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Obesity crisis ‘shows it’s no time to delay ban on junk food ads’
Figures from Cancer Research show more than 21 million UK adults will be obese by 2040 – almost 4 in 10 of the population, those of which massively increasing their chances of getting cancer. Further, they reveal liver, womb, and kidney cancer, all of which are linked with obesity, have seen some of the biggest rises in death rates over the past 20 years. The figures come as plans to introduce a 9pm watershed on TV advertising for products high in fat, salt, and sugar have been delayed until October 2025, after the General Election, despite wide criticism from health campaigners.
The Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition including the British Heart Foundation and the Royal College of Physicians, urged ministers not to dilute fat laws saying it would leave the Government with a legacy of cancelling legislation which could have prevented thousands of children developing obesity.
Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “This is not the time to be delaying the roll-out of a 9pm watershed on TV adverts of junk food, which the Government’s own figures show could reduce the number of children with obesity by more than 20,000. Not only does it put the interests of companies above the health and wellbeing of young people, but it flies in the face of the ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030. Most of the UK’s biggest food brands could quite easily switch to marketing healthier options right now if they were made to. You only need to read the disappointing results of OHID’s long-delayed sugar reduction report to know the carrot approach has not – and will not – work. It’s time for the stick.”
CRUK wants Ofcom to undertake an annual review to monitor the use and impact of different and emerging types of advertising - including brands’ own social media, and ban the use of influential promotional techniques like cartoons, characters and influencers. To address the scale of the crisis, they propose the creation of a Cabinet-level committee on health improvement and prevention to monitor delivery of plans to tackle obesity.
Mitchell added: “Around four in ten cases of cancer are currently considered preventable and the number of cancer cases is likely to grow unless serious inroads are made in prevention. The Government needs to take bold action to prevent more cancers, for example by implementing the recommendations of the Khan Review to make smoking obsolete and limiting the delay of junk food advertising restrictions.”
Source: Daily Express, 2 January 2022
See also: Cancer Research - New analysis estimates over 21 million UK adults will be obese by 2040
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Jamie Oliver: Sugar tax could fund school meals
Jamie Oliver has said the millions being raised through the so-called sugar tax should be used to extend the provision of free school meals.
He was instrumental in persuading the government in 2018 to impose the levy on soft drinks with high sugar content. Initially the funds raised were used for programmes to tackle childhood obesity but now Oliver wants them to be diverted to the school meals programme.
As it stands, in England and Wales children aged four to 16 are only eligible for the free meals if they live in a household with an annual income of less than £7,400. Oliver said all children living in households receiving Universal Credit should be included in the scheme. In England alone, this amounts to about 800,000 children.
The levy raised £336m in 2019-2020, the year after it was first introduced and Oliver said that "if you look at the money raised from the sugary drinks tax, it's not far off what's needed" to fund those extra meals.
He said: "It's like passive smoking. We're talking about all children being affected by some of the kids maybe being disruptive or sleeping or any other kind of carnage that goes along with the poverty of hunger."
On Tuesday, Oliver brought these issues into focus as he guest-edited the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. As part of the programme, former Chancellor George Osborne was interviewed and he said he was "disappointed" more was not done during his time in government to tackle childhood obesity.”
Source: BBC News, 27 December 2022
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Opinion: Government must follow through on gambling law reform promises
Jamie Gillies, Scottish campaigner and commentator on politics and culture, writes in the Press and Journal on the lack of action on gambling law reform. This follows the Tories’ pledge in 2019, the Gambling Act 2005, to fix outdated gambling laws, and a delayed, and still unpublished white paper on the harms of gambling.
Gillies says since the current UK legislation governing gambling was introduced, online betting has exploded, and users can now access services 24/7. Advertising too – online, in apps, on TV, on radio. He writes it is easier than ever before to become addicted to gambling, and lives are being lost as a result.
One reasonable step suggested to government ministers is a mandatory levy on betting companies each year, to fund treatment for addiction and addiction research. He notes that at present, companies can donate voluntarily, but give well below what they can afford.
Gillies concludes that government action is needed, saying: “Allowing the status quo to continue is an inexcusable gamble with people’s lives.”
Source: Press and Journal, 3 January 2023
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Scottish nurse who suffered asthma attacks due to smokers at hospital calls for ban to be enforced
Charity Asthma + Lung UK said the new ban on lighting up within 15 metres of a hospital building, which came into force in September 2022, was being flouted and has called for it to be enforced more strictly. The failure to enforce the smokefree law was highlighted by a nurse who had to quit her job because smokers at the hospital entrance triggered her asthma.
Olivia Fulton, 36, told the Daily Record: "I worked at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary as a renal nurse but one of the biggest issues I had was getting into hospital safely. Sometimes I would end up in A&E." Olivia told how she was admitted for asthma treatment at the infirmary but was triggered again by smoke coming in an open window, leaving her critically ill.
The law means anyone smoking within 15 metres of a hospital building could face a fixed penalty notice of £50 or a fine of up to £1000 if the case goes to court.
Joseph Carter, head of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland, said: “For people with lung conditions, who often spend a lot of their time in and out of hospital, having to inhale smoke can be a trigger for a serious attack or flare-up. We can all play our part in reducing the risks of second-hand smoke, and with one in five people in Scotland having a lung condition, it is vital that hospitals communicate a clear message … that smoking is completely unacceptable within close proximity of hospitals.”
Source: Daily Record, 28 December 2022
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Tobacco companies to be billed for cleaning up cigarette butts in Spain
Tobacco companies are to be forced to foot the bill for cleaning up the millions of cigarette ends that smokers discard every year under new environmental regulations in Spain. The ruling, which comes into force this Friday, is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling. It includes a ban on single-use plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene cups and plastic straws, as well as cutting back on plastic food packaging. The law conforms to a European Union directive limiting the use of single-use plastics and which aims to oblige polluters to clean up the mess they create.
Cigarette manufacturers will also be responsible for educating the public not to discard their butts in the public space but it remains unclear how the clean-up will be implemented or what it will cost. One Catalan study put the cost at between €12-€21 per citizen per annum, a total of up to €1bn (£882,000).
It is assumed that the tobacco companies will pass on the cost to the consumer, providing one more incentive to quit the habit. According to last year’s government statistics, about 22% of Spaniards smoke (16.4% of women and 23.3% of men) compared with an EU average of 18.4%.
Nevertheless, despite the large number of smokers, especially among young people, popular opinion favours increased restrictions on smoking in public places. A survey by the family medicine association found that 85% of the public favour further restrictions, with 72% backing a ban on smoking on the terraces of bars and restaurants.
Cigarette ends are one of the most ubiquitous forms of litter and take about 10 years to decompose, in the process emitting toxic substances such as arsenic and lead. According to the Ocean Conservancy NGO, cigarette butts are the most common form of marine pollution, more even than plastic bags and bottles, with an estimated 5bn discarded in the ocean. In the interests of public health and to reduce the number of butts finding their way into the sea, about 500 Spanish beaches have been declared smoke-free. Last year, Barcelona outlawed smoking in all the city’s 10 beaches.
Source: Guardian, 3 January 2023
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