Just imagine

Hi my names Carla. i live in Australia, now currently the worlds most obese nation. i was just thinking what the world would be like if they eliminated all junk type foods from our supermarket shelves. we would have no choice but to eat healthy. now wouldn't that assist with weight loss!! haha there would be no struggling to fight temptations. well you have probably already thought about this before but i thought id bring it up and maybe see what you think. :)

I didn't know Australia is now ranked the world's most obese nation.  What factor in your society do you see that contribute to that?  (I live in the U.S. and would like to learn more.)

I don't know why we humans (me included!) can't exercise our freedom of choice better and choose things that are good for us.  If we did that, companies wouldn't make junk food, because there would be no profits!

I have two main thoughts, one is what you're describing is communism, so if you are okay with that kind of economic system, then there's no problem.  I try to remember that my dollar (or insert other currency unit here) is my vote.

The other is that, even if there weren't "junk" food, people could still overeat on non-junk foods.  I mean, it wouldn't do away with the need to build a healthy relationship to food.

I understand what you mean, though - we get a lot of in-our-faces advertisement here for fast food and the like.  It takes a lot of work to shut it all out.

Yes its only recent but our nation has been told about it a lot lately. I'd say this is because more people are living sedentary lifestyles with tecnology though thats world wise. In Australia it seems only recent that schools and parents recognise the importance of anlysing food labels with recent media reports and news bullitens. I'd say theres a whole generation here that haven't been informed on the need to be active and lead healthy lifestyles or how to go about them, either that or they dont have time and like most countries they people here are very fond of the convience that comes with fast food.

And i agree, see the human flaw is that we make our choices based on taste and given this, for many people sugar tastes better than say veggies. Thats why i say that if there were less sugary foods on the shelves the next generation wouldn't know any better.

And im not sure about the communism arguement.

And of course everything is okay in moderation, I would just be more likely to consume better foods moderately than fatty and sugary ones if juk fod did not exist.

thanks for your reply :)

Ok, I was going to make a joke about American being number 1 in everthing including obesity rate, but decided against it. lol

Skinny people are becomming a minority. Hmm I wonder if I can get a scholorship for it?

Eh...that wouldn't do much for me. I'm a compulsive over eater, binging about 2 a week.

Granite binging on only healthy food would be a lot less detrimental...but I would still do it. Taking away choice permanently wouldn't do a thing for me...as I'd still emotional binge eat...I just wouldn't gain weight as fast.

I don't eat much "junk food". My problem is that I have bigger portions of my meals...soups and stews loaded with healthy stuff. Plus, I dont consistently exercise. I hope someone doesn't attach strings to my limbs and make me exercise, I'd feel like a puppet.

I can't say if it's necessarily junk food that makes everyone obese or not.

yes thats a good point

Putting an outright ban on "junk" foods is just displacing the blame for personal eating habits. Everyone ultimately makes their own decisions regarding what to eat, based on a variety of factors.

And if "junk" foods were banned, where would it stop? Fruit juices are much more calorie dense and higher in sugar than the actual fruits they are made from. So would juice come under the ban too? The list could go on and on.....

Ultimately, everyone needs to make better choices. (Just to be clear: this is not a personal attack on you Carla, just general opinion)