ADPH Responds to Health and Social Care Committee Report on obesity

Today, the Health and Social Care Committee has published it’s third and final report of their ‘food and weight management’ inquiry, with a strong call on Government to prioritise tackling England’s obesity crisis, after decades of policy failure. 

The cross-party Committee has urged government to define what it means by “ending the obesity epidemic”, with clear targets and milestones set to reduce rising rates across the country. 

Alongside this, the Committee has called for a cross-departmental action plan which takes every opportunity to tackle obesity, with the Prime Minister driving this progress.

Alice Wiseman MBE, Vice President of the Association of Directors of Public Health and Director of Public Health for Newcastle and Gateshead, who gave evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry, has welcomed today’s report:  

“The Health and Social Care Select Committee have sent a clear message to the Prime Minster: the promise to end obesity must not be forgotten.  

“I am particularly pleased to see the report’s emphasis on prevention and needing regulatory changes to the food environment because it is just not possible that a whole generation of people have lost willpower all at the same time. In order to really get to grips with this crisis – and it is a crisis – we need to implement measures that are designed to protect people from harmful products and support everyone to live a healthier life rather than always thinking about individual interventions. 

“Directors of Public Health across the country are working with partners in their local area to do some of this work but to make restrictions on advertising or fast food outlets truly effective for everyone, we need national leadership and legislation. And, as the report has said, this has to be led from the top, with all Government departments on board, working towards the same goal: to reduce obesity rates not just in the short term, but for generations to come.”