Calorie counting gimmicks and sugar taxes won t solve obesity crisis
(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
In the early days of the pandemic obesity was identified as a key factor behind hospitalisation rates and deaths from Covid. The Prime Minister knew this personally, from his own brush with mortality last April.
This is on top of the already well-established links between obesity and other life-threatening conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
The government’s strategy to combat obesity, published at the end of July last year, is full of earnest intentions.
Weight management services by the NHS will be expanded, with evidence-based tools and apps being made available. Calorie labels are being added to food and drink in more and more situations.
About Paul Ormerod
Paul Ormerod is an economist at Volterra Partners LLP, a Visiting Professor in the Department of Computer Science at UCL, and author of Against the Grain: Insights of an Economic Contrarian, published by the IEA in conjunction with City A.M.
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