Weighting for change

Experts are urging that obesity prevention and management be made a central pillar of public health. Whether it’s banning junk food ads in the UK to nearly 90 per cent of Dutch citizens believing that obesity medication should be covered by the basic health insurance package, according to a recent poll, the greatest obsession of our times has to be the obsession with obesity.

With this never-ending background, is it any wonder that we are obsessed? Leaving aside definitions, in any given month, a lot of us feel we are very fat or overweight.

We have now reached a time where the pressures on the NHS has led to the UK government encouraging supermarkets and food and drink makers to set a new standard to make the average shopping basket of goods sold slightly healthier as part of the 10 Year Health Plan (10YHP).

A lot is riding on the government’s plan to recover the nation’s health, particularly considering its central promise – to make the health service ‘fit for the future’ – is to get the NHS out of its critical condition.

The government wants to shift care closer to home as well as emphasise preventative measures rather than late-stage interventions. And why not? According to the NHS Confederation, preventing worsening physical and mental ill health will help people live longer, healthier lives and at better value for the taxpayer.

Publication of the 10YHP will not be the end of the journey, and neither will setting a standard for manufacturers. How industry and government work together will be crucial in addition to clarification of the role the food and drink manufacturers have to play as the plan rolls out.

The food and drink sector works hard at producing a variety of products for consumers. If government wants to bring care closer to home and ensure care is locally relevant and effective, it can use the food and drink network, which extends across the UK and beyond and employs a tremendous amount of people.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that a lot of brands  support people make healthier choices. We are also a critical juncture where emerging technologies are being explored for food products of the future, which will undoubtedly feed into the healthy domain. Now is as great a time as any for industry and government to collaborate and help the nation have the healthy, balanced lifestyle that is needed.

• Rodney Jack, editor, Food & Drink Technology.
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