'Fat summit' to tackle obesity

Ideas on how to tackle the nation's problems with obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise were being discussed at a Government summit.

The Diet and Exercise Summit, organised by the Department of Health, is to act as a "springboard" for proposals and actions on how to tackle key public health issues.

The discussions by ministers and health experts will be used in a major public health White Paper due to be published in the summer.

The Government has stepped up its efforts to tackle issues such as diet and exercise in recent months.

Fat Britain

Last week Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson published a report aimed at increasing the amount of physical activity adults and children should take to stay healthy.

Experts are concerned that conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes will soar in the future as Britons get fatter and less fit.

The summit, being held at the QEII conference centre in Westminster, will hear from public health minister Melanie Johnson and sports minister Richard Caborn.

Miss Johnson will publish consultation documents setting out issues for discussion on how to improve diet and increase the amount of exercise people take.

The DoH wants to hear from the food industry about its plans to play an active part in improving diet, such as reducing the salt, fat and sugar added to processed foods.

The summit will also discuss childhood obesity, better food labelling and improving nutrition in schools.