Half of UK men could be obese by 2030Health experts blame passive overeating for global pandemic, warning in the Lancet that governments must tackle obesity now
Ooh, it's like I Love the Noughties. It takes me back to those days when property prices were rising, the Kaiser Chiefs were in the charts, Tony Blair was still Prime Minister and everyone was worried about the obesity 'epidemic'.
Governments around the world need to make immediate and dramatic policy changes to reverse a pandemic of obesity which could affect an extra 11 million people in the UK over the next 20 years, public health scientists have warned.
Would they be the same public health scientists who predicted this in 2006?
England to have 13m obese by 2010More than 12m adults and one million children will be obese by 2010 if no action is taken, a report by the Department of Health is predicting.
The report warns that, based on current trends, 33% of men and 28% of women will be obese by 2010.
At the time, male obesity rates were running at 23.1% and the female obesity rate was 24.8%.
So, what happened next?
Despite the government ignoring the anti-obesity lobby's urgent suggestions for traffic light labelling on food and suchlike, the latest figures show that obesity amongst men has fallen to 22% and the female obesity rate has fallen to 24%.
Given that the previous prediction could not have been more wrong—despite the modest task of forecasting just 4 years ahead—how likely do you think it is that the anti-obesity 'experts' can predict what will happen in 19 years?
As George W. Bush once tried to say, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Exclusive video footage of the Lancet obesity team in session
