Harriet Becher Deputy Director, Obesity Policy Peas Please Pledger - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Harriet Becher Deputy Director, Obesity Policy

Peas Please Pledger Event June 2019

Tackling obesity is one of the greatest health challenges of the 21st Century

2

The cost burden is enormous. McKinsey estimate a cost of £46b per year if you factor in lost productivity It impacts on a range of health problems and ultimately leads to 10% of all deaths 5 of the top 10 risk factors are associated with diet

Obesity is caused because we consume more calories than we expend but there is no ‘silver bullet’ to tackling it

3 The drivers of obesity are highly complex and interconnecting. The evidence shows you need to take a range of actions across many areas Average man consumes 300 calories more than they need each day ~ equivalent to 4 chocolate digestives To burn 300 calories requires 30-40mins running

There is a lot to be said for the old adage “you cannot outrun a bad diet”

Published in 2016 our childhood obesity plan ‘chapter one’ is starting to see results

4 We set industry a voluntary sugar reduction target to reduce sugar in foods children consume most by 20% by 2020 and 5% by March 2018. We have seen a 2% reduction already with many of the big industry players stepping up We introduced a Soft Drinks Industry Levy in April 2018 to drive reformulation of soft drinks. Over half of products in scope have been reformulated since with a total sugar reduction of 11% £575m of revenue from this levy has been committed to school PE and sport, facilities and breakfast clubs.

And last year we published ‘chapter 2’

Labelling

• consulted on calorie labelling in the
• ut of home sector to ensure families

have the information they need to make choices

• exploring what additional
• pportunities leaving the EU

presents for food labelling in England

Local communities

• Trailblazers programme to support

local action and leadership and sharing good practice

Schools

• reviewing physical activity in

schools to contribute to the School Sports and Activity Plan.

• A national ambition for every primary

school to adopt an active mile initiative, such as The Daily Mile.

• Work with Ofsted on their proposal

for the new inspection framework being developed for September 2019

• Introducing secondary legislation to

update the standards for school food and take steps to ensure compliance

Retail

• consulted on restricting multi-buy price

promotions for sugary and fatty products which encourage

• verconsumption and cost consumers
• consulted on restricting location

promotions like checkouts to support parents and reduce pester power

Marketing

• consulting on introducing a 9pm

watershed for advertising unhealthy products in broadcast media with similar action in the online space

Sugar reduction

• signalled we might extend the SDIL to milk-based drinks if

they fail to reduce sugar by 2020.

• consulted on ending the sale of energy drinks to

children

Our national ambition is to halve childhood

• besity and significantly

reduce the gap in

• besity between

children from the most and least deprived areas by 2030.

Current progress

Advertising Calorie labelling Energy drinks Government Buying Standards Promotions Consultation live Consultation closed Preparing Government response Consultation closed Preparing Government Response Consultation closed Analysing results Discovery phase complete Announcement on final ‘5’ shortly Local Authority Trailblazers Consultation live

Other key moments in the year ahead

7

SACN Report on saturated fats National Food Strategy Nutrient Profile Model review PHE sugar progress report – 2 year check PHE Calorie Reduction programme PHE infant and baby food report Cross-Gov School Sports Action Plan

Initiatives like ‘Peas Please’ have a key role to play

Increasing vegetable consumption is key in supporting our efforts to encourage healthier eating and reduce childhood obesity

• Improving diet quality: Data shows we are not consuming enough vegetables, fruit and fibre, and we are not

meeting the 5 a day recommendation. There is a huge amount of evidence on the beneficial effect of vegetable intake on health e.g. lower risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers

• Supporting product reformulation: In some products (e.g. ready meals) increasing vegetable

content can help with reducing sugar/calorie/fat content

• Promotions & advertising : We want to encourage businesses to shift their in-store

price and location promotions as well as their advertising to healthier products

• Encouraging healthier eating habits for life
• Promoting a more sustainable diet