I'm talking about diabetes. For many people this is a disease caused by lifestyle. It can be avoided. I knew nothing of diabetes until my mother started going out with a lovely man who suffered from the condition. When she met him, he was recovering from a broken neck, caused when he passed out due to low blood sugar. His life was a constant battle to monitor his blood sugar levels.
At this time of year, our children stuff in cakes, chocolates, sweets, all manner of things stuffed full of sugar. Now this won't surprise you. What may is how much sugar is in the food we eat for our regular meals. The Government Guidelines say that you should eat no more than 90g of sugars per day.
Tin Heinz Beans - 20.8g
Tin Heinz Tomato soup - 19.6g
Frey Bentos Steak & Kidney pie - 1.4g
Muller Fruit corner - 20g
Bowl of Cookie Crisp cereal with Skimmed milk - 16.6g
When you look at the soft drinks our children drink, the figures are even more alarming
330 mg Tin of Coca Cola - 35g
So if you drink 2 tins of Coke and then eat a tin of beans, thats your recommended sugar for the day. Once you start regularly exceeding this level, you start massively increasing the risk of developing diabetes. I never gave this any thought whatsoever until I got to know someone who suffered from the condition. Typical symptoms of diabetes are exhaustion, thirstyness. Undetected or uncontrolled, it can destroy the body and cause blindness and loss of limbs due to poor circulation. For many it is only controlled by daily insulin injections.
You can reduce the chances of getting this horrible disease by regular exercise and healthy eating. What troubles me is the number of children who are quite visibly not eating healthily and not getting enough exercise. This is where the new leader of Barnet Council. Lynne Hillan comes in. It's not her job to make the children of the borough eat their dinner or to kick them out for a game of football. It is her job to make sure that there ample opportunities for them to participate in sport. I urge her to make a commitment to improve provision of participant sport in Barnet. She could start by banning the sale of playing fields and freezing rents for all sports clubs on council owned property.
She could also take measures to ensure that all Barnet Schools have a healthy eating policy and all children are educated as to the risks of diabetes and bad lifestyles. I suspect that in the long term an effective policy will be far cheaper than ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away.
Being fair to Councillor Hillan and Barnet Council, it is primarily parents responsibility to educate their children in these matters. It really isn't hard, just look at the side of the tin or on the packet. That tells you how much sugar is in the product. Even more importantly, why not kick little Johnny off the playstation and go for a walk with him. I'm not really one for big lectures and I know the last thing we all want is a nanny state telling us how to live our lives. Having said that, I only started taking an interest in the subject and understanding the consequences when I met someone and learned the facts. Once you know the risks, it's up to you to decide.
2 comments:
Rog
Given that Lynne Hillan was a member of the cabinet which authorised the sale of five playing fields, I doubt very much whether she will take any notice of your suggestion.
John Marshall tried to justify the sale by claiming that the land was surplus to requirements. This was a nonsensical argument because, at the same time, the council was planning several massive regeneration projects to cater for an increase of 30,000+ in the borough’s population.
You didn’t need to be Mystic Meg to foresee the problem but, of course, it is too late to rectify now. Once you concrete over a playing field it is gone forever. Unfortunately, the health of our children is of lesser importance to our councillors than building more rabbit hutches.
Sadly David, I suspect that you will proven correct.
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