I see David Cameron is having a pop at our obesity – by blaming those whose business it is to offer us the goodies we crave.
I wish him luck but I am not going to waste my time holding my breath.
Some friends of mine took over a guest house and, wishing to be a five star welcoming sort of establishment, began on the very first morning by loading the breakfast table with full size boxes of every conceivable cereal – enough they thought to offer a full week’s worth of generous choice.
To their consternation – and disgust – when they came to clear away on that first morning, every box was empty, their guests clearly working on the principle – ‘it’s here, we’ve paid for it, we’re having it – even if we don’t need it’.
For many years I was a member of a motorcycle club and toured with them not only on the Island but on the Other Island and on the continent. And wherever we went, whether to visit a motor museum, attend a rally, or just for the ride out, as soon as we arrived everyone headed for a place where they could eat.
No matter if they had eaten an hour before or were due to eat an hour later – it was an invariable rule of ‘engines off, food in’
The reason of course is our basic human nature.
For nearly all our time on the planet we have been hunter-gatherers and we have survived as a species by our ability to go without food for several days and still summon the energy to chase and kill: and then, having killed, to gorge ourselves amazingly in order to survive till the next time. That is why we have developed the astonishing elasticity of our stomachs.
Fortunately or unfortunately, we no longer need to hunt for several days between meals. All we need do is pop into the closest burger bar, cafe or supermarket.
Yet still we cannot – most of us – stop ourselves eating what we need, going immediately onto what we want and finishing with what’s left in the packet or on the plate.
That’s why we are an obese nation – not because McDonalds supplies us with the quality and quantity we demand.
We don’t have to eat it all – we just do.
Image: Joits
