Health officials in the United Kingdom are cracking down on childhood obesity. Their new plan is to reduce the caloric intake of children in the country by decreasing the amount of calories in food items.
The Department of Health and Public Health England announced that the next step in their serious efforts to fight childhood obesity is to set targets to cut down on calories in popular food items, Tech Times reports. These include things such as pizzas, burgers, prepared meals and other savory foods.
These target caloric reductions are going to be voluntary for those in the food industry. But government officials are set to turn the recommendations into legislations should food companies refuse to take notice.
Part of the plan is a $6.4 million funding for the University College London to conduct new obesity policy research. The researchers will be carrying out comprehensive studies on childhood obesity. One out of three children is either obese or overweight by the time they enter elementary school.
Previous efforts have been made to cut down on sugar in food products, including the Soft Drinks Industry Levy that was passed into law. A complete sugar reduction program will take full effect in 2020. This new calorie intake reduction program is meant to supplement the sugar reduction measures, in order to further tackle obesity.
The DoH and PHE stated that adults in the country are now consuming an average of 200 calories daily, and that children are closely following those numbers. More and more kids are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, some as young as seven years old. An estimated 40,000 annual deaths in the UK can be linked to being obese or overweight.
Duncan Selbie, PHE chief executive, said, “We will work with the food companies and retailers to tackle this as the next critical step in combating our childhood obesity problem.”
