Huge numbers must change lifestyle to prevent epidemic of diabetes

There is a threat of an obesity and diabetes epidemic, yet I would
like to suggest that the vast majority of the country, especially the
youth, are completely unaware of the knock-on effects of our country´s
current lifestyle. It is our society´s attitude towards living that is the
problem. I would like to address some of the main issues.

Firstly, our diet. It is cheaper to eat unhealthily than heathily. If
preventative medicine is the key, as I believe it is, then maybe a portion
of the govenment´s health bugdget should go towards subsidising the cost
of organic fruit and vegetables for schools. This may take 30 years for
the benefits to become apparant, and thus will never be in any current
government´s interest. Is this another problem!

Secondly, exercise. Many school children struggle to enjoy the 30
mins a day that they need and deserve. This is sometimes due to laziness,
but more often due to lack of opportunity. How does the government defend
the sale of school sports fields for housing development? This is immoral
and we are already beginning to see the concequenses in child obesity.
Sports fields should be protected land, and a priority.
Children don´t walk to school anymore. Many parents won´t allow it with
the scare of their child being abducted, an unhelpful non-occurence that
the media seems to enjoy blowing up as much as possible. What percentage
of families have their child abducted on a regular basis?

Thirdly, binge drinking. A culture that has built up especially among
students and has immediate aswell as long term concequences. If three
fifths of all emergency admissions on friday and saturday nights are drink
related then surely this should be addressed. I, being a school student,
experience lots of education on the effects of smoking and cannibis. Heavy
Drinking kills, and it kills a lot quicker than cannabis.
There is nothing wrong with alcohol, it is just that our attitude towards
it is wrong. Take the Italians for example; drinking is a part of their
culture and children drink with meals from a very early age, however, to
be seen heavily drunk is an extreme embarassment. Here in England on the
other hand, almost the opposite is present.
Alcohol is advertised in a very attractive way. The Public need to be made
aware of the effects of its misuse, and this misuse needs to be
communicated bluntly. Such anti-smoking adverts have started to be shown.
Why aren´t we shown images of an unattractive, lonely, bored alcoholic,
slouched drunk on a tatty sofa in a skanky flat. This is the reality of
over drinking. Or scenes from A&E on a saturday night; drink driving
victims, and their families. That would get people thinking.

Fourthly, our work ethic. We are now, officially, the hardest working
country in the world. What does that bring us? A huge percentage of
workers suffering cardiovascular diseases due to stress. I wonder how much
it costs the economy in working days off due to stress related illness. I
wonder if, in the long run, it would cost the economy less if working
hours were reduced and workers could rest and sleep better, and most of
all eat properly.
Society doesn´t eat proper meals anymore. Everything is geared towards,
"eating on the go" as there isn´t time for proper meals. This is unnatural
at costs our health service millions.

There is always much comment on the structural problems within the
NHS and the number of beds, nurses etc. This wouldn´t be a problem if we
changed the way we live.

Competing interests:
None declared