Hope is Not a Plan

Posted By elissa on Oct 17, 2011 | 1 comment

When it comes to the looming health/obesity crisis, the UK isn’t very far behind the US. Last year, Professor Anthony Barnett, clinical director for diabetes at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, called the situation “terrifying,” due to the enormous strain obesity-related disorders are placing on NHS resources.

There have been numerous calls for government action, so last week the government responded… by calling on the nation’s citizens to eat less.

Seriously… that appears to be the plan. According to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley:

“We have to halt and then reverse the tide of obesity in this country. 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.

“We have already seen how we can move further, faster through the Responsibility Deal and I am now challenging business to help us make even greater progress. 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.

“If we collectively rise to the challenge we have set in the Call to Action, we can create an environment that helps people make informed, balanced choices about their health and reduce the burden of obesity.”

Suffice it to say, Mr. Lansley’s “plan” wasn’t very well received.

Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the 5bn calorie target “may grab headlines but is actually peanuts – 16 dry-roasted peanuts per person, per day, to be precise”. He said: “The plan has no clear measures on how the food and drink industry will be made to be more responsible in their aggressive marketing of unhealthy food.”

Unchecked, obesity could be costing the NHS £10bn a year by 2050, said Stephenson, adding: “Suggesting that children in particular can be ‘nudged’ into making healthy choices, especially when faced with a food landscape which is persuading them to do the precise opposite, suggests this would be best described as a call to inaction.”

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said the government’s approach to tackling obesity was woefully inadequate. “The government calls on people to cut down the calories they eat, but isn’t giving them the tools to do so,” he said. “It must make sure front-of-pack traffic light labelling is used on all food products and clear calorie labelling is provided in all food chains.

“Food and drink manufacturers must cut fat and sugar, and therefore calories, from their products where possible and promote healthier options. But expecting them to do this voluntarily through a vague call to action is naive. We need a proper strategy which includes ambitious targets.”

Lansley said his “national ambition”, which he compared to Michelle Obama’s campaign in the US, could reverse the upward trend by 2020.

He said he planned to invest in the anti-obesity campaign, Change 4 Life, but its annual budget has been cut from £25m to £14m in 2011-12.

As much as I admire Mrs. Obama and her campaign, in truth, she has no legal authority to be anything more than an advocate and role model. Mr. Lansley, however is a government official with genuine political power, so the comparison is inapt. And the effects of Mrs. Obama’s efforts have yet to be assessed. So by claiming his “national ambition” could reverse the upward trend by 2020, Mr. Lansley is basically crossing his fingers and hoping that it will.

As Jamie Oliver pointed out, it’s a “cop out.” I can’t help but agree… as the saying goes, “hope is not a plan.”