Obese people ‘failed’ by government strategy

Directing resources at the seriously obese would do far more to reduce the £5.1bn that diseases associated with obesity cost the NHS each year, said Paul Gately, professor of exercise and obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University.

“We are not focused on this group at all,”​ said Gately, speaking at a seminar on obesity in London earlier this week organised by the Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum. “There is a lack of clarity about what we are supposed to do.”​

Gately argued strongly that “treatment is also as important as prevention” ​in tackling the problem. But it was not being given the attention it deserved, with most resources directed at preventative measures. ​

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Quite frightening​

He pointed out that of 30M children in the UK, 4.5M were overweight and of these, 2.5M were obese. “140,000 of them are so obese that if they were adults, they would immediately be eligible for surgery. There are no services for that whatsoever. That is quite frightening.”​

He added: “Of the one-in-three kids that have a problem, we spent £30M ​[between 2005 and 2010] – that is 0.6% of the ​[£5bn] budget. That has to be wrong … We have got 140,000 kids in the UK that are severely obese: we’ve got money to look after 120.”​

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Obesity levels​

At the seminar new research from the National Obesity Observatory was also presented to show that obesity levels among young people as a group – particularly young males – was beginning to show signs of a decline.

“There is some cause for optimism among young people – particularly among young men,”​ said Klim McPherson, a public health epidemiology expert and fellow at New College Oxford. But among the population as a whole, he said the picture was far more mixed, with adults over 40 continuing to get fatter.