Health minister declares obesity as single biggest threat to our health

Alan Johnson stands up for the overweight and says people do not have a right to ‘hector’ and ‘lecture’ fat people.

The Health minister called for a ‘national movement for change’ to tackle the obesity epidemic, which he described as the single biggest threat to the nation’s health.

“Weight-related health issues are due to cost the NHS £50billion by 2050″

He continued by warning us young people face death 11 years early, and that parents need to do more to ensure their children live more healthily, such as by walking them to school and setting up healthy eating clubs.
Mr Johnson also urged supermarkets and manufacturers to do more to promote healthy eating.

Mr Johnson said: ‘It’s easy for politicians to stand on the sidelines accusing the impoverished, the fat and the excluded of only having themselves to blame.’

‘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.’

Obesity still remains the biggest and most significant health issue facing the population in today’s times.

Two-thirds of adults and a third of British children are either overweight or obese. Weight-related health issues are due to cost the NHS £50billion by 2050.