Reading through the comments on the BBC's Have Your Say about 'What can be done to beat obesity?' one comment stood out to me.
"Make junk food a special occasion rather than the daily meal"
David, UK
Generally my parents followed the thinking in the above comment. Fast food, mainly Maccy D's at the time, was limited to birthdays and other occasions and even then only a hamburger (with no ketchup/onions/mustard/whatever else is plopped on top) and fries. Thing was that by limiting fast food to special occasions it became .. well .. too special.
When I went to University - with all the associated freedom it brings - I kind of OD'd on the stuff. I could eat it whenever I wanted, it was cheap and was readily available. My weight increased around the same time (hmm could that be connected?).
The point I'm trying to make is that limiting fast/junk food while good in the short term, can have a more longer term negative affect on kids and there attitude to it. From my experience at-least, fast food was something to look forward to, something totally amazing that you could only eat it when celebrating birthdays and other such occasions. In a way it was just built up too much. So when I had the freedom to make my own choice to buy it, it felt like I was rebelling by eating all this food I was restricted access to.
Now-a-days I don't eat the stuff that often but probably more than I should. And yes it still feels a little special.
Had dinner at the 50's styled diner Starvin Marvin's this afternoon. Food was good and with the great themeing inside and out (helps that its an authentic diner shipped over from the states!) it made a nice change from the usual burger joints we get over here.
