Fat Epidemic Will Cut Life Expectancy; Supermarkets act as health chief sounds obesity alarm

London Guardian/Observer ^ | November 9, 2003 | Kamal Ahmed, Jo Revill and Gaby Hinsliff

[Steve Eisenberg]

The Observer

The child obesity epidemic caused by poor nutrition and lack of exercise is creating a looming health crisis, with average life expectancy expected to drop for the first time in more than a century.

Faced with the prospect of rising death rates as a result of obesity-related illnesses, the Government's most senior adviser on food and health warned for the first time that children growing up today will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Sir John Krebs, the chairman of the Food Standards Agency, said that obesity was a 'ticking timebomb' that was one of the most serious issues facing the nation.

In a signal of the seriousness with which the food industry is now taking the epidemic of bad health associated with poor diet, Sainsbury's is set to announce that it will begin cutting salt in its foods after evidence that high intake leads to a higher death rate.

The Government is also calling an emergency 'salt summit' on Tuesday to demand action from companies such as Heinz, McDonald's and Bird's Eye.

In an interview with The Observer to launch what he described as a 'wide-reaching public debate' on what should be done to tackle obesity, Krebs said that doing nothing was not an option.

'What we are faced with is a situation where, if nothing is done to stop the trend, for the first time in a hundred years life expectancy will actually go down,' he said.

'[That] is an extraordinary reversal of the general gains in health. We're all looking forward to a longer and healthier old age, and that trend could be reversed.

'So that's what we're staring at, a public health timebomb which could explode. Which is why I think that all the people who have looked at it feel that something has got to be done. The difficulty is determining what that something is.'

Life expectancy has doubled in the past 140 years in Britain with better healthcare and improved working conditions. Men can now expect to live to an average age of 75.3, while for women the age is just over 80. A reversal in that trend would be one of the most significant changes in health of the 21st century.

The agency will this weekend publish a report setting out a series of policy options which could help people, particularly children, lead a healthier life. The Observer campaign, Fit for the Future, is also pushing for more sport in schools and for the Government to encourage a healthier lifestyle.

'There's a general trend to greater obesity,' Krebs said. 'More than half of the population are overweight or obese.

'Obesity carries with it very significant health risks. Risks of increased heart disease, type II diabetes, which is now beginning to appear in children for the first time, and certain kinds of cancer are linked with obesity.'

The agency says that options that should be considered by the Government include:

· reducing fat, salt and sugar in children's food;

· restricting the amount of advertising of sweets, crisps and snack foods during children's programmes;

· banning food adverts aimed at pre-school children;

· making 'health warnings' compulsory on some foods;

· banning vending machines from schools which only sell sugar drinks or sweets;

· blocking celebrity endorsement of sweets and promotions which link the buying of sweets and crisps in return for school equipment.

Krebs made it clear that he wanted to explore voluntary agreements before proposing new legislation which would force food companies to act.

He criticised Cadbury's Get Active scheme and its endorsement by the Government because it linked getting sports equipment with the amount of sweets that were bought.

'You could deliver that in another way,' he said. 'If the company wanted to sponsor sports in schools, it could just give the money.'

Ministers have also told The Observer that they are instigating a full-scale review of the advertising code that allows food giants to spend millions promoting their products on children's TV.

The Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, said she would ask the new communications regulator Ofcom to review the current code which governs the content of commercials. There is particular concern about the way the pre-school children are being targeted by the junk food manufacturers.

But she firmly closed the door on a ban on food adverts during children's TV time, arguing that it would leave the independent broadcasters with far less money to spend on programmes.

'If you simply say, we will end all these adverts, there are real questions over whether it would have any effect,' she said.

Jowell stressed the enormous government effort to increase participation in sport across the nation, to combat the couch-potato lifestyles by helping schools bring in specialist coaches and offer more sport, and she supported The Observer 's campaign, although she said it would take time to roll out two hours of school sport each week to all children. At the salt 'summit' at the Department of Health the Public Health Minister, Melanie Johnson, will call on other supermarkets to follow suit.

She has warned that if voluntary action is not forthcoming the Government may have to regulate to cut salt content from a wide range of foods.

The Food Standards Agency's report was welcomed last night by a number of groups, but there remains much scepticism over whether Ministers will be tough enough to demand the necessary changes.

Neville Rigby, policy director at the International Obesity Taskforce, said: 'It's time that the whole of society looked carefully at how we expose children, inside school and outside, to these commercial pressures on food.'

[Steve Eisenberg]

CSM had a post in another thread about a week ago that wonderfully sums up this kind of thing:

Step one: Start lawsuits against the fast food industry.

Step two: Demonize a group of people.

Step three: Get society to look down upon that group.

Step four: Add a sin tax.

Step five: Attempt to legislate personal behavior!

It has taken less than a year to get to step two. When it is their ox, they may care!

I agree with CMS except that I'm not sure they'll ever care about anything other than convincing other people they do care even when they don't have a clue what would really work here.

[Steve Eisenberg]

Ping!

[Ff--150]

Step six: Ignore the results obtained with the Atkins and South Beach diets.
Step seven: In no way, shape, or form hint that colas, even diet, are fattening and destroying people.

