It is well established in most western nations that obesity is linked to poor educational and life circumstances. In the 18th and 19th centuries, being portly was a sign of wealth, yet now it is a sign of relative poverty. That is why I suggested that schools should do far more to promote healthy living.

 The order and regimentation on those photos made me think of Nazi Germany. I suppose the parallels are very clear. 

Yup, no matter how many adverts they make with that annoyingly-voiced bloke saying they only use nice cuts of beef, the fact is that too many McShittyburgers and all the fat/sugar-laden crap that goes with it, aint good for your waistline.

Bit insulting, when various communist-leaning groups led the resistance in most occupied countries (at huge cost).

They're also not usually so structured; here's what it usually looks like

Cash just isn't really a thing in Sweden any more. Even 5-6 years ago when I was at a wedding in Goteborg several bars I went to did not accept cash

São Tomé and Príncipe record first Covid death (Island territory off West Africa)

Agree entirely. In my pipe dream I've always wanted one world with just National borders for sporting events etc. - but we are heading in the opposite direction to the point of having even smaller Countries, even within the UK!

Greggs hope to reopen around 700 of it 2,050 stores from Monday 8th June with the remaining 1,350 stores reopen by Wednesday 1st July when the government's job retention scheme is planned to end.

Ever the Good Samaritan. My daughter used to work for the Medical Foundation for the victims of Torture. Kind people, like doctors, supported this charity to get these victims back to physical and mental health. Most either returned home if their Country if stabilised or tried to work here despite the many obstacles put in front of them. Staff were wonderful kind people living a fulfilled life when they see what they have achieved and with little public support or clapping for them. Hopefully we never get a Government here that will torture your family and kill your children, because if we did you might run away to Germany where hopefully they wouldn't be advocating starving you to death.

Please stop generalising about different groups of human beings

My colleagues evening shift finished here yesterday (building closing soon) and he is now furloughed. I expect this will happen to me on 1st June but what happens after that I don't know

They already do a fair bit - lower years at my secondary school get it rammed down their throats as part of "food technology" (i.e. what used to be called home ec). It's also mentioned in newsletters, assemblies, tutor time (in lieu of assemblies) etc, as well as in PE and biology.

There are two things:

One) nobody cares. I know I didn't when I was at school, I would happily scoff half a pack of custard creams and not think twice about it.

Two) it's easier to get junk stuff than real food. If you go into the village shops in Leysdown, as I've been doing more recently, there's a bakery - good, although they only do white bread. There are two general stores and they mostly offer "ambient" goods - think things like pot pasta, canned food. They have things like (low quality) sausage rolls and pies too, along with mostly white Chorleywood bread. What they don't have is fresh fruit and veg - want a cucumber or lettuce? Sucks to be you. Fancy some carrots? Tinned or get lost. Apples? If you're lucky you might find a slightly shrivelled 4-pack of red "delicious". The closest you'll get to veg generally will be via chips from the chip shop.

The really poor people around here won't be getting on buses and going to Tesco or the farm shop. They won't be ordering online from Iceland and they can't afford the milkman (who delivers priecy organic fruit and veg - I have to say, Tesco's is better!) They won't be asking their neighbours either, as they're in the same boat. If when their kids are at school they're told to eat better - the only reply is likely to be of the four-letter variety.

It's often said at work that the poorest children only eat properly at school, which is why they run a breakfast club too. It's a sad state of affairs, but it's symptomatic of being in a very deprived area.

Meanwhile the more affluent of us will be buying fruit and veg as usual... although bear in mind education and wealth is no gaurantee of being slim, I'm overweight as I eat too much cheese and bread, my dad had a soft spot for pork pies and so on.

Exclusive: Videos show huge medical equipment backlog in China

Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows trucks waiting and medical supplies piling up in warehouses at Shanghai airport.

Speaking anonymously for fear of repercussions for his Chinese staff, the Western shipping agent told Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit: "The degree of bureaucracy that we've encountered in almost every area has been horrendous.

