After I final wrote for the New Statesman, the brand new authorities had simply taken workplace, and the UK was within the grip of a rising well being disaster. Elevated prevalence of weight problems and malnutrition wasn’t new, however daring and systemic change was urgently wanted. We have been promised a prevention-first NHS and decisive motion on weight problems. One yr on, what have they delivered?
The straightforward reply is: not sufficient. The UK stays embroiled in a well being disaster fuelled by poor weight loss plan and restricted understanding of diet. However some inroads have been made. We not too long ago noticed the launch of the NHS 10 Yr Well being Plan and the federal government has signalled its intent for the long-awaited Nationwide Meals Technique via its Good Meals Cycle framework.
We’re on the cusp of change, however with authorities floating its newest proposals earlier than summer season – with out timelines or session – clearer course continues to be wanted.
A shifting panorama
As a health-focused firm, and main provider of medical diet to the NHS, Danone has lengthy championed the position of diet inside preventative healthcare, so folks keep away from sickness, recuperate sooner and keep wholesome for longer. It was welcome information that the NHS 10 Yr Well being Plan recognised the pivotal position {that a} good weight loss plan performs in relieving stress on the NHS.
Final yr, I referred to as for the federal government to champion the manufacturing, sale and consumption of more healthy meals, and agree on what constitutes “wholesome”.
A promising fulfilment of this ask is the federal government’s new Wholesome Meals Commonplace, a coverage designed to make sure huge companies promote more healthy meals. Giant food and drinks companies, retailers, producers and out-of-home suppliers (for instance, takeaways and meal supply companies) should report on their gross sales of wholesome food and drinks based mostly on ranges of fats, sugar and salt.
The hyperlink between poor weight loss plan and adverse well being outcomes is nicely established; decreasing consumption of meals which can be excessive in fats, sugar or salt (HFSS) is critical. Necessary reporting issues as a result of it drives accountability, creates a degree taking part in area and rewards firms already doing the correct factor. It additionally supplies authorities and civil society with dependable information to tell coverage and monitor progress, which has been, till now, sorely missing.
At Danone UK & Eire, we already report on the healthiness of our meals gross sales and set agency well being commitments in 2023 to by no means produce a product for youngsters which is HFSS and that at the very least 90 per cent of our product portfolio by gross sales quantity wouldn’t be HFSS. Right this moment, we’ve exceeded that concentrate on. Greater than 90 per cent of our portfolio is non-HFSS, all the way down to incremental innovation and constant funding in reformulation.
Constant coverage is essential for achievement
At the moment, HFSS laws is underpinned by the 2004/5 Nutrient Profiling Mannequin (NPM), a system that measures the healthiness of a product based mostly on its components. Retailers and producers spend appreciable time, useful resource and funding adapting to this mannequin, and progress has been made.
Now, the federal government is contemplating transferring to a brand new model – a mannequin that has been referred to as out by specialists, together with Professor Morris and Dr Jenneson on the College of Leeds, as too theoretical and impractical for business. Since present HFSS laws isn’t even totally applied, a change in mannequin would transfer the goalposts considerably and threat compromising the funding and reformulation already made.
Business wants a transparent and constant coverage framework. We recognise that fashions like this should evolve as science progresses and we’re open to working with authorities on what a revised, sensible method may seem like. However the present mannequin is working and client behaviour adjustments – as Nesta notes – take time. A constant framework is completely key to sustaining momentum. If an organization like ours, with well being at its core, is worried in regards to the feasibility of a brand new mannequin, authorities must be too.
Prevention should drive coverage
If we wish to cut back diet-related illness and relieve stress on the NHS, constant insurance policies are important, and wholesome and accessible meals must be a part of on a regular basis life. Necessary reporting is tangible progress, however it have to be backed by a Nationwide Meals Technique with prevention on the core.
Food and drinks firms with a real curiosity in diet, like ours, must be handled as companions. Business has the dimensions, innovation and experience to ship sensible and lasting options, however provided that authorities supplies steady, long-term parameters.
Though the federal government has set out a broad ambition for a generational shift in how we relate to meals via its Good Meals Cycle framework, ambition wants construction, and the framework is simply too imprecise. With practically 700 insurance policies to sort out weight problems proposed over the past 30 years, to little success, the Good Meals Cycle has a chance to ship the place others haven’t. However provided that it has clear timelines and accountability. To succeed, authorities should work alongside business and, for instance, appoint a named particular person – equivalent to a minister for wholesome and sustainable diets – to make sure insurance policies usually are not simply introduced however applied, tracked, enforced and improved.
Maintaining momentum
As we await additional element, we will’t lose sight of the fast interventions wanted to sort out diet-related well being points. The well being repercussions of malnutrition and weight problems each place elevated stress on the NHS and carry a excessive value. But these repercussions are preventable if addressed urgently via a concentrate on higher diet.
We have to see weight problems and malnutrition charges cut back year-on-year, with entry to malnutrition screenings expanded to assist early intervention, equivalent to medical diet that may support restoration and cut back hospital stays. Once more, it might be useful to see clear ministerial accountability to drive progress.
The anticipated NHS workforce plan would additionally profit from a joined-up method, contemplating how a concentrate on diet can assist ease pressures on frontline groups. For instance, further dietitian and community-based care roles may allow earlier identification of diet-related points, resulting in improved well being outcomes.
There’s no denying the federal government is concentrated on delivering a more healthy nation. A begin has been made, but when it desires to have an effect inside this parliamentary time period, it wants to carry regular and let progress do its job. Significant outcomes require endurance; if we wish to actually shift the dial on well being, the federal government must concentrate on implementing and implementing insurance policies which can be already working.