In the latest news, international groups are calling for the food industry to be regulated like the tobacco industry, saying that obesity poses a greater global health risk than cigarettes.
Okay. Let's look at the figures. Global deaths due to obesity or excess weight rose from 2.6 million in 2005 to 3.4 million in 2010. The last four years are unaccounted for.
Now, Consumers International and the World Obesity Federation are calling for the adoption of more stringent rules to regulate what we eat. The two organisations said governments around the world should impose compulsory rules for the food and drink industry.
I remember when I came to England in the 1980s, the general public thought there was nothing wrong with cigarettes.
Yet 30 years later, millions of deaths are directly attributed to smoking.
I've never heard the reason why some smokers live a long and healthy life while others die. My grandmother was proudly among the first women to smoke in Australia and never suffered lung disease or cancer. And my husband started smoking at the age of 14, when he used to run messages on the London streets. At the age of 74, he's reduced the quantity, but despite government help with nicotine inhalers, is unable to quit smoking real cigarettes entirely.
As for food, we all know which foods are good for us. Each individual makes a choice about what they will eat. Sometimes desire overrules good sense. However, when that craving for harmful food becomes all consuming, (hehe), perhaps the people in question need help.
What do you think? Should authorities step in and limit what we eat?