13 May 2022 Boris Johnson’s shocking U-turn on obesity strategy: Food Active response
Matthew Philpott, Executive Director, Health Equalities Group said:
Today marks a very sad day for public health and the UK’s relationship with overweight and obesity, as the Prime Minister has made a shocking U-turn to delay policies designed to take junk food out of the spotlight across TV, online and retail.
There was so much promise in the self-titled ‘world leading’ strategy to reduce obesity in 2020; we were filled with optimism that the government were serious about reducing obesity and prioritising population health.
The government has not only turned their back on the evidence, but also the nation’s health at a time where we are still recovering from the pandemic and are facing all-time high rates of childhood obesity. Any claims of needing to delay these policy interventions to soften the blow of the current cost of living crisis fly in the face of the evidence, and are likely to be fuelled by lobbying from the ‘big food’ sector. We urge the Prime Minister to reconsider this move.
