Parents Should Take Lead on Obesity

Backbench MPs and leading UK Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) believe that the UK's parents should take responsibility for changing habits leading to obesity, according to researchers BPRI, part of Kantar. However, they also feel that many other groups have a role to play.

Current estimates suggest that if trends continue a third of British adults will be obese by 2020. Various organisations put forward different arguments: that obesity is the responsibility of Government, of food manufacturers, or of the individual. The views of MPs, who may well be involved in framing legislation regarding obesity, and NGOs, who are 'in the front line campaigning for change', are likely to be crucial, according to BPRI's Simon Goldie.

Parents topped the list among both types of respondents, although the general consensus is that obesity is not just a problem for any one group to address. 98% of MPs and 89% of NGOs cited parents, while both audiences rated schools next highest. However, all groups asked about - also including doctors, government, food companies and individuals - were felt to have a role by more than two thirds of respondents. Generally, obesity is seen as a serious issue for children and the health of obese children as they become adults.

Party political differences are very evident in the survey of MPs. Among Conservative MPs, only 36% thought government should be influencing change on obesity, and only 43% that food companies should be doing so, while among Labour MPs both percentages were in the 80s.

'It's interesting that food companies were considered to be less responsible for influencing change on obesity', comments Goldie, 'as they are more often than not held up as the villains in the piece when it comes to junk food'.

One hundred MPs and 61 NGOs were interviewed during February 2004. The 100 MPs are a representative sample of the composition of the House and part of the BPRI Political Opinion Panel, while the 61 NGOs are made up of the leading UK NGOs and part of BPRI's NGO Panel. The company's web site is at www.bprigroup.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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