Wellness for Peace Education on Climate Change: Europe Update: 'The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has published a report containing 10 recommendations designed to tackle the UK’s obesity epidemic – a story covered by most of the UK media. The latest health survey data suggests the UK is the ‘fat man of Europe’, with a quarter of men and women, and one in five 10-11 year olds being obese. In a compelling analogy, the report likens the current situation of obesity to that of smoking during the 1970s. During the 1970s, most people working in the medical profession knew that smoking presented a significant risk to public health, but little was being done about it. The report argues that a similar situation now exists regarding the health risks associated with obesity – which is estimated to cost the NHS £5.1 billion a year. The views of thousands of practicing doctors in the UK were sought by the report's authors on how best to tackle the obesity crisis. The report presents 10 key recommendations on new ways to address the growing public health problem of obesity, including: banning junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed reducing the proximity of fast food outlets to schools, colleges and other places were young people gather a one-year trial of a 20% tax on sugary drinks, to see what effect this could have As the chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges says, ‘This report does not pretend to have all the answers. But it does say we need together to do more, starting right now, before the problem becomes worse and the NHS can no longer cope.’

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Europe Update: 'The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has published a report containing 10 recommendations designed to tackle the UK’s obesity epidemic – a story covered by most of the UK media. The latest health survey data suggests the UK is the ‘fat man of Europe’, with a quarter of men and women, and one in five 10-11 year olds being obese. In a compelling analogy, the report likens the current situation of obesity to that of smoking during the 1970s. During the 1970s, most people working in the medical profession knew that smoking presented a significant risk to public health, but little was being done about it. The report argues that a similar situation now exists regarding the health risks associated with obesity – which is estimated to cost the NHS £5.1 billion a year. The views of thousands of practicing doctors in the UK were sought by the report's authors on how best to tackle the obesity crisis. The report presents 10 key recommendations on new ways to address the growing public health problem of obesity, including: banning junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed reducing the proximity of fast food outlets to schools, colleges and other places were young people gather a one-year trial of a 20% tax on sugary drinks, to see what effect this could have As the chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges says, ‘This report does not pretend to have all the answers. But it does say we need together to do more, starting right now, before the problem becomes worse and the NHS can no longer cope.’

'Fizzy drink tax' to stop UK being 'fat man of Europe' - Health News - NHS Choices: "The report, ‘Measuring Up: The medical profession’s prescription for the nation’s obesity crisis’, was written by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and published this month.
It reveals how data from the 2009-11 Health Survey for England suggests that the UK is the ‘fat man of Europe’.
The survey showed that one quarter of men and women in England are obese (defined as a body mass index [BMI] over 30) and that two thirds of adults are obese or overweight (BMI over 25).
Another worrying trend highlighted by the report is that the 2011-12 National Child Measurement Programme reported that one in five children aged 10-11 is obese and one in three is overweight or obese.
Over the last 20 years, the number of morbidly obese adults (BMI over 40) is said to have more than doubled and now stands at over 1 million UK citizens.
The report is said to represent the views of the vast majority of the UK’s 220,000 practicing doctors, who are ‘united in seeing the epidemic of obesity as the greatest public health crisis facing the UK’."
read more at: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/February/Pages/UK-fat-man-of-Europe-warning.aspx
'via Blog this'