Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles.
The Foresight report calls for a much greater appreciation of the
multifactorial nature of obesity and the need for action at all levels if
we, as a society, wish to make any impact.
Whilst parents undoubtedly have a significant role in their child's
upbringing and in the eating and entertainment habits they develop, it is
unhelpful to lay blame in any one area, particularly parents - many of
whom are hardly more than last week's children. Parental responsiblity
must link with parental/child education to some degree.
I take issue with the naive suggestion that supermarkets and food
corporations merely mirror rather than lead demand. One only needs to
glance at the grossly obese marketing budgets to realise this is not the
case: - domestic advertising budgets for soft drinks companies run into
the billions, meanwhile there is no visible fruit and vegetable
advertising at all.
The market economy - where the needs of the shareholder override any
responsibility to the consumer - is a very major player in our obesity
epidemic.
Reference
Government Office for Science. Foresight: Tackling Obesities: Future
Choices – Modelling Future Trends in Obesity and the Impact on Health, 2nd
Edition. 2007 www.foresight.gov.uk/Obesity/14.pdf
Obesity - Shame it is not so simple
The Foresight report calls for a much greater appreciation of the
multifactorial nature of obesity and the need for action at all levels if
we, as a society, wish to make any impact.
Whilst parents undoubtedly have a significant role in their child's
upbringing and in the eating and entertainment habits they develop, it is
unhelpful to lay blame in any one area, particularly parents - many of
whom are hardly more than last week's children. Parental responsiblity
must link with parental/child education to some degree.
I take issue with the naive suggestion that supermarkets and food
corporations merely mirror rather than lead demand. One only needs to
glance at the grossly obese marketing budgets to realise this is not the
case: - domestic advertising budgets for soft drinks companies run into
the billions, meanwhile there is no visible fruit and vegetable
advertising at all.
The market economy - where the needs of the shareholder override any
responsibility to the consumer - is a very major player in our obesity
epidemic.
Reference
Government Office for Science. Foresight: Tackling Obesities: Future
Choices – Modelling Future Trends in Obesity and the Impact on Health, 2nd
Edition. 2007 www.foresight.gov.uk/Obesity/14.pdf
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests