0:00:08 > 0:00:12Out we come and they pop us on the scales.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Weight matters from the first moment of our lives.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21Our genes are important, but in our age of cheap, abundant food
0:00:21 > 0:00:24we face a lifetime of temptation.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27In Wales, it is a battle we are losing.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30The Welsh figures are very similar to what we're seeing
0:00:30 > 0:00:33in the United States, very high numbers,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35alarming prevalence in children,
0:00:35 > 0:00:38and certainly it's a crisis by any standard.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41It is clearly the case that there is more obesity
0:00:41 > 0:00:44and it starts younger and younger.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49So, is obesity so pervasive that fatness is the new normal?
0:00:49 > 0:00:54The more we feed our faces so we end up ballooning around here,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57the more likely we are to end up in places like this,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00with everybody else picking up the bill.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06I feel so strongly because I don't want to see a Welsh nation
0:01:06 > 0:01:09which is unfit and unhealthy,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11that spends more money on the NHS
0:01:11 > 0:01:15than putting it into things that could be better.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Is it now time we all took serious steps to get thinner?
0:01:19 > 0:01:21I am not afraid of using the law
0:01:21 > 0:01:23to create the conditions that we want to see
0:01:23 > 0:01:25in order to make sure we succeed.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27But should my bulging waistline
0:01:27 > 0:01:30really be the responsibility of government,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33or should we Welsh take charge of our own lives
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and do something about the shape we're in?
0:01:45 > 0:01:50I'm Steve Evans, the BBC's Berlin correspondent, a Welshman abroad.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55I was brought up in Bridgend in South Wales, and ever since,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59you know, I've been on a diet trying to keep the thing down.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02I've lived in America, the land of the fat,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06and now I live in Germany, the land of the bulging belly.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10But, you know what? We Welsh can compete.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14The figures show that obesity here is as bad as anywhere,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18worse than England, worse than Scotland.
0:02:18 > 0:02:24I love food, and I hate being lectured by do-gooders,
0:02:24 > 0:02:29so I want to find the truth about obesity and what we can do about it.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37There is a scientific formula to define obesity,
0:02:37 > 0:02:42a measure of our weight compared to our height - our body mass index.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45On this measure, and according to official figures,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49three in every five Welsh adults - 59% -
0:02:49 > 0:02:53are either overweight or obese, seriously fat.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58And one in three children are overweight or seriously fat.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01Our waistlines are bulging,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04and it's happened in the last 30 years.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09It wasn't always like that, though.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11# The sun will always shine
0:03:11 > 0:03:17# On your Butlin holiday. #
0:03:17 > 0:03:20This is Butlins in the '60s, post-war Britain,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23still with a rationing mentality, even on holiday.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Meat and two veg.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30We didn't all have cars, nor a television in every home.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33This certainly wasn't feed-your-face Britain -
0:03:33 > 0:03:36no eat-all-you-can restaurants here.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40ARCHIVE PRESENTER: 4oz precisely of roast beef. 3oz of spring greens.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Only 4oz of beef?
0:03:42 > 0:03:45So how did we turn into a nation of fatties?
0:03:52 > 0:03:54We've taken much from America.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57We devour the best - the music and the movies.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01But also some of the downside - like super-sized portions
0:04:01 > 0:04:04leading to super-sized people.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15I just love these places, I just love 'em.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19This is what you call a breakfast, a proper breakfast.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23What I really want... What I really want is the California omelette,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27and that is a three-egg omelette with avocado, bacon,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30jack cheese and a side of salsa.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32That's what I want, but you know what?
0:04:32 > 0:04:34I'm going to ease up just a bit,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37I'm going to ease up on the calories.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39What can I get you to eat today?
0:04:39 > 0:04:45I'd like three eggs over easy. OK. I'd like a side of hash browns...
0:04:45 > 0:04:47'Some things are hard to resist.'
0:04:47 > 0:04:50That's OK, that's perfect. And I would like...
0:04:50 > 0:04:53'Food's measured in calories - units of energy.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57'If we take in more calories than we burn off by activity
0:04:57 > 0:04:59'our weight goes up. Simple as that.'
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It's in the last 30 years that the waistlines of America
0:05:02 > 0:05:04have really expanded.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07At the end of the '70s, 15% of Americans
0:05:07 > 0:05:10were seriously overweight, obese.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Today it's 36% - one in every three.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18I'm going to North Carolina to meet someone
0:05:18 > 0:05:23whom Time magazine called one of the world's 100 most influential people.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Professor Kelly Brownell
0:05:25 > 0:05:29is the head of the Sanford School of Public Policy
0:05:29 > 0:05:33and he's one of the world's go-to experts on obesity.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37I should say he knows how hard it is to lose weight
0:05:37 > 0:05:40because he himself is very overweight - obese.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43He fights the battle every day.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47What's basically happened, then, in countries like the US,
0:05:47 > 0:05:52like Britain and Wales, what's changed in the last 30 years?
0:05:52 > 0:05:54The food environment has become toxic.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Toxic is a strong word,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59it implies that the environment is somehow poisonous
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and if people are exposed to this environment they get sick.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04That's exactly what's happened with food.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Portion sizes are way too big,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10the marketing of food is relentless, powerful and persuasive.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Foods are priced in ways that make them attractive.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17All these things converge to form this perfect storm of factors
0:06:17 > 0:06:19that make it almost inevitable
0:06:19 > 0:06:22that consumption of poor foods is going to be too high.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27But we decide what we put into our own mouths.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Nobody forces us to eat food.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33So shouldn't we take responsibility?
