Obesity

Department of Health – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 23 March 2004.

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Photo of Bob Blizzard Bob Blizzard Labour, Waveney 11:30, 23 March 2004

What estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of dealing with illness related to obesity.

Photo of Miss Melanie Johnson Miss Melanie Johnson Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health

The National Audit Office report "Tackling Obesity in England" estimated that the cost to the NHS of treating the consequences of obesity in 1998 was approximately £469.9 million per year. The cost to the wider economy was estimated to be more than £2 billion, so everyone has responsibility for action to tackle obesity.

Photo of Bob Blizzard Bob Blizzard Labour, Waveney

I thank my hon. Friend for her reply. Is she concerned about the massive and measurable increase in the instance of obesity among children, which will increase costs still further, to the extent that they will become unsustainable for the NHS? May I suggest that we look into the problems caused by vending machines in schools, which are dispensing products full of fat and sugar? Schools are often reluctant to get rid of them because they need the money, but is not the cost to health even worse? From personal experience, I know that eating fat and sugar, as well as the overall amount of food eaten, is what makes people obese.

Photo of Miss Melanie Johnson Miss Melanie Johnson Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health

My hon. Friend is a testament to what he advocates. We are certainly looking at vending machines in schools and a pilot is being conducted in one part of the country to dispense much healthier foods from those machines. That is part of the general work that is being done, together with the Department for Education and Skills, to ensure that the food in schools is healthy and continues to promote the health of young people beyond their time at school.