Newcastle – Panic on a Plate: why society still has an eating disorder.

5 November 2024 , categories: Education, Ethics, Meetings, Nanny State, Newcastle

Sugar tax, junk food advert bans, healthy food targets for supermarkets, weight loss jabs for the unemployed…  Is it the government’s job to tackle obesity, or is it all a bit too nanny state?

This weighty topic was introduced by Rob Lyons, science and technology director at the Academy of Ideas and author of Panic on a Plate: How Society Developed an Eating Disorder. Rob wrote Panic on a Plate thirteen years ago to explore rising anxiety about the national diet and to challenge the conviction that government should intervene in our eating habits.

Labour in our lunchbox…

The use of health fears to justify official interference in our everyday lives is nothing new, said Rob, but Labour are likely to be more gung ho about it. Our new government aims to halve adult obesity by 2030 through a selection of nudges, targets and bans. From 1 October next year, adverts for many crisps, chocolates, fizzy drinks and fast food will be banned from our TV screens before the watershed. There will be a total ban on paid-for advertising of products high in fat, sugar and salt, while local councils will be given more powers to control hot food takeaways near schools. A new scheme of ‘health MOTs’ will see NHS staff going into our workplaces to weigh us and refer our chubster colleagues to weight-loss clinics. And if this doesn’t do the trick, Wes Streeting plans to offer weight loss jabs on the NHS to help the unemployed get back to work.

Rob lamented that fearmongering by the media and campaign groups over many years has caused us to obsess about over-hyped dangers, so that we now meekly accept these types of interventions and allow the government to dictate our diet.

We shouldn’t panic, but we should care

Rob’s introduction sparked an interesting and balanced debate. PiPs Newcastle members tend towards libertarianism and take particular exception to ‘the elite telling the plebs what is good for them’! However, many felt that obesity is a genuine cause for concern and questioned whether it should be dismissed as a ‘scare’. Several members commented that this seems to be a recent phenomenon as they couldn’t remember seeing many fat people around during their younger days. This is borne out by the data – adult obesity in the UK has doubled since the 1990s, and today two-thirds of adults are classed as overweight or obese.  One in five children are overweight or obese when they start primary school, rising to one in three when they leave.

Estimates of the economic cost of obesity, including healthcare, welfare payments and lost productivity, range from £29 billion to £98 billion per year. We agreed with Rob that humans should not be treated as economic units, measured in terms of the ‘burden’ they place on the NHS – the service they pay into throughout their working lives! Nevertheless, many of us were concerned by the impacts of poor diet on people’s health, happiness and life chances, especially as obesity and diet-related diseases are far more prevalent in economically deprived areas.

Does nanny know best?

But does this justify government meddling? One member pointed out that we accept state intervention in other areas of our lives for our own safety and that of others, an example being the requirement to wear seatbelts and obey speed limits while driving. Others argued that regulation of our lives has got to a point where it is eroding agency and personal responsibility, resulting in a sense of ‘learned helplessness’. This has created a vacuum of adult authority, with parents yielding responsibility to others for what their children eat.

Some felt that the government should take strong action, but should focus on fixing the root causes. It is no coincidence that the UK regions with highest obesity and lowest life expectancy are those which have experienced rapid economic decline due to demise of a key local industry. Poverty, a loss of self-worth and responsibility arising from joblessness and welfare dependence, a paucity of outlets selling affordable healthy food – these can all contribute to poor diet and this won’t be fixed by finger-wagging.

We also questioned whether government interventions actually work. The sugar tax imposed on soft drinks manufacturers in 2018 did reduce sugar intake, but excess weight and obesity in the UK continued to increase. Allowing teachers to confiscate ‘unhealthy’ items from children’s lunchboxes has done nothing to reduce childhood obesity (but it may have made a few teachers a bit fatter!).

Well-meaning interventions can have unintended consequences. Loss of revenue following a ban on advertising junk food to children was a factor in the shutdown of Children’s ITV. Weight loss jabs can have serious long-term side effects, often requiring further medical attention. Restrictions on smoking outside pubs coupled with rising drinks prices can simply drive people to drink at home, where they are likely to consume more.

Is Big Tesco watching us?

Taxes and bans are bad enough; more insidious is the use of surveillance and nudge theory to manipulate our behaviour, an approach which is becoming easier in an increasingly digital society. Loyalty card schemes have seduced millions of us to share data on our shopping and eating habits, data which is then used to produce targeted marketing campaigns. However, this is currently reasonably transparent. We are aware that food manufacturers and retailers are trying to manipulate us to boost their sales, and we can exercise willpower by ignoring advertisements, reading the small print on packaging and turning down enticing multi-buy offers.

The new government’s taste for intervention, and the food industry’s willingness to comply, could see a far greater use of data harvesting and nudge to influence our consumption based on what they decide is in our best interests. Technological advances could deliver increasingly sophisticated psychological manipulation which will become harder to detect and resist.

A pinch of salt

Rob concluded that instead of panicking, we should celebrate the fact that our modern food system offers us greater choice and affordability than ever. We should take health and diet advice with a pinch of salt – and use our personal responsibility to decide what is best for us and our children.

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