports, my weight is dense muscle. As a clinically certifiable chubby though I want to make this submission, limited as it is to 10 key points.
1. We have not become as fat as the clinicians claim. The body mass index is woeful at capturing individual variation. Do try to get a sense of perspective.
2. The nation became fatter as the stout, fat and potato intake has declined. These trends correlate perfectly. Less stout, fewer spuds, fatter folks. Most of us have extended our diets into foodstuffs that are historically novel to us. We cook with oils we have no traditional connection with and do not understand how to use. We drink wines that are made from ingredients we consumed previously for brief periods, if at all, during the summer. Oranges used to be a Christmas treat. Now our kids drink five oranges in each glass of juice and get a cola-grade sugar boost in the deal. We have no instinct for how to combine these different foods or for the quantities we should eat or drink. We are adrift from our traditional knowledge base. We abuse healthy foods through ignorance. We consume good food in unhealthy quantities, encouraged by orthodox health advice. And then there are ingredients that should never see food but which we eat unwittingly. Consult widely.
3. Bear in mind that obesity is not an illness. Obesity is a symptom, potent because visible. The underlying diseases - diabetes, cancer, arteriosclerosis - have been on the increase for a long time. Focus not on obesity but on the underlying diseases caused by food.
4. You will find a wave of hostility towards the fast food industry that defies belief. Fast food is not to blame for obesity. To the capital - Kinsale of course - for a quick test of superior cuisine and sure enough I find on the menu of a great restaurant fillet steak with brie (L'Haute Cheeseburger?). Restaurants are under no obligation to provide balanced food or options that allow customers to create a balanced meal from the menu. Oblige and train them.
5. The food pyramid is discredited everywhere except in the agencies that promote it. The encouragement to eat wholegrain bread, pasta and rice might be misplaced which means you face a problem acknowledging the scale of damage done to human health by bad advice. Be brave on this one. New thinking on the role of carbohydrates suggests that the only benefit of the complex kind is the slowdown in sugar release. Ultimately the body still has to convert them into sugar and this process puts destructive demands on the digestive system. The cornerstone of the food pyramid should really be vegetables, particularly green leaf. Who's going to be the one to say cut out the wholemeal bread?
6. Structurally European agriculture cannot supply the quantities of fresh green vegetables that the population needs for improved health. Agriculture is over-committed to beef and wheat. We import green vegetables from countries like Kenya, a country stricken with drought. This year the World Food Programme will cease its school meals programme in the water- stressed areas of Kenya. Children there are tempted into an education by the promise of free meals. A generation will now skip school to help parents acquire money and food. In the meantime, food producers air-express mangetouts and French beans to Ireland. Globally we cannot sustain a fresh all-year culture. Nationally agricultural restructuring is a must if the Government is serious about supplying sufficient fresh food even in season. Three musts: Bring back farm orchards and roadside crab apple trees for casual healthy eating; subsidise the transformation of land back to green vegetables; and investigate the production of winter greens in coppices.
7. In Chinese medicine and philosophy, the search for balance wends its way into the taste buds. New research suggests that the origins of disease might well be systemic inflammation caused by acidity, a result of an oversweet, carbohydrate-rich diet. Sour and bitter tastes, typical of traditional preserves, are indicative of foods that alkalise the body, defusing the potential damage of acidity. Encourage people back to natural preservation techniques.
8. Push medical science away from genetics towards understanding the basic chemistry of the human metabolism. For all the hundreds of billions spent on cancer and heart research, we still do not understand properly the relationship between food, respiration and cellular regeneration. Come clean on science's current weaknesses.
9. For too long politicians have allowed food processors to treat food as a bulking agent designed to fill an empty space called the stomach. Food is the only possible route to good health but the idea remains peripheral to modern medicine. Politicians have a duty to reverse this and foster a 'food cures' culture in the medical profession.
10. And now a question. What happens to all the chicken legs? My supermarket is full of chicken breasts. It's a mystery as intriguing as the missing socks. Somehow Supervalu seems to have sourced turkeys with the same genetic mutation. Legless. All in the name of reducing dietary fat. According to one growing body of opinion though, the marginalising of full fat red meat has caused our fat intakes to become imbalanced. There are serious questions to ask about whether raised blood cholesterol actually causes heart problems or is part of a wider degenerative malaise. Hands up who will be first to recommend eating more fat.
Haydn Shaughnessy is a journalist and part-time chef