Published on 12, July, 2020
The NHS estimates that almost a third of adults in the UK are obese, and that one in five children aged 10 to 11 are obese. That's a lot of people eating way too much fast and doing little to no exercise (we're all sitting on our big fat behinds way too much). What makes people overweight? Are we more likely to be obese if we're autistic? BBC journalist Michael Buerk announced recently that fat people should be allowed to drop dead and no longer trouble the NHS with their chubby troubles. He said, "The obese will die a decade earlier than the rest of us; see it as a selfless sacrifice in the fight against demographic imbalance, overpopulation and climate change.'" (Michael Buerk)
I echo what Giraffe said - food is more than functional. We include food in a lot of life events, from birthday cakes to 'drinking away our sorrows'.
Food is a sensory thing from the texture and taste to the way the ingredients affect our bodies afterwards. Sugar and caffeine for a high or a rush, alcohol to numb us.
Yes, it's important to look at balancing energy input (food volumes) with our energy output, but food has a lot more meaning to us than that. Within our bodies, food does more than just provide energy, too.
The nutritional content of raw foods such as vegetables is not what it used to be compared with just a few decades ago (due to modern farming methods), and we have bodies that are asking for a top up of these nutrients, but we do not have brains capable of decoding the signals. We may reach for sugar thinking it's a sugar craving (as an example) when actually our bodies are asking for micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Sometimes a poor diet will give us a side effect that is addictive, making us think it's a nutrient craving, too. An illness may change our appetite or cravings, as well.
It's a complex bigger picture, especially when you add in the effects of our childhood experiences, memories & associations throughout life, food advertising, peers, stress, illness, lack of time to prepare meals, and so on (like some of what Plastic said).
I don't believe we're more likely to be obese if we're autistic, although I don't know this for sure. I suspect even if the figures looked that way, that it would be more complex than that underneath anyway. E.g. I maintain my weight between a certain range because I hate the feeling of being so skinny I feel fragile or when I'm bigger and my skin and body senses change as a result and drive me mad. I'm only able to keep between this weight range thanks to putting in years of effort learning about nutrition in general and also specifically to my needs. I suspect most people (autistic or not) do not have the time or motivation to invest that kind of effort. Even me, really - I didn't have a choice - my health depended on it in the beginning.
I believe there are some big changes that us, as a society, could push for (e.g. stop using sugar and salt as cheap flavour enhancers, basic nutrition education in schools, improved farming methods). But I think they need to be done all together and with an individualised approach, whether that's self-led (like I did) or via support.
The answer is much simpler, in my opinion. It's all to do with our sedentary modern lifestyles (we are 50% less active than our ancestors).
You would be surprised but the percentage of the people in the UK are mentally, emotionally and physically broken and use unhealthy habits like binge eating to cope.
You'll find obesity has gone up because accessibility to Gym, Clubs and recreational sports for both adult and children have either become expensive to access or not operating locally. Since the conservatives have been in power a lot of community activities and sport have had their funding cut. when i was in primary school their where adult and children's cricket club, football clubs, basket ball clubs, scouts & ton of activities and by the time i turned 13 they no longer existed because of funding restraints not lack of interest.