LAST CHANCE SALOON
How Scotland can fight the battle of the bulge for its own good
The Rio Olympics had many of us glued to our televisions. Rarely has sport enjoyed a higher profile. It has, though, come at a cost, which is why endless column inches have been devoted to the financial cost of bringing home a record haul of medals.
That slightly churlish carping from the sidelines has obscured some really serious issues. Why, for instance, at a time of virtuous role models in almost every sport, are participation levels still falling, particularly among our children? What are the costs of our growing indolence? And if Olympic success on a previously undreamt-of scale is not enough to inspire us to stay in shape, what else might work?
These are not abstract issues. We are now so unhealthy that, according to a recent Scottish Parliament briefing, our expanding waistlines are costing Scotland’s NHS up to £4.6bn a year, or 3% of GDP. Even more worryingly, the briefing added that the obesity epidemic is putting a ‘significant and growing’ burden on the nation’s finances. A report by Food Standards Scotland revealed that 500,000 Scots are at high risk of developing diabetes – which costs the UK economy £10bn each year – and that this number grows every year. Obesity now kills more Scots, especially poor ones, than tobacco. And it causes 30% of cancers.
Since 1995 the proportion of overweight Scots has risen from 52% to 65%, with 28% now categorised as obese. Yet, incredibly, 75% of Scots believe their diet is healthy. Instead, Scotland is the world’s second most obese country behind the USA. As Professor Graham MacGregor, the prominent cardiovascular expert and anti-sugar campaigner, said: This is a huge crisis: we are the most obese nation in Europe; it’s going to bankrupt the NHS.’
Despite the rhetoric from Holyrood, the resources devoted to counteracting this tsunami of blubber are pathetically insufficient, with the Scottish Government committing just £10 million to projects which encourage healthy eating between 2010-16. While money is not the panacea and most of the necessary change is cultural, resources still need to be in place and employed effectively. Audit Scotland’s blunt assessment when it looked at this area was that ‘not enough people are taking part in sport and the quality of sports facilities need to improve’. Currently 90% of the £558m spent annually on the provision of sports facilities and services is spent by councils, but Audit Scotland says the system is ‘fragmented with no clear links between the Scottish Government’s national strategy for sport and councils’ investment of money’.
Westminster has fared no better in combating the obesity resulting from increasingly unhealthy diets and growing inactivity. The recent U-turn by Theresa May on a sugar tax and banning the advertising of junk food has particularly appalled campaigners, especially as government intervention can change cultures, as proved by the ‘Cycle to work’ salary sacrifice scheme which has seen 400,000 start cycling to work since 1999 thanks to tax breaks offered by Government.
Based on the approach of Finland, Canada and New Zealand – the only three countries to reverse the trend towards sedentary ill-health – authorities such as the World Health Organisation say that the only way to get a nation of couch potatoes fit for purpose is to kick-start projects and attack the problem from different angles. So, as many areas of life are, or soon will be, devolved to Holyrood, here are ten simple ideas on how to begin to change the national approach to food and exercise, with a focus on children. Any one of these could help ensure that less of us die prematurely and that our NHS isn’t bankrupted. Makes you think...