May 29, 2014

expert reaction to global prevalence of obesity study and commentary as published in The Lancet

A systematic analysis of the national and global prevalence of obesity was published in The Lancet.

Prof Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine and Director of the Metabolic Research Laboratories, University of Cambridge, said:

“It seems unarguable that excessive caloric consumption is playing a major role in driving the increasing prevalence of obesity. It is helpful to get a well-informed semi-quantitative estimate of the sorts of overall reduction in calorie ingestion we would need to return obