UK needs its own Michelle Obama to tackle obesity, say doctors
Last edited Tue Jan 1, 2013, 03:14 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: The Guardian
High-profile leadership, perhaps by a member of the royal family who could take on a similar role to that played by Michelle Obama in the US, is needed to solve the obesity crisis in the UK, according to one of the authors of a report published on Tuesday.
The report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) finds that too little is being done for adults who are severely overweight. NHS services are "extremely patchy", it says, even though a quarter of all adults are obese and it is estimated that by 2050 most of the population will be.
Professor John Wass, chair of the working party that produced the report, says there is a real need for leadership. The report calls for a senior figure in government who will take charge of obesity issues across all departments from education to health, to agriculture and work and pensions.
Wass says we could learn from the US, where Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, and Michelle Obama in the White House have been leading a successful fight against obesity. He said: "I think we could have a senior figure in London, rather like the mayor of New York, who has led on having smaller measures of Coca-Cola in cups and other things. Michelle Obama has had a huge effect on obesity and getting things labelled.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/01/uk-needs-michelle-obama-obesity
So will Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (not Princess, corrected) be the British Michelle Obama? I thought Jamie Oliver (the TV chef) already was. Stay tuned though.
JI7
(89,250 posts)the good that many americans do when we have our own attacking them for it.
bigbrother05
(5,995 posts)Tried doing something similar in US, but not much traction. Funny accent didn't help when trying to win over entrenched school boards.
JI7
(89,250 posts)Jamie Oliver focused too much on how gross something is like those nuggets but even then the kids still wanted to eat them.
i think they really need to get parents involved in this though. if parents can get kids to eat healther at home and kids get used to those foods they will eat them at school.
bloomington-lib
(946 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Catherine is the Dutchess of Cambridge.
hedda_foil
(16,375 posts)Maybe after the baby is born. She's the perfect choice.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)She's catwalk thin and almost the opposite extreme to someone who is obese. There's a happy healthy medium somewhere.
There' a side issue to this too. Whereas there is no credible link to mental health issues actually causing obesity there may be a link to obesity itself leading to mental health issues. Some details here http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/jan/14/obesity-mental-health-myth
Comparative national obesity figures here : http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity
The US is projected to hit 50% by 2030.
QUALAR
(106 posts)Let's hope the UK doesn't take the money from their food stamp program like we did to pay for the program. An outrageous proposal by the Obama Administration.
SemperEadem
(8,053 posts)being that she is such an athlete and is a royal.
MrsMatt
(1,660 posts)who used to be overweight and has slimmed down.
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)At least with having kid's school dinners changed to an extent, but the government cut that budget.