Yesterday's All-Parliamentary Group on Obesity raised some interesting debate. Although the session was cut short, limiting the scope for open discussion, three key themes emerged which may warrant further thought.

Tim Lobstein of the International Obesity Taskforce opened with an outline of the obesity issue and its causal context. He identified 3 critical measures to counter the fattening effects of market forces in increasingly wealthy societies:
1. agriculture policy reform to see budget support for sustainable and nutrient based food production aligned with dietary targets
2. reformulation of products to reduce the calorific content provided from fats and sugar
3. advertising and marketing controls

Following on, Dominic Lyle, Director-General of the European Association of Communications Agencies, was keen to stress that the impact of food advertising on health and obesity issues needs further scrutiny. Whilst ferocious advertising campaigns by junk food giants are often targeted as a major propellant in the spiralling obesity crises, figures suggest that the link between ad spend and market growth across the food sector is not as virulent as assumed - in fact, Lyle claims, there is no direct relationship. In isolation, controls on the promotion of junk food are therefore not likely to alter people's eating habits significantly, or impact on levels of obesity. This certainly raised a few eyebrows.

To finish, Dr Aila Rissanen of the Helsinki University Hospital offered a Finnish perspective on solutions to diet related illness. Looking at the success of the Finish Diabetes Prevention Study, Rissanen highlighted the importance of lifestyle approaches to these problems and confirmed the potential effectiveness of public health programs to encourage healthy lifestyles, especially weight control and increased physical activity. Based on implementation of this approach in key high risk areas, and with a focus on community interventions, the effects are now filtering on a broader scale as awareness increases and personal choices are affected.

Food for thought...

CATEGORY: HEALTH