Shropshire Star

Star comment: Figures are food for thought

More and more the message is being driven home – if you eat what you like, you could become a burden on the state and put your own health at risk.

Published

There is an obesity time bomb which as it takes increasing effect is going to make the current pressures on the NHS look tame.

But there is a lot of resistance against having anybody dictate to ordinary people what they are allowed to eat and what they are not. Is it not a question of making a personal choice, and taking personal responsibility for your actions?

Clearly Labour's shadow health secretary Andy Burnham thinks that approach is not enough and is not working. He is calling for maximum levels of fat, salt and sugar in food marketed to children.

Shropshire figures support the notion that there is a real problem which has to be addressed. Around a quarter of children across the county are overweight when they start school. By the time they are in their final year, almost four out of 10 on the Telford & Wrekin patch are overweight.

These days there is a sort of time poverty – many parents do not have time to invest making healthy, balanced meals. A takeaway meal is convenient, quick and usually relatively cheap.

The reason children love junk food and, of course, sweets, is because they find it delicious. Rather than having a "nanny state" solution, there is a commercial solution in which companies develop crisps, pizzas and the whole range of desirable but unhealthy foods so that they are still delicious but are far more healthy.

This is already happening. Look at packaging nowadays and foods are being billed as low salt, low fat, low sugar . . . The information is there, but you may have to look for it, and when you find it, what does it actually mean?

Mr Burnham wants to see a clear traffic-light based system. At least then you would know to avoid red if healthy eating is your priority. There again, such measures are likely to face industry opposition.

It does not help that the public is bombarded with conflicting information. One day there is a report saying such-and-such is bad for you, the next another saying it is good for you.

Unfortunately junk food fits well into the way many of us live now. If we won't change our lifestyles, then we must change the food – or live, and sometimes die, with the consequences.

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