Press Release: October 2007: NHF welcomes publication of Foresight report Tackling Obesities: Future Choices

16 October 2007

The National Heart Forum welcomed the publication today of the report by the Government Office for Science - Tackling Obesities: Future Choices - describing it as the most comprehensive attempt to understand the multiple causes of the current epidemic of obesity.

The report challenges the hitherto simplistic portrayal of obesity as a failure of will power - eating too much and doing too little. It highlights the physical and psychological drivers which mean that the majority of the population is predisposed to gaining weight.

Tim Marsh, Associate Director of National Heart Forum said: "Tackling Obesities confirms that in order to address the current obesity epidemic we must create an environment that supports people to develop sustainable eating and activity habits. We need cross-government policy action that includes relatively straightforward changes such as a single system of traffic light food labelling, a ban on advertising unhealthy foods before the 9pm watershed, healthy school meals, and joined up policy to build a health-promoting physical environment. The consequences of not implementing these changes are clearly demonstrated in the report Tackling Obesities: Future Choices - Modelling Future Trends & Their Impact on Health which NHF carried out on behalf of the Foresight enquiry."

Press Contacts

For comment or to arrange interviews, please call Tim Marsh, Associate Director on 0207 383 7638 during office hours or mobile on 0771 351 4942.

Notes to editors

Tackling Obesities: Future Choices is published by the Government Office for Science and is available at the Foresight website www.foresight.gov.uk from October 17th.
The National Heart Forum was commissioned by Foresight to build a micro-simulation model of obesity trends over the next 50 years. The report Tackling Obesities: Future Choices- Modelling Future Trends & Their Impact on Health is available from the Foresight website www.foresight.gov.uk from October 17th.