Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce deaths due to obesity.

Many of the key commitments in our world-leading childhood obesity plan, launched in August 2016, will have an impact on tackling obesity across all age groups. These include the soft drinks industry levy and sugar reduction programme, which will reduce the amount of sugar we all consume. Alongside this, Public Health England is now considering the evidence on children’s calorie consumption and will set the ambition for a calorie reduction programme to remove excess calories from the foods children consume the most.

Steps to tackle obesity in adults include the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, which identifies those at high risk of developing diabetes and provides tailored, personalised help to reduce that risk including education on healthy eating and lifestyle and bespoke physical exercise programmes to tackle excess weight. There is also Public Health England’s “One You” marketing campaign, which engages adults in healthier behaviours including better eating habits and increasing physical activity.

A copy of “Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action” is attached and is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf