The final helping

Neil Donnelly

Neil is a Fellow of the BDA and retired Dietetic Services Manager. His main areas of interest are weight management and eating disorders.

For those of you who haven’t read the previous ‘Helping’, (shame on you), i focused on my somewhat increasing frustration with the apparent lack of original thought/innovation being given to tackling the obesity epidemic/tsunami/time bomb. this is especially so in relation to its proportionally growing effect on the overstretched resources of the organisation i worked for as a dietitian for 37 years: our embattled National Health Service.

I voiced the idea of a United Kingdom Obesity Party (UKOP). This has created almost as much interest as the then Junior Health Minister Edwina Currie did in 1988 when she told ITN News that, “most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella”, Phew! As I write this, the now former politician continues to keep things on the boil in the ‘Celebrity Jungle’. It is interesting how just one comment from someone in a position of responsibility can affect public opinion (the ‘eggs debate’ also being well before the likes of Facebook and Twitter).

Let’s look at the options. We can carry on listening to the latest offerings on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet etc, combined with increasing our activity, or we can rattle a few political cages by accepting all the Social Media likes and dislikes. Enter UKOP. Years ago a party was formed called The Official Monster Raving Loony Party. It is still a registered political party today and was narrowly defeated in the recent byelection at Rochester and Strood by just 198 votes by the Lib Dems( currently part of the coalition), coming sixth out of 13. They are a happy party. They are a win-win party.

A UK Obesity Party has much to offer, but very little time to act before the NHS succumbs to the funding pressures exerted on it and resort to extensive support from the private sector to manage its ever-burgeoning obesity-related health issues. This will change the face of healthcare provision in this country and, make no mistake, will affect us all, whatever weight we are.

Can/should this publication attempt to recruit support from health professionals/individuals/organisations to draw up a draft manifesto in record time (Polling Day is 7th May 2015)? Will there be time to launch a candidate(s) at the General Election next year? Are YOU interested? If you are, then maybe the impossible will become possible. Could a tiny voice get the main parties talking about the following? • a dedicated NHS-linked innovative

Obesity Management Strategy; • a pre-tax profits contribution to support the above from national food manufacturers, large food retailers, fast food outlets etc; • a National Weight Control Registry as in the USA; • an incentivised healthy weight/healthy staff NHS employee programme; • a link between schools and hospitals so that parents and children can see at first hand the damaging effects of this epidemic on our shores, etc, etc.

The fat of the matter is that we have all become too comfortable in our own skin. Two in every three of us are overweight or obese. It’s the norm. We have had numerous warnings, all to no avail, from every conceivable report on obesity over the last 10 to 15 years that we cannot sustain this disproportionate growth in girth. Let’s take a good look at ourselves.

With all the political parties currently in such disarray and the likelihood of a new, but different coalition government, which does not bear thinking about, what have we got to lose? Your NHS of course.

If you are in any way interested (what would you put on the manifesto?) and wish to help with the above, please email the Editor. Thank you.