The National Heart Forum said that data published by the government suggesting the rapid rise in child obesity may be levelling should not distract from the need to introduce tougher measures against food and drink companies on labelling, advertising and pricing.
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The Department of Health yesterday (3 November) published data indicating a 17% drop in the forecasted number of overweight 2 – 11 year old girls and a 4% drop in the anticipated numbers of obese girls of the same age.
In boys of the same age, the figures indicated a 5% drop in the forecast number of overweight and a 7% drop in the anticipated numbers of obese boys.
The Department of Health used the data to announce a visit by Gillian Merron, public health minister, to projects supported by its GBP30m (US$49.6m) Change4Life Healthy Towns programme launched last year.
However, in an interview with the Telegraph today, the scientist who led research cast doubt on the effectiveness of government policies to tackle the problem.
Klim McPherson, chairman of the National Heart Forum, called for tougher measures against food and drink companies on labelling, advertising and pricing.
He also criticised Change4Life, the government’s social marketing programme to encourage healthier lifestyles in part through partnerships with companies, saying that “industry has had a bit of a free ride”.
A spokesperson for the National Heart Forum told just-food that the issue is about how the figures are interpreted.
“They are showing a trend but they don’t show what is behind the trend. We need more data to get closer to the facts,” Jane Landon, a spokesperson for the forum said. “With what the government and health professionals are doing overall, we can’t take our foot off the gas.
She added: “We have a long way to go before getting back to the 1980’s body weight. The Change4Life programme is one major part of the government’s strategy and what Klim is saying is, yes we need to continue doing more of that, he is not disagreeing.”
