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Combating Obesity

It is important to give every opportunity to people to take responsibility for their own health, but we must also be cognisant of the important issue of stigma. It is very much the Government’s approach to ensure that no stigma is applied to the obese in initiatives to combat obesity. It is important that we recognise that many people suffer from obesity for reasons of genetics or metabolism rather than greed. It is not acceptable for us to take the approach of bullying the school fatty, or for society to hold a view that implies that obesity means slowness of gait, or of wit or mind. Recently, I was the subject of criticism by the Sri Lankan Government because I took an interest in the peace process in that benighted isle. They made many criticisms of me, but one—that I was fat—may well have some truth. That is a sign that accusations concerning size are a matter of stigma, attack and derision. More seriously, I would like to speak from personal experience about the important dovetailing of the issues of obesity and mental ill health. I went through a period of mental ill health that coincided with significant changes in weight between 72 kg and 104 kg, which is a range of 44 per cent. I had an illness, followed by purposeful use of antidepressants to improve on my lowered weight, but we must recognise that antidepressants have an unintended effect on the weight of many of those taking them, which can have a significant effect on their willingness to continue to take them. One of the most significant reasons for non-compliance in the taking of important antidepressants is unintended weight loss. The Government have been supportive in their provision of additional resources for mental ill health, and in my locality, we benefit greatly from the South London and Maudsley trust, which is an excellent, world-beating provider in the area of mental health. Nevertheless, there is a lack of sufficient resources to provide the counselling, advice and therapy for those with mental ill health, and for those who might need such support in the context of deciding not to continue with their medication because of concerns about the side effects of antidepressant use. I would like to mention briefly the way in which combating obesity links to diabetes. My local primary care trust in Croydon has undertaken important initiatives in that area, but I still believe that additional steps could be taken to identify a number of different causes and symptoms of diabetes. It is a particular curse for the large south Asian community in my constituency, and it is most appropriate that we are debating this issue just ahead of world diabetes day. Another important link between this subject and ill health is eating disorders, which have already been referred to by other Members. They particularly affect young ladies, who can be oppressed by social and peer pressures. I was impressed by the work done by the Greater London authority. Dee Doocey, who is a Liberal Democrat Member of the London Assembly, and Boris Johnson have considered the matter, and asked whether funding should continue for London fashion week when there is such an obsession with size zero models. Such models put pressure on many young girls and young ladies to believe that they are fat or obese when that can hardly be the case. It is fair to say that I have some doubts about my ability to be a judge in the ““Miss Croydon Advertiser”” contest that will be taking place this evening at House of Fraser in Croydon, but the good news about that contest is that it is about the style, poise, intelligence and attitude of real people. I know who the finalists are, and they are between sizes eight and 12. It is good to see that people recognise that there is beauty to be found in young people of all sizes, and in all of us. I would like to touch briefly on the comments made by the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) about the important role of food companies, particularly as there is a great temptation in times of great economic stringency for people to buy cheaply, but wrongly—to buy food that might not be nourishing, but which is more likely to add to their obesity. Despite the rather ill-judged reputation that one company in Croydon has, I am pleased to say that Nestlé UK takes a responsible attitude by ensuring that it sells good food to its customers. It is a very good Croydon company. We often make fun of ourselves and the Government by mocking the cross-cutting approach taken across Departments to deal with important social issues. It is ambitious of the Government to pursue proper co-ordination among Departments and between different public sector bodies. It is therefore important to see how the annual report will bear out matters next year in its measurement of providing the most effective co-ordination between Departments, and to extent to which it has been possible to inculcate an absorption policy in local authorities and local schools. A number of Members have mentioned the importance of sports. An area of cross-cutting governmental co-ordination I find of interest is the extent to which the Building Schools for the Future programme has taken cognisance of the danger of trying to secure capital receipts and therefore compromising the provision of school playing fields. I am a former chairman of education, and it is fair to say that I have sold playing fields myself, so I plead guilty to that, but I hope that the Government are resisting that temptation. It is also important to have joined-up government in the areas of social services and sports provision. I would like to highlight the good practice, which I am sure is being pursued elsewhere, that was taken up as an initiative by Croydon council before the Government took a more national approach. The council saw that there were significant savings to be made in social services care for senior citizens by providing free swimming. Free swimming, at little extra cost, means that many of our senior citizens enjoy a better quality of life, through more active minds and bodies. I congratulate Councillor Steve Hollands on Croydon council on making that policy judgment. It will be interesting to note in next year’s annual report the extent to which there has been an early trend towards a fall in obesity levels. Perhaps we can also hope for some early savings and a reduction on pressures on the NHS budget as the result of Government initiatives.