0:06:34 > 0:06:38We could count on personal responsibility to prevail
0:06:38 > 0:06:40with problems like obesity, but it's contrary
0:06:40 > 0:06:44to the way we address problems of health in general.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Now, we have a very unhealthy food environment,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51some people have the willpower and the restraint to prevail over it,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53but there are fewer and fewer such people,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56and as a consequence obesity is stampeding out of control.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Not only out of control,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04not confined to America.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11But those American ways, those American portions,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14are now part of our country, part of Wales.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23We are a bulging nation.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Is fatness now normal? Do we care?
0:07:34 > 0:07:37This factory in New Tredegar makes sexy underwear -
0:07:37 > 0:07:39but not for the larger lady.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Making this stuff is a pretty sedentary task, sitting down.
0:07:44 > 0:07:50Tina Aver-Jones and Judith Dimond have been working here for years.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54When you are making this fancy underwear for pin-thin people,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56what do you think? What do you think about those women,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59what do you think about their body image?
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Do you think they are more attractive, or what?
0:08:01 > 0:08:03Maybe they think they're attractive,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06but then again, thin isn't everything.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08It's still a personality you need to have,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12it's nice being beautiful and a size 6 or a size 8,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15but I don't think being thin is everything.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17It don't matter what size you are,
0:08:17 > 0:08:22it's the person that you are, your personality, how you treat people.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Really? Doesn't everybody really want to be thin?
0:08:26 > 0:08:31Well, I've been thin but, I mean, when I got married I was a 12,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and I just gradually put weight on, but my husband's not moaning,
0:08:34 > 0:08:35he's not - you know.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38But the underwear, I wouldn't mind wearing the underwear we make
0:08:38 > 0:08:41if they done it in bigger sizes.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Or... Mm, you want me to slim?
0:08:44 > 0:08:47It's not for me to tell you what to do!
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Oh, I'm not saying I wouldn't like to lose weight,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52I should, really, but, um....
0:08:52 > 0:08:55I like my food too much!
0:08:55 > 0:08:57I like going out for meals, and...
0:08:57 > 0:09:01No, I'm not particularly bothered about my weight.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03I mean, I wouldn't want to lose weight,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07I've always been the way I am, and I'm happy as I am.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Why do we worry about obesity, then? Why do we worry about it?
0:09:11 > 0:09:13Should we worry about it?
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Some people say we should because of the health issues,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19but I think you are built the way you're built,
0:09:19 > 0:09:24and I don't think everybody is made to be thin and skinny.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26I think everybody has been built as they are
0:09:26 > 0:09:28and that's how we are supposed to be,
0:09:28 > 0:09:30and whatever illnesses we are going to have
0:09:30 > 0:09:34I think we'll eventually have anyway, no matter what size or weight we are.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Except you've got diabetes... Mm...
0:09:36 > 0:09:41And that's because of your eating. It's because of my weight, yeah.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44So you could do something about that. Mm.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46You could. I could do something about it.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Why don't you? I think it's willpower
0:09:49 > 0:09:51is...is down to it.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53My willpower's nil, sometimes.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01It's easy to see why Tina and Judith like food so much.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Food is delightful. It is abundant and cheap.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Who wouldn't be tempted?
0:10:14 > 0:10:17But there is a cost to giving in to temptation.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22Obesity's a word with which we are now bombarded.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Just feel the flesh - we know when we're too fat.
0:10:27 > 0:10:34If you're a male and if your waist is expanded to above 37-40 inches,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37you need to take that as a warning that you need to lose some weight.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40If you're female and your waist is expanded to, let's say,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44between - I think it's about 32 and 35 inches,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46you need to be considering losing some weight.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Because with an elevated waist circumference,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52your risk of type 2 diabetes, your risk of heart disease
0:10:52 > 0:10:53and a number of other conditions
0:10:53 > 0:10:56including some forms of cancer goes up.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05The cost of our individual flab will be picked up by all of us
0:11:05 > 0:11:06who pay for the NHS.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14The figures show roughly one in four Welsh people seriously overweight,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18obese, but it goes right across the social spectrum,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20rich to poor, town and country,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23sometimes slightly higher, sometimes slightly lower
0:11:23 > 0:11:25depending on where you are,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29but with the South Wales Valleys particularly badly affected.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44There are now special ambulances for fat people,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and when the fire brigade talk about heavy lifting
0:11:47 > 0:11:49we know what they mean.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51And in this room behind me,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56another way in which obesity pumps up the cost to the public purse.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10This is what they call a bariatric chair,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14it's a specially built dental chair for seriously obese people,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16people weighing more than 20 stone.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20And it's one of the ways that the health service has to pay more
0:12:20 > 0:12:22because of obesity.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hip and knee replacements
0:12:27 > 0:12:29all result from burdening the body
0:12:29 > 0:12:31with too much weight.
0:12:31 > 0:12:32But should the Government
0:12:32 > 0:12:34pick up the burden
0:12:34 > 0:12:36for our individual decisions?
