Contemplating One's Navel.

When contemplating one's navel, the big question today is whether those doing the contemplating can actually see their navel without looking in the mirror.

In order to get the necessary exercise, I often take a stroll along a beach close to where I live, and now the summer season has started they are beginning to fill up with sun worshippers from far and wide.

It really is an amazing sight to see so many bloated bodies turning bright red in the sun. It brought to mind the sight of elephant seals basking in the sun on some Antarctic shoreline, and made me wonder why people don't look after their bodies the way they used to.

As a young man I delighted in seeing teenage girls with waspish waistlines and slim hips bouncing down the street. It was an everyday occurrence, and when the miniskirt came into fashion, WOW! What a sight that was for a young man's eyes. In those days everyone talked about the 'English Rose'. You may have seen jokes about someone walking into a lamp-post while distracted, well, back then the distraction was well worth the bump, and embarrassment.

I think it must have been around the late seventies, when a noticeable change started to come over young women. Maybe it was the introduction to Europe of that well known American Embassy MacDonald's that started the rot. Either way fast food, and MacDonald's, has a lot to answer for, and not only in Europe, but also the USA where the problem of overweight first became apparent.

For a few years I saw women slowly grow in size until we got to the late eighties/early nineties, when all of a sudden there were obese people everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Huge lumps of fat wobbling down the street left and right, and it was around this time the men started to get it too. But for them, in many cases it was a beer belly. The eighties and nineties were a time of plenty and good for everybody.

Fish and chips (french-fries for our North American readers) are, well used to be, the national dish of Britain. Now of course its more likely to be curry! I always enjoyed some fish and chips, especially in the old days when they were served in newspaper instead of these plasticy things they have now. Way back when, if the Chip Shop was a good one you always got plenty of chips for your money. Now the amount you get is determined by the silly little plastic tray they are served in, and you pay the earth for them.

Sadly, the fish and chip shops have now all been replaced by Indian and Chinese take-aways (so much for progress), but the zest for 'chips' has remained. Walking along the sea-front here watching the English eating during the day, you can see its 'chips with everything', one of the most fattening foods around when eaten regularly. A whole generation has been raised on chips and potato crisps, another fattening delicacy, and now we have long started on the next.

What saddens me the most is to see obese children. Its as if the parents just do not care what their offspring eat these days, just so long as they are quiet. I also have a few theories about this phenomenon but I doubt they would be popular.

Firstly, since the woman of the house now also goes to work, nobody gets to eat properly because she does not have the time, and besides, feeding the younger family members is often left up to the eldest. "Here you are love, here's £5. Get some fish and chips for everyone. Mummy will be back at 6 o'clock." Secondly, there is little time to prepare and cook fresh vegetables and meat, so once again its from the 'Chippy' or a pre-cooked meal from the supermarket.

For the last decade, since 'hipsters' became the fashion, everywhere you see females with their jeans, trousers or skirts just above their fanny with great rolls of fat hanging over the top, and 'love handles' the size of truck tyres. What an attractive picture to turn boy's heads. Well, to be honest it doesn't seem to matter these days because there is nothing else on the menu. I suppose the one good point about all this is, with so little to turn your head at least the lamp-posts are getting a rest.

I do not wish to be cruel, and I certainly do not wish to forget the young men, for in many cases they are just as bad. Look around you, and see how many times you see some young lad of twenty-something with a 'beer belly', and the same can said for most middle-aged.

In current times the English youth seem to be totally occupied with only one form of entertainment, getting drunk. Its like a badge of courage to be worn like a medal." Cor, I had a skin-full last night!", but the sad thing is, the girls are just as bad, and in some cases worse.

Unfortunately, today one sees their parents basking on a sun bed with their bellies sticking up like Everest oblivious to what they are doing to themselves and their children. I despair at many women, who still think they can cavort around in skimpy bikini's with their layers of fat hanging all over the place. I cannot but wonder what they think of themselves when they look in a mirror. "Hmm! Not too bad, I am twenty-eight."

It is difficult to decide where all this will end, but I am sure of one thing. The current higher than average death rate among smokers, quoted so glibly by physicians, will be but a puff of smoke compared to the death rate from heart attacks and the like in twenty to thirty years time.

One has to wonder at what stage the 'wake-up' call will come to the masses in Europe and North America. Personally, I think it will have to come through a new generation, and then by means of education. It is already starting in many schools in Britain, but if the lesson is not continued in the home the message will be lost.

In the meantime some of us have to look down at the sand when walking on the beach for fear of being given the 'come-on' by some huge beached whale who likes your slim tidy looks. Last week I saw a woman of middle-age come out of the water after a swim, and I swear the tide line retreated a whole metre! Honest! Sadly, they all seem to think it's not their fault.

Thankfully there are still some slim people about, and not all are old or middle-aged. To the young girls, and boys, who have decided to look after themselves I say good luck to you, and don't give in. Life will be more pleasant and you'll live a lot longer.

Hopefully tomorrow's growth industry will not be crane construction!

Roy.