(Photo credit: Sue Park/Pixabay)
Due to the cost-of-living crisis, the government is reviewing its parliamentary-approved anti-obesity strategy for England, involving a series of measures to reduce national junk food consumption, including a ban on junk food advertising before 9pm and multi-buy deals.
However, under the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, the Government has said it feels the strategy should be reviewed to assess the impact on household spending given the current cost of living crisis and to give industry more time to prepare.
However, health campaigners have voiced concerns about any delays in implementing the strategy, saying action is needed now, and the cost-of-living crisis is being used as an excuse by the new Government to cut red tape for businesses. However, restrictions on the placement of less healthy products at checkouts and store entrances are currently still due to go ahead in October.
Under the previous Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, tackling obesity became a priority, partly influenced by his own experience with COVID-19, where he highlighted that losing weight was a way to reduce the risk of coronavirus. Johnson made tackling foods high in sugar, salt, and fat a priority.
Although, he did delay some of the strategies until 2023 and 2024, citing soaring inflation and pressures on families’ finances as reasons.
There are fears now that the Truss could scrap the anti-obesity strategy altogether, potentially discarding measures that have been agreed upon and approved by Parliament. During the Tory leadership campaign, campaign, Truss stated that she would “light a bonfire of obesity rules”’ if she won and has hinted that she is not in favour of “nanny state” rules telling people if they can purchase multi-buy deals.
It is understood the review may also cover whether restaurants and cafés need to provide the calorie count of meals on their menus. This was introduced in April and was designed to inform customers of the calorie content of meals in a bid to help people be aware of the number of calories they were consuming and make informed choices.
A potential U-turn on anti-obesity strategies has caused concern among health advocates; with fears, that it will mean little is done to tackle Britain’s obesity problem. Obesity is a major health issue in the UK, with almost two-thirds of adults being either overweight or obese.
Many different diseases are known to be associated with being overweight and obese, such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and certain cancers. It is estimated obesity costs the NHS around £6.1 billion a year and has a huge impact on people’s quality of life.
One of the reasons for Truss’ review is to cut red tape and new rules faced by businesses and help promote economic growth, especially at a time when rising costs of energy and fuel are forcing prices up. However, those opposed to scrapping the anti-obesity strategy say improving the nation’s health is also an important component in increasing the nation’s workforce and productivity.
Katharine Jenner, Director of the Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of 40 organisations, said axing measures in the strategy would “not help the cost of living crisis in the short term, and in the long term would lead to serious consequences for our health, our economy and our NHS”.
“It would be reckless and a great shame to waste government and business time and money rowing back on these obesity policies, which are evidence-based and already in law,” she said.
Rachel Kayani,
Health and Science Correspondent