0:12:36 > 0:12:38I think government has a responsibility
0:12:38 > 0:12:43to create the conditions in which people are able to live healthily
0:12:43 > 0:12:45and to look after their own weight.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49But it is more than education, it's about motivation as well,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53and it is about persuading people that if they want to live longer
0:12:53 > 0:12:54and they want to live healthily,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59then that means eating better, moving more and drinking less.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Why are you telling me how to live my life?
0:13:03 > 0:13:07Why are you telling me to get exercise?
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Why are you telling me to eat less?
0:13:10 > 0:13:13I choose to live my life, I like eating,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16I don't want to be nannied by you, thank you -
0:13:16 > 0:13:19nice though you may be, don't nanny me.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Actually, I have no problem with a nanny state.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24I think that, actually, what the state does
0:13:24 > 0:13:28when it helps people to understand the consequences of their actions
0:13:28 > 0:13:30is not nannying at all,
0:13:30 > 0:13:35it is simply acting as one responsible adult would to another.
0:13:35 > 0:13:36I think the reason that we do it
0:13:36 > 0:13:39is because we have to explain to people
0:13:39 > 0:13:44that where people exercise that choice, that choice has consequences
0:13:44 > 0:13:47and people have to be responsible, therefore,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50for the consequences of those things in their lives.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52It means that when they fall ill,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54and they are more likely to fall ill,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57with conditions like diabetes and other chronic conditions,
0:13:57 > 0:14:03they will not be able to expect simply that the NHS will be there
0:14:03 > 0:14:07to pick up the pieces for them and act as though the health service
0:14:07 > 0:14:10is responsible for the choices that the people have made.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14You are the Welsh Government's token thinnie,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16I've looked at the pictures of the others,
0:14:16 > 0:14:22and I'll tell ya - there's a bit of girth around that cabinet table,
0:14:22 > 0:14:28"bulk" writ very large indeed, you don't practise what you preach.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32I'm quite certain that my colleague the Sports Minister
0:14:32 > 0:14:37would be more than able to compete for the title that you've offered me.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40We do need to practise what we preach.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44We live - as ministers, and many other people - sedentary lives,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47we are behind desks, we go up in the lift,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50we do all sorts of things that we could do better, too,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52and there is a bit of leading by example where we can.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58If you look at the statistics,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01we Welsh seem to take the wrong choices.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04We get off our backsides less than people elsewhere.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07We're at the bottom of the British league for walking and cycling,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10and doing less now than we did five years ago.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14We spend more time watching TV than anyone else in the UK -
0:15:14 > 0:15:18on average, four and a half hours a day.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27But, it seems, thin is desirable, thin means success.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Fat is not sexy, so we believe.
0:15:31 > 0:15:37Though we do seem to mind fatness in women more than fatness in men.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43I'm in Knightsbridge in central London,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Sloane Street back there, Harvey Nichols here,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48very fancy shop indeed.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51This is the natural territory of the Sloane ranger,
0:15:51 > 0:15:57those pin-thin people, usually women, not so often men.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00What, I wonder, is the relationship between money,
0:16:00 > 0:16:05dare I say class, and fatness or thinness?
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Actually the relationship between money and obesity
0:16:11 > 0:16:13is complicated,
0:16:13 > 0:16:18but in Wales the worst areas for obesity are the poorest.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22This is the big hero round here, Johnny Owen, "Matchstick Man,"
0:16:22 > 0:16:25admired for his boxing, not his weight.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31There are no clear answers why poor areas are fat areas.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Surely poor people can't lack willpower?
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Do they lack knowledge?
0:16:36 > 0:16:41Or do they buy fatty, sweet foods because they're cheaper and easier?
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Do people struggling to make a living with low-paid jobs
0:16:45 > 0:16:49simply not have the energy and the time to reach beyond the burger?
0:16:49 > 0:16:52There are no easy answers to this.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57The Welsh government's spending money on well-meaning schemes
0:16:57 > 0:17:01aimed, particularly, at parents.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05This is a publicly funded cookery class in Merthyr.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09They're learning how to cook burgers - lentil burgers.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Pop one each in, right?
0:17:11 > 0:17:14So, once you've done that, give over to David.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19How much did you know about calories and nutrition
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and what to eat and what not to eat before the course?
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Nothing, really.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26It was the convenience of going to the shop,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29and whatever was cheaper, I'd get that.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Why are you learning this dish?
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Because my son's only eight months old,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35I want him to grow up to eat healthier
0:17:35 > 0:17:37than what I did when I was younger.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39What did you eat when you were younger, then?
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Well, food was cooked in the chipper!
0:17:41 > 0:17:43HE CHUCKLES
0:17:43 > 0:17:44And if somebody told you then,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46when you were younger, you were going to eat lentils...?
0:17:46 > 0:17:51I wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't have eaten it when I was younger.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54What's prompted you, what's made you say, "I've got to sort this out"?
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Well, my children are getting older now
0:17:57 > 0:18:00and I don't want them to be growing up
0:18:00 > 0:18:05and just going for the cheaper stuff, and when you make it yourself
0:18:05 > 0:18:07it's more healthier, then.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10I think what you're making is brilliant. Yeah.
0:18:10 > 0:18:11I'd eat it every night.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14But are your kids going to eat it, or are they going to say,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16"Mam, I want a Big Mac!"?
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Well, no, because they could have a Big Mac as a treat,
0:18:19 > 0:18:21maybe once a month or something, but if they start eating it now
0:18:21 > 0:18:23they're going to get used to eating it,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25so they're not going to moan about it when they grow up,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27then, are they?
