Obesity is a big problem within the UK and experts are certain that changes need to be made to deal with the issue. The number of people dying from being overweight is increasing dramatically and has already risen considerably since 2005 from 2.6 million to 3.4 million a year.
International groups are now becoming so concerned about obesity levels that they now hope to put regulations on food like those put on tobacco. The idea may seem extreme however it could be what is needed to control the situation and prolong people’s lives.
Better rules are needed
The Consumers International and World Obesity Federation is calling for more severe rules to be placed on food and drink products. Some of their suggested plans include putting pictures of obese people and the damages caused by obesity on the likes of labelling, sandwich packaging, fast food packaging, cereal boxes and drink packaging. These are very similar to the rules enforced on cigarette packaging where imagery of smoking related diseases are shown to put people off smoking.
The idea behind the food regulations however are not designed to put people off their food but to educate them on healthy eating. The Food and Drink Federation would like to offer healthier food options to encourage a diet full of nutritional goodness rather than too much sugar and fat.
Consumer International and the world Obesity federation hope to see governments impose compulsory food rules in the near future to control what people are eating and drinking. They also want to see the levels of salt, saturated fat and sugar in food reduced. In addition to this they would like to see better food introduced into hospitals and schools, stricter advertising methods and improved education on food available to the public.
Their five year goal however is to have all artificial trans-fats completely removed from food and drink. As well as this they would like to stop advertisements targeted at children with the likes of talking characters that encourage them to want to buy the product.
It will take an awful lot of work for all of these changes to take place. It has therefore been suggested that Governments begin to review the prices of foods, introduce taxes and change the licensing controls put in place. This will require a lot of research if this project is to go ahead and be successful.
Will there be problems?
Despite the positive attitude toward the project there is also a worry that the food industry will face the same problem the tobacco industry faced in the 1960’s. Cigarettes were once deemed to be “safe” and something that would never cause harm. Of course 40 years down the line it was quite the opposite as it became clear that they were in fact harmful to a person’s health.
If put into action now deaths through obesity could be avoided and the general public could face a much healthier future. The only real challenge standing in the way is that food is needed for survival. Just how many restrictions can you put on something needed to survive?
