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Fighting obesity isn’t nannying, it’s about social justice

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...stice-tb26r5ljx

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In recent months, a realisation of the link between obesity, its co-morbidities, and poor Covid-19 outcomes, has sparked a renewed interest in tackling Britain’s obesity crisis.

Reducing obesity levels is not only vital as we seek to minimise the impact of future waves of the pandemic, but it should also be considered a critical element of the prime minister’s “levelling up” agenda.

Of course, obesity is frequently an outcome of poor life chances – but it can also perpetuate them.

The economic impact of obesity cripples some of our communities and tackling it is therefore a matter of social justice. Obesity rates among the most deprived 10 per cent of the population are more than twice that of the least deprived 10 per cent, and the gap in prevalence between rich and poor is tragically still growing.

The constituency I represent as its MP in many ways epitomises the national picture. I can travel from one area – a pocket of coastal deprivation and the poorest ward in Wales, where obesity and poor health goes hand in hand with economic inactivity and high premature death rates – to another area just several miles away where the average Body Mass Index is markedly lower, and life expectancy and income levels are significantly higher. For me, this inequality within a single constituency is unacceptable.

The harsh truth is that obesity is strongly associated with a number of serious health conditions, including many leading causes of death. It is also associated with poorer mental health outcomes and reduced quality of life. Being overweight can exert a tough emotional toll, from bullying at school to the pain of life-long judgmental attitudes and stigma.

The majority of adults in the UK are now overweight and shockingly, the most common reason for children aged five to nine being admitted to hospital is for sugar-related tooth extractions. Obesity saddles the NHS with an annual bill of several billion pounds a year and its overall cost to wider society is estimated to be £27 billion.

Many efforts have been made to turn the tide on obesity, but it should now be clear to all that these have not been sufficiently bold. Securing the appreciable progress that we so desperately need will mean convincing some that public health intervention and the “nanny state” are not always synonymous.

Key tenets of UK Conservatism, which I share, are self-responsibility, alongside freedom and choice. When it comes to obesity however, these principles need to be applied and understood in the context of the challenges posed by the modern Western world. As a GP, any day’s work reinforces to me that we live within a society where, for some, freedom to make the right choices is severely constrained.

With supermarkets packed with temptingly-priced high fat, sugar and salt products, takeaways on every street corner, bountiful coffee shops serving syrup-laden “flavoured drinks”, pubs and bars offering large 200 kcal-plus glasses of wine, and a culture which normalises these things on a day-to-day basis, it is far too easy for all of us to consume more calories than our sedentary lifestyles can withstand.

While some may navigate this environment unscathed, making healthy choices has become increasingly difficult, and more so in poorer communities. Whether we are under enormous stresses and strains from other aspects of our life, or fighting to feed a family on a tight budget and with limited time, the long-term health outcomes of what we eat and drink may not always be our top concern. For me, the measures we need to implement are not about taking away choice, but about the government helping to rebalance the playing field in favour of healthier options, for the benefit of all.

When he was mayor of London, Boris Johnson was ahead of the government on obesity policy. It is to be hoped that if anything positive is to come of his recent gruelling experience of Covid-19, it will be that it helps make this year a turning point in the battle against obesity, thereby creating a brighter future for tens of millions of British people.

Dr James Davies is the Conservative MP for the Vale of Clwyd and vice-chairman of the all-party group on obesity