Features
CHEWING T
Obesity is a complex issue that needs to be addressed through a multi-agency approach, reports Tom James
he UK is now the fattest nation in Europe, with one third of children and nearly two thirds of adults either overweight or obese. T ese stark statistics come at time when the NHS is witnessing some of its biggest reforms since its birth, with unprecedented cutbacks planned to reduce the UK’s huge defi cit. It’s a sobering
thought then, faced with the current obesity crisis, that if it is not addressed soon, by 2050 the burden of obesity and it’s related illnesses will cost the state a predicted £32bn a year. Obesity has rapidly become a contentious issue,
with the evidence of the ‘fat gene’ sitting in contrast to those that see a lack of exercise, poor diet and the
CARRYING EXCESS WEIGHT MIGHT BE SEEN TO BE A CAUSAL AGENT BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT THE NHS HAS TO BEAR THE BRUNT OF THE EPIDEMIC
junk food industry as the real culprits of a malaise that some leading fi gures believe will take 50 years to get back to post-1940 levels. T e remedy of `more exercise, fewer calories’ is an
overly simplistic perspective that hides a multitude of layers of lifestyle factors complicating the key factors that could actually make a diff erence. Certainly the eff ects of obesity are all too clear
to see – the hidden health downside, less so, but it is rising inexorably to the surface. More than a decade ago, hospitals began preparing for what they
24« May 2011 Sportphysical activity &
the
fat
predicted would be a huge rise in the incidence of diabetes, particularly the so-called Type 2 or late onset condition. In Guildford, Surrey, a stand-alone diabetes centre was built on the site of the Surrey Royal Hospital.
EXCESS BAGGAGE Carrying extra weight might be seen to be a causal agent, but the fact remains that the NHS has to bear the brunt of the epidemic – by investing in treatment centres and purchasing more insulin, not to mention GP time to see patients. As the era of budget defi cit reduction dawns and the coalition pledges to protect frontline NHS services, isn’t it time for avoidable conditions such as obesity to be addressed head on? Obesity is a problem that can only be sorted if there
is a concerted eff ort from all the infl uential bodies, believes Tam Fry, spokesperson for the Obesity Forum and honorary chairman of the Child Growth Foundation. ‘T e coalition government’s decision to scrap the Schools Sports Partnership (SSP) at the end of the last year was a very worrying sign for the future of tacking obesity,’ he explained. ‘For a project that has brought positive eff ects for children to be even considered for scrapping is worrying, and demonstrates to me that the government doesn’t understand what schemes are actually working.’ Possibly more worrying is the upheaval in the
NHS that the coalition is currently discussing. While initial plans transferring care purchasing power to GPs is being reconsidered, there is still the risk that family doctors may hold the view that there are more deserving health issues to channel funds into than throwing money at a problem they believe is largely created by poor dietary and exercise habits.
www.imspa.co.uk
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