Meeting of the Parliament 15 November 2018
I welcome this afternoon’s debate. Obesity is a modern-day public health crisis that would have been unrecognisable to Scots who lived through rationing in the second world war or to those who lived a century before that, when parishes from Shetland to Selkirk had to set up poorhouses. I share the view of Martin Cohen of the University of Hertfordshire, who has stated:
“Obesity is invariably presented as a diet issue for”
dieticians,
“whereas social inequality is deemed the domain of sociologists and economists. Put another way, even as the inequality gap becomes more and more obvious there’s been a medicalisation of a social problem. Yet obesity is not just a matter for”
dieticians;
“rather, it is a product of social inequality and requires a collective social response.”
As we know—indeed, the minister said as much in his remarks—obesity has been on the rise for decades. It is no wonder, as changes to our lifestyles have had inescapable repercussions for our diets. The increasingly fast pace of life has meant that we are more likely to buy quick and easy meals, frequently trading nutritious food for efficiency, and that shift in our eating habits has inevitably led to our taking in more sugar, salt and fat than we need.
To compound the problem, the busyness of life means that fewer and fewer of us are active enough to burn off the calories, causing what scientists call obesogenic environments. In 2016, it was estimated that only 64 per cent of those aged over 16 reached their recommended amount of physical activity each week. The result is a country with one of the worst records in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with two thirds of Scottish adults classed as being overweight and, even more worrying, almost a third of children at risk of becoming overweight.
We all know that the consequences of endemic obesity are severe. For individuals, being overweight comes with numerous increased chronic health risks and reduces life expectancy by, on average, at least three years. In that respect, I commend the work of Cancer Research UK and Obesity Action Scotland, which are working hard to raise awareness, both in here and with the public, of the link between being overweight and developing cancers.
As one of the co-chairs of the cross-party group on diabetes—I think that my colleagues are in the chamber—I am glad that the motion refers to type 2 diabetes. Being obese or overweight is a significant contributing factor to developing type 2, and, with our obesity crisis, it is unfortunately no surprise that figures on the disease make for bleak reading. I looked at the up-to-date figures on diabetes just last night for a dinner that I was chairing, which a number of colleagues attended. In Scotland, 260,000 people have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, but what is really concerning is the fact that a further half a million people in Scotland are at risk of developing the condition.
Members will be familiar with this fact, but I will restate it: a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes can bring with it serious complications, including the risk of blindness and amputation. Besides the clear and grave impact that it has on an individual’s quality of life, this growing disease also provides just one example of the strain that obesity places on our national health service resources. The minister will be aware of the finances surrounding this. The NHS spends almost £1 billion on tackling diabetes, 80 per cent of which goes on managing avoidable complications. I therefore very much welcome the Government’s proposal to invest in weight management programmes with long-term goals.