Obesity in the UK Essay Example for Free

Obe sity in the UK EssayObesity levels in the Untied Kingdom select reached an all time high with unrivaled in every four adults suffering from fleshiness. Childhood obesity has also drastically step-upd with 25 percent of boys and 33 percent of girls aged between two and 19 years being sarcoid or obese. There is little sign of this upward trend in obesity stopping, and it will have a signifi firet impact on the state of the country. It will negatively affect the UKs economy and much importantly negatively affect the health of the UKs 63 million mint. With obesity becoming this prevalent in our society is it not time we address this issue? I think it is, and one of the best slipway in my opinion is to introduce a tax on fizzy drinks and fast fodder. This may sounds sort of drastic when first heard but consider the 5.1billion spent every year by the NHS to allot those with obesity link medical conditions. Now consider the 2535 branches of Burger King, McDonalds, KFC an d Pizza Hut located all somewhat Scotland and England, consider the number of products those branches sell and the amount of money that could be raised through taxes upon those products.That money could be spent on our NHS which is being crippled under the freight of budget cuts and the cost obesity is having sure enough isnt dish uping the load. These taxes could also deter many from the promise of quick, cheap food from these outlets and could send them in the worry of healthier options. The passports in favour of impose these food are quite reasonable, such(prenominal)(prenominal) as recommendation of taxes of twenty percent on sugary drinks for at least a year being confide forth.Other initiatives are already in place to help tackle the UKs weight problem such as the Change 4 Life initiative run by the NHS which offers free nutritional advice to those who loss it. The problem is though, that as much good as these schemes are doing they arent building well enough. The ob esity levels in this country are still rising and we take in more action to stop it.We need to have more firm eating schemes in place around the country in places such as schools, at the work place and even at hospitals. People need to understand the risks of throw out food and the major health effects it can have causing obesity, and with obesity comes a enormous array of other negativehealth effects which include heart disease, certain cancers, high phone line pressure, joint problems, psychological difficulties and diabetes.There have been other recommendations on ways to tackle obesity with ideas exchangeable banning the advertising of foods high in saturated fat, sugar and salt before 9pm, this can help with the problems of childhood obesity as children would be slight probably to have seen these advertisements meaning they were less similarly to be influenced by them.Another change that could drastically tip the scales towards healthier eating is giving local anaesth etic councils the power to limit the number of fast food outlets near schools and leisure centres limiting the availability of these types of food to young children. There are also plans for the government to spend 300 million on weight management programmes, that may sound like a large amount but it is remote less than the cost obesity is having on the pockets of the NHS.Taxation on tobacco products has already been proven to help tighten up the number of smoking related deaths and the amount of money collected in taxes from tobacco products in 2012 (12.1bn) far outweighs the cost smoking related illnesses have on the NHS annually (5bn) so surely the idea of taxing fatty and sugary foods is not too drastic. Especially when there are around 35,000 obesity related deaths each year.Other ways to tackle obesity have to do with activities rather than food. Along with the increase in junk food intake by people in the UK there has also been a large lack of exercise or sporting activity. Most people nowadays have jobs that imply sitting at a desk for long periods of the day, this combined with the fact that most people commute to work by car or bus rather than walking equals to a lot of sitting mass during the day. After work most people just want to relax and so often sit down on the sofa with a cup of tea and watch television rather than do something active.This problem is hard to tackle but if initiatives at the work place are introduced which include things like sporting clubs offered free by the workplace or other incentives to walk to work rather than mother this can serious help with the daily inactivity. The workplace can also help by removing peddle machines that make up out junk food and replace them with onethat give out a healthy snack.Finally one more thing the government can do to help with this problem is to pay the cost of healthy foods in shops. This will be useful as one of the main reasons people eat unhealthy food is because it is often ch eaper than most healthier products. If the healthier products are cheaper than other choices and then people are more likely to eat healthily.Or instead of subsidising the food the government could give out food vouchers to those struggling for money to give them discounts on the healthier products in shops. This combined with tax on the fattier foods can completely change the perception of healthy food in this country and we can begin on the road to eradicating the problem of obesity in the UK.By Rajan Gill 11E