0:18:27 > 0:18:30When you see all these obese kids and stuff on the telly,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34and the programmes you watch on the telly
0:18:34 > 0:18:37where the kids are that big they can't run up the stairs
0:18:37 > 0:18:40or nothing like that...
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Your son will not be like that. No. No. He'll never be like that.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48The aim is to get people interested in what they're eating.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Is it patronising? Does it do any good?
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Emma Wilkins is project manager.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57How can you be obese at five? What's going on?
0:18:57 > 0:18:59What we see within our project is, obviously,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02overweight parents have overweight children,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05because the meals that they're cooking, obviously,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08are the meals the children are eating
0:19:08 > 0:19:11and that energy balance is obviously not being burnt off.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Losing weight's all about willpower,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16it's about deciding that you are going to change your diet
0:19:16 > 0:19:18and eat less and all that kind of...
0:19:18 > 0:19:19Why don't people think,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23"I look like a great big tub of lard, I'm going to sort myself out"?
0:19:23 > 0:19:24Why don't they?
0:19:24 > 0:19:26I'll disagree with that, slightly.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30I think it's all about attitude towards healthy eating,
0:19:30 > 0:19:31not so much willpower.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34I think if you teach people - nutrition is knowledge -
0:19:34 > 0:19:36and if you teach people about what they should be eating,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38I mean, with the greatest willpower in the world,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40if people don't know what's healthy and what's not,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43how do they know that they're following a correct diet?
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Do you ever shout at them? Do you ever say to somebody,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48"Have a look at yourself, sort yourself out,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52"you're a great big tub of lard and you need to stop feeding your face"?
0:19:52 > 0:19:53Do you ever say that to them?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55No, that's a disgrace, I'd never say that to people.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56Why not? You should.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59That's not very helpful, what is that going to do to people?
0:19:59 > 0:20:01Maybe it'll make them think.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Well, that's going to isolate that person even more.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06What we teach is trying to get them to change their behaviours
0:20:06 > 0:20:08towards healthy eating and physical activity
0:20:08 > 0:20:10and getting them to have a love for it.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15But how do you get people to buy broccoli rather than burgers
0:20:15 > 0:20:18when there aren't many greengrocers?
0:20:18 > 0:20:21In Dowlais in Merthyr, Betty Murphy's shop
0:20:21 > 0:20:24is the last bastion of the broad bean.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29This is a vegetable shop that's been here for absolutely decades.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33They have got peas...in a pod.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Think of that. Apparently, what you do is,
0:20:35 > 0:20:40you get the peas out of the pod and then cook 'em. Amazing.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44This is Dowlais, clearly it's changed drastically.
0:20:44 > 0:20:50It was built on steel and coal, it was built on manual labour,
0:20:50 > 0:20:55people who ate up those calories in the work they did.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Now, outside this door, it's fast food.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04Chips and grease and speed and calories,
0:21:04 > 0:21:10without the manual labour to burn those calories off.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14When Betty's mother ran the shop it was a thriving business,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18but today the numbers coming through the door are dwindling.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22The things people come to buy have changed.
0:21:22 > 0:21:23Well, the younger element,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26they seem to go mainly for fast foods.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28They don't seem to cook
0:21:28 > 0:21:30the same vegetables
0:21:30 > 0:21:32as what they used to, years ago.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35It's an older person that would buy broad beans,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39you wouldn't have a young person coming in here now
0:21:39 > 0:21:41and asking for broad beans.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46Why is...? I don't know, I don't think they know what a broad bean is.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48How have people changed? How's the street changed?
0:21:48 > 0:21:50What people eat, that kind of stuff.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Well, the street and Dowlais itself have changed tremendously, isn't it?
0:21:54 > 0:21:58We're only a handful of shops around here now,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02whereas in my mother's era, then, as we put it,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05the only takeaway that you had was the fish and chip shop.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12But I think sometimes they pick up the easiest thing that they can get
0:22:12 > 0:22:16to put a meal on the table, rather than - if you were going to cook it,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20it's going to take a little while before you are eating your food.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24What if somebody said to you, "But we're better off now,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27"we're richer, and we just eat too much -
0:22:27 > 0:22:29"we eat chips, we eat burgers,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32"whereas in your mum's day it was a luxury"?
0:22:36 > 0:22:39Mm, I... I can't answer that question,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42cos I wouldn't think that they would say that they were richer.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Most probably they'd say they were poorer, wouldn't they?
0:22:44 > 0:22:48But I don't know, I can't answer that, isn't it? You know.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Because to put a meal on a table it isn't all that dear.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55I would say they are paying more to have a takeaway.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02The mass food industry is powerful and effective -
0:23:02 > 0:23:04Big Food, some people call it.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06They are masters of marketing.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12They have produced food amazingly cheaply that we want to eat.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Their scientists refine ingredients - the sugar, the salt,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18the fat - that it's hard to resist.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20It IS tasty.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25Can the lowly carrot compete?
