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Obesity crisis solved: Eat less, says Health Secretary
Nicholas Cecil and Kiran Randhawa13 Oct 2011
Millions of people were today told by the Government that they should eat less.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley urged people to "be honest" about their eating and drinking habits and cut down on calories to beat the obesity crisis.
In a frank message, he said: "Reducing the number of calories we consume is essential. We have to halt and then reverse the tide of obesity in this country."
He said the nation needs to slash its daily diet by five billion calories - the equivalent of 17 million cheeseburgers or 28 million latte coffees.
England already has one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe and also in the developed world. More than 60 per cent of adults and a third of children aged 10 and 11 are overweight or obese.
England's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sally Davies, said: "Most of us are eating or drinking more than we need to and are not active enough.
"Being overweight or obese is a direct consequence of eating more calories than we need. Increasing physical activity is a part of the equation but reducing the amount of calories we consume is key."
Mr Lansley emphasised that food and drink giants, town halls, the Government and individuals had to act in the battle against England's growing weight problem. He was unveiling a "call to action".
It includes:
The food and drinks industry doing more to encourage healthier choices and by cutting calories in products.
A new approach to help people keep a healthy weight through their life.
Encouraging people to take more exercise and urging Londoners to ditch public transport and walk to work.
Town halls using new powers to ring-fence funds for public health work.
Continued investment in the NHS's Change4Life programme to persuade families to adopt healthier lifestyles.
But as the Government called for people to eat less, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition slightly raised the recommended daily calorie intake.
After a detailed analysis, the experts now say average men should eat 2,605 calories, up from 2,500, and the intake for women also nudging up slightly to 2079 calories.
Professor Alan Jackson, chairman of the committee's Energy Requirements Working Group, said: "The majority of adults are eating more than they need, even more than the revised energy guidelines published today.
"Most people would be surprised to realise how much they overeat.
"On average we consume about 10 per cent more calories than we need. This is why we have an obesity problem and it is clear we cannot carry on eating this amount of excess without serious public health consequences"
Professor Davies added: "Obesity is a leading cause of serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
"We must get to grips with the problem now to save lives and money in the future. We all have a role to play, from businesses to local authorities, but as individuals we all need to take responsibility.
"This means thinking about what we eat and the number of calories in our diets to maintain a healthy weight.
Mr Lansley said: "We have to halt and then reverse the tide of obesity. Government has a role to play but it is clear that we cannot do this alone. We need to work in a broad partnership with local authorities, businesses, charities, health professionals and individuals.
"Reducing the number of calories we consume is essential. It can happen if we continue action to reduce calories in
everyday foods and drinks and if all of us who are overweight take simple steps to reduce our calorie intake."
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: "The fear is the Government will just rely on the goodwill of the food industry to support it.
"All marketing of unhealthy food should be banned for any target audience below 18 years old and gastric banding should be used more widely.
"It is effective and those who have it are much less likely to acquire obesity-related conditions such as diabetes."
Health timebomb that costs capital £890m a year
Obese adults are costing the NHS in London £883.6 million each year.
Childhood obesity is costing a further £7.1 million. But the bill to treat youngsters if they remain obese into adulthood, could rise to a staggering £111 million each year, in the capital alone.
Across the country, weight-loss hospital operations such as gastric banding rose by 70 per cent, from just over 4,200 in 2008/09 to just over 7,200 in 2009/10.
Meanwhile the number of people admitted to hospital in England for obesity-related conditions rose by a third last year.
The number of adults with dangerously large waist sizes (40in/102cm in men and 34in/88cm in women) spiralled from just under a quarter to almost 40 per cent from 1993 to 2009.
In London, obesity rates among children are higher than average in almost every borough.
Westminster has the highest number of severely overweight 10 and 11-year-olds, where almost one third is classed as obese.
This is closely followed by Southwark and Newham, where more than a quarter are obese. Only Richmond and Bromley have childhood obesity rates lower than the national average of 19 per cent.
