Liz Truss’s government could drop its crackdown on junk food as part of a wider effort to ease the burden on businesses and consumers struggling with the growing cost-of-living crisis.
(Bloomberg) — Liz Truss’s government could drop its crackdown on junk food as part of a wider effort to ease the burden on businesses and consumers struggling with the growing cost-of-living crisis.
The Treasury just ordered a review of upcoming anti-obesity measures, according to the Guardian. This includes new rules on the placement of unhealthy items in shops, which is set to come into force this October. Officials are also re-evaluating a ban on “buy-one-get-one-free” deals and advertising sugary and fatty products on television before 9pm.
The prime minister’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, put the plans in motion after being admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in April 2020. He said he suffered from “a very common, underlying condition” of being “too fat.” Studies have shown obese people have a higher risk of experiencing complications or dying from the virus.
Many of Johnson’s proposals were delayed due to pressure from Conservative MPs and to give businesses more time to prepare. In August, Liz Truss pledged to halt junk food taxes because “people don’t want the government telling them what to eat.”
The government will also look at the calorie count policy that was introduced in large restaurant groups earlier this year. The review’s scope could also cover the sugar tax on soft drinks, which began in 2018, and has been lauded as a key initiative in fighting obesity.
The UK ranks fourth in Europe for having the biggest proportion of overweight and obese adults, according to a May report by the World Health Organization. Most adults in England are overweight, with National Health Service data showing that 35 million people, or 67% of men and 60% of women, are overweight or obese. The increase in overweight people has been most significant in the poorest communities, leading to a widening gap between the most and least deprived areas in the country.
“Poor diets, exacerbated by lockdown, have led to an increase in childhood obesity, and further widened existing inequalities,” said Katharine Jenner, Director of the Obesity Health Alliance, who added the organization was “deeply concerned” by the report. “This will not help the cost of living crisis in the short term, and in the long term would lead to serious consequences for our health, our economy and our NHS.”
Obesity also puts a great strain on the NHS, which spent £6.1 billion on the treatment of obesity-related ill health in 2014-2015. That figure is expected to reach £9.7 billion per year by 2050, according to Public Health England.
Obesity is responsible for 13% of mortality in Europe, or about 1.2 million fatalities each year, according to the WHO, which expects the condition to overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable cancers in the coming decades.
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