Podcast: listen to this debate from our Battle of Ideas archive.

With the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, having recently announced a sugary drinks tax and the Lancet

publishing new figures claiming that 38 per cent of UK adults will be

obese by 2025, what is the truth about obesity? This archive debate was

recorded at the Battle of Ideas 2013.

According to ‘Reducing Obesity and Improving Diet’, a policy document

produced by the Department of Health in March 2013, most people in

England are overweight or obese - 61.3% of adults and 30% of children

aged between 2 and 15. The associated health problems are costing the

NHS, it is claimed, more than £5 billion every year. The reasons given

for people ‘going large’ are not always clear, and numerous reasons have

been suggested: that the modern Western diet is too high in

carbohydrates / fat / sugar [delete as appropriate], that we no longer

sit down together for a home-cooked family meal, but graze all day or

eat ready-meals in front of the TV, that we don’t cook anymore so our

understanding of nutrition and seasonality is lacking, that we drink too

many fizzy drinks, that processed food is as addictive and we have

become food junkies. To tackle the problem, there have been numerous

government health initiatives, and doctors and health organisations have

called for a wide array of health interventions, including sugar and

fat taxes. While these make headlines, it seems they’ve failed to affect

our waistlines, with some predicting that obesity will continue to rise

and place further strain on the NHS.

On the other hand, studies show the number of people who are

overweight or obese has not risen for over a decade, and there are

concerns that school health campaigns are making our children

unhealthily weight-obsessed. Some studies even suggest those labelled

‘category 1 obese’ are likely to be just as healthy as those deemed

‘normal’. So what’s the truth behind the obesity epidemic - are we right

to be worried about becoming a nation of fatties? Is being fat

necessarily a harbinger of ill health and early death? Just what is

making us more obese? And do we all need a nudge to make sure we fill up

our plates with carrots and stick with the gym?

SPEAKERS

Henry Dimbleby

co-founder, Leon Restaurants; co-author, School Food Plan

Rob Lyons

science and technology director, Institute of Ideas

Dr Angelica Michelis

senior lecturer, Department of English, Manchester Metropolitan

University; author, Eating Theory: the theory of eating (forthcoming)

Jane Ogden

professor in health psychology, University of Surrey; author, The Good Parenting Food Guide’ (forthcoming)

CHAIR

Jason Smith

associate fellow, Institute of Ideas