For the roughly 30% of adults in England living with obesity, and the close to a third of children now estimated to be overweight or living with obesity, the government’s promise to end the obesity epidemic within a decade was meant to mark a turning point. More than a year after that pledge, a cross-party committee of MPs has concluded the plan behind it is “doomed to fail” without a major rethink and without the prime minister taking direct personal charge.
The health and social care select committee, in a report, said there are no signs the so-called “moonshot ambition on obesity”, set out in the 10-year health plan for England, will achieve anything significant. Even the most basic questions remain unanswered, the MPs found. How will progress be measured? How would a plan spanning several government departments actually work?
“While the ambition to ‘end the obesity epidemic’ is a laudable one, we currently have no faith in the government’s commitment to this aim or ability to achieve it and predict that, unless they urgently reassess their approach, they are doomed to fail,” the report said.
The consequences of that failure, the committee warned, fall on the people the policy is meant to serve. Obesity rates among adults and children have risen significantly since the 1990s. The trends have levelled off, with 66% of adults in England either overweight or living with obesity, but there are no signs of a fall. For families navigating daily life around food, health and healthcare, the committee argues the response so far has been shaped by confused priorities rather than clear support.
One of the major failings identified in the report is the lack of proper distinction between efforts to prevent future obesity, for example by cracking down on unhealthy foods, and efforts to support and treat people who already have obesity. “Conflating these two things is in part responsible for the muddled thinking and lack of progress from successive governments to date,” the MPs said.
To put that right, the committee said any effective plan must start from a clear definition of what reducing obesity rates means in practical terms, along with interim progress markers that would allow MPs to hold ministers to account. It also called for a “joined-up, cross-government action plan”, setting out the departments responsible, their planned actions and how these will be funded, covering both prevention and treatment for adults and children. Ministers should come to parliament within the next three months to set out that plan, the report said.
At the heart of the committee’s argument is a question of leadership. The MPs called for a dedicated cabinet committee on the obesity plan, chaired by the prime minister, to drive action and “to send a message that this government takes obesity seriously”. Without that, they warned, “the government will fail to tackle a challenge of this scale unless action is led from the top and delivery of the moonshot is made a clear, personal priority of the prime minister.”
Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP who chairs the committee, said leadership from No 10 was vital. An effective plan, she added, “will mean standing up to the food industry on numerous points, regulating the constant presence of adverts and promotions for unhealthy food and drink that wallpaper our lives, simpler labelling on products, targets for supermarkets to sell more healthy foods and restricting fast food outside schools”.
“This issue transcends government departments, and experience tells us that if the prime minister isn’t calling the shots on such a huge societal issue, the loose ends won’t join up and the moonshot will crash land,” Moran said. “We urge him to take up this ambition and be the driver of change. In turn, the NHS, public health and the economy will reap the long-term benefits.”
By contrast, the Department of Health and Social Care defended its record. A spokesperson said: “Obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing our health service, and this government is taking bold action to help drive the shift from sickness to prevention and give every child the best start in life.”
The department pointed to measures already introduced: restricting junk food advertising on television before 9pm and online, banning volume-price promotions on less healthy food and drink products, and giving councils stronger powers to block new hot food takeaways near schools. “Alongside our focus on prevention, we are supporting those already living with obesity by expanding access to weight management support, including NHS weight-loss drugs for those with the greatest clinical need,” the spokesperson said.
For the millions of adults and children the strategy is meant to reach, the disagreement now comes down to whether promises will be matched by a plan capable of delivering them, and whether the prime minister will answer the committee’s call within three months.