Beating the bulge (again)

Beating the bulge (again)

Summary

Everyone is agreed that obesity is one of the greatest challenges facing the country. Almost a quarter of the adults are obese while ten years ago it was 50% less. The increase among children is even worse. The government has recognised that there is a problem and that it should be tackled but this is not the first time ministers are trying to fight obesity. Back in 1992 the Tories published a paper, which set a number of targets to tackle obesity. But they were dropped in 1997 when Labour came into power. Choosing health set out a range of measures, such as food labelling and a crackdown on junk food. And campaigns to get children to exercise more and eat healthier. Ministers are facing an uphill struggle to even encourage the public to adopt healthier lifestyles. People do not eat healthy enough and do not exercise enough while it are things such as this that are essential to tackling obesity.

My opinion

Par 1 (“Everyone is agreed…facing the country”) If everyone is agreed that obesity is the main challenge facing the country then why are they not changing their eating habits and lifestyle? That is something I cannot understand. Why agree if you are not willing to do anything about it? If nearly a quarter of the adults are obese there really is something wrong.
Par 3 (“the increases among…been even worse”) this might be even more disturbing; children and obesity are not compatible. If the child is obese now it is usually because the parents aren’t feeding them right. This is a disgrace because it is not healthy to be obese and it can have serious effects when they get older.
Par 9 (“Choosing health set…and eating healthily”) I think it’s a good thing that choosing health is trying to take action and making people aware of obesity. The fact that they are taking serious measures is a good think. Getting children to be more active and eating healthily is the start. But the children do not really have the choice what they eat so I think they should pay attention to the parents as well. If the parents do not cook healthy food their actions won’t help.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7200274.stm

Pre-marital sex 'more accepted'

Pre-marital sex ‘more accepted’

Summary

British people are increasingly tolerant of sex before marriage. 70% of 3000 people had no objections to pre-marital sex. But when it was tested in 1984 52% was against it. Another thing which has changed is the role within a relationship, now it’s not only the woman who has to do all the housework men do it as well. People’s attitudes towards gender roles have changed, but their behaviour lags behind. This is important because a gap between a person’s views about gender roles and what actually happens in their own home seems to lead to greater stress, for women at least. A similar story of apparent double standards is when it comes towards the environment. But the fact that there is a gap between what people say and what they do is not hypocrisy because a lot of people actually get conflicted on what they should do. What we need to do is find out what it is that makes people stop taking the final step, and then encourage them to take it.

My opinion

Par 1 (“British people are…a survey suggest”) I do not think there is anything wrong with pre-martial sex I think it is something that people should decide for themselves if they do it or not. The time when you got married first and had sex then has passed. There is nothing wrong with it I think and as it shows 70% agrees with me.
Par 16 (“this is important…women at least”) Many people say they don’t think it matters who does all the housework but if you look at the day to day life of many people, you will say that it’s the women who does all the work. I understand why it can be stressing for a woman to hear everybody talk about gender roles and that they have changed. While actually nothing changed and women still have to do everything.
Par 23 (“what we need…to take it”) I think this is a very good idea, if we would be able to find out why people usually don’t take the final step it would be much easier to convince them to take it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7202947.stm