Snacking should be banned on public transport and extra taxes placed on unhealthy foods to tackle child obesity, England’s outgoing chief medical officer says. In her final report as CMO, Dame Sally Davies also called for tighter rules on advertising and takeaways.
She said children needed more help as they were “drowning in a flood” of unhealthy options. If ministers were not bold, she added, they would fail to cut obesity rates. A target to halve rates by 2030 has been set.
Will we see radical action to tackle child obesity?
Dame Sally said: “The unavoidable fact is that over time our environment has become very unhealthy without us realising. “Our children are now suffering from painful, potentially life-limiting disease. Our politicians need to be bold and help everyone embrace healthier life choices.”
The obesity ‘crisis’
The proportion of obese and overweight children has doubled in the past 30 years. Today around a third are obese or overweight by the age of 11 in England – with a minority, but a growing number classed as severely obese. The problem is most acute among girls – where the UK has one of the highest rates in the world.
There are signs the increase has begun to level off, but among the most deprived communities rates are still increasing. Children living in the poorest tenth of areas are more than twice as likely to be obese than those in the richest.
Obesity increases the risk of a range of diseases from cancer and heart disease to diabetes. In fact, until recently type two diabetes was considered an adult problem, but now there are more than 100 new cases each year among children.
What needs to be done?
Dame Sally has put forward a wide range of measures. Some are about extending existing policies, while others are completely new.
They include:
- Phasing out all marketing, advertising and sponsorship of unhealthy food and drink
- Banning food and drink on local transport with exceptions for water, breast-feeding and medical conditions
- Free water refills to be available at all food outlets, transport stations and public sector buildings
- Regular car-free weekends across the country to encourage physical activity
- Changing planning rules to make it harder to open fast-food takeaways
- Extending the sugar tax to include milk-based drinks
- Adding VAT to unhealthy food products that are currently zero-rated, such as cakes
- Capping calories in food served out-of-the home to combat rising portion sizes
- Consider plain packaging – as for tobacco – for junk food, if firms fail to reduce sugar, fat and salt in their products quickly enough
- All nurseries, registered childminders and schools to adopt water and milk-only policies.