Harriet Becher Deputy Director, Obesity Policy Peas Please Pledger Event June 2019
Tackling obesity is one of the greatest health challenges of the 21 st Century 5 of the top 10 risk factors are associated with diet It impacts on a range of health problems and ultimately leads to 10% of all deaths The cost burden is enormous. McKinsey estimate a cost of £46b per year if you factor in lost productivity 2
Obesity is caused because we consume more calories than we expend but there is no ‘silver bullet’ to tackling it To burn 300 calories The drivers of obesity are highly complex and interconnecting. The requires 30-40mins evidence shows you need to take a range of actions across many running areas Average man consumes 300 calories more than they need each day ~ equivalent to 4 chocolate digestives There is a lot to be said for the old adage “you cannot outrun a bad diet” 3
Published in 2016 our childhood obesity plan ‘chapter one’ is starting to see results We set industry a voluntary sugar reduction target to reduce sugar in foods children consume most by 20% by 2020 and 5% by March 2018. We have seen a 2% reduction already with many of the big industry players stepping up We introduced a Soft Drinks Industry Levy in April 2018 to drive reformulation of soft drinks. Over half of products in scope have been reformulated since with a total sugar reduction of 11% £575m of revenue from this levy has been committed to school PE and sport, facilities and breakfast clubs. 4
And last year we published ‘chapter 2’ Sugar reduction - signalled we might extend the SDIL to milk-based drinks if they fail to reduce sugar by 2020. - consulted on ending the sale of energy drinks to children Local communities - Trailblazers programme to support local action and leadership and sharing good practice Labelling Our national ambition is - consulted on calorie labelling in the to halve childhood out of home sector to ensure families have the information they need to obesity and significantly make choices reduce the gap in - exploring what additional opportunities leaving the EU obesity between Schools presents for food labelling in England - reviewing physical activity in children from the most schools to contribute to the School and least deprived areas Sports and Activity Plan. - A national ambition for every primary by 2030. school to adopt an active mile Retail initiative, such as The Daily Mile. - Work with Ofsted on their proposal - consulted on restricting multi-buy price for the new inspection framework promotions for sugary and fatty Marketing being developed for September 2019 products which encourage - Introducing secondary legislation to overconsumption and cost consumers - consulting on introducing a 9pm update the standards for school - consulted on restricting location watershed for advertising unhealthy food and take steps to ensure promotions like checkouts to support products in broadcast media with similar compliance parents and reduce pester power action in the online space
Current progress Advertising Consultation live Local Authority Trailblazers Promotions Discovery phase Consultation closed complete Analysing results Announcement on final ‘5’ shortly Calorie labelling Consultation closed Government Buying Standards Preparing Government Response Consultation live Energy drinks Consultation closed Preparing Government response
Other key moments in the year ahead PHE Calorie Reduction SACN Report on Nutrient Profile Cross-Gov School programme saturated fats Model review Sports Action Plan PHE sugar National Food PHE infant and progress report – 2 Strategy baby food report year check 7
Initiatives like ‘Peas Please’ have a key role to play Increasing vegetable consumption is key in supporting our efforts to encourage healthier eating and reduce childhood obesity - Improving diet quality: Data shows we are not consuming enough vegetables, fruit and fibre, and we are not meeting the 5 a day recommendation. There is a huge amount of evidence on the beneficial effect of vegetable intake on health e.g. lower risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers - Supporting product reformulation: In some products (e.g. ready meals) increasing vegetable content can help with reducing sugar/calorie/fat content - Promotions & advertising : We want to encourage businesses to shift their in-store price and location promotions as well as their advertising to healthier products - Encouraging healthier eating habits for life - Promoting a more sustainable diet
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