"We've been able to source high-quality PPE. The challenge is getting it out of China and getting it into the country where it's required," the source added.

The huge backlog of exports at China's busiest airport is the result of a "perfect storm" of events that have choked the freight system; tougher Chinese export controls in response to international pressure to weed out sub-standard equipment, huge demand for PPE and a severe shortage of cargo planes.

The logistics expert did not blame Chinese officials for tightening the rules but was concerned by the impact. "They impose almost on a daily basis new criteria that exporters need to adhere to, so you are constantly faced with shifting goalposts. You're just about to load your stuff on the plane then bang - a brand new mandate comes out from the Chinese government, saying, 'Now we now need these stamps and this paperwork in order to export that type of PPE'."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/exclusive-videos-show-huge-medical-equipment-backlog-china-200430120452426.html

Some positive news 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

Air pollution could be another contributing factor, poor people tend to live in more polluted areas and have more damaged lungs. Britain is among the  worst in Europe for lung health and this could be another factor behind our high mortality. 

Momentum to get back to normal as much of day to day living as we can is definitely building.

Our household waste centres are reopening on Monday (with sensible restrictions), and more and more retailers/food outlets that shut completely (even though technically they didn't have to) are also reopening.

I'd expect specific relaxations to be announced next week. Just wish dog groomers were open, our pooch is struggling 

Even though I’m desperate to go to the tip, I’m going to leave it a couple of weeks as I reckon the queues will be horrendous. 

A bit like B&Q when it opened. A flood of people who just HAD to go there for one reason or another!

First death personally known to me. Not close family to me but my son-in-law's cousin. Brings home the affects - he was quite close and is in bits about it. Doesn't sound great either. After having all of the symptoms was told to go to hospital. Not sure which Essex hospital it was but they sent him home yesterday afternoon after examining him. He died in the night apparently.

Had an email yesterday to say someone where I work had died. It said they had told those who he/she worked with but were withholding the name to "protect the privacy of the family". Not much use to those who didn't work with whoever it was but still knew them!

Yes - anecdotally, this is very noticeable here IMO. Affluent areas are visibly "skinnier" than poor areas.

I'm also quite interested in the vitamin-D theory, but it may be that lifestyle and socioeconomic factors swamp this. Africa will be a continent to keep an eye on - far fewer obese people, more exposure to sunlight but possibly poorer nutrition on average? Black people seem to be dying proportionally far more in developed countries - will this be replicated in Africa (hopefully not)?

Nipped out on my 'lunch break' to get a few things from Morrisons. Massive queue, probably upwards of 60 people. 

About a quarter were clearly over 70. Pensioners not tied to time choosing to go shopping at lunchtime when it's a time working people are restricted to pisses me off at the best of times, but why are they choosing one of the busiest times of one of the busiest times during a highly communicable virus that most severely impacts pensioners, to do their fecking weekly shop????

Also, there were about a dozen couples of all ages in the queue. Despite Morrisons saying only one adult and the absolute number of shoppers - not trolleys - is what the restriction is, these self-absorbed shitheads don't care that they slow entrance for everyone, and the Morrisons security supposed to be controlling this doesn't give a hoot. 

Could this be a vitamin D link? It's more difficult for darker skin to absorb vitamin D, not a problem in hot countries but coming out of a northern hemisphere Winter I would think vitamin D deficiency might be quite widespread?

I think this is pretty  universal.  Most "8 til late" local convince shops in urban areas are the same.   If they have fruit and veg, it's so unappetising you would have to be pretty desperate to buy it. It is incredibly difficult to eat well if you rely on these places - and they are actually more expensive than places that sell decent stuff !

Is supply following demand though ?  The local convenience shop in the village has a huge range of good fruit and veg,  Veggy meals, and  all kinds of ingredients.  It's  predominantly a middle class area and demand is obviously there.  I try to use it as it's a bloody good resource.