0:23:28 > 0:23:33I know nobody that overdoes it on carrots or turnips or broccoli,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36there are only certain foods that people have trouble with,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and there's a biology and psychology of this.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Biologically, these foods are hijacking the brain.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45They're affecting the reward pathways in the brain,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47very much like substances of abuse,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51that make it very difficult for people to stop.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53They're highly reinforcing,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55and there are evolutionary reasons for that.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58But they're also psychologically very reinforcing,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00because of all the food marketing that's been done.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04So we associate the colours, the logos, the music,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08the jingles of these various companies
0:24:08 > 0:24:12with good feeling, warmth, family, love, sex, even.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15And these become very powerful associations,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18so when you take the bite of that ice cream or that candy bar,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21or that salty snack food, or that sugared beverage,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25it is triggering both biological and psychological reactions
0:24:25 > 0:24:27that are very heavily reinforcing.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Losing weight is hard work. The bulge fights back.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Mia Evans once weighed 17.5 stone.
0:24:37 > 0:24:43Now she's down to a slimline 9 stone 1 - so, it is possible.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Tell me what you used to eat for breakfast, and what you used to eat.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52I used to eat either a pack of Jaffa Cakes or a packet of Mini Rolls -
0:24:52 > 0:24:55six Mini Rolls would be my breakfast.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Then I'd have a packet of crisps, and I'd just eat junk food all day,
0:24:58 > 0:25:03and then in the evening I'd have some chips or...just junk food,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06just lived off junk food. And now you don't eat like that.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10No. What difference has it made to you as a person?
0:25:10 > 0:25:11A lot.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14A lot, it has changed me a lot. How?
0:25:14 > 0:25:18It has given me more confidence, it HAS given me more confidence.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22I do feel better in myself, and other health-wise as well.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24It has helped a lot, my health.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Mia made a big decision to change her way of life.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37It's not something I've done recently, it's been over...
0:25:37 > 0:25:39I've been going back and fore, different diets,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42for the last - over 20-odd years, you know?
0:25:42 > 0:25:47And, just...I was ill, my blood pressure was extremely high
0:25:47 > 0:25:51and I just decided that all the different diets I'd been on,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55been yo-yo dieting all my life, and I just decided that enough was enough.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58And yo-yo dieting means you diet like crazy
0:25:58 > 0:26:00and your weight goes down....
0:26:00 > 0:26:02You go down and you put your back up,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04so I was losing about a stone, two stone,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07and then I was going - I was eating more, I was going back up.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10And I'd go back and fore to different classes
0:26:10 > 0:26:12and I would lose a pound here and put two pound back on,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14and I just got fed up with it.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17A lot of people who want to lose weight will be thinking,
0:26:17 > 0:26:18"What's the secret?
0:26:18 > 0:26:21"Is there some sort of magic food, is there a magic diet?"
0:26:21 > 0:26:24No, there isn't. The only thing, I would say, is willpower.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26And if you really want to do it, you'll do it.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28You look great now.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33But are you happy being thin, or what? What do you feel about it?
0:26:33 > 0:26:36I don't think - I'm never happy with my weight.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Can always be lower.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41You always want to go that one step...
0:26:41 > 0:26:44I think I'd be happy if I lost another half a stone.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47I am trying...you know I am - I still go...
0:26:47 > 0:26:49I mean, it's not a diet, for...
0:26:49 > 0:26:50It's a diet for life,
0:26:50 > 0:26:55and it's not a diet, it's a change of eating, it's healthier eating.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59Fitter than ever, and not all down to a pretty brutal diet.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04Mia keeps fit by walking daily around the lake near her home.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06But food is the key - after all,
0:27:06 > 0:27:11it takes about 20 minutes' walking to burn off a biscuit.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15People need to be encouraged to increase their physical activity,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17and I am not talking here
0:27:17 > 0:27:20about the necessity to go to the gymnasium every day,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24I'm talking about increasing everyday physical activity,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28walking at every opportunity there is to walk,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31whether that be in work, whether it be at home,
0:27:31 > 0:27:33whether it be during leisure time.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36But the amount of physical activity you need to do
0:27:36 > 0:27:40to burn off a biscuit, let's say, is immense,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43and it's painful, it's dreary.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Walking off a biscuit takes 20 minutes.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49WHISPERS: I don't want to do it, I don't want to do it.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Well, I think this is a conscious decision
0:27:52 > 0:27:55that people need to make, and I hear this argument all the time,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59that you need to burn - to expend 100 kilocalories
0:27:59 > 0:28:01you need to do an awful lot of exercise,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05but my point is, it needs to be regular,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08it needs to be repetitive, it needs to be daily -
0:28:08 > 0:28:10is the key, I think, to energy balance.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Tredegar Ironsides Rugby Football Club
0:28:14 > 0:28:17was founded nearly 70 years ago - as, they put it,
0:28:17 > 0:28:22"A club built by returning heroes from the Second World War".
0:28:22 > 0:28:26Still heroes today, young men participating,
0:28:26 > 0:28:30exercising - though these days they struggle to get the players.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35The culture these days - a lot of kids like to watch sport,
0:28:35 > 0:28:36but it's that culture
0:28:36 > 0:28:39where they've got all the hi-tech mod cons in the house
0:28:39 > 0:28:42and they've got everything they believe they want,
0:28:42 > 0:28:43their social media network sites,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46they spend most of their day on that talking about things,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49but when it actually comes up to get up and do something
0:28:49 > 0:28:50they prefer to be at their home
0:28:50 > 0:28:52in front of their computer, unfortunately.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57WHISTLE BLOWS Let's go, come on.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00These men are committed to keep the side going,
0:29:00 > 0:29:05but they're also fathers who know how hard it is to get kids active.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08You're a teacher. Yeah. What are the kids in your school
0:29:08 > 0:29:10doing with their spare time,
0:29:10 > 0:29:11are they playing rugby, or what?
