Too few families in Britain know how to cook healthy meals from basic ingredients, a senior Tory MP warned on Friday as he raised the alarm about the nation’s obesity crisis.
Sir Robert Goodwill, chairman of the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, stressed there need to be more “education” on healthy eating.
He warned of a “ticking timebomb” on obesity, particularly among households on low incomes, with the nation so hooked on processed foods.
“A lot of it is about education,” he told Sky News.
“For example, many families really don’t know how to cook food, basic dishes from basic ingredients.”
He said he understood why the Government was delaying some action, such as a ban on buy-one-get-one-free deals in the middle of the cost-of-living crisis.
But he also emphasised that more needed to be done to tackle the crisis.
“In this country, particularly in the lower income brackets, we have seen people putting weight on and that has become a real problem,” he said.
But he added: “It’s not just poor people who are putting weight on.
“It’s right across society. Dare I say there are even a few MPs who could do with losing a few pounds.”
The committee stressed today that soaring obesity levels are being exacerbated by a fifth of households struggling to get hold of good quality food at reasonable prices.
It told ministers they must break the “junk food cycle” as high food insecurity will contribute to a forecasted 40 million UK adults being obese in little over a decade.
The MPs’ report published on Friday said nearly 18 per cent of households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in January as prices hit 40-year highs.
Ministers were urged to consider extending free school meal eligibility as 800,000 children, a third of those living in poverty, are estimated not to be entitled to the provision amid evidence the substantial benefits could outweigh the costs.
The MPs also raised concerns that “many households are skipping meals” as supermarkets pay high levels of dividends to shareholders.
The NHS will be hit by “very significant costs” owing to a forecast that obesity rates are expected to rise by a further third to around 40 per cent of adults in 2035.
The MPs warned that food that is high in fat, sugar and salt is “often considerable cheaper” per calorie than healthy food, fuelling obesity levels in poorer households.
They urged the Government to support people to make better choices more accessible and affordable as part of an obesity strategy.
Ministers were urged to carry out a full impact assessment of the introduction of a sugar and salt tax that could help drive healthier choices.
A Government spokesman responded: “We know food prices are worrying for households across the country, which is why we’re sticking to our plan to halve inflation this year, and ministers are keeping in close discussion with the industry about the cost of food.
“We have introduced a number of measures to tackle obesity, recently implementing clear food labelling guidelines to help people make healthier choices for themselves and their family when eating out or getting a takeaway. We estimate there will be a reduction of 70,000 children and 300,000 adults living with obesity as a result of this policy.”
