Obesity approach is a fat lot of good…
An odd bit of press from the “one press release a week if you’re lucky” Lib Dem media centre today:
Commenting on the 10-fold rise in the number of obesity-related surgeries carried out on the NHS in less than a decade, Liberal Democrat health minister Paul Burstow said:
“Over the last 13 years we’ve become the country with the highest rate of obesity in the whole of Europe.”
I like to imagine that he said that in between bites of a Big Mac Meal whilst funnelling pints of ale down his gullet and ordering a Chinese takeaway. But I doubt it.
Regardless of his culinary status at the time, he continued: “Obesity related surgeries are procedures that can transform lives, save lives and save money for the taxpayer.
“The 10-fold increase in less than a decade shows the last Government failed to get a grip on public health issues.
“We are committed to a real drive to consistently deliver public health messages about changes in lifestyles that people can make, both in diet and exercise, that can significantly reduce the need for these procedures.”
I was slightly confused by that press release, since on the one hand it says how great obesity related surgery is, but on the other criticises the increase in obesity related surgery… But I get the point that obesity itself is bad, and that more survery for obese people means more obese people in general.
Which is fine, but I think the approach in the press release is not exactly fair on the previous Labour government, nor does it really reflect the type of small-government liberalism that the coalition professes to be about.
Nobody doubts that obesity is a growing problem (pardon my pun). But there’s only so much that our solution of ”consistently delivering public health messages” can do. Labour could, and perhaps should, have done more to tackle this problem. But I don’t think the coalition has started well in terms of righting any Labour wrongs. We could be doing lots more.
How about reversing the cuts in free swimming, or having some targeted investment in local leisure centres so that they can be realistic, cheaper alternatives than private gyms? How about better lighting and security in parks, or exercise equipment in parks? Or better enforcement of traffic laws that would make it safer for cyclists? All of those would make exercise easier. We might not be able to afford them right now, but we could at least mention them.
On the food side, how about working with retailers, not necessarily to tax bad foods, but to make good foods more appealing. Ready meals are often discounted or made buy one get one free. Why not more bags of fruit and veg? Double Clubcard points for every carrot? I dunno, but it’s a start. We need people in the Department of Health to come up with innovative ideas. People like Paul Burstow.
Granted, Labour did none of the things I suggest above, and maybe deserve some criticism for it. But we now have much better food labelling and a greater understanding of nutrition than we did in 1997, and things like the need for 5-a-day have entered the public consciousness far more than they were before. I’m not sure we’ve done anything in government yet.
Increasing obesity is a worry, and we need to sort it out. I think Labour were unfortunate to be in government when games consoles, the internet, multi-channel TV, 24 supermarkets and lots of other things developed to make exercise less appealing and slobbing out more attractive. To blame them entirely is silly “old” politics, and I don’t like it. People do stupid things like get fat. Government can only do so much, and should only do so much. We shouldn’t blame the government for people being stupid.
For goodness sake, there’s enough to have a genuine go at Labour at without making stuff up like this.
I don’t think the solution to the obesity problem is to blame Labour and say we’ll tell people a bit louder to be good. It’s not sensible, nor is it liberal.
We accused Labour of being excessively nannying, and yet now we accuse them of not being nannying enough when it comes to public health messages? We should make our minds up, at the same time as coming up with an actual plan to tackle this problem.
Rick
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August 28th, 2010 at 10:08 am
How refreshing to see you acknowledge the “blame Labour” rubbish for what it is, on this issue!!
But I fear you are confusing two different scenarios – which Paul Burstow (because his comments were intentionally political), wants you to do.
Obesity is a clinical condition which, in many cases, the sufferer needs help in order to deal with. It is not the same as being overweight, or indeed unhealthily fat. There are many different causes of obesity, and I would suggest those who simply choose to eat to excess are the minority. (But of course, they do exist.)
There are almost certainly a few who “work the system”, but the vast majority who are assessed for medical intervention by the NHS only get that treatment because they are genuinely “in trouble”. They are certainly not “stupid”, as you claim.
People eat foods which are not good for them. People also drink too much alcohol, smoke tobacco (sometimes with a sprinkling of cannabis), put salt on everything before they’ve even tasted it, spend too many hours on their backsides in front of the TV, and (believe it or not) risk damaging their ankles by walking around the streets, stuffing unsolicited leaflets through people’s doors.
People drive when they should be sleeping. They work when they should be resting. They get STD’s when they should be using condoms. They talk when they should be listening.
Is salt bad for you or good for you? Which is better – butter or margarine? Is alcohol OK, and if so, how many “units”? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the latest medical research, which changes every other week!
It’s the society we live in. The society that we, as a nation, aspired to and worked for. It is the human condition, and at the end of the day, although democratic Governments of all pursuasions can extoll the virtues of “education, education, education” on these issues, they know perfectly well that, because we live in a free, democratic society, there ain’t nothing they can do about it.
Food labelling is, in theory, a good thing. But let’s be honest on two points about them: firstly, they don’t really convey much easily-digested (‘scuse the pun) information to most people and, secondly, in terms of whether it’s “healthy” or not, how many people really read them, and act on what information they can glean from them? I would suggest very few.
So if the Government, or indeed the LibDems themselves, want to come up with ideas to tackle obesity, good luck to them. I genuinely wish them every success. But anything less than an outright ban on fattening foods will achieve little or no success.
August 28th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Nobody doubts that obesity is a growing problem
Actually, many of us do, and we have increasing evidence to back us up. As a starting-point, I’d recommend Paul Campos’s The Obesity Myth (title changed to The Diet Myth in some later editions.)
August 29th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
I am certainly agree on the above statement. A problem won’t be a problem anymore unless it is resolve. If further discussions will be the solution or appeal of people will be necessary, then I am one of you. Wishing you all the success for this endeavor.