Reader views (30)
Is Boris Johnson going to sign up to this or is he happy being a fat slob.
- dave, london, 14/10/2011 07:10
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How can you say "eat less?" That implies that it's not someone else's fault and, worse, that it is not up to someone else to fix it. That's just cruel!
- James, London, England, 14/10/2011 01:57
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Basically, everything in moderation. There is nothing attractive about being fat. There will come a time soon when obesity is seen as socially unacceptable as smoking and drunkenness. I've often been behind someone at the checkout who is grossly overweight and no wonder, looking at the food they eat. It's all junk and salt-laden ready meals. Eat more fresh vegetables and stop putting milk in tea.
- Dave, Devon, UK, 14/10/2011 00:07
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Let them eat cake.
- Marie Antoinette, Paris 1793, 13/10/2011 21:42
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...but have they thought about the economic impact?
Wasn't David Cameron told only last week at the last minute not to suggest to the general public to pay down their credit card debt as this would be bad for the economy? Not driking 28 million lattes at 2.50 every day would add up to 25bn in lost high street revenue! Can we afford to be slim in these depressed times? Shouldn't we all eat more to get out of the recession? Choices have to be made...
- GermaninLondon, London, UK and Germany, 13/10/2011 21:24
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why dont you eat less you fat bast***s i sometimes think when i see them fatties putting loads of grub on the supermarket checkout belt, now it seems i was a head of time.
- paul., busted, britain, 13/10/2011 21:04
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Has Andrew Lansley told his colleague Eric Pickles this before he preaches to the rest of us??
- And another thing, London, 13/10/2011 20:43
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The problem starts when they are young. Fat, uneducated mothers who don't know how to cook are feeding up their kids on junk and that is what they expect for the rest of their lives. Having been brought up and fattened like a store pig, it is tough to start healthy habits. Supermarkets could start having more info on how to cook great food at very low cost, with maybe a demo session and support groups. Most junk is way more expensive than healthy food, so I suspect that there is little motivation to spend profits to reduce profits, but it could help their public image. Tesco? Over to you.
- coylum, Vancouver, Canada, 13/10/2011 19:10
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I have a better message:
Fat kids. You are uglier than thin kids because that's how nature wants it, and if you don't wise up, the only people that will sleep with you will be other fat kids.
No-one wants to have sex with fat people, no matter what you see on the telly.
- trip hazard, cambridge, 13/10/2011 18:54
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If the answer is so simple, as this article keeps sarcastically stating, why do The Evening Standard have so many hi-calorie food ads covering your pages? Aren't you effectively admitting to immorale behaviour?
- Tom, London, 13/10/2011 18:24
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This is a perfectly reasonable comment. People need to take responsibility for themselves. It's not Burger King or KFC's fault people are fat - its their own fault. You have a choice as to what you put inside you and actually there's nothing wrong with a bit of fast food now and then. I don't want the government telling me what to eat and drink or taxing me for eating a burger. You might say that Andrew Lansley is stating the obvious, but it can't be that obvious can it? Otherwise there wouldn't be so many people who are unhealthy and obese. The heart of so many problems is looking for someone else to blame for your own actions or failings, quite often the goverment. If you don't want to get fat don't eat so much rubbish and do some exercise. It's not the McDonalds advert's fault, it's not the governments fault for letting you drive a car and it's probably not your glands either.
- Philip, London, 13/10/2011 18:01
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Had a trip into local town centre today (during lunch break) - oh my. Loads of fat young mothers with kids in tow walking round with burgers in hand, drink in hand and fag in gob. It was horrendous. And no doubt I'm paying my taxes for all their benefits and to see that they can even afford the junk food and fags is galling.
- JL, London, 13/10/2011 17:57
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In a frank message, he said: "Reducing the number of calories we consume is essential..........................
Because we have turned all agricultural land over to the growing of bio-fuels.
- Nora Kane, London, 13/10/2011 17:44
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Outlaw junk food and legalize cannabis - one is extremely harmful and the other isn't.
