Sugar tax, pizza size, what next, how many time we are allowed to eat per day?

Obesity is a huge problem for the UK and the NHS and the people affected by it, no questions about it.

The government has a duty to intervene and help finding a solution to the problem, no questions about that either, but I am not too sure this is the right direction. Has the sugar tax made any difference, a part from raising money that should be reinvested in the NHS? Looking at the latest statistics available, it hasn't. What next if the pizza size do not succeed? Will we told how many times to eat per day?

Obesity will become an even bigger problem, we can all see it just by standing outside any school and looking for 5 minutes at the children exiting, we can understand the size of the problem. Too many children are overweight and obese and at that age they should not be, they should burn 3 times the calories they take in, and being overweight or obese will create serious problems for them in only a few years time, not least the lack of confidence.

But banning sugar or reducing the size of the pizzas or pies will not solve the problem, that extra cost or the smaller size will be offset by switching to a cheaper brand and instead of making people eat less, will force pizza or pie makers to rewrite their recipes, keeping an eye on the calories, but switching to cheaper ingredients so not only obesity will still be on the rise but we will be, all of us, not just the overweight and obese, putting inside our bodies more additives and preservative.

The solution to the problem is not reducing or prohibiting or adding taxes, if this is the idea, the government will undoubtedly fail, the solution is educating, parents before children, creating spaces where children can play safely and run and sweat, where not only they will be able to burn the calories but also learn other social skills like communicating, sharing space with other children.

Children have stopped having fun, they spend too much time on facebook or instagram or playing video games sat on their sofas, this is where the government should intervene. Under 18 cannot purchase alcohol, lets limit the time children can spend online, lets improve, but seriously and not as PR exercise, the quality of the food they are being offered at school, lets introduce food classes where children not only learn about food but also the consequences of abusing it. Children, often infants, should not be allowed to eat at McDonalds or fast foods, should not eat junk food, lets make a right for every family to have healthy meals, it may be more expensive on the short term but certainly it will save a lot of money and lives in the long and obesity is not a short term battle, it will take a generation to solve it.