The Foresight Report was the most comprehensive study of obesity ever carried out in the U.K. The headline that came out of it was that more than half of us will be obese within 25 years. That was four years ago. The media at the time concentrated on the impact of the food industry but, reading the report, the call for a change in our daily activity levels was just as strong.

Foresight were perhaps too diplomatic and technical in their language, so let me paraphrase:
• changes in food supply, the way we travel and the way we work are making us fat
• a fat population is a sick population
• radical action is urgently needed, including a fundamental rethink of our approach to transport and urban design
• government must take a lead, but all sectors of society need to rethink their approach

The parallels with cigarette smoking are clear and powerful. It took many years to change attitudes, but once a tipping point was reached norms began to change very quickly. The same will be true of personal transport.

The typical inner ring road in 2038.

To give you a flavour of the Foresight report, here are a few selected quotes:

The rapid increase in the number of obese people in the UK is a major challenge. This analysis by the government’s Foresight programme shows that over half of the UK adult population could be obese by 2050. The economic implications are substantial. The health costs attributable to overweight and obesity are projected to double to £10 billion per year by 2050. The wider costs to society and business are estimated to reach £50 billion per year (at today’s prices).

People in the UK today don’t have less willpower and are not more gluttonous than previous generations. Nor is their biology significantly different to that of their forefathers. Society, however, has radically altered over the past five decades,with major changes in work patterns, transport, food production and food sales.

These changes have exposed an underlying biological tendency, possessed by many people, to both put on weight and retain it. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of a wide range of chronic diseases, principally type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease including stroke, as well as cancer. It can also impair a person’s well-being, quality of life and ability to earn.

The pace of the technological revolution is outstripping human evolution
and, for an increasing number of people, weight gain is the inevitable – and largely involuntary – consequence of exposure to a modern lifestyle. This is not to dismiss personal responsibility altogether, but to highlight a reality: that the forces that drive obesity are, for many people, overwhelming.

Although what we identify in this report as ‘passive obesity’ occurs across all population groups, the socially and economically disadvantaged and some ethnic minorities are more vulnerable.

Being overweight has become a normal condition, and Britain is now becoming an obese society. But this transition has been at least three decades in the making.
…

Obesity is linked to broad social developments and shifts in values, such as changes in food production, motorised transport and work/home lifestyle patterns. The technological revolution of the 20th century has left in its wake an ‘obesogenic environment’ that serves to expose the biological vulnerability of human beings.
…
Changes to this environment are a necessary part of any response to support behaviour change and appropriate behaviour patterns. Solutions to address the obesogenic environment such as changes in transport infrastructure and urban design can be more difficult and costly than targeting intervention at the group, family or individual.

However, they are more likely to affect multiple pathways within the obesity system in a sustainable way. In the short term, creating demand for such change may rely on aligning the benefits with those arising from broader social and economic goals such as reducing energy consumption, pollution, direct and indirect health costs, traffic congestion and crime rates.

In the long term, strengthening action against obesity may not only reduce health and disability costs but also produce a generally healthier and more environmentally sustainable society.
….
The policy challenge: a paradigm shift
The prevalence of obesity is a major challenge, not just for medicine and public health but for governance and decision making. The deceptively simple issue of encouraging physical activity and modifying dietary habits, in reality, raises complex social and economic questions about the need to reshape public policy in food production, food manufacturing, healthcare, retail, education, culture and trade. In some respects, the objectives of previous eras, for example, improvements in food availability or opportunities for personal travel, now need reassessment in a time when energy-dense food is ubiquitous and transport choices restrict walking or cycling.

Our evidence shows that a substantial degree of intervention is required to affect an impact on the rising trend in obesity. A systemic or paradigm shift is needed to disrupt the cycle of accumulation of fat and to restore balance.
….
Tackling obesity is fundamentally an issue about healthy and sustainable living for current and future generations. This is only likely to be achieved if there is a paradigm shift in thinking, not just by Government but by individuals, families, business and society as a whole.

Very wise words in desperate need of a good spin-doctor.

Source:
Tackling Obesities: Future Choices – Project report