“I don’t like being outdoors Smithers, for one thing, there’s too many fat children,” Mr Burns (The Simpsons).

THIS week the battle against childhood obesity took another sinister turn with suggestions that babies should be pumped full of appetite suppressing hormones to stop them over- eating and becoming overweight adults.
Doctors said the “miracle solution” to the nation’s fat epidemic could be to pump baby milk full of the hormone leptin, which is known to suppress appetite.
They claimed that doing so at such an early age would permanently alter that child’s appetite for the rest of their - what would surely become - miserable lives and then with the development of a weight-control drug based on this mechanism they would be able to control the nation’s appetite within five to 10 years.
SCARY.
Now while I sometimes wonder whether my own leptin levels are functioning properly, I was horrified at the thought of newborns being fed any hormone - let alone one that would affect their appetites for their entire life.
What about the saying “having a healthy appetite?”
Having an appetite is not what makes people fat.
Having an appetite for food is what we all need to keep our bodies nourished and functioning properly.
Food is not only ones of life’s most basic requirements but is also one of life’s biggest pleasures that nobody should be deprived of.
When we over eat it is not because we have a ravenous appetite.
Research into why people snack and over indulge has found that it is triggered by factors other than hunger such as boredom, habit, stress, comfort or because someone has offered you food. (And after being presented with ANOTHER blueberry muffin today I secretly suspect that one of my colleagues is a feeder! You know who you are!)
Personal training clients in the past, who have been asked to keep food diaries for me not only write down what they eat and when but most importantly why.
Interesting entries have included one lady who ate half of a family size cheesecake when her fella dumped her and one chap who ate a pack of Jaffa cakes and almost half a block of cheese because “there was nothing on the television.”
Another client could eat healthily all week until her husband would come home from work on a Friday with beer, take away curry and a giant bar of Dairy Milk for afterwards.
It wasn’t that she was hungry or couldn’t control her appetite. That was their Friday night routine and one that they very much enjoyed.
I believe the secret lies in understanding the triggers that make you over eat, in damage limitation and in breaking bad habits.
This particular client swapped the beer for gin and low-calorie tonic, opted for a healthier curry and ditched the post-curry Dairy Milk for a spot of post-curry lovin’ with her partner.
She still got to enjoy her Friday night curry and didn’t feel she was depriving herself. And with those early nights in bed she even managed to burn off a few extra calories!

Top tips for banishing boredom eating:

Eat more protein - it leaves you feeling fuller for longer.
When you feel hungry drink a large glass of water - sometimes cravings are triggered by dehydration.
Hunger pangs come in waves. Wait 20 minutes and if it doesn’t pass then make yourself a healthy snack.
Don’t buy tempting foods and tell your partner not too either. If its not in the fridge you won’t eat it and if you are prepared to get in your car in the rain and drive to the shop to get a bar of chocolate then you are welcome to it.
Chew gum.
Clean your teeth. You will be less inclined to snack and chocolate doesn’t taste so good afterwards.
Keep a food dairy. Work out what triggers your over eating and think of ways you can break these habits.

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