What measures are being taken to reduce childhood obesity?

Although this blog is about raising awareness for the severity of childhood obesity, I must give credit to those who also recognise the problem and are trying to stop it.

Jamie Oliver:

Chef Jamie Oliver wanted to introduce a tax onto drinks that contain added sugar. It would be a 20p levy tax and he introduced this idea in June 2015 and gained support from doctors as well.

How Successful:

There are still debates on whether a sugar tax should be introduced but according to the BBC, the government are finally warming it and there are talks of it being introduced next month (February 2016)

Supermarkets:

Tesco has banned ribena and capri-son along with other sugary drinks as an attempt to lower childhood obesity. 

How Successful:

Although this is a great example of how childhood obesity can be tackled, it seems that few main supermarket chains are following suit and therefore this is not successful as it has not stopped children from sourcing sugary drinks elsewhere.

Doctors:

In 2004, doctors wanted to put a ban on junk food ads claiming that it encouraged children and contributed to childhood obesity. They said that targeting children was "fundamentally wrong" and that they were "persuading people to harm themselves"

How Successful:

Advertisers bounced back and told doctors not to blame them for childhood obesity and the ban was rejected.

The Government:

The government have supposedly discussed different options to tackle childhood obesity. These include:

• Traffic light system for labelling food
• Health education campaign to highlight the risks to parents and children
• Healthy eating lessons for school-children
• Snack vending machines to be removed from schools
• National walking strategy
• More surgery for obese people on the NHS

How Successful:

The traffic light system has been put in place however it is not widely used and is mainly ignored. There are few workshops and lessons available for children and parents to highlight the risks. Lots of vending machines have been removed from school. There is a big debate about whether surgery for obese people should be on the NHS and at the moment there are requirements you must fit to be eligible for surgery.