0:29:11 > 0:29:12There's a few playing rugby,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16at the minute, for the local teams in Ebbw Vale, a few over in Tredegar,
0:29:16 > 0:29:18but generally, you know, it's PlayStation,
0:29:18 > 0:29:20it's just things in the house really.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23I guess they are not getting out and about as much as we did
0:29:23 > 0:29:24when we were kids.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28Like, I grew up in a roughish area and we always went out and played,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31but, I think, with now - the way the society is,
0:29:31 > 0:29:33and people coming to the community that you don't really know,
0:29:33 > 0:29:37there is that element where you think, strangers...
0:29:37 > 0:29:38Where I used to go out and do whatever,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40I don't think I'd let my children do that now,
0:29:40 > 0:29:41I got to be honest,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44because just for the fact that - you don't know who's about.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49It can be a bit windy above Tredegar
0:29:49 > 0:29:52at the very top of the Valley.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53For many youngsters,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57it's clear that staying in the warm indoors is more attractive.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59Why kick a ball in the cold,
0:29:59 > 0:30:04when you could fatten your backside by clicking a video-game control?
0:30:04 > 0:30:06But today's couch athletes
0:30:06 > 0:30:09are more likely to become tomorrow's patients.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20So, what can be done?
0:30:20 > 0:30:22This year, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson
0:30:22 > 0:30:25was asked to chair a review by the Welsh Assembly
0:30:25 > 0:30:29looking at the best way to get children more physically active.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32She's got very definite ideas.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36The report's quite radical, because we have one recommendation,
0:30:36 > 0:30:38and that was very deliberate so that, you know,
0:30:38 > 0:30:40we couldn't just have it all top-sliced
0:30:40 > 0:30:41and nothing actually change.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44If we want to change obesity, we need to do something right now,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47not put it off into the distance. So, we want PE to be a core subject,
0:30:47 > 0:30:51and underneath that we want teachers to have really good experience
0:30:51 > 0:30:54and be properly trained in how to deliver physical literacy,
0:30:54 > 0:30:57which is all the basics that make up physical activity in sport,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00because, actually, parents don't play with their children in the same way,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02kids aren't allowed out, you know,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05to play outside their houses in the same way that they used to.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08And, you know, we have to make sure that especially girls
0:31:08 > 0:31:11have all the skills so that they're fit and healthy for much longer.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15But kids do do gym, as I'd still call it - PE in school,
0:31:15 > 0:31:19it's still pretty well a core subject, might not be technically,
0:31:19 > 0:31:22but it still happens. So what's the problem?
0:31:22 > 0:31:24Children are doing PE in school,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27but is it being delivered to the absolute best level?
0:31:27 > 0:31:28There are some great schools,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31but the reality is, the absolute worst-case scenario is,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33most primary-school teachers are women,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36most girls drop out of doing sport between 9 and 11.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Their experience of PE in school would have probably been pretty bad
0:31:39 > 0:31:42and then they are lucky if they get four hours' instruction
0:31:42 > 0:31:43in how to deliver PE.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46And probably while they're doing their teacher training
0:31:46 > 0:31:49they wouldn't have taught PE and wouldn't have been measured on it.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51So suddenly you've got these people trying to teach PE to 30 kids,
0:31:51 > 0:31:53which is unbelievably difficult.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56And to make it a good experience for every single one
0:31:56 > 0:31:57is a massive challenge.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01And we also have to be aware, you know, if there's a 40-minute lesson,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04that it's not OK to waste ten minutes either end changing -
0:32:04 > 0:32:07you know, that actually all they're doing is ten minutes of exercise.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Why do you feel so strongly?
0:32:09 > 0:32:12I feel so strongly because I don't want to see a Welsh nation
0:32:12 > 0:32:17which is unfit and unhealthy, that spends more money with the NHS
0:32:17 > 0:32:19than putting it into things that could be better.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21And, actually, as a Welsh nation,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23if we want to compete on the worldwide stage,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26we need to have people who are fit and healthy and able to deliver.
0:32:33 > 0:32:40Imagine a world where children liked exercising and didn't eat sweets.
0:32:40 > 0:32:46One school in Bridgend has tried to turn that dream into reality.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53We operate a healthy eating policy,
0:32:53 > 0:32:57we don't allow children to bring sweets, chocolates
0:32:57 > 0:33:01or anything that we would call fflwcs, then,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04for want of a better word, to school.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08We've also seen a huge difference to the amount of litter on the yard,
0:33:08 > 0:33:10crisps aren't allowed either.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14Now, some children bring packed lunches to school,
0:33:14 > 0:33:19and we encourage parents to give them a healthy, substantial lunchbox,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22and then the rest of the children will take school dinners.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25And the county, as many counties in Wales,
0:33:25 > 0:33:28have now moved towards healthy menus.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32Or, having said that, we do have chips on a Friday for a treat,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36but usually there is a balanced meal there.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47The school's healthy-eating policy is backed up by exercise.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51The statutory requirement in primary schools
0:33:51 > 0:33:53is 40 minutes a week for games,
0:33:53 > 0:33:5640 minutes for gymnastics or dancing.
