Written by Jane Tucker | Monday, 28 July 2008 | There are 0 comments
the problem would not be solved by “vilifying” obese people.
The Health Secretary of the United Kingdom government Mr. Alan Johnson has set out his vision for dealing with the increasing the epidemic of obesity that is harming the country. In a lecture presented to the Fabian Society Mr. Johnson confirmed the great health threat of obesity but said that the problem would not be solved by “vilifying” obese people.
Mr. Johnson explained the government had a “moral duty” to deal with obesity but at the same time it had to remember that this did not give the government a right to lecture individuals on how they live because in any case this did not actually work.
Mr. Johnson said that a concerted effort to change people’s behaviour had to be delivered intelligently especially as the cost to the nation of treating obesity related illnesses was greatly increasing.
The way forward for the government was a “national movement” which would involve many different sections of society such as the retail industry, the leisure industry, the media industry as well as the government and volunteer organisations playing their part too.
The idea also involves organisations such as the Advertising Association who have committed themselves to promoting healthier lifestyles in a new partnership with food manufacturers such as Kellogg's, Coca-Cola, Kraft, Mars, Nestle, PepsiCo, Tesco and PruHealth. Altogether they have pledged to invest £200 million and the UK government has added a further £75million which will be spent over a three year period before London hosts the Olympics in 2012.
Mr. Johnson explained that the emphasis would be on educating people, especially parents who would be informed of the extent of the damage that obesity does to children. Experts estimate that if current trends continue almost 90 percent of adults and two out of three children will be classified as overweight or obese by 2050.
The ever increasing numbers of obese individuals in the UK could reverse the trend of increasing life expectancy statistics for children being born today.
