Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has been accused of doing “next to nothing” to tackle obesity in a clash with celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.Ms Atkins insisted she was working on a “prevention strategy” aimed at stopping people from becoming ill, which would cover obesity.She suggested the NHS app could help people take responsibility for their own health.
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00:00 and Hugh, you have a direct question for the Health Secretary on this.
00:03 I do. The subject is obesity and it's interesting, Secretary of State,
00:08 you haven't mentioned it at all. It's the single biggest factor in the
00:12 ailing health of the nation. Treating obesity is the single biggest
00:16 cost to the NHS. We've got approaching three million people who are
00:21 long-term sick. The estimated cost to the economy of obesity is £100
00:26 billion a year. I've worked with many amazing agencies, with the Food
00:31 Foundation, with the Obesity Health Alliance, with Jamie Oliver and his
00:35 team, with Henry Dimbleby. They have all put a raft of policies, of
00:40 levers that you could be pulling to address the obesity crisis. You're
00:43 not pulling any of them. You've done next to nothing to help this ailing,
00:50 struggling, sick citizens of the UK find healthier food. Let's put that
00:54 out there. I've been in post for three months now. I will be setting
01:03 out a prevention strategy, which of course will include obesity. We
01:08 make the mistake of siloing obesity by itself. We know that it can have
01:14 many, many other conditions, including causing type 2 diabetes.
01:18 Over the coming weeks, you will see the government set out our plans.
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