MPs say UK obesity plan 'doomed to fail' without prime minister-led rethink

A cross-party committee of MPs has concluded that the government's promise to reverse rising obesity rates in England within a decade is "doomed to fail" unless ministers urgently rethink their approach and put the prime minister in charge of delivering it.

In a report, the health and social care select committee said there are no signs the "moonshot ambition on obesity", set out in the 10-year health plan for England, will achieve anything significant. More than a year after the pledge to "end the obesity epidemic" within a decade, even basic questions — such as how progress will be measured and how a cross-departmental plan would work — remain unanswered.

'Led from the top'

The MPs said: "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 and predict that, unless they urgently reassess their approach, they are doomed to fail." They called for a dedicated cabinet committee on obesity, chaired by the prime minister, to drive action and "to send a message that this government takes obesity seriously".

The report identifies a central failing: the strategy conflates preventing future obesity, for example by cracking down on unhealthy foods, with supporting and treating people who already have obesity. "Conflating these two things is in part responsible for the muddled thinking and lack of progress from successive governments to date," the MPs said. They want a clear definition of what reducing obesity rates means in practical terms, interim progress markers that would let MPs hold ministers to account, and a joined-up, funded cross-government action plan covering adults and children. Ministers should set out the plan in parliament within three months, the report says.

The numbers

According to the most recent official statistics, 30% of adults in England are living 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 show no signs of falling.

Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP who chairs the committee, said leadership from No 10 was vital. An effective plan, she added, "will mean standing up to the food industry on numerous points", including advertising and promotions for unhealthy food and drink, simpler product labelling, targets for supermarkets to sell more healthy foods and restricting fast food outside schools. She said: "If the prime minister isn't calling the shots on such a huge societal issue, the loose ends won't join up and the moonshot will crash land."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing the health service, pointing to restrictions on junk food advertising on television before 9pm and online, a ban on volume-price promotions on less healthy food and drink, stronger council powers to block new hot food takeaways near schools, and expanded access to weight management support including NHS weight-loss drugs for those with the greatest clinical need.

Source: The Guardian.