Sir Michael Marmot, who led the pioneering research on health inequalities, said the approach was unsubstantiated and that he was disappointed that the strategy had rejected many of the recommendations of Henry Dimbleby, the government’s chief food adviser. While obesity was “terribly challenging,” Dimbleby’s ideas, including extending free school meals and new taxes on salt and sugar, were welcome, said Marmot, a professor of epidemiology at University College London. Michael Marmot: “Does each of us make the individual choice to be overweight or obese?” Photo: Rex / Shutterstock “It’s complicated to deal with, but I think Henry Dimbleby did it well,” he said. While other elements of Dimbleby’s proposals have been included in the final strategy, almost everything related to health intervention has been removed, to address a separate White Paper on health inequalities expected later this year, possibly before Summer Holidays. In his report, Dimbleby argued that the state has “the moral power to intervene in people’s lives to help them eat better.” However, food strategy refers to the “important role of individual responsibility and choice”, a popular mantra among ministers. In a newspaper interview [paywall] On Saturday, Health Minister Sajid Javid said people would “make the right decision on their own whether to smoke or drink, they would like to eat fatty foods”. There was a risk, Marmot said, of creating an artificial ideological divide: “We agree that government has an important role to play in health. There is an important debate about where it starts and where it stops, and people will draw the line between government action and individual responsibility at different points. “None of us want the government to tell us what we have for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but we are all very happy to be able to go to a hotel room or send our children to a school and we know there is no asbestos. We want the government to do it. We are very happy when we turn on the tap and the water is drinkable. We do not want to contact a helpline first. “But if we all make individual choices, how can obesity rates increase? Does each of us make the individual choice to be overweight or obese? “When you see such a social trend and you say that the government should not interfere because people make their own choices, I guess if you asked people, you would like to get diabetes or heart disease, to increase the risk of cancer by a third. , they would say, no, of course not. “People do not gain weight because they want to.” All this, he added, is closely linked to the marketing of unhealthy foods, especially the discount on increased portions: “The cost per calorie is half for the extra quantity. He says: “Come, have more than you need. It’s cheap.’ People who say let’s leave it to the individual know that the laws of economics apply – you lower the price, you increase the consumption. “And when it comes to people without purchasing power, it’s just cheaper to give your kids bread and jam or cookies than to give them fruit or fresh vegetables.” Inaction would have an impact on inequality and the government’s mission to raise the country, Marmot said. “What has happened is that the rise in childhood obesity in children from more favorable backgrounds has slowed and stopped. But it continues to grow in children from more disadvantaged environments. “So inequalities have increased and children who are obese are at least three times more likely to become obese adults. “It’s not good for children and it’s definitely not good for their prospects in life.” Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST Diblby also criticized the government’s plan, saying “it is not a strategy” and warning that it could mean more children will go hungry. Dimbleby’s proposal for new taxes on sugar and salt “has not completely changed the game, but it is a step in the right direction,” Marmot said, adding that the recommendation that tax revenues be used to finance fresh food for the poorest households were “a brilliant idea”.
