[Margaret Pilkington]

Mark, it is very easy to generalise because many people can see far better than they can think....and it is easy to point out what you think might be their problem...and that is that they eat too much.

In my daughter's case this is far from the truth.
Her problems are created by the drugs which she needs to control her pain and to stop her from being sick.
The very fact that all the fruit and vegetables create digestive disorder for her, but carbs do not....so her diet is unbalanced for reasons beyond her control.

She does not have a high sugar diet, eat sweets, biscuits or crisps....but people who look at her and make the judgement that she is a fat lazy slob are very wide of the mark.

Children are impressionable and because they have limited life experiences, they may make unwise choices.
The fact that many families do not cook, but rely on either ready meals or takeaways may have a bearing on the obesity problem.
So maybe we should make more effort to bring cookery classes for all children....starting in primary school.
As I said in a previous post, the one size fits all solution rarely works....and rather than denying those who can control their appetites, maybe we should be looking at different solutions....not giving so many licences for takeaway businesses might be a good start.

By all means limit the amount of sugar in drinks....making them less sweet might help to re-educate palates.
Many of the sweeteners used still create surges in blood sugar and so then you get a dip which makes the body crave a sugar hit.
The only one that does not have this effect(to my knowledge) is Stevia....which is replacing some of the ones that could have health implications.