With around 25% of all UK adults having a BMI of 30 and over....

OK, so if the buck stopped with you and you were told that the obesity problem of the United Kingdom was to fall under your remit and thus it was your problem, what would you do about it? It seems that pussy footing around and procrastination are not the way forward as the UK government has found out recently with the recent release of figures from the EU showing that the UK is one of the fattest and most obese nations of Europe. It is becoming more and more obvious that unless drastic measures are taken soon the UK will have an ever increasing obesity bill as the NHS will have to spend millions on health care for the obese and the productivity of the nation will suffer.

With around 25% of all UK adults having a BMI of 30 and over the resultant health costs are more than those for smoking, drinking and poverty put together at £3.7billion. If the figures continue to rise it is likely that the UK will be on par with America having an obesity figure of 33% and a very large number of overweight and obese children too.

At Ukmedix we have been throwing ideas around on this subject all day and a major factor to remember with the obesity problem in the United Kingdom and America is that it affects the poorer people far more than the richer people. So by telling people to go to the gym and getting personal trainers you are not going to do much good. Also it should also be remembered that fast food is favoured by the poor people because not only is it tasty but it is very cheap so it should be remembered that telling a family to eat healthily may well end up meaning bland and boring food and a higher food budget.

The majority of us in the newsroom felt that legislation was needed to stop the sales of unhealthy food and this could come in the way of special fat taxes that would tax unhealthy and fattening foods from supermarkets and restaurants all over the UK. The taxes could be used to subsidise healthier food and thus make and added incentive for poorer people to eat it.

A big advertising campaign by the government is needed to promoted what is healthy and what is not and while many people think it is obvious about what makes you put on weight and what does not there are a lot of uneducated adults out there when it comes to nutrition and food and they need to be educated. Every penny spent in reducing the obesity burden of the UK is money well spent as the cost for the future of healthcare are going to be huge when the present generation of children grow up and start to develop obesity related problems.