[AODA members] food policy critical to obesity fight

[Stacia Nordin, RD]

FYI

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[hen-l] sound familiar??
Date: 	Wed, 9 May 2007 11:56:26 -0500
From: 	Mary Pat Raimondi <mpraimondi at gmail.com>
Reply-To: 	ADA Dietetic Practice Group <hen-l at list.cornell.edu>
To: 	hen-l at list.cornell.edu



<http://www.foodnavigator.com/>
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*Food policy crucial to obesity fight*

By Jess Halliday
09/05/2007- *Obesity has become the scourge of modern living - and 
amending food policy is crucial to government efforts in tackling the 
problem, says a UK expert.*

Colin Waine, chair of the UK's National Obesity Forum and visiting 
professor at Sunderland University, yesterdat addressed attendees at the 
Vitafoods International Conference in Geneva.

He said that the long-term problem of obesity in Europe has been driven 
largely by trends such as the heavily subsidised production of oils, 
fats and sugar, the heavy promotion of HFSS (high fat, sugar and salt) 
products, and the intense marketing of these products, especially when 
targeting children.

On the other hand, low priority is given to the promotion of a healthy 
lifestyle, such as eating fresh fruit and vegetables. Environmental and 
urban planning is based around car centres, with low priority given to 
activity friendly modes of transport like walking and cycling.

/"There is a conflict between those who those who try to treat and 
prevent obesity and the vested interests of those who profit from our 
current obesogenic environment," /he said. /"I suggest that it is the 
responsibility of governments to seek to alter the balance in favour of 
those who seek to improve the nation's health."/

/He added: "We have not even begun to tackle the problem. //Public 
relations measures are not enough."/

There have been some concerted efforts to address the problem. Food 
companies have focused on reformulating products to make some ranges 
/"less bad",/ the five-a-day fruit and veg message message has been 
widely communicated, and last month the first round of curbs on 
advertising high fat, sugar and salt foods to children was introduced in 
the UK.

Waine's talk was followed by a presentation by Martin Kussmann, head of 
functional genomics at the Nestle Research Center on the EU DIOGenes 
project. It involves 34 industry and academic partners in 14 countries, 
and aims to target obesity from a dietary perspective.

But Waine believes that more remains to be done, and unless more drastic 
measures are taken, obesity will pose severe constrains and an economic 
burden on overloaded health care systems, he said.

Obesity takes a decade off life, and there is incontrovertible evidence 
that it is a cause of 45 comorbidities. Besides cardiovascular disease 
and type II diabetes, it also plays a major role in the genesis of 
site-specific cancers.

By 2010 obesity rates in children will have grown by 28 per cent in the 
UK, affecting more than 6.4m youngsters, and one in four of them will be 
affected by metabolic syndrome.

By 2020, one-fifth of European health care budgets will be swallowed by 
the cost of treating type 2 diabetes and its complications, Waine said.

There is no disputing that obesity has reached epidemic proportions. 
According to the World Health Organisation, a disease becomes an 
epidemic when it affects more than 15 per cent of the population.

In some parts of Europe, more than 25 per cent of adults are considered 
obese according to the conventional body mass index measurement (a BMI 
of over 30 is considered obese) - although Waine considered visceral fat 
to be a more accurate measure.

He said obesity is particularly worrying in children. /"Wherever you 
look, rates are rising dramatically," /he said. /"This will have an 
effect on future health and health care resources." /

Waine said that there are other factors that have a bearing on the 
complex condition that is obesity.

These include a genetic make-up that is designed for a time when food 
was scarce, and physical demands for survival were high.

/"It is a situation of stone age genes in 21^st century society, where 
the environment is vastly different,"/ he said. /"Energy won't go away. 
If there is more going in than out, then the result is obesity." /

Modern life in the Western world involves a plethora of energy rich 
foods, with exercise all but factored out - especially with the decline 
in manual occupations, increase in motor transport, more sedentary 
leisure pursuits, more consumption outside the home, and marketing of 
larger amounts.

Waine said that in the past, before the invention of many labour-saving 
devices, the average housewife expended the same energy in her weekly 
routine as she would running a marathon.

While stressing that he is not advocating a return to pre-women's lib 
days, he said that there are ways in which people today could increase 
their activity rates.

For instance, he stated that his office is located next to a school.

/"Sometimes I think parents want to drive their 4x4s right into the 
classroom, not content with the school gate," / he said/. "The result is 
urban chaos."

/
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Print

Printed with permission


-- 
Mary Pat Raimondi MS, RD
Senior Partner
Marketing and Research
The Milestone Group LLP
651-690-9284 phone
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