subject: James Cracknell Endorses Conservatives over obesity [print this page] James Cracknell Endorses Conservatives over obesity
Olympic medalist James Cracknell has told the Telegraph that he believes that the Conservatives are the only party who will be able to tackle obesity in Britain.
The article comes after the gold medallist stood alongside David Cameron, who is gearing up for a last push to move into Downing Street, to launch the Conservatives' School Olympics Policy. He highlighted the party's commitment to team sports as a primary reason for his public display of allegiance, saying that of those he used to be friends with at school, only those he played team sports with are those he stayed in touch with.
Speaking about what Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, has called 'the obesity timebomb', Cracknell said that obesity was for him the single most concerning issue. Health experts have warned that if obesity rates continue to climb, in both adults and children, the NHS will be crippled by the cost of paying for treatments relating to weight, such as cancers, heart disease and diabetes.
He called for more money to be spent on 'preventative measures', such as promoting exercise and healthy eating, though he did not say whether he believed that money spent on therapies and slimming pills such as Xenical was also important.
Annually, the number of prescriptions for the diet pill Xenical, also known as Orlistat, has been rising each year. Diet pills such has Reductil (recently banned) and Xenical have been available from GPs for the past decade, since the National Intitute for Clinical Excellence recommended them for prescription on the NHS. Doctors are also encouraged to refer overweight patients to dieticians. Many patients have however complained that the support they receive is very dependent on their own doctor's attitude to weight.
Labour was recently given another set-back when independent group the King's Fund published a report saying that despite governmental targets and initiatives to encourage people to lose weight, obesity has continued to rise significantly
The Labour government has spent millions on promoting their healthy living program 'Change4Life', which has encouraged Brits to make small changes in their lifestyles to lose weight, rather than relying on fad diets or magic slimming pills. Alan Johnson in a campaign speech attempted to move away from accusations of the government creating a nanny state by saying, "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 that approach 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."
Despite Mr. Cracknell's endorsement of the Conservatives, he said, "Party politics are inconsequential compared to what lies ahead if we don't defuse that time bomb. In what should be golden decade for British sport, the obesity table is one we don't want to top. We're not there yet, but we're coming up fast."
