Telegraph:
GPs will be asked to identify patients who are putting on weight under a new national programme to help fight obesity.
Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, said it was time for Britain to “get back in shape” in order to protect millions of people from a host of obesity-related diseases.
Under the scheme, family doctors will be asked to identify anyone who has gained weight and is at risk of diabetes – particularly those aged below 40.
They will then be offered tests for pre-diabetes, followed by healthy lifestyle advice and close monitoring to ensure they are eating better and exercising more.
It comes as new figures show Britain is now the second fattest nation in Europe, with almost 25 per cent of Britons classified as obese – compared with a European average of 16.7 per cent.
Mr Stevens, the chief executive of the health service, said obesity was a problem that could be tackled – provided schools, parents, the NHS and the food industry all ‘got their act together’ and worked in unison.
In a direct attack on last week’s EU ruling – which said fatness could constitute a disability – Mr Stevens said such fatalistic attitudes to the issue were “daft”.
Instead, he urged millions of people to put Christmas indulgences behind them, and take action to shed the pounds.
“The ghost of Christmases past reminds us that 20 years ago we didn’t have these problems as a nation,” Mr Stevens said.
“The ghost of Christmases future tells us that if we get our act together – as the NHS, as parents, as schools, the food industry – we can get back in shape.”
He called on individuals to take concerted action and suggested attitudes needed to change to prevent the country sleepwalking into the worst public health emergency in at least three decades.
This “slow-boiling the frog” routine shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. When the government controls health care via the power of the purse, such innocent “helpfulness” will give way to increasing encroachment into every aspect of citizens’ lives, always under the guise of addressing a health crisis.