May accused of cutting the target to reduce obesity among children
THERESA May’s Government has been accused of watering down a raft of plans designed to slash Britain’s childhood obesity levels after she replaced David Cameron.
Curbs on junk food advertising and restrictions on unhealthy product placement in supermarkets were among measures cut from a draft of the Government’s childhood obesity strategy before it was published, Channel 4’s Dispatches programme will claim tonight.
It will say a first draft it has been leaked also contained a pledge to halve the number of chronically overweight minors by 2026 – a cut of some 800,000 cases.
This, it says, was changed to a pledge to “significantly reduce” the number of chron- ically overweight minors when the full strategy was released in August.
Celebrity chef and healthy food campaigner Jamie Oliver said: “This should go to the Trades Description Act because that says an ‘action plan’ and there’s hardly any action in there.
“When you look at how the plan came out at midnight, next to the A level results, while the whole of government’s on holiday, it absolutely screams out we don’t care.”
A Department of Health spokesman described the Government’s published plan as “ground-breaking”, adding: “No other developed country has done anything as ambitious.
“The Government has intentionally taken a careful and measured approach which will reduce obesity.
“We are taking bold action through the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to cut the amount of sugar consumed by young people.
“Alongside this, our restrictions on advertising and promotion are among the toughest in the world.”