Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programme

[didie]

This is screening on Channel 4 on Monday 16 July at 8 pm.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/disp ... icles/home


The trailer looks interesting and somewhat scary as it shows food that doesn't look very healthy being counted as part of '5 a day'.


Programme Blurb:-


Dispatches investigates what's happened to the five-a-day campaign, which was designed to get us all eating more fruit and veg. Reporter Jane Moore reveals how this vital health message has been hijacked as a marketing tactic, and how the food industry uses the campaign to promote sugary, fatty, salty products like ready meals, soups and drinks.

She also looks at confusion over what actually counts as a five-a-day portion and investigates whether the government is effectively regulating what the food industry tells us about the scheme.

 

[lucylocket61]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

I hope it also goes into Why we are being told to eat 5 a day, and why that figure was chosen

anyone know?

 

[Carbdodger]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

Can't remember where I got this but five a day is random with no science to bck it. Cd

 

[xAoifex]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

I believe the "5 a day" was chosen to try and get us to eat 400g of fruit and vegetables a day as per the World Health Organisation, there was a report that attributes 2.7 million deaths a year to low fruit and veg intake. Each portion should be around 80g.

 

[hanadr]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

My daughter, who doesn't give her children the best diet,[she gives in to them and they have too much carb and not enough greens] but does give them loads of fruit, tells me about what gets into lunch boxes at school in the name of fruit. It includes sweets called "fruitstrings" things called "juice drink", and very sweet yogurts. At least my grandchildren get a tangerine or a handful[their size] of berries.
who saw the intervieww about this point on "The men who made us fat"? Just putting a drop of fruit flavouring and writing "with fruit" on the packaging increases sales.
Unfortunately, unless the population goes back to cooking from sratch, we will be vulnerable to such trickery and deception.
Despite what politicians like to say, the bulk of the population is far from intelligent or well informed. Nor does most of it wish to change.
Hana

 

[ladybird64]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

Unfortunately, unless the population goes back to cooking from sratch, we will be vulnerable to such trickery and deception.
Despite what politicians like to say, the bulk of the population is far from intelligent or well informed. Nor does most of it wish to change.
Hana

I agree about the deception Hana but I am especially interested in the second part of your paragraph.

I don't agree that the bulk of the population is unintelligent. I think they go for the fastest, cheapest, tastiest ( :sick: ..but you know what I mean) options when they are bringing up children. That does not make them unintelligent..selfish maybe, but not unintelligent.
I think there is a tendency to look back fondly and view years gone by in a rosy glow. Home cooked grub, fresh veggies, good meat, fish, more eggs etc before the days of trans fats and whatever else has been introduced into the diet.

Of course all these things were there because we are talking about life prior to the fast food age but there have always been those that are content to feed their families cr*p! Egg and chips,pies and mash, bread and jam, sausage and beans..it has always been there as has been the propensity to go for the easiest option, it is human nature.

How can you force change on people who do not want it? Again we come back to the "fear factor" and if it is enough. Does the fact that we may get diabetes, high cholesterol, other nasties put us off when we are young? If that was the case then nobody would smoke because that first puff tastes vile..but I kept right on puffing as do all smokers. (Ahem. Ex-smoker now :angel: )

Sorry to sidetrack a bit Didie. 5 a day? Well someone, somewhere must have thought that if they put 5, then chances are people would aim for at least 2 or 3 and that way they would be sure of getting their nutrients. Well I can't think of another reason!
Funnilyenough I was talking about this with hubby the other day..maybe part of our "supersize me" lifestyle. Who remembers the old saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"?
One apple.We were expected to eat one apple per day to keep us healthy, "go to work on an egg" and "eat yer greens".
How the heck did we get from one apple and "eat yer greens" to five portions per day? Damned if I can remember- does anyone else?

 

[Defren]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

I watched this and to be honest was furious when I saw the health claims and the "this is part of your five a day" claims, when rather than being healthy, they were packed with sugar. Before diagnosis I used to drink Volvic with a hint of strawberry. I drank LOTS of it, there was me thinking it was water with just a hint of flavouring - oh no! It turns out it is so full of sugar it's unreal. I also used to pack fruit shoots for my daughters packed lunches, and again too late I found out they were also packed with sugar. It's so easy for busy parents, or even grandparents, friends etc to be so busy they don't read labels carefully, I know I didn't. Now I scrutinise every label, and things like Volvic and Fruit Shoots don't get passed my front door. I can't always control what my family has out side the home, but I can control what they have inside it.

I did smile [ironically] when it was pointed out that potato's don't count towards your five a day, that meant I could show my family their unhealthy chips don't count, and add another fruit or veg a day. One way I can get fruit into them is with juice I juice myself, not the horrid supermarket juice, or smoothies. I feel if I can get them to have that, it's a step in the right direction.

These days I always eat way more than 5 a day, every day. Today I have had, savoy cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, brussel Sprouts, strawberry's, blueberry's, raspberry's and black berry's. It may all be a bit late in the day to really change my diet and make it ultra healthy, but at least my 5 a day are from the real deal, and not some manufactured ****. Plus I firmly believe it's never to late to make a change for the better. That could be a lesson the food industry would do well to adopt!

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

<snip>
I don't agree that the bulk of the population is unintelligent. <snip>

Would you perhaps agree that almost half the population is below average intelligence?
So perhaps not the bulk, but a significant proportion of the population could be considered unintelligent.

