Over 100 doctors call for tax on junk food to handle obesity epidemic

The government is being urged to tax junk food, meat and dairy products as part of a string of dramatic measures needed to improve the nation’s health post-coronavirus.

A group of around 200 doctors and healthcare professionals signed an open letter to ministers warning chronic (long-lasting) illnesses caused by unhealthy diets are adding to the Covid-19 death toll and ‘crippling’ the NHS.

Studies have shown that obesity and type 2 diabetes are a risk factor in catching the virus, but doctors say little has been done to properly address this despite two-thirds of adults being overweight or obese.

They have put forward a number of proposals to overhaul the UK’s ‘unfair, unhealthy and unsustainable’ food system when the pandemic passes. This includes a tax on foods that are high in salt and fat, a tax on food derived from animal agriculture, subsidies for plant-based diets and a return of public sector catering to stop processed meat being served in schools and hospitals.

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One of the doctors leading the group, Consultant Haematologist Dr Shireen Kassam, said legislation must be implemented rapidly to get a grip on the country’s obesity crisis and reduce the death toll in future disease outbreaks.

She described current the healthcare model as a ‘sticking plaster approach’ that is too reactive to treat chronic diseases, when about 80% of them can be prevented ‘by addressing the social and lifestyle determinants of health’.

She said access to healthy food should not be reserved for the ‘privileged few’, pointing out that ethnic minorities or people from deprived backgrounds are more likely to be overweight or have heart disease.

She said healthy food would only become more accessible if change was implemented from the top down, through measures like taxation, subsidies and public health campaigns similar to anti-smoking ads.

What measures are the group proposing?

1.     Increased taxation on both retail and out-of-home food containing high levels of fat and salt, and a new tax on food produced using ingredients derived from industrial animal agriculture.

2.     That the ban on junk food advertising is accelerated and made total, banning such advertising even after the watershed.

3.     The introduction of subsidies to support the UK population in adopting a predominantly whole food and plant-based diet for both human and planetary health.

4.     Promotion of a plant-based food system through the adoption of Conservation Agriculture (‘No-Till’) systems to lower carbon emissions and reduce the risk of entering a ‘post-antibiotic era’.

5.     Protection of the oceans by discouraging over-fishing and reducing the reliance on fish consumption, finding alternate sources of long-chain omega-3 fats.

6.     Encourage healthy, sustainable eating through the reintroduction of public sector catering in schools and hospitals.

She told Metro.co.uk: ‘This is really urgent, 80% of chronic illnesses are directly related to diet and lifestyle and one-in-five deaths in the UK are caused by unhealthy diets, which is one high in processed foods and animal foods.

‘The NHS is overwhelmed with diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular health diseases.

‘The current pandemic has shown the vulnerability of the population’s health. We have been at crisis point for a long time, probably nearly a decade.

‘I have seen no solutions the government is providing. We want to know what the UK is doing to address our unfair, unhealthy and unsustainable food system.’

The changes proposed are in-line with the recently published report by the EU’s European Commission A Farm to Fork Strategy, which calls for ‘a move to more plant-based diets… to reduce the risk of life-threatening diseases and the environmental impact of the food system’.

According to a 2019 study published in British medical journal the Lancet, adopting a more plant-based diet could prevent approximately 11 million deaths each year.

Three in four of the world’s new emerging diseases are caused by animals, with coronavirus leading to calls for more people to go vegan to avoid a future pandemic.

The group who have written to the government said Covid-19 has ‘simply been an early warning that we must change our food supply chain now’.

The letter, seen by Metro.co.uk, states: ‘We, NHS doctors and staff, are writing to urge NHS leaders and the government to pass bold post-Covid-19 legislation to allow for rapid, nationwide changes to the obesogenic and unsustainable food environment in which we currently live. This environment has added to the UK’s Covid-19 pandemic death toll.

‘As healthcare professionals we are concerned that business will restart as usual after the pandemic. It is not acceptable that the NHS is collapsing under the burden of chronic diseases, the majority of which could be prevented and treated by addressing diet and lifestyle factors.

‘We are willing to take on the task of shifting the NHS focus from a reactive healthcare system to one that promotes health and prevents chronic illness.  However, this action needs to be fully embraced by NHS leaders and the government, who should now place the nation’s long-term health at the centre of their policy.’

The letter has been written to coincide with World Nutrition Day on Thursday and was signed by around 140 doctors and 60 healthcare professionals.

Dr Kassam, who founded Plant Based Health Professionals, said it was supported by members of her group as well as non-affiliated staff ‘who have worked for decades in a healthcare system that provides a sticking plaster approach to dealing with chronic disease’.

She added: ‘We want to make some noise and urge those that can to address food injustice. Many people don’t have the choice or access to healthy diets. It’s for a privileged few’.

What is the government doing to tackle obesity?

Boris Johnson said he will launch an obesity drive post-coronavirus, though details of what this could entail have not been published. The PM reportedly believes his excess weight was a key reason he needed intensive care treatment after coming down with the virus and is said to have told MPs ‘it’s all right for you thinnies’ when opening up about his battle.

Last year he announced a review on so-called ‘sin taxes’, which include levies on tobacco, alcohol and sugar, but it is understood he has now ‘changed his mind on this’.

A review into the factors affecting health outcomes from Covid-19, including ethnicity, gender and obesity, is due to be published by Public Health England at the end of May.

The Department of Health and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been contacted for comment.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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