Forum Brief: Obesity

The Commons health select committee has attacked the government, food industry and advertisers for failing to tackle rising levels of obesity.

Government Response: Department of Health

John Reid, health secretary, said: "We share the committee's concern about the seriousness of the health impact of obesity. It is one of the key issues which will be addressed in our white paper on public health later this year.

"We recognise that these issues are not just a matter for government - they involve individuals and the choices they make, as well as the food and leisure industry.

"However, we at the Department of Health are already working closely with colleagues across government including education, culture, media and sport, transport, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Food Standards Agency, to encourage and enable people to eat more nutritious food and take more exercise.

"We have set up a cross-government Cabinet committee under my chairmanship to take this work forward, and address wider public health issues.

"We will consider the recommendations in this report carefully and it is a valuable contribution to the consultation process we are using to inform our white paper.

"We recognise this report may stimulate further debate and in order to ensure everyone can have their say we are extending the consultation period, which was due to finish at the end of May, for another month until the end of June."

Party Response: Conservative

Tim Yeo, shadow secretary for health and education, said: "The report reconfirms our long held concern that Labour has failed to tackle the problem of obesity.

"After seven years in office, and a disastrously muddled attitude to public health, it's time the government gave this crucial issue the attention it deserves. The implementation of a joined up cross departmental approach so that education, transport, environment and home office policies all support public health goals is long overdue.

"Last year, we called for a public health commissioner to ensure this was delivered. Sadly Labour has preferred to leave responsibility in the hands of a junior minister who has many other duties."

Party Response: Liberal Democrat

Paul Burstow, Lib Dem health spokesman, said: "During this government’s watch, obesity has reached epidemic proportions. The report makes it clear that obesity will soon challenge smoking as the number one preventable cause of disease and death in this country.

"There is no magic wand solution to this health crisis. We all have personal responsibility for our diet and fitness but the food industry must not shirk its responsibility.

"A mandatory 'traffic light' labelling system would allow people to take back control of their diet and help parents combat pester power. This is not a 'nanny state' measure it is giving people the information they need.

"One of the key battlegrounds in the fight against obesity is school: in the classrooms, the canteen, and the playground. Loosening the grip of high-sugar fizzy drink vending machines and making good nutrition central to the standards for school meals could help win converts to healthy eating.

"Minister have been slow to wake up to the scale of the obesity crisis. What is required from government is a sense of urgency and determination to implement a strategy to first check and then reverse obesity rates.

"The select committee offer a critique of government inaction, an analysis of the problem and a practical set of recommendations. It is time the government ended the dither and delay."

Forum Response: British Retail Consortium

Kevin Hawkins, director general of the BRC, said: "Policy should be based on sound science. By demonising certain foods, the report's recommendations ignore the advice of the UK's best nutritionists who have warned them that there are no good or bad foods, only good and bad diets.

"The 'traffic light' approach leads to artificial segregation of foods by attacking staples of our diet such as meat and dairy products. Such wrong thinking has no scientific underpinning and could lead to serious unforeseen consequences for individuals such as a dangerous fall in their iron or calcium intake. It could also lead to an increase in eating disorders.

"If 'traffic light' labelling was adopted, it could mean some consumers actually become less healthy, as has happened in Sweden where 'traffic lighting' has been the law for some time.

"The government must develop a national consumer education campaign with clear, consistent messages in order to promote weight management as part of a healthy lifestyle."

Forum Response: Consumers' Association

Sue Davies, principal policy adviser at the Consumers' Association, said: "This stark warning clearly spells out the implications to government if the climate of procrastination and inaction continues. These recommendations will help tackle many of the barriers that make it so difficult for people to lead healthy lifestyles and must be implemented immediately.

"The health committee has been generous to industry, allowing three years for it to get its act together, but we've seen little evidence to date that industry is ready to accept this responsibility.

"As the report shows, most of the industry is still unwilling to acknowledge that some foods are unhealthy. We are sceptical, for example, about its ability to voluntarily withdraw advertising of food high in sugar, fat and salt to children."

Forum Response: National Consumers Council

Deirdre Hutton, chair of the National Consumer Council, said:"We need to tackle obesity head-on, with coherent strategy, tough decisions and political leadership.

"With obesity now costing the nation £7.4 billion per year, there’s a strong argument for the Treasury to take a lead in driving change. Government should also put its house in order and using its buying power to improve diets – whether in schools, the health service, armed forces or prisons.

"This report sends a clear message that the food and advertising industry must change. Food companies and retailers need to take real responsibility for the food they make and how they market it.

"Many of us are asking whether it’s time for some unhealthy foods to be taken off the shelves. At the very least they need to reduce fat, sugar and salt across the board and bring healthier options into the mainstream.

"People need labelling that works for them - few of us have the time in a busy life to study the detail - and we are pleased to see the recommendation for a ‘traffic light system’. The food industry will always come up with reasons why this won’t work but it simply needs to pass the common sense test and make it easier for people to make healthier choices."

Forum Response: Health Development Agency

Paul Streets, chief executive of the Health Development Agency, said: "The health committee has produced a damning report on obesity, and rightly so. Obesity poses a massive risk to the health of the nation and we're facing a race against time to stop this problem becoming a national disaster.