Cheers

LGC

 

[Unbeliever]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

The problem with children and lunch boxes etc is often one of peer pressure. This is , I suspect , the real reason why some schools
make rules about what can and can't constitute a packed lunch.
The oher day I visied a place where i used to live. Miles away from any shops but a pizza place and a fish and chip shop have just appeared about a mile away from the local hgh school. I was amazed o see the queues of school children outside these places at lunchtime. I hope the 2 mile walk helped o undo the damage.

Many people would like to eat more healhily bu are unaware of the decepive nature of some of the "healhier choices£ hey hink they are making, Advertising and markeing is very effecive and they need time and dedication to see hrough i all or some real incenive such as we have.
There is no public education which will teach people to read the labels and o understand thenm or even to be aware of them
Often the print is so small that 20/20 vision is required o read them anyhow,

Most people just do what others they know do. and assume this is OK. With so much food choice it is probably difficul enough
to satisfy likes and dislikes and o find time for shoppin in the first place . To expect people to read labels when they don't know why they should is just oo much.

As wih everything else there is the assumpion that someone , somewhere is ensuring the safey of food. It is someone's job o do so.
if there were a problem "they" would sort it out. People who aitae abou such things , organic foodies , vegetarians ani GM foodies are fanatics with oo much time on her hands . besides who can afford all that healhy stuff?

I have always eaten and made sure hat my family ate a healhy diet. Now that I have diabetes people who always thought me a "food fanatic" and ate an unhealthy die themselves think their choices are vindicated because hey dn't have it.
"You were always a fussy eater. I might have a bit of exra weight but I haven't got what you've got"

The myth about diabees being caused by obesity obviously isn' helping anyone. Non-diabetics who are overweigh are delighed to discover a diabetic who isn't overweight!

The food industry is very powerfull but I feel that he government could do more o educate the public - It is the fashion to sneer
at some of the public health camapains of he pas bu they were very effective.. How old is he "Apple a day" ? Very effective.
I don't think people took it as meaning that this was sufficient . In days gone by and in certain places an apple was probably a luxury or difficult o obtain. If you had to pay a Dr when you were sicjk as would have been the case a trade-off for an apple a day was very enicing.

The 5a day message is something that modernised and built on this. If his message is corrupted it is not the fault of the originators.
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases, Trap the germs in your habndkerchief" is another one which is now mocked but which often wish were observed more especially in winter and when there is a threatened pandemic.

There will probaly never be consensus on what consitutes a healhy diet but encouraging people o even hink abou it and beter still not o take it all for graned would be a huge step forward.

Definitely more educaion about nutrition in schools but also more on TV for an adult generation or two who missed out.

 

[phoenix]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

Sorry to sidetrack a bit Didie. 5 a day? Well someone, somewhere must have thought that if they put 5, then chances are people would aim for at least 2 or 3 and that way they would be sure of getting their nutrients. Well I can't think of another reason!

It's as xAoifex said it comes from the World health organisation. Back in 1991 they suggested a target of a minimum of 400g of fruit and veg a day as they considered that a low intake contributed to the global burden of chronic disease.
A lot of countries went for five, 80g portions but some have other slogans and some have higher targets . The Swedes go a half a kilo a day slogan, the French were very enthusiastic originally and went for 10 par jour (since cut back to 5!), the Aussies say go for 2 (fruit) and 5(veg) a day. The Hungarians target only 3 a day but the Japanese 7 and the Danes 6(target 600g) and the Canadians 5-10.
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity ... veness.pdf

What counts as fruit and veg also varies by country. The original WHO advice said not including tubers like potato and cassava Some countries exclude them (including the UK) but others (Norway and I believe the US) include them. SOme countries include fruit juice, some restrict it to just 1 a day and some give no guidance.
A recent report put the UK towards the bottom end of intake in Europe with average 258 g a day, the Poles managed 577g
http://www.eufic.org/article/en/expid/F ... on-Europe/

 

[noblehead]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

Tighter regulation needs to be brought in to stop food manufacturers promoting unhealthy products as healthy, the Kershaw's meal they focused on looked disgusting and very unappetising, because it contained beans in tomato sauce they could advertise the fact that it could count as one of your 5-a-day.......this despite it having high levels of salt, sugar and fat. The fruit loaf from Warburtons was no better and you needed to eat 2 slices to get one portion of your 5-a-day :shock:

The 5-a-day logo that the Department of health brought out to campaign for people to eat more fruit and vegetables has been hijacked by food manufacturers and they are free to use their own logo's without fear of prosecution, found it hard to believe that not one case has been brought before the courts for misleading the general public!

 

[claymic]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

i watched part of the program...i especially like the cookie listed as 1 of your 5 a day becasue it had some raisins in it :crazy:

back at home we all grew up on homemade cooking - ok there was too much of it and totally based on carbs (what do you expect for a mediterranean country) but it was all home cooked.

and luckily i like to home cook too. cant believe programmes where they show people having take aways every day!!!! dont take me wrong i wont say no to a takeaway once a week but i need variety so i ll definitely keep cooking....now what to do with the salmon tonight

 

[ladybird64]

Re: Myths about Your 5 a Day - Channel 4 Dispatches Programm

<snip>
I don't agree that the bulk of the population is unintelligent. <snip>

Would you perhaps agree that almost half the population is below average intelligence?
So perhaps not the bulk, but a significant proportion of the population could be considered unintelligent.

Cheers

LGC

Couldn't say LGC but anyway, I think intelligence is in the eye of the beholder. Plenty of supposedly intelligent people around who strike me as the biggest dumb asses on two feet.