Goverment advice? Fat lot of good it is.

We are under constant attack.

Not from a provisional wing of some terrorist organisation, or the latest super bug. But from our own governments. The nanny state isn't happy unless they are interfering in our lives, and right now their latest kick seems to be our eating habits.

Almost every time you turn on the television you are assaulted by spokesmen or women telling us; we must eat our five portions of fruit or veg a day. If we do not then we shall become horribly unfit, and more than likely die tomorrow.

I won't go into detail on how I eat but here's a brief idea of what i had today.
A banana this morning, peas and carrots with a Sunday roast that was washed down with a glass of apple juice; and I snacked on some cherry tomatoes this evening.
There you go, I've hit my five a day.
I didn't plan it, nor did I need a load of taxpayers hard earned cash wasted on pointless adverts to tell me how to eat.

So why do I call this government advertising pointless? After all I may just have a particularly good diet. The reason I call it pointless is simple, despite our lords and masters forcing healthy eating down our throats (no pun intended) obesity in children and teenagers is on the rise.

So the question is, when millions are spent every year on advertising, teacher training on how to eat well and over inflated salary's of five a day co-ordinators; why are we suffering from a fat epidemic?

Well i think the answer is simple, exercise.

It's all very well eating a healthy diet, but quite simply if you don't get off your backside once in a while it won't keep you healthy.

Competitive sports have been all but banned, because there has to be a loser.
Adventure playgrounds have been torn down, because of health and safety.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Many of the activities that I took part in during my childhood, just aren't done by the current young generation.
There is no where for them to go, nothing to do.
And so they sit at home, watching TV, playing video games and messing around on the internet.
What they don't do is discover the world outside and burn off a few calories.

But all of this has a knock on effect too, apparently the current young generation is the most miserable and depressed ever. The modern lifestyle has a negative impact on the mental health of someone who should be developing into their prime.

Growing up me and my friends has video games, ok so they lacked the sophistication of what's on the market today. But it was what we had, and we enjoyed them. But given the choice we would be outside with our friends and a football.

We ran, we jumped, we climbed trees; sometimes we would also fall out; but that just made us tougher and more determined to succeed the next time we tried. In short, we get out.

We weren't driven to school, we walked.

Playing out not only gave us the exorcise we needed, but it had a stunning side effect. We made friend, with real people our own age. As a result when in face to face situations my generation has far better social skills than that of the younger one.
We were not only fitter, but happier as well; and we still are.

So if your a kid reading this, and wondering why the five a day diet isn't working for you.
Here's a hint.

Get off your fat backside, get outside with a ball and head to the local park. Your soon find a few people will come up and ask if they can have a kick around with you.

Not only will you be doing you body some good, but you may discover there's more to the world than playing play station and downloading porn.