To the rescue in the fight against obesity
Frederique Ries *
The European Parliament has adopted, by a large majority, a report by MEP Frederique Ries of Belgium on the risks of obesity in Europe. She said that gave unambiguous support to the European Commission following the publication of the green paper on the prevention of excessive obesity.
The report praised the initiative by the Commission to launch a public consultation on the subject and “urges Member States to officially recognise obesity as an illness.”
“It is certainly the surest way to avoid the stigmatisation of one section of the population in our society, and to ensure a reasonable assumption of responsibility by the national health care systems,” Ries underlined during her speech to the plenary.
“In 2000, the WHO defined obesity as the main health problem of the Western world. Could we really expect any different when on average six percent of national health budgets are devoted to obesity-related illness: type 2 diabetes, respiratory or cardiac problems?” she said. Ries said she feels that “in this battle, Europe has an immense contribution to make and not just through rhetoric.” She urged the EU to integrate nutrition and physical activity into Community policies.
In this context, she said she was pleased with the fruit and vegetables initiative launched by Commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel, with the aim of promoting the consumption of this highly nutritious food low which is low in calories.
With the levels of obesity rising dramatically across the European Union - the report passed by MEPs on the “prevention of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases” was timely, Ries said. It calls for obesity to be recognised as a chronic disease rather than something which is somehow “self inflicted.”
MEPs said they hope a reclassification of obesity will lead to less discrimination and stigmatisation.
The report suggests a school-based approach - it calls on countries to ensure that schools have sufficient funding to provide healthy and nutritional schools meals (burgers and chips are usually cheaper than vegetables and fruit).
The report also called for healthy diets and physical activity, with a general overall consensus on the need to act against the increase in obesity in Europe. However, Green party MEP’s Caroline Lucas of the United Kingdom and Jill Evans of Wales said: “The food industry must take responsibility for its role in the obesity problem that Europe is facing. It is not enough to simply encourage physical activity, like offering more school sports or incentives for cycling lanes. We also need to restrict the aggressive marketing of fast food, particularly when it targets children. Schools must not become billboards for the food industry and should offer healthy food instead of sugary or fatty snacks.”
The report would also like to see better labelling of food - common labels across the EU would help raise nutritional standards.
Ries said the key to reducing obesity is reducing fat, sugar and salt levels in food. In this aim the report calls on EU governments, manufacturers, retailers and caterers to make this their first priority.
Ries pointed out that she would prefer an incentive based policy (price reduction, tax reduction, other types of subsidies) rather than a system of raised taxation on calorific products.
“This would penalise European households with more modest means in particular,” she said. “It is time to end this political correctness which leads us only to inaction. Who can honestly think today that there is no difference between good and bad food.”
Obesity in Europe