0:33:56 > 0:34:01But here there are lots of extra after-school activities.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Doing that is the enjoyable part of it, we do so much,
0:34:04 > 0:34:07there are rugby clubs, football clubs, netball clubs,
0:34:07 > 0:34:12cross-country clubs, and they take place mostly outside school hours,
0:34:12 > 0:34:14and if we didn't do that,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17I think the children would suffer, to be honest with you.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20We do it with the hope that afterwards
0:34:20 > 0:34:23they might pursue their own interests and go outside school
0:34:23 > 0:34:26and join rugby clubs or athletics clubs, you know,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29and to do it that way, really.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Driving the school's approach are the teachers.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38Games these days are surrounded by safety regulations
0:34:38 > 0:34:43that make plain exercise a bureaucratic obstacle course.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46It is in the back of our minds, to be honest,
0:34:46 > 0:34:50and I'm sure some teachers probably opt out of taking part
0:34:50 > 0:34:53so much in sport and giving the opportunity to their children
0:34:53 > 0:34:56because we have to fill in forms,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59we have to have parental consent if we take the children off the campus
0:34:59 > 0:35:03at any time, but, as we say, we have to push that to one side,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06because if we did think of things like that
0:35:06 > 0:35:08we wouldn't do any sport after school.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13What we may be seeing here is a change in cultural attitudes
0:35:13 > 0:35:15towards our weight.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19The hope is that it starts in one school and then moves to another,
0:35:19 > 0:35:21and before you know it, we're all doing it.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31These kids are lucky enough to have good playing fields.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34But all the effort would be wasted
0:35:34 > 0:35:37if they didn't have the right facilities when they leave school.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43This terrific-looking building is the Phoenix Community Centre
0:35:43 > 0:35:47in Fishguard, where people come together to exercise, certainly -
0:35:47 > 0:35:50but also just to have fun.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54It's used by sports clubs, a brass band, WeightWatchers.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57Until retiring recently I was in sports development
0:35:57 > 0:36:01for over 25 years, and I would say the biggest change
0:36:01 > 0:36:04in that has been the shift away from school-based sport
0:36:04 > 0:36:08to being much more reliant on the clubs and the voluntary structure.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13And that has brought with it a number of problems.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17So, although there would apparently be more awareness
0:36:17 > 0:36:21about the need for exercise, I think there is an awareness about that,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25in terms of facilities and the social infrastructure
0:36:25 > 0:36:30to accommodate it, I think there is a major problem.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33For the overwhelming majority of us,
0:36:33 > 0:36:36sport is a vehicle for regular exercise,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40that we have to enjoy in order to continue to be motivated to do it,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43so that's the key, how do you get that motivation?
0:36:43 > 0:36:45What's the answer?
0:36:45 > 0:36:49In a nutshell, I think it's the social enjoyment
0:36:49 > 0:36:54of doing things together in groups, and as part of the community.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57If it's part of the community,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00part of the school, part of the local club, then you can do it,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03I don't think you can do it just by moralising at people
0:37:03 > 0:37:05and saying, "You, individually, are inferior
0:37:05 > 0:37:08"because you are not exercising regularly."
0:37:08 > 0:37:10You've got to provide a way of life
0:37:10 > 0:37:12that engages them in regular activity.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17The Phoenix is a public community centre, not some fancy private club.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21It was built by grants as well as by local people just raising money.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25Public funds, certainly, but also determined people.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27What strikes me is, a lot of people moan.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30They say, "Oh, the Government's not doing enough,
0:37:30 > 0:37:32"the schools don't do enough,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35"all those kids, they sit on their backsides all day..." Yeah.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38But, actually, this is fabulous. You've done it.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41Yes, but, er... What do you mean, "Yes, but"?
0:37:41 > 0:37:45You exude energy and enthusiasm, despite yourself.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47And is that the key?
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Yeah, I mean, obviously you do need that,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53and I suppose to be objective about it,
0:37:53 > 0:37:55I mean, one of the things we benefited from,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59because we've had so many different sports and clubs pull together,
0:37:59 > 0:38:03we actually had a big pool of volunteers to draw on,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06so when it came to submitting funding applications
0:38:06 > 0:38:09we had a lot of expertise to draw on.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12Our lottery application, we did a word count, ran to 100,000 words.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16It's like writing a PhD! You need a lot of expertise to do that,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19rather than you standing here, saying, "Yes, you've done this,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22"and this is so exceptional," what we should be discussing
0:38:22 > 0:38:25is why isn't every community having facilities like this?
