How can Gov’t turn the tide of Britain’s obesity trend?
Slimming World responds to a newly released health study which reveals more adults are classified obese than underweight.
“These latest figures are alarming, though unfortunately not surprising,” says Jenny Caven, Head of Public Affairs at Slimming World.
Caryl Richards, Slimming World’s Managing Director warned last March that if no action is taken to address this looming public health crisis obesity will have a negative impact on a whole generation.
“As well as being linked to a range of serious health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, obesity has a serious effect on our emotional and mental wellbeing and is linked to low self-esteem and depression and recent research show that it is also linked to dementia. It currently costs the NHS £5.1 billion per year and with rising obesity rates will of course come rising costs.
“Government and public health must start working together to create a healthier environment and make healthy living easier. The fact that countries like France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Czech Republic have had steady obesity levels for the past 40 years due to a focus on cooking from scratch and a diet high in foods like vegetables, fruit and pulses, shows that a culture of healthy eating is an essential ingredient. By considering incentives for cheaper healthy foods like fruit and vegetables, access to environments that make it easy to be active and signposting to organisations that can offer advice and support to help people adopt healthy lifestyles, it is possible to turn the tide and ensure that Britain doesn’t top this league table.”
