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Fast Food Restaurants To Give Us The Choice
by
Shaun Parker
It’s a well known fact that NHS funds are stretched beyond reason. That while still doing their best to provide an outstanding health service to the nation, the strain is becoming ever more apparent along with our growing population, to the point where more and more people are favouring their own private health insurance as a sensible back up plan.
One of the problems the NHS faces is that, along with illness and disease, they also have to deal with many obese people who are facing ill health due to what is often their poor eating and exercise habits. In fact, the Eastern and Coastal Kent primary care trust are trialling a scheme that pays obese people to lose weight as some sort of incentive.
This is considered by some to be a huge waste of much needed money as many patients are waiting on lists for life saving operations not associated with obesity. But the trust say that if each patient receives the maximum 425 pounds payout, then that’s all the more people that won’t need assistance for obesity related illnesses.
Obesity is becoming quite a problem in the UK and will soon catch up with the scale of America’s obesity problems. The NHS and medical experts are finding an increased rate of heart disease associated with those who are severely overweight as well as diabetes.
One of the biggest enemies of a healthy weight ratio is that of eating from fast food restaurants. In a bid to assist those wishing to keep an eye on their waistlines, fast food menus should be carrying calorie content information by the end of the summer.
The scheme to better inform the fast food customer is being run by the Government’s Food Standards Agency and is reminiscent of a similar scheme started in New York last year. After making the sharing of this information with customers compulsory, it is believed to have led to an average 100 calorie reduction per order. That’s a lot of savings in one year.
Back in the UK, it is thought that Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Pret A Manger, Subway and Yo! Sushi have already signed up to the scheme and I’m pretty sure that many will be surprised as the amount of hidden calories they are consuming.
If nothing else, this scheme brings with it the chance for people to make their own choices about their health rather than guessing. It does not mean that anybody has to miss out on visiting these places but it gives them informed choices about such things as choosing a 545 calorie milkshake or 5 calorie diet coke.
At Pret A Manger you can save yourself 200 calories by choosing a cappuccino over the same size hot chocolate and another 300 calories on a salad as opposed to a cheese and pickle sandwich. Of course, you don’t have to stick to salads; there is nothing wrong with the occasional high fat treat as long as it really is occasional and not daily. If you’re looking for a quick supper you can choose between a 2,500 calorie fish and chip one or a 445 calorie Mc Donald’s of Chicken salad deli sandwich, garden side salad with low fat Caesar dressing, carrot sticks and diet coke.
The important thing is that we can all make informed choices about how we take care of our health – whether that be to eat sensibly, take the stairs instead of the lift, take out private health insurance or rely on the NHS. The choice is ours.
Shaun Parker is a leading health expert with many years of experience in the diet and fitness industry. Find out more about
health insurance
at http://www.health-on-line.co.uk
Article Source:
ArticleRich.com