UK doctors demand tax and curbs on fizzy drinks and fast food to address public health crisis
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is urging the government to take a stand against obesity by putting a tax on fizzy drinks and limiting fast food outlets near schools.
(prHWY.com) February 28, 2013 - Suffolk, United Kingdom -- The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC) has warned the NHS, food organisations, and ministers about the spiralling levels of obesity in the country.
The academy, which represents almost every doctor in the UK, has demanded a tax to be imposed on fizzy drinks and a limit of the number of fast food outlets to be located near schools in order to control obesity, which they consider to be the "greatest public health crisis affecting the UK."
According to the report issued by the group, "Just as the challenges of persuading society that the deeply embedded habit of smoking was against its better interests, changing how we eat is now a matter of necessity."
The AMRC report also criticised the past and current governments for their insufficient attempts at tackling the issue and have put forward 10 recommendations including:
* ban on the advertisement of foods containing high saturated fat, sugar, and salt before 9 pm at leisure centres
* serving healthy food in school kitchens
* removal of vending machines in hospitals and application of the same nutritional standards in England's state schools
* inclusion of children's calorie information on food labels
* parent advisories on the proper diet for children
* more surgery for people who are severely obese, especially those who are at risk of dying
* £300m budget allotment for the weight management programmes to be issued within the next three years
The group has also called on the public to break the cycle of generations who have fallen victim to obesity-related illnesses and death. They have called on the society as a whole to find solutions before the crisis becomes irreversible and unresolvable.
Britain, according to the latest surveys, is one of the world's most obese nations with one in every four adults overweight and that number speculated to double by the year 2050.
AMRC chairman, professor Terence Stephenson, has told BBC that although there is no easy way to tackle the issues of obesity, it can be easier for people to make healthy decisions if the eating culture is changed.
In a statement he said:
"I choose what I eat or whether I smoke, what people have told us is they want help to swim with the tide rather than against the current to make the healthy choice the easy one. Doctors are often accused of playing the nanny state, we didn't hear from a single person who said they liked being overweight, everybody we met wanted help from the state and society. If we didn't have things like this we wouldn't have speed limits that save lives, we wouldn't have drink-driving limits that save lives. There's a host of things that society and state does to help us live long, healthy fulfilling lives and we're just suggesting something similar."
The soft drinks industry, however, has rejected the idea and stated that imposing a tax on fizzy drinks would not help.
British Soft Drinks Association director-general, Gavin Partington, issued a statement saying:
"We share the recognition that obesity is a major public health priority but reject the idea that a tax on soft drinks, which contribute just 2% of the total calories in the average diet, is going to address a problem which is about overall diet and levels of activity. Over the last 10 years, the consumption of soft drinks containing added sugar has fallen by 9% while the incidence of obesity has been increasing, and 61% of soft drinks now contain no added sugar. Soft drinks companies are also committing to further, voluntary action as part of the Government's Responsibility Deal Calorie Reduction Pledge. Don't forget that there already is a 20% tax on soft drinks, 10p out of every 60p can of drink already goes to the Government thanks to VAT. Putting up taxes even further will put pressure on people's purses at a time when they can ill afford it."
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