Johnson Calls For National Movement To Tackle Obesity, UK

“Health Secretary Alan Johnson will tonight call for a national movement to tackle the growing problem of obesity. In a major speech on public health the Secretary of State for Health will outline the public health implications of the obesity epidemic and argue that our strategy to combat obesity will only succeed if every part of our society recognises the problem and joins together to takes steps to address it. "Obesity is the biggest health challenge we face. Over the last 60 years, the number of people who are severely overweight has risen steadily. There is a very real danger that today's children will be the first to live shorter lives than their parents and spend more of their years in poor health. ‘Just as the government has a moral duty to tackle poverty and exclusion, so it also has a duty to address obesity. But this is not a licence to hector and lecture people on how they should spend their lives - not least because this simply won't work. Tackling obesity requires a much broader partnership, not only with families, but with employers, retailers, the leisure industry, the media, local government and the voluntary sector. We need a national movement that will bring about a fundamental change in the way we live our lives.’ ‘Earlier today, I met with leaders from major health charities, retailers, the health profession and community action groups to discuss how we could form a national campaign that would help us change the way we live. I have also written to 220,000 local activists who are already doing excellent work in their communities to promote good health to ask them to shape this movement.’”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/115924.php