Obesity

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2016 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle obesity.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Prior of Brampton) (Con)]

My Lords, tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. The Government are developing a strategy that will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. We plan to publish it this summer.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as somebody who has been technically obese, so I am well aware how difficult is not only to lose the weight but to keep it off. Does my noble friend not agree that the solution is simple but not easy—that we should eat less and healthily and move more? If we do not do this and if the Government do not grip it, both the NHS and a substantial number of the population’s lives will collapse under the weight of the problem.

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, can I say to my noble friend that she looks far from obese today? She looks positively svelte. I agree that obesity is a massive problem facing the country. The chief executive of the NHS even referred to it as “the new smoking”. It causes not just diabetes but cancers and heart disease, so it is critical that we address it—and it is critical that we address it with people at a young age as it is much more difficult to lose weight later on in life.