By Caribbean Medical News Staff [/ quote_right]
With the epidemic of obesity getting fatter by the minute and the Caribbean being riddled with Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases (NCDs), the UK says that fizzy drinks (sodas) and junk food should be taxed.
According to reports to the BBC, The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents nearly every doctor in the UK, said “ballooning waistlines” already constituted a “huge crisis”.
The report also indicated that measures thus far taken to reduce obesity have failed in that country. The BBC report further stated that The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is a “united front” and has come together on the issue to propose the following:
Its recommendations include:
“That required things like a ban on advertising and a reduction in marketing and the association of smoking with sporting activities – that helped people move away from smoking,” said Prof Terence Stephenson, the chair of the Academy in his comments to the BBC.
The UK’s Health minister Lord Howe welcomed the report and said he wanted to see “businesses intensifying their efforts as well”.
“To tackle the rising tide of obesity the industry, healthcare professionals, government and individuals all need to continue working together to get results, which is why our Call to Action sets out how important this is.
“Government is already helping people make healthier choices by working with industry to reduce fat, salt and sugar in foods and by giving children and familiesadvice on how to eat well, get active, and live longer through Change4Life.”
Time to tax junk food and soft drinks
According to Stephenson, a levy was needed to “encourage people to drink more healthy drinks,” and he further accused the marketing and advertising campaigns for fizzy drinks and junk foods as being partly responsible for ever-growing waistlines.
However, Terry Jones, of the industry body the Food and Drink Federation, said the report “seems to be a damp squib and to add little to an important debate”.
“The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has presented as its recommendations, a collection of unbalanced ideas apparently heavily influenced by single issue pressure groups,” he said.
“FDF had hoped that today’s report would have looked seriously at how the food industry and the medical profession would have worked together to tackle obesity, and genuinely brought new insights to bear on how to empower healthier choices and change behaviour to deliver better long-term public health outcomes. This report fails to do that.”
The British Soft Drinks Association has completely disposed of the idea of taxing soft drinks which it said contributed “just 2%” of the total calories in the average diet”. Increase in levels of activity and examination of the overall diet.
The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is also tackling obesity withinCARICOM and other Caribbean nations in an effort to stamp out obesity and reduce NCDs.
