Calls For War On Junk Food Ads As Obesity Costs Set To Rise By 60 Percent

The cost of obesity-related diseases will increase by 60 per cent in a decade in the UK, a new study forecasts, amid calls for a strict clampdown on TV advertising.

.The World Health Organisation (WHO) today said “widespread” action was needed to tackle obesity, which has seen a ten-fold rise globally since the 1970s, with one in five UK children now obese.
A coalition of Royal Colleges and health charities said junk food advertisments should be banned altogether during peak times - such as the X-Factor - as well as during children’s viewing.
The study by the Obesity Health Alliance found that junk food brands in the UK spend 27 times more on advertising than the Government does on healthy eating promotions.
In total £143 million was spent by the 18 companies spending the most advertising crisp, confectionery and sugary drinks, dwarfing the £5 million the Government’s Change4Life healthy eating campaign spends.
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk tops the spending chart, with more than £12 million, followed by Coca-Cola and Galaxy.
The calls came as figures from the World Obesity Federation show the UK is spending more than £14 billion annually treating illness caused by excess weight - such as heart disease, diabetes and liver disease.

Forecasts suggest this could rise to £22.7 billion by 2025, with 34 per cent of adults obese, compared with levels today of 27 per cent.

Globally, the report shows the US faces the biggest treatment bill, already amounting to more than £240 billion. The cost to Germany is £23.6 billion and Britain finds itself in third place.
Professor Ian Caterson, the federation’s president said the scale of the epidemic was “truly alarming.”    

A new report by the WHO today calls for restrictions on promotion of junk foods, and more action to tax sugary foods.
It follows UK plans to introduce a sugar tax on fizzy drinks, which will be introduced next year.
Professor Fiona Bull, a member of the WHO working group, said: "We need to turn our concern into action - more action and more widespread action.

“The response so far has been insufficient, inadequate and not at scale.”
The report calls for action to reduce marketing of unhealthy foods.

Prof Bull said: "We are surrounded by environments which market unhealthy, high fat, high sugar, high calorie food. That's what's on the TV, that's what's promoted at bus stops, and that's what children are seeing all day, every day.
 --Telegraph-Health--