Campaign to tackle UK obesity

A campaign by organisations representing doctors has begun to tackle the rising levels of obesity in the UK.
The campaign will begin by reviewing the case for fat taxes, promoting exercise and restricting some food advertising.

Almost 1 in 4 adults in the UK are obese and predictions indicate that half of children will be obese or overweight by 2020.
This could result in a more severe health issue than those created by HIV and swine flu.

The Royal medical Colleges and faculties represent  200,000 doctors and have described the united campaign as unprecedented.
The doctors groups plan to spend the next three months looking at different solutions and devising a plan to combat the rising obesity problem.

It is not believed that exercise alone will be enough to curb the rise in obesity, as it can take an hour on the treadmill to combat the calories of a single Mars bar.

It is most likely that a similar campaign as that used to deter smoking will be used to push the idea of healthy eating. This could involve a change in the way that people are exposed to advertising and marketing of unhealthy/ junk food and snacks. A tax on certain foods could also be introduced as this has proved to have some success with reducing smoking.