ID, South Coast, UK.
Surely one brings on the urge for the other.
I now have the irresistable urge to meander off to the petrol station for half a dozen kit kats, a giant packet of cheese and onion crisps and then in an hour or so I will probably go and raid sticky fingers for a nacho fondita and a rack of hickory smoked ribs.
- Daddy, Kensington, 13/10/2011 17:42
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Long before the next election most of us will not be able to afford to eat, which will not bother the elderly too much as most of them will be gone by next April, FROZEN to death.
- Julian Barrett Story, London, 13/10/2011 17:04
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I blame the Labour party for encouraging greed over the last thirteen years,just look at all the fat cat bankers.
- bazza, London, 13/10/2011 17:02
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Outlaw junk food and legalize cannabis - one is extremely harmful and the other isn't.
Which one would you prefer?
- ID, South Coast, UK, 13/10/2011 16:37
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Good grief! What little gem will they come up with next? Drinking 12 pints of stella will make you fall over and be sick?
- Daddy, Kensington, 13/10/2011 16:00
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I wonder if anyone else out there feels like getting fat just to spite the government..? Or is that just me?
- Sarah Bradshaw, London, 13/10/2011 15:56
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A blindingly obvious message, but people still choose to ignore it, coming up with every excuse in the book.
However, there are 1 billion starving in the world today, but over 1.5 billion obese.
It's just obscene.
- Devil's Advocado, London, 13/10/2011 15:49
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erm, don't mcdonalds sponsor the FA / the national team
perhaps if these types of foods/sponsors were treated in the same way as alcohol and tobacco advertising we'd take your comments a bit more seriously...
- simon bucknell, enfield, 13/10/2011 15:12
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How about get off your lazy backsides, out of your cars and cycle or walk somewhere. You'll be amazed how the weight drops off. Oh, but there's no money to be made in discouraging unnecessary car trips is there? So the government will never promote it
- Lucy, Hastings, UK, 13/10/2011 14:58
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In a frank message, he said: "Reducing the number of calories we consume is essential. We have to halt and then reverse the tide of obesity in this country."
Manufacturers should be required to cut down the amount of Aspartame & MSG Mono Sodium Glutamate that is incorporated into foods that people unknowingly consume. But wont as both groups of chemicals increase a person’s ability to consume more, therefore increasing profits for the body politics.
- Bill, Taiwan UK, 13/10/2011 14:58
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Ah the ELEM diet again. (Eat Less Exercise More)
Lansley is a politician but how many Ks a year does the other tw*t earn to state the bleediong obvious?
- BJ, East London, 13/10/2011 14:33
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When I eat less I lose weight. How weird is that?!
- Blowtorch, Surbiton, 13/10/2011 14:32
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So the answers "eat less" thanks for that gem of wisdom Andrew.
From the way the cut-backs are panning out eat less will be the norm anyway, except that is if your'e a financially bloated MP.
- stuart, chesterfield,derbyshire, 13/10/2011 14:23
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Its the rise of the fast food junk shops that spring up all over the place. If the councils had any sense,which they don't, they would restrict these places and not give them a license. Further more if many of these fast food outlets were visited by the health dept. lots would be closed under the lack of hygiene . The gevernment have only themselves to blame.Go to some parts of North ,South East and west London and you will find them on almost every corner. The mind boggles on how they get away with selling the same rubbish but all items given other names.
- Hamilton Straker, Ealing West London, 13/10/2011 14:21
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It's ok, don't worry. He'll do a u turn on this soon and tell you all to eat more. He's good at that, look at the Chase Farm Hospital issue.
.
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- Rog, Enfield, 13/10/2011 14:03
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Anyone know how much fast food providers and supermarkets contribute to party funds?
- Hansel, London, 13/10/2011 14:00
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This must be from the Nanny State Cameron said would stop under the Conservatives.Another white lie,number 101 I think.
- dave, london, 13/10/2011 13:58
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