[A-List] UK society: choking on its own fat

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

We routinely hear accusations that the regime of North Korea "starves its
own people" -- but could we not accuse the regimes of Tony Blair and George
W. Bush of force-feeding their own peoples? "Dr" John Reid opines that
individual responsibility has a lot to do with it, but that never stopped
him from demolishing large quantities of alcohol.

Earlier I applauded the SSP for their school meals policy, which would have
the potential of ensuring adequate nutrition for many children deprived of
good food through poverty and the miseducation of our instant, throwaway,
fast everything culture. [Offlist this was accused of being "nannyish", but
tell that to the Cubans.] Such a policy looks even more worthwhile, although
as part of a more fundamental overhaul of food/health policy.

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Child of three dies from being obese
HELEN PUTTICK Health Correspondent
May 27 2004

A three-year-old child died from heart failure brought on through obesity,
it emerged today.

Ministers and food industry chiefs were facing mounting pressure after a
damning report condemned them for failing to tackle Britain's obesity
epidemic.

The Commons health committee warned that obese children could become the
first generation to die before their parents.

One specialist consultant cited the case of a three-year-old child dying
from heart failure where extreme obesity was a contributory factor.

Dr Sheila McKenzie, a consultant at the Royal London Hospital, also told of
four children who required ventilatory assistance at home for sleep apnoea.

She described them as "choking on their own fat".

The committee also suggested that children should have weight checks at
school every year.

It said pupils' body mass index (BMI) should be measured annually and
reported to their parents.

It demanded that withdrawal from television of junk food adverts aimed at
children, along with the launch of a "traffic light" labelling system to
help shoppers distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods.

Not all the measures put forward were welcomed by the food industry, while
John Reid, health secretary at Westminster, said individuals also had a
major role to play looking after their own health.

Concern about obesity levels has risen over the last year, and a wide
variety of experts and groups have been calling for government action.

It is calculated that if current trends continue, at least a third of all UK
adults will be obese by 2020, and a report published last year showed
Scottish children were among the fattest in the developed world.

Professor Mike Lean, a leading Glasgow nutritionist, described the select
committee report as the biggest and most authoritative investigation in the
area, and said Scotland should examine it and go even further in its own
assault on the problem.

However, a Scottish Executive spokeswoman said it was taking action in the
majority of areas outlined in the committee report.

She described measuring children's BMI at school as an "interesting"
proposal which it would look at in more detail.

While health is a devolved matter, some relevant issues, such as food
advertising, are reserved to Westminster.