Today's blog is inspired by my GCSE class where today we discussed the components of a healthy diet. Mainly looking at the three macro components fat, protein and carbohydrates and it was fascinating to observe pupils opinions and thoughts about these foods. Opinions and thoughts which they have developed through media, family and peers influence as well as school.
The most shocking opinion to me is what they associate fat with the automatic thought most people have is crisps, chocolates and sweet. It's also the opinion that fat is bad mainly because of increasing obesity levels and media coverage where fat is portrayed as not a good thing such as weight loss programmes and body image programmes. When we broke fats down to saturated and unsaturated it was new information to most of the class that the real cause of obesity and illness a like is these saturated fats and they are more found in products like cooking oil and butters. Which lead me to think are young people, parents and adults educated well enough about food and healthy eating.
The second interesting thing I discovered was how most pupils, and I think this applies to adults as well presume fat is just totally bad and a healthy sportsman has very little in their diet. This lead me to think of Michael Phelps and how he eat pizza or a McDonalds meal after every race in the 2008 Olympics to provide his body with the quick release energy it needed in preparation for the next race. Fat generally gets a bad rapport and rightly so because too much of it and certainly the right types and the consequences are ones we are all to familiar with.
I think though that more people need to understand that not all fat is bad and actually the opposite it is good and needed. It would also be interesting to hear a professional sportsmen discuss the role fat plays in their diet because I think it would shock a lot of people as well as have a positive impact in not over using it.
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