"Prevention is better than cure - ideally we should be striving for a society where there is no inappropriate weight gain in the first place, to stem the tide of obesity and related ill-health.

"We therefore welcome the report's recommendation for a framework on preventing and treating obesity within the NHS. The HDA's evidence briefing on management of obesity found that reminders to GPs on prescribing a healthy diet and hospitals using in-patient opportunities to introduce healthier diets to obese patients are some of the approaches that should be supported.

"This evidence will inform the HDA's collaboration with NICE on the development of clinical guidance for the NHS on the identification, prevention and management of obesity, including maintenance of weight loss.

"A key issue that needs specific mention is health inequalities. Levels of obesity are up to twice as high among women in disadvantaged groups, children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to suffer weight problems and there is a higher prevalence in some ethnic groups and in different regions across the country.

"Individual choice is often blamed as the cause of obesity. However, it's vital to remember disadvantaged people may not have a choice - whether it be the cost of eating healthily, having transport to reach shops selling fresh fruit and veg or having access to safe places to be physically active.

"In addition, we live in an 'obesogenic' environment - a plethora of fast food outlets, reliance on cars, and couch potato pastimes. We therefore welcome the health committee's emphasis on the need for a multi-faceted approach, with responsibility lying with departments across government, not just health.

"Actions must be joined up at national level, and this will need to be clearly linked to regional and local services and action. The suggested co-ordinating council for public health would have a role here, and the HDA is well placed to support cross-sector partnership working and getting the evidence of what works into practice.

"We support restrictions on advertising to young children, but a coherent approach is needed that includes promotions in schools, sponsorship schemes and magazines. HDA evidence found that both schools and parents have an important role to play in preventing and tackling obesity, both through a whole school approach, as advocated by the National Healthy School Standard, and by involving the whole family in adopting healthier lifestyles."

Forum Response: Canderel

A spokesman for Canderel said: "Canderel welcomes the publication of the health select committee’s report on obesity, in particular the committee’s conclusions on the need for better labelling of food products. Canderel support any initiative which makes food labelling a priority in the aim to tackle obesity in the UK.

"We believe that consumers are not currently well served by the labelling of some food products and are not receiving clear and unambiguous information, which would help them make an informed decision about the foods they choose to eat. Consumers rely on industry to provide accurate, reliable and honest information in their labels and consumer claims on packets.

"There is also a need for product labels to signpost sugar content in foods. This should be linked with consistent and clear sugar intake guidelines, which can raise awareness amongst consumers of their actual sugar intake – including hidden sugars in processed foods."

"There is a much needed debate over high levels of sugar consumption as a major contributing factor to the rise of obesity in the UK. The availability of tested and safe low-calorie sweeteners on the UK market can provide alternatives to sugar. As such, the low-calorie sweetener industry can play its part in tackling obesity."

Forum Response: World Cancer Research Fund

Andrew Trehearne of the WCRF said: "The World Cancer Research Fund applauds the House of Commons report on obesity and warns the public that extra pounds can bring about extra cancer risks.

"The charity fears that if obesity continues to rise, the long term impact on cancer rates is likely to be profound and costly.

"We need to get serious about the obesity epidemic and this report is certainly a good start.

"That means asking ourselves some questions - such as, how is it that we have allowed the food and advertising industry to have such an impact on our children's lives? Why is it that schools are not judged in terms of the physical activity opportunities they provide?

"Children and adults are constantly being bombarded with messages encouraging them to eat high fat, high sugar foods with no real thought of the long term implications. It is no wonder we face an obesity crisis."

Forum Response: British Swimming Pool Federation

Allen Brobyn, managing director of the British Swimming Pool Federation (BSPF) commented: "The report on the obesity epidemic in Britain, by the Commons Select
Committee on Health, warns of a doomsday scenario where thousands lose limbs and sight from fat-related illnesses.  On present trends, half of all children in England in 2020 will be obese.  

"While it is important to improve diet, I am disappointed that all the debate has focused
on food, and very little has been said about the equal importance of increasing levels of exercise, particularly among children.  The benefits of physical activity for all, and the importance of starting in childhood, must
be understood in order that parents create good habits for their children. Swimming is regarded as one of the best forms of exercise as well as being an essential life survival skill.  It is the perfect way of introducing children to the joy of exercise in a fun way.

"The warning from the Commons health select committee is stark and cannot be
ignored by parents.  This will be the first generation where children die before their parents as a consequence of childhood obesity.  People are overeating in relation to their energy needs and children are learning bad habits by eating too much and not incorporating physical pursuits into daily
life in preference for watching television and playing computer games.

"Results from a recent survey commissioned by the BSPF concerning children and swimming showed a majority of parents face difficulties, due to lack of facilities, in getting swimming lessons for their children, although they recognised overwhelmingly the importance of swimming for health and fitness and would support initiatives to provide more pools in primary schools, 20 per cenr of children leave primary school without being able to swim. 

"It is particularly important that children have the opportunity to swim. To ensure this, there needs to be adequate swimming facilities nationwide, especially for primary school children.

"Swimming is a superb way of improving health, increasing cardio-vascular fitness and muscle tone. Additionally, because it is not a high impact form of exercise with the water supporting the body's weight, swimming is equally open to people with disabilities. This makes swimming an ideal exercise for
almost everyone. "