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Cos that's what's really needed if we want to make a difference
0:38:28 > 0:38:30on a national scale, it's got to happen on a national scale -
0:38:30 > 0:38:32not one or two good examples.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42The world over, politicians have a tendency to nag.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45Everywhere, it's now the vogue for them to intervene
0:38:45 > 0:38:47to try to save us from ourselves.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50In New York, Mayor Bloomberg is trying to regulate
0:38:50 > 0:38:54against super-sized, super-sugary drinks.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57This is the single biggest step any city, I think,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59has ever taken to curb obesity,
0:38:59 > 0:39:03certainly not the last step that lots of cities are going to take,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06and we believe that WILL help save lives.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08The Bloomberg administration in New York City
0:39:08 > 0:39:11has been way out front of other jurisdictions
0:39:11 > 0:39:13in taking action on obesity.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16They were the first to require calories to be labelled
0:39:16 > 0:39:19on restaurant menus, they've had a variety
0:39:19 > 0:39:23of very hard-hitting public education campaigns
0:39:23 > 0:39:25that have helped address the obesity problem,
0:39:25 > 0:39:29and I think they have been leaders, and that's clear leaders.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32Now, the one area that's been most controversial,
0:39:32 > 0:39:35and which is now embroiled in legal action,
0:39:35 > 0:39:39was the proposal to restrict portion sizes for sugar beverages,
0:39:39 > 0:39:40which, by the way, I think -
0:39:40 > 0:39:42aside from whatever legal problems there are -
0:39:42 > 0:39:44makes very good public health sense.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Sugared beverages are the category of food most strongly related to risk
0:39:48 > 0:39:52for obesity and diabetes, much stronger than any other category
0:39:52 > 0:39:55of food, with exception, perhaps, of fast food.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58And we know from science that the larger the portion sizes are,
0:39:58 > 0:40:00the more people consume -
0:40:00 > 0:40:03but they generally don't realise that they consume more.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06So, restricting portion sizes of sugared beverages
0:40:06 > 0:40:08makes all the sense in the world.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13Kelly Brownell likens the battle against obesity
0:40:13 > 0:40:16to the social changes in attitudes
0:40:16 > 0:40:19that happened in the campaign against smoking.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22The biggest public health victory of the last century
0:40:22 > 0:40:24was the war against smoking,
0:40:24 > 0:40:27and fewer than half the people now smoke in the United States
0:40:27 > 0:40:30than used to, and you can count the lives saved by the millions.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34A number of things contributed to that - the most important thing
0:40:34 > 0:40:35was the high taxes on cigarettes.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38What happened was that the culture changed,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41people began to see the tobacco companies for what they are,
0:40:41 > 0:40:45and this gave government permission to go ahead and act
0:40:45 > 0:40:46on things like taxes.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57Aneurin Bevan's health service was set up
0:40:57 > 0:41:00when hunger and being underweight was the big worry.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05Now, it's the disease of abundance - obesity.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09So, should governments do more about the new scourge?
0:41:09 > 0:41:12After all, the taxpayer will have to pick up the bill
0:41:12 > 0:41:14for the consequences.
0:41:16 > 0:41:17So do we need more nannying?
0:41:17 > 0:41:22More out-and-out regulation in our lives?
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Maybe the thing to do is to tell people,
0:41:26 > 0:41:30you can eat yourself sick, literally so in later life,
0:41:30 > 0:41:33and then maybe you move down the waiting list for treatment
0:41:33 > 0:41:35from the health service, that kind of thing -
0:41:35 > 0:41:39put a proper penalty on it, put a proper cost on it.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41I'm not in favour of penalising people in that way,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44but I am in favour of something that, here in Cardiff,
0:41:44 > 0:41:46in the Cardiff and Vale Health Board, for example,
0:41:46 > 0:41:50now if you present yourself for an operation
0:41:50 > 0:41:53and because of your weight you are less likely to benefit
0:41:53 > 0:41:55clinically from that operation,
0:41:55 > 0:41:57then before you are offered that treatment
0:41:57 > 0:42:01you will be expected to go on a weight management course,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03provided for you, free for you to attend,
0:42:03 > 0:42:05convenient for you to get to, and so on.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08But if you don't put yourself in a position
0:42:08 > 0:42:11where that treatment will be effective,
0:42:11 > 0:42:13then that treatment won't be available to you.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16I'm quite prepared, myself, to take radical action
0:42:16 > 0:42:19where we think that it's possible and necessary
0:42:19 > 0:42:22to create the conditions in which people can eat healthily,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25aware that in other parts of the world, for example,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28attempts have been made to limit the supply of fizzy drinks -
0:42:28 > 0:42:31you'll know that there are sometimes real legal difficulties with that,
0:42:31 > 0:42:35there's an industry here, and in New York where Mayor Bloomberg
0:42:35 > 0:42:37proposed a law of exactly this sort,
0:42:37 > 0:42:39he's mired in the courts
0:42:39 > 0:42:43because the industry is determined not to allow that to happen.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46So there are more than one set of pressures in the system here,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50but where we can, and where it is sensible to do so,
0:42:50 > 0:42:52I am not afraid of using the law
0:42:52 > 0:42:54to create the conditions that we want to see
0:42:54 > 0:42:56in order to make sure we succeed.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01We've all got our excuses for eating too much
0:43:01 > 0:43:03or not getting out to exercise.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06One more biscuit won't hurt, will it?
0:43:06 > 0:43:09Just one more wafer-thin mint.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11The gym's too expensive.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Or there aren't any exercise facilities nearby.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21"No facilities for exercise"?!
0:43:21 > 0:43:26Please, this is the best facility for exercise
0:43:26 > 0:43:28on the whole of this planet.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30It's the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path,
0:43:30 > 0:43:36but these "facilities for exercise" exist all over Wales, and for free.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40It is, it seems for me, a matter of personal choice,
0:43:40 > 0:43:41a matter of decision.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44We can either decide to move our legs
0:43:44 > 0:43:47or we can choose to sit on our backsides.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Yes, we're bombarded with delicacies and temptations
0:43:54 > 0:43:56by the food industry -
0:43:56 > 0:44:00an abundance of ultra-cheap food, packaged for attention.
0:44:00 > 0:44:05But we can choose what to put in our mouths.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08We all pick up the bill for ill-health.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10But one thing is clear.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14We decide what we eat - and we live with the consequences.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd