Government urges 'lifestyle revolution' to combat obesity » Central Government » 24dash.com

Britain needs a "lifestyle revolution" driven by local communities to conquer obesity, the Government said today.

Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said obesity posed a "grave threat" to families but warned that the Government could only take limited action.

She was speaking a year after the Foresight report predicted that 90% of adults and two thirds of all children would be overweight or obese by 2050.

The Government-commissioned report, which took scientists two years to complete, found that modern society had created an "obesogenic environment".

Opening a Commons debate, Ms Primarolo said the prognosis for Britain was "truly frightening".

Three in five cases of Type 2 diabetes and one in five of all heart disease cases would be caused by obesity within a generation if action was not taken, she said.

She told MPs: "Change in behaviour is not something we can do either from the Department of Health or indeed from Whitehall or this House.

"We need a lifestyle revolution driven not from above but from below and embracing all aspects of a person's life.

"It means everyone, schools, councils, local businesses, charities and community groups must play a role in helping people make space for the little things that can make a big difference."

On Tuesday, Health Secretary Alan Johnson launched the Government's Change4Life programme, for which more than 12,000 businesses, charities and local groups agreed to promote healthy living.

Research for the Health Department found most parents were blind to the growing problem of obesity, with almost nine out of ten failing to recognise that their children were overweight or obese.

Ms Primarolo said that on paper the prescription was "simple" - to eat a little less and to exercise a little more. But this was a difficult challenge because people lived such hectic lives.

Making the big lifestyle changes was a question of "access and opportunity and will", she said.

The Government had already taken important steps to help combat obesity.

Ministers had allocated GBP65 million to local NHS Primary Care Trusts to help to identify, monitor and support obese patients.

It was important to take steps to improve parks, build new cycle routes, introduce cooking classes to schools and encourage children to do sport but this had to be driven from inside communities.

Ms Primarolo said: "It's not about interfering in people's lives, it's not about creating a nanny state.

"But neither are we prepared to neglect the issues that face us or hide behind vague notions of nudging people to better health.

"Quite simply the cost of inaction, the cost of ill health, is too great."

For the Liberal Democrats, John Pugh said obesity levels had increased across the world. Most industrialised nations seemed to have the problem and it was mainly concentrated in the "urban poor".

People did go to the gym after work and went for jogs when the mood took them but the Government should not rely on the "individual will".

Mr Pugh said: "If you had to assess the value for money of the slimming industry, I think you'd arrive at some pretty grim conclusions."

But he also urged ministers to be careful about making children concentrate too much on food at a young age, which could lead to eating disorders.

Tory former minister Alistair Burt (Bedfordshire NE) said he understood why the Government did not want to "fingerwag" families on obesity but said they were still picking up a "substantial bill" for the effects of it.

Obesity led to heart disease, strokes, some forms of cancer and diabetes, Mr Burt said.

Despite all these risks, the prevalence of obesity in England trebled between 1980 and 2002 - this was an "extraordinary increase".

On the "lecturing" of people on the dangers of being overweight, Mr Burt told the Minister: "On some occasions I think you're entitled to. You're picking up the bill for obesity, we're all picking up the bill for obesity.

"In some cases people can actually do something about it by themselves."

Independent Andrew Pelling (Croydon Central) said it was important to tackle the problem without stigmatising the obese.

He said: "It is important that we realise that many people suffer from obesity for reasons of genetics or metabolism rather than greed.

"It is not acceptable for us to take the approach of bullying the 'school fatty' or alternatively society having a view that implies obesity means slowness of gait or slowness of wit or mind."

Labour's Howard Stoate, a practising GP, said: "What is so shocking about this subject is not just the scale of the problem, it is the speed and trajectory at which this problem is becoming a major disaster for Britain and for the wider world."

Dr Stoate (Dartford) called for "more robust action" on restricting advertising of unhealthy foods and urged producers to reduce salt and fat levels.

Shadow health minister Mike Penning said legislation alone couldn't end the growing problem of obesity.

There needed to be a proper partnership between communities, business and government.

"Personal responsibility is absolutely crucial," he said. "We cannot be a nanny state. The public will just look the other way."

Mr Penning condemned as "abhorrent" the fashion industry's constant promotion of size zero figures.

He urged schools to make unused facilities available to sports clubs in the evening so that more young people could take up healthy activities,
adding: "I can't think of a better way of keeping fit than bringing boxing back into schools."

Winding up the debate, Ms Primarolo said people needed reliable, simple and accurate information on food labels.

The Government preferred to see voluntary agreement with the food industry but had made clear that if progress could not be made it will "consider other methods".

The debate ended without a vote.