Nanny can’t tell us what to eat

So, nearly seven in every 10 residents in Maidstone are overweight. It’s a shocking figure, but it shouldn’t be a surprising one. A link has been made with the abundance of fast-food outlets, of which Maidstone and other Kent towns have more than their fair share, prompting the question whether councils should be given the power to restrict the number permitted in any area.

Any such suggestion of course is bound to raise cries of “nanny state” and “freedom of choice” from some quarters. After all, these outlets only stay in business because there is a demand for them. Who is a council, some will say, to tell us we can’t have a burger?

Perhaps a limit to the number of fast-food outlets close to a school might find wider acceptance, on the grounds that kids aren’t mature enough to make an informed choice.

But we suspect even if such restrictions could be imposed, they would make only a marginal difference to obesity rates.

Denied of our burgers, we’d probably just snack on crisps and chocolate, which can be equally bad.

Two cafes in Maidstone that did attempt to offer a healthier menu – the Fortify Cafe and the Core Health Bar – have both closed recently; there simply isn’t the public demand for healthy eating.

In some parts of Kent, it is found 66% of us are overweight. But let’s think about that – we doubt 66% of us are regularly feasting on fast-food takeaways, yet we are still classed as fat.

The truth is that in our modern Western society we all just eat too much.

We need to accept that and change our habits if we are not going to suffer serious health problems further down the line.