MPs Say Government's Obesity Plan Is "Doomed to Fail"
The government's promise to "end the obesity epidemic" within a decade is "doomed to fail" unless it urgently reassesses its approach, a committee of MPs has concluded. The health and social care select committee says the plan needs to be led directly by the prime minister.
In its report, the committee found no signs that the "moonshot ambition on obesity" in the 10-year health plan for England will achieve anything significant. More than a year after the pledge to "end the obesity epidemic", basic questions are still unanswered. The MPs named how progress will be measured and how a cross-departmental plan would work.
"While the ambition to 'end the obesity epidemic' is a laudable one, we currently have no faith in the government's commitment to this aim or ability to achieve it."
The report said the government will fail unless action is led from the top and delivery is made a clear, personal priority of the prime minister.
What the MPs want
The committee called for a dedicated cabinet committee on the obesity plan, chaired by the prime minister. It also asked for a "joined-up, cross-government action plan" listing the departments responsible, their planned actions and how these will be funded. The plan should cover prevention and treatment for adults and children.
Ministers should come to parliament within the next three months to set it out, the report said. It also asks for a clear definition of what reducing obesity rates means in practice, plus interim progress markers so MPs can hold ministers to account.
One failing of the current strategy, the report said, is a lack of distinction between preventing future obesity, for example by cracking down on unhealthy foods, and supporting people who already have it. It said conflating the two is "in part responsible for the muddled thinking and lack of progress from successive governments".
Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP who chairs the committee, said an effective plan "will mean standing up to the food industry on numerous points". She listed regulating adverts and promotions for unhealthy food and drink, simpler labelling, supermarket targets to sell more healthy food and restricting fast food outside schools. She said that if the prime minister is not calling the shots, "the moonshot will crash land".
The latest official statistics show that 30% of adults in England live with obesity, and 66% are either overweight or living with obesity. Close to a third of children are estimated to be overweight or living with obesity. Rates for adults and children have risen significantly since the 1990s. The trends have levelled off, but there are no signs of a fall.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing the health service. The government has restricted junk food advertising on television before 9pm and online, banned volume-price promotions on less healthy food and drink, and given councils stronger powers to block new hot food takeaways near schools. It is also expanding access to weight management support, including NHS weight-loss drugs for those with the greatest clinical need, the spokesperson said.
Source: The Guardian