Is what people eat anybody's business?

I read Kirstie Allsopp's "twitter row" about eating today.  For those of you who missed it, this is what was said:

Just saw a guy have a glass of coke, a cappuccino, a croissant and a ham & cheese sandwich for breakfast #OurNHSistoast #worldgonemad

— Kirstie Mary Allsopp (@KirstieMAllsopp) September 28, 2016

So what happened next?  Predictably the world went mad.  Most of the responses were negative.  How very dare she comment on this?

Kirstie Allsopp Twitter Photo

Well what do I think?  Frankly I'm torn.  Would I have posted something on twitter?  No.  Would I even have silently judged?  Actually probably not.  But do I silently judge when I'm waiting in the queue at the supermarket behind someone with nothing green in their shopping trolley?  Hell yes.  Sorry but I do.

But it made me think. While I disagree with what Kirstie said, perhaps we should be less tolerant of poor food choices if we want to improve the health of the nation?  If it was socially unacceptable to not have a single vegetable or fruit with a meal would that not be a better thing?

Ah I'm not sure but it made me think.  Things which harm ourselves or others which are socially unacceptable (or becoming so):

• Smoking
• Driving without a seatbelt
• Drink driving

Things which aren't

• Drinking
• Overeating
• Eating unhealthy foods

I suppose why the double standard?  Are we free to ruin our own lives and health even if that puts more burden on our health service?

I've talked before about the "Eatwell plate" and I don't think it works at all.  Perhaps a few more people saying "this isn't healthy" and explaining why isn't a bad thing.

But it's the implication of fat shaming I have to admit I don't like.  To be fair to Kirstie she never said the person was fat but that is what many people assumed.  While I would love everyone to be as fit and healthy as they can be, that doesn't mean thin (many thin people are very unhealthy) but at the same time, generally people aren't shamed into losing weight anyway.  That leads to guilt, emotional eating etc.

So perhaps there is room to change the narrative but in the most sensitive way we can.

Linked up to Simply Natural Saturday