Last Wednesday (3 July), Rt Hon Sir David Evennett MP attended an event in Parliament to support an event organised by the Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of over 40 leading charities, medical royal colleges and campaign groups, to mark the one-year anniversary of chapter 2 of the Government’s childhood obesity plan.
Sir David spoke with representatives from various organisations and heard from obesity experts about a scorecard detailing progress made in the last year. The Government has held 12-week consultations on banning the sale of energy drinks to children, mandatory calorie labelling in cafes, restaurants and takeaways, restricting unhealthy food promotions and introducing a 9pm watershed on unhealthy adverts on TV and online.
Sir David commented: “I am very concerned about childhood obesity, particularly as this is such an issue in Bexley where we are among the worst London Borough’s with over a third of children overweight or obese. We need to see action and more progress made on implementing the proposals in Chapter 2 of the Childhood Obesity Plan.”
At the event, MPs also heard about new polling data* which showed that:
• 69% agree the new Prime Minister should continue to prioritise reducing childhood obesity
• 86% agree childhood obesity is a serious problem
• 76% say they are supportive of government action to reduce levels of childhood obesity
• 80% say they are worried about the impact of obesity on NHS resources
Sir David commented: “I am very concerned about childhood obesity, particularly as this is such an issue in Bexley where we are among the worst London Borough’s with over a third of children overweight or obese. Childhood obesity must stay high on the political agenda and we need to see more progress made on implementing the proposals in Chapter 2 of the Childhood Obesity Plan.”
