May waters down obesity strategy
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- Published: Thursday, 18 August 2016 08:59
- Written by News Editor
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Theresa May overruled the health secretary on tough measures to tackle obesity and insisted that the economy must take priority. Restrictions on advertising and promotional deals on junk food have been removed from the plan, despite Public Health England’s insistence that such steps would be the most effective way to prevent children getting fat. Ministers have been accused of a “shocking abdication” of responsibility and were heavily criticised by doctors, dentists and health groups.
The plan that Mr Hunt had promised would be a “game-changing moment” for health is now described as the “start of a conversation”. The Department of Health document concludes: “We are confident that our approach will reduce childhood obesity while respecting consumer choice, economic realities and, ultimately, our need to eat.”
Some of the strongest criticism came from Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the health select committee and is a former GP, said: “The key message on childhood obesity should have been about the importance of reducing junk calories. In completely removing whole sections from the draft strategy, it is hugely disappointing that the obesity plan puts the interests of the advertising industry ahead of the interests of children. The plan also misses the opportunity to improve children’s diets by reining in the saturation marketing and promotion of junk food.” While welcoming the sugar tax, Dr Wollaston warned that Mrs May risked failing to live up to promises that she made on taking office, saying: “Watered-down strategy is at odds with the pledge to tackle the ‘burning injustice’ of health inequality.”
The BDA has slammed the government's 'relaxed attitude' to combating sugar. It has led calls for joined-up action on sugar, and advocated a package of measures including around taxation, effective public education and changes to advertising and marketing. Mick Armstrong, Chair of the BDA said: “It will take more than half-measures to deal with the sugar crisis. A sugar levy is one thing, but watering down action on junk food advertising and 2-for-1 deals sends entirely the wrong signal to business, parents and health professionals. We require a real strategy from government, one that is willing to address the huge, costly and preventable health inequalities Britain now faces. This isn't rocket science, but we need Ministers to take a lead."
The government’s measures, centred on the sugar tax announced by George Osborne in March, rely on voluntary action by the food and drink industry and are shorn of any restrictions on junk food marketing and advertising. The industry, which has lobbied hard against regulation for months, has undertaken to reduce by 20% the amount of sugar in products such as cereals, desserts, yoghurts and sweets. Schools will be asked to give pupils an extra 30 minutes a day of physical activity, and parents and carers will be encouraged to get their children moving for a further 30 minutes. The public health minister, Nicola Blackwood, said: “Initiatives like this will make a huge difference to children’s health and fitness and we hope our new measures on school sport will help to create future Team GB Olympians.”
But the strategy contains neither of the two measures that Public Health England (PHE) said would have the most impact on the childhood obesity epidemic:
- Banning price-cutting promotions of junk food in supermarkets, such as multipacks and buy one get one free, as well as promotion of unhealthy food to children in restaurants, cafes and takeaways.
- Restricting advertising of unhealthy food high in salt, fat and sugar to children through family TV programmes such as Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor, as well as on social media and websites.
The story has been extensively run in the media, in particular by the Guardian and The Times.
The Guardian story can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/gvschv4
The Times story at: http://tinyurl.com/gw2e9dl
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