nanny state

Printmiss - I am curious as to why you specify 'unmarried mums' - does marriage confer nutritional expertise?

It is an outdated term nowadays, Printmiss. There are many 'unmarried' couples who are no different from married ones except for the absence of a certificate. I was a single mum of teenagers from my mid-forties through no fault of my own. Of course, what you mean is young women who have babies without the benefit (?) of a partner but there is no reason why these should be less domesticated than those who have managed to find a husband. In fact, they have probably had an identical education.

Small but relevant point: WE are "the state", not the government. Certainly our health is our business. I think the reason I get pissed off with all the so-called health recommendations that are published in newspapers is that most of them change after a few years . The smoking one hasn't. And everybody knows drinking too much alcohol is bad for your health. People who don't 'listen' to their own bodies, which tell us when we've had enough, but just go with the flow because "everybody's doing it" and it's the fashionable "thing to do" (in some circles!) will not listen to recommendations. So most of it's a waste of "the state's" (that is, our) money. [grump emoticon]

Not that anything's going to change. The government will continue to tell us what's good or bad for us and we will continue to listen and scoff and make our own minds up.

Fun, isn't it?

Which we couldn,t do without all the info that gets pumped out.....

Hmmm

I like the zooming out imagery.

PRINTMISS, whilst not disagreeing completely with your post, I would point out that I have two daughters who are unmarried mums who are quite capable of, and regularly do, cook nutritious, healthy meals for themselves, their partners and their babies!

I think that I have had my allowance until November this week!

How it works:

The Nanny State Process

I also have 2 daughters with children who have chosen not to marry. They both cook for their children and are knowledgeable about nutrition. Is the issue intended to mean young parents who have not learned how to budget and provide meals on a shoestring, where income is limited?

I wonder if PRINTMISS actually meant young, possibly teenage mothers with no partner left to their own devices with a child and living on benefits. With little or no education about cooking nutritious meals or about budgeting, this must be a hugely difficult situation, at least for those with only limited family support. Of course, she might not have meant this at all, so perhaps I should shut up.

bagswhere did you find that? It's hilarious!

I should like to know what basis has been used for this new recommendation (not actually government in this case) that women should not drink more than 1/4 pint beer a day or 50 ml wine. That's just over 3 tablespoons of wine. Actually, come to think of it, I have no desire whatsoever to know anything more about it at all. So :-P to them.

As for five a day – it's all sorts of other numbers in other countries. Totally random.

It made me laugh that the next item on the news that morning was how Her Maj likes her gin and Dubonnet. She seems to look well enough on it!

And her mother got to 101 with a good helping of gin!
I shall continue to enjoy my one glass of wine with my dinner every night and keep eating lots and lots of fruit and veg, simply because I enjoy them.
I liked the chapter on food in Bad Science, it reinforced my own suspicions.

A little of what you like is no bad thing ...any over indulgence can make you poorly ...except too much time on GN!!

But , as usually, the research was turned into media grabbing headlines ...rather than taking a measured assessment of their findings. and tomorrow too!!

The phrase 'too much' is often used to load questions for surveys, e.g. do you think too much TV is bad for children?' By definition, of course, too much of anything is bad!
I had to smile at this example of stating the bl**ding obvious on the TV news yesterday 'There is an increase in alcohol related liver disease, caused by too much dinking'.

Dinking?!? How will I know when I have done too much?

Dinking or drinking - you fall over when you've done too much of either!

I like 'dinking'. Is it more or less harmful than drinking?

Another little dink won't do me any harm...

The term nanny state was probably coined by the Conservative British MP Iain Macleod who referred to "what I like to call the nanny state" in his column "Quoodle" in the December 3, 1965, edition of The Spectator.[2] (source wikipaedia)
There I was thinking that Tory central office had dreamed it up in Blair's time.

I'd like to meet someone who has taken part in one of these surveys because no one has ever asked for my opinion in all of my 60+ yrs.

Ah, how well I remember my dinking years . No,on second thoughts I remember very little of them!
The worst thing was waking up with my contact lenses glued to my eye balls, then there was the migraine, the nausea, the embarrassment.......I am glad I don't need to dink any more!

Well here is some news to cheer you up from the frontiers of medical research, recently published in the BMJ.
Daily consumption of 100g dark chocolate 100 g can help prevent heart attacks.
The group studied were at a high risk of heart problems. But not a good idea, obviously, for diabetics. And it has to be Dark! And it is probably not twice as good if you have 200g!

Oh, good - I eat one square of very dark chocolate a day - just because I like it. It has to have some orange, mint or nuts in it, otherwise it is too bitter.

that is amazingly restrained.