[jimtorr]

Ludicrous efforts. Health authority know as well as I do that the problem isn't diet, but lack of exercise.

Cutting junk food advertising will help no one, nor will adding just two "sport" days per week. No, children need at least an hour every day of vigorous excercise.

The English traditional national diet is actually fairly decent for a people who work hard. Of course, few people work hard anymore.

[ragnarocker]

Step eight: Make gym class optional.

[Steve Eisenberg]

Step eight: Make gym class optional.

What more likely is that they'll take time away from manadatory gym to give mandatory lectures on the horrors of fat and whichever reducing diet that particular teacher is, uh, into. In our district, any kind of health instruction, including worthless diet advice and worthless sex ed, mostly seems to be at the same time as gym and reducing the number of days.

[CSM]

Good to see this thread. My sides are aching with laughter pain as I am seeng their ox being prepped for a deep goring!

Where are the behavior police and the health nazis now! I happily look forward to soylent green being the only food I can afford! The rest of the foods we know today will be taxed out of my income bracket!

[Conspiracy Guy]

Does anyone other than me believe that growth methods used in meat and crop production may be an issue in the fattening of America. Less excercise + Genetic Tampering = FAT?

[FITZ]

Get rid of school buses and make kids start walking to school again. I remember my dad telling me how he had to walk 5 miles each way through 6 foot snow drifts to get to school.

[FITZ]

I think it's food stamps more than anything. When you see a cart piled high with candies, cokes, cookies, ice cream you can bet they'll be paying with food stamps. They could end a lot of the obesity problem if they'd limit food stamp purchases to basic foods.

[kittymyrib]

I remember in the early days of TV when programming began at 5:00 or 6:00 in the afternoon. That would be the best thing that we could do for fat kids because they'd have to find something else to do after school but sit on their fat tushes, eat junk food, and watch worthless kids shows...or Jerry Springer or Oprah. Come to think of it, that would be good for adults too who sit and watch soaps all afternoon.

[FITZ]

I read somewhere that if kids don't get out and run and get their lungs expanded while their bones are still growing and they still are mostly cartilege, their rib cages will never be pushed out to full capacity and when they become adults they'll never be able to do aerobic exercise well.

[Conspiracy Guy]

You're correct about limiting food stamps to basic foods but the fat thang transcends poor folks. It goes across income levels. My ex and I raised two slim and healthy children, now in their 20's, by watching what they ate and how much of it they ate. They were also taught there is a lot going on outside that is more fun than TV or computer games. They both played sports. My daughter and my son will someday raise their kids the same way.

[MissAmericanPie]

So now salt is the big boggie bear.

[CSM]

"Does anyone other than me believe that growth methods used in meat and crop production may be an issue in the fattening of America. Less excercise + Genetic Tampering = FAT?"

I have heard the same thing with regards to hormones in chickens and breast size (not the chicken)!

Seriously, I am sorta on both sides of the fence with regards to kids getting out and exercising, and the parents concerns about their safety. I would find it interesting to see the ration of "country" kids and "city" kids and the rates of obesity. I would guess, with no documentation, that the city kids are more often obese than the country kids.

I remember, in a small town, heading out after school, checking in with mom and not coming home until the street lights came on. It would be an all day romp in the summer too. Now, living in a city, I would be worried sick all day if my kids never came home until the street lights came on (I am not a parent, just theorizing). The inherent dangers on the streets are playing a part in the parenting. Add to that simple laziness of parking the kid in front of the TV.....

Anyway, we can solve this problem by taxing the heck out of these fat causing foods! Better, have the cops patrol the FF restaurants instead of the neighborhoods.

[Conspiracy Guy]

To all the women, "Eat more chicken!"

Urban crime is a problem. Organized outdoor activity can help. Even in suburban and rural settings, parental supervision is desired. I used to practice on the cross country trail at the high school with my kids. 3 miles of hills, gullies, and creeks were a real challenge for a smoker like me. But I'm not overweight and don't smoke while running, (it makes the cigarette burn uneven).

[CSM]

LE,

Flurry has a personal request for supper tonight!

Flurry,

Yep, parental involvement is key. This is one of the main reasons that I hope to find a future "stay at home" mom. If she can successfully manage the home and all the work/duties that come along with a home and family, that would free both parent's time to allow for the maximum level of involvement. I hope this doesn't get misinterprited to say that I don't want to do any at home work, instead it should be minimized. When both parents work and try to get everything done after a work day and on weekends they are left with very little energy. That lack of energy leads to making it difficult to be involved.

It looks like the obesity epedimic can be tied back to the dual income families. (Whether by need or choice.) Let's ensure that the tax rates are reduced to allow for all of us to manage a family on one income! Look, a new headline, "High Tax Rate Leads to Obesity!"

[Conspiracy Guy]

The two income family is in part to blame. However I know many exceptions on both sides. High taxes causes everything.

[Steve Eisenberg]

It looks like the obesity epedimic can be tied back to the dual income families.

I would totally love if some social scientist could show that stay-at-home Moms have thinner kids. However, a quick google search fails to come up with any studies on this.

[CSM]

I was actually arguing that the dual income is required because of high taxes. The high taxes are the cause of obesity. I was being sarcastic.