Messages such as ‘eat your five-a-day’ can backfire if people feel they can’t meet the standard and become demoralised Q What do you mean by food hierarchy?
With the advent of mechanised food production, the cost and ease of preparation are no longer limiting our access to very rich foods. They’ve just become everyday things. People no longer recognise what a ‘celebration food’ is, nor is there a clear idea of what the staple diet is in the UK – what constitutes an ordinary meal.
Q The national media
focuses a lot more on health now – is this
helping educate people? Not always. Often we find the academic bullet points are delivered in the opposite way from what was intended, and somehow the message ends up being used as a weapon rather than a motivator. People start beating themselves up: “I’m supposed to eat five a day, or is it seven or nine a day – but I just feel a failure because I’m not even managing three.” The recent debate on sugar is another
example, making people feel as though there’s a massive threat to the point where they feel overwhelmed with food advice and like they aren’t allowed to eat anything any more. I think we have to take a lot more care in how our
January 2015 © Cybertrek 2015 “It isn’t clear
who things like weight and fi tness
sit under, so health professionals try and wiggle out of them and pass the buck to
somebody else”
academic research fi ndings are conveyed to the public, so the messages aren’t twisted into headline grabbers rather than constructive messages.
Q So should people turn
to their GPs for advice instead?
Nutrition isn’t something most GPs know a huge amount about. It’s never been part of our training, although we’ve made big steps over the last few years to try and address that. Because
of that, GPs have always been very wary of getting involved. However, nutrition is so fundamental
to health that we want to move the agenda forward. The quality of the consultations needs to mature, factoring in more subtle motivational and behaviour change messages. The RCGP has set up a nutrition
group to develop resources and to challenge any old-fashioned, slightly dismissive or judgemental attitudes GPs might have had in the past. We’ve also set out to show that it’s not a case of taking on additional work
– it’s simply fundamental knowledge that will help GPs do their job. GPs are very nervous that, by showing enthusiasm for weight management, they’ll be landed with responsibility that isn’t supported by good evidence and that they’re not trained to offer. There are more appropriately suited and qualifi ed people who already run weight management services, and GPs should therefore focus on their signposting role. GPs should also undertake tasks those people can’t provide, such as assessing and treating the health risks arising from obesity, and helping patients deal with low self-esteem and depression, so they’re in the right emotional state to begin helping themselves.
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