| Subject: London: the blame game |
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Betty
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Date Posted: 11:54:41 03/10/04 Wed
In reply to:
Betty
's message, "no no no, you can have her, she's too fat for me" on 10:16:27 03/10/04 Wed
LETTER FROM LONDON: The blame game —Irfan Husain
I went to bed one night with a carton of strong, harsh Princetons waiting to kill me the next morning. But when I awoke, I suddenly decided that I wouldn’t smoke any more. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life
With one out of five women and one out of four men in Britain officially classified as clinically fat, small wonder that the government is alarmed. Worse, sixty percent of women and seventy percent of men are categorised as overweight. Billions of pounds of state funds are being spent on treating fat-related diseases like strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure.
In a White Paper soon to be released, Blair’s ‘nanny state’ is seriously considering imposing a ‘fat tax’ on fast food to discourage its consumption. Other measures like encouraging school children to exercise more and make their diets healthier are also being discussed. In short, the problem is being viewed like some kind of epidemic from which the public has to be protected through state intervention.
In today’s politically correct climate, it is difficult for politicians to simply say that if people are fat, it is their fault. With growing affluence has come the ability to gratify one’s need and greed instantly. Children are given sweets and chocolates whenever they demand them; grown-ups tuck into buckets of buttered popcorn at the movies; fast food of every description does roaring business across the country.
Worse, kids hardly get any exercise as the fear of child-molesters prompt parents to keep them indoors. There, they watch TV or surf the net. Grown-ups, exhausted by the stress of their jobs, plonk down ready-made meals from the supermarket. Balanced diets have now become a luxury.
But ultimately, it still boils down to free choice: you are fat because you consume more calories than you burn up. It is a straightforward formula, and one that Atkins and his ilk have not been able to disprove. So if you eat badly and too much and your arteries get clogged up to the point where you have a heart-attack, it is futile accusing the state.
One such victim whose arteries furred up after his triple bypass due to his eating habits is quoted as asking: “There wasn’t no infrastructure to keep this from happening, was there?” What infrastructure did he expect? Nannies watching every time he went to the fridge? A nurse in constant attendance?
Already, states in America have successfully sued tobacco companies for causing them to spend billions on the health care of smokers. A couple of New Yorkers have tried (unsuccessfully) to sue MacDonald’s for their obesity and its attendant problems on the basis that the company’s burgers were addictive.
Come on, give me a break! Surely as adults we decide when and what we eat. If my waistline is not what it was 20 years ago, I am not going to blame the taka-tin joints on Lahore’s Abbot Road. If my cholesterol level rises, I am not going to complain to my mother for her cook’s excellent cooking. Calories in and calories out is what it’s all about.
OK, so some things are harder to cut down or cut out. Smoking takes a special effort of will to stop. Many people I know have tried repeatedly, but have usually ended up by starting again. Scientists consider nicotine addiction harder than heroin to shake off. But it can be done as millions have proved, your London diarist being one of them.
I smoked two packs plus until about fifteen years ago, and am convinced that if I had not stopped when I did, I would not be writing this now in London on a cold winter morning. Friends ask me, somebody not famous for his iron willpower, how I managed to give it up. What secret trick did I use to stop when they can’t?
In truth, I went to bed one night with a carton of strong, harsh Princetons waiting to kill me the next morning. But when I awoke, I suddenly decided that I wouldn’t smoke any more. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I told nobody in case I backslid, and for the first week it was very tough. But medically, the physical withdrawal lasts a week, and after that the craving for a cigarette is largely psychological.
So really, you only have to stick it out for a week. And don’t broadcast the news because the last thing you want is people asking you every five minutes how it’s going. This is a private battle you have to fight, and you do not need an audience. Now when the whiff of a good cigar reaches my nostrils, I tell myself I could have a puff and not get hooked. But then I remember that week, and refrain.
At the end of the day, it’s your life, your body and your mind. It’s no good blaming others for your weakness.
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