Sunday September 2nd  2007

NOF loudly welcomes the statement by Ed Balls, Minister of Health, Department of Children, Schools and Families and has again requested that he attend the National Obesity Forum Annual Conference [Monday/Tuesday, October 15th/16th , Royal College of Physicians, London] to outline exactly what he is proposing to do about stemming UK obesity in general and childhood obesity in particular.  His statement. reported in to-day’s THE OBESERVER, showed that he clearly understands the problem but offered little detail.  Day Two of the Conference has been structured specifically to allow the Government to present its action plan to attending delegates.  If it doesn’t, NOF will ask why not?  

 

Both the DCSF and the Department of Health [DH] have been repeatedly asked to send speakers to the Conference to outline or debate cross-government plans but, as yet, neither Departent has accepted the NOF invitation.  An invitation has also been sent to the Department responsible for the FORESIGHT document on obesity leaked again to the BBC to follow up THE OBSERVER’s coverage in July.  “ 50% of boys obese by 2050 “ is the FORESIGHT prediction that both media picked up.  Since NOF understands that the formal document’s formal launch is October 17th, the Forum has requested that the release date be advanced by 24hrs so that the full detail may be in the public domain before the Conference ends.  The Forum have even offered that the Conference be
FORESIGHT’s launch platform.  To date the only response that we have had is that our suggestion is being considered.  If it is rejected, however, we might still decide to expand on the issues that THE OBSERVER/BBC have opened up.

There is a distinct possibility that the DCSF may also chose the launch date to ditch the DH target to halt the year-on-year rise of obesity in child under age-11yrs by 2010 and set a new date.  If this is the case – and NOF gets advance confirmation of it – we will call the Government to account for setting such a ridiculous objective in the first place.  NOF and other UK specialists in obesity have long held the view that the 2010 target was solely a political decision without any realistic medical or scientific basis.  If a new target is to be set it should be 2015, a date by which the World Health Organisation and other European Union believe something might be achievable.  FORESIGHT, however, could blow even that out of the water.
Stand by for an exciting conference.