Although this article is not about low carbing, I am posting it here anyway because it is related and this is also very big news in the UK today.

I know exactly what I would want to see in the blueprint - a move towards a low carb woe, as well as exercise programmes etc., perhaps a ban on the advertising of junk food, and certainly the end of sports stars (i.e., Gary Lineker) promoting unhealth foods (he fronts the Walkers crisps campaign).

I doubt very much that low carb will get a look in - I do expect that the usual low fat, high carb dogma will be rolled out

Would be interested to hear anyone else's views on how this issue should be tackled.


With one in four children overweight, the experts explain what can be done about it
By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent
The Independent
26 May 2004


A tough blueprint for tackling Britain's growing epidemic of obesity and weight problems is to be published tomorrow.

The report by the House of Commons Health Select Committee is expected to warn that obesity is one of the biggest social and medical problems facing children and adults.

Weight problems among children have tripled in the past decade alone, with one in four overweight and 6 per cent obese. Doctors say they are seeing cases of diabetes in children as young as six because they are so overweight. More than half of the adult population is overweight and of those, one in five is obese.

The select committee report will say that treating obesity costs the National Health Service £4.9bn a year.

In evidence to the committee over the past six months, health campaigners have warned that childhood obesity is a "ticking time bomb".

Some groups have called for the advertising of junk food to children to be banned, and for obese adults to be prescribed exercise and diet club memberships on the NHS.

However, MPs on the committee are said to be divided over whether to recommend an advertising ban, or to focus on educating parents to say no to "pester power" and to take more responsibility for what they and their children eat. And ministers have been reluctant to back restrictive legislation because they fear it will leave them open to accusations of acting like a nanny state.

The food industry has been lobbying against any suggestion that advertising of their products to children should be restricted or banned.

Among the other proposals which may be included in the select committee's report is a "traffic light" system, under which all products would be labelled with red, orange or green dots, depending on how healthy they were.

But manufacturers and retailers say such a proposal would be unworkable. Martin Paterson, the deputy director general of the Food and Drink Federation, said: "Some shops have already tried this and it doesn't work.

"Raspberries had to be labelled with an 'unhealthy' red dot because of their sugar, and how would you label cheese, or an avocado which is high in fat, under the system?"

Last week, the World Health Organisation published a global plan for reducing obesity rates, which included cutting sugar, fat and salt levels in food, and subsidising fruit and vegetables in canteens.

THE PARENT

Hayley Brown, 29, a hotel manager from Ashford, Kent, is married with a seven-year-old son, Joseph.

She said: "Advertising has a massive effect on children and I think it would be fantastic if they banned it during their viewing times.

"It's not just that advertisements make Joseph want to choose a particular brand - I think they convince him that he is hungry as well.

"He will be sitting in front of the television and an advert comes on for crisps or chocolate, and he will come in to the kitchen and say he wants something to eat. That can make things really hard when I am trying to make him wait till dinner time and not snack between meals.

"The pester power thing is huge. He and his friends always demand the cereals with the latest toys, or the products being advertised on television. The latest thing is a chocolate biscuit shaped like a hippo." Joseph has a packed lunch four days a week but on Friday eats the school meal. "They do have a healthy option for school meals but Joseph will always go for the sausage and chips and chocolate pudding. I make him eat fruit and vegetables but it can be an uphill task when you've got someone like Gary Lineker promoting crisps and no advertisements for apples."

THE MP

The Labour MP Debra Shipley is bringing a private member's Bill which would ban the marketing of "unhealthy" food to children.

She said: "We need to rein in the food and drink industry, which has been a completely unregulated field in the way products high in sugar, salt and fat are advertised to children.

"You have people like Kellogg's saying that children should have cereals every day because they need breakfast, but some of those cereals are incredibly high in sugar. It is outrageous that they have been able to get away with this for so long."

Her Bill is backed by more than 100 health groups, medical organisations and MPs. It would ban sponsorship deals between schools and confectionery companies and ban products deemed "unhealthy" by the Food Standards Agency from school vending machines.

Ms Shipley believes that while education and exercise are important, legislation is vital. "The food industry simply refuses to accept that it is part of the problem and if the Government goes for a voluntary ban, it will be absurd," she said. "Obesity is now a really serious problem."

THE DOCTOR

Dr Fred Kavalier is a London GP and The Independent's resident health expert.

He said: "It is a very complex issue but child obesity is not just about food - exercise has got to be a big part of it. Children are spending more time in front of the television and less time playing games, at the same time as they are eating more. That is the root cause of the problem."

During evidence to the select committee, some experts said GPs should do more to advise on healthy diets and exercise, and to identify children and adults at risk of becoming obese. Dr Kavalier said: "Doctors are prepared to play their part but this is a big social problem, rather than a medical one."

THE FOOD BOSS

Martin Paterson is deputy director general of the Food and Drink Federation, which represents retailers and manufacturers.

He said: "We do not subscribe to the idea of healthy and unhealthy foods. There are healthy and unhealthy diets, and that is what we need to concentrate on.

"Consumers know what foods are high in fat and sugar and salt. Where they have difficulty is in translating knowledge about food and diet into changes in lifestyle."

THE ADVERTISER

Jeremy Preston is director of the Food Advertising Unit, a branch of the Advertising Association focused on research into marketing food to children.

He said: "We do not believe that advertising increases consumption. It is all about getting children to switch brands."

He claimed that in countries where such adverts are banned, obesity rates have stayed the same as in neighbouring nations.


http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/he...sp?story=524930


More here from the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3748365.stm