New action plan aims to tackle obesity

A new campaign to tackle obesity is to involve organisations representing nearly all of the UK's doctors. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has released a ten-point plan to combat the nation's weight  problem after GPs labelled it 'the fat man of Europe'.

Among the suggestions made to dissuade people from eating unhealthy food and encourage them to become more active are tax increases on fizzy drinks, stricter controls on sweets in schools and bans on television adverts promoting fast foods.

In addition, it has been put forward that food labels should include calorie information for children.

Professor Terence Stephenson, chair of the Academy, said everyone who is unhappy with their weight would like to benefit from help provided by the state and society.

"We didn't hear from a single person who said they liked being overweight," he added.

The campaign was announced in 2012, with Professor Stephenson noting all doctors in the UK believe obesity to be a significant problem, adding the issue is more likely to be resolved when a collective effort is made.

Now read our 2011 report Obesity in the UK: A psychological perspective - and look out for a panel discussion on the subject at out Annual Conference in April.