[freddebruyn]

A lot of action in UK, but maybe just a lot words, without any real action:

Entitled Y W8? (Why Weight?), the UK initiative, which is part of Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust's Let's Get Physical programme, aims to get people more active.
The idea is to encourage a positive focus on healthy eating and active living by acknowledging that the problem is not just clinical, but also cultural and psychological.

Overweight children and their families attend a weekly session for 12 weeks, involving fun activities to improve fitness, nutrition and self-esteem.

The project also provides parents with simple and practical advice to help their family make long-term lifestyle changes.

The food industry will undoubtedly welcome the initiative, which comes after the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued the first-ever national guideline addressing both the prevention and treatment of obesity in adults and children.

This guideline, which concerns England and Wales, contained wide-ranging recommendations, and emphasised that diet changes and exercise should be the first line of treatment for adults who are overweight or obese.

Both initiatives accept that the responsibility for solving the obesity problem cannot be laid solely at the door of the food industry.

Nonetheless, the industry has been under intense pressure to act. The CIAA, the European food and drink association, believes it has responded positively through product reformulation, education, labelling, research and responsible advertising and marketing.

"Tackling the obesity epidemic isn't just about treating people who are already obese, its also about helping people to avoid becoming overweight in the first place," said Dr Ken Snider, director of County Durham and Tees Valley Public Health Network.