DoH backs £75m obesity drive

8 Jan 09
The battle against spiralling obesity rates has been stepped up with a £75m government-backed public health campaign

09 January 2009

By Julie Read The battle against spiralling obesity rates has been stepped up with a £75m government-backed public health campaign. Supported by companies such as Kellogg’s, Tesco and Unilever, the Change4Life campaign will include television adverts warning that too much body fat leads to cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Launching the three-year campaign on January 2, ministers warned that if current trends continued, obese and overweight people would cost English taxpayers £50bn – half the annual NHS budget – by 2050. The initiative follows last year’s Foresight report, which warned the government must act to stop Britain ‘sleepwalking’ into a crisis. The report, the largest UK study of obesity, was backed by the government and compiled by 250 experts. It said excess weight had become the norm in our ‘obesogenic’ society. By 2050, 90% of today’s children will be overweight or obese, it predicted. Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said: ‘The message at the heart of the Change4Life campaign is that there are very serious health consequences associated with allowing dangerous amounts of fat to build up in our bodies.’ Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said only 6% of people understood the health risks of being overweight. ‘Many people see fat as a vanity issue rather than a health issue and they need to see it as a health issue,’ he said. Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said the enthusiasm behind the campaign was welcome. However, he had reservations about whether there would be enough funding in place to match the might of industry. ‘This is the last chance the government has got to make something work – if it doesn’t work, then there’s nothing else one can do.’ He said he was concerned the food and advertising industry was using partnership with government as a way of fending off the threat of legislation. ‘I think legislation will be required if we’re going to nail the problem of obesity.’

PFjan2009

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top