Obesity and Fatty Liver Disease
Debate between Ben Coleman and Danny Chambers(1 week, 1 day ago)
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Dr Chambers
Fantastic. Hopefully it will improve people’s mental health—and if they leave halfway through, it will probably improve their physical health, too. That is a fantastic initiative.
Other Members have talked about the soaring rate of liver deaths, which has shot up in the last 20 years. The hon. Member for Worthing West talked about it costing the NHS £6.9 billion directly, and some studies show that it has cost the economy over £100 billion in other ways, such as from people being off work.
Ben Coleman (Chelsea and Fulham) (Lab)
I suggest to the hon. Member that one of the principal reasons that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has shot up so radically in recent years is the increasing prevalence of food that is simply bad for people and is causing them damage—in particular, food that is high in fat, sugar and salt. For that reason, the Health and Social Care Committee, of which I am a member, is currently doing an inquiry on food. Does the hon. Member agree that the Government need to focus on making healthy food more affordable and accessible, and to tackle the advertising and marketing of so much of the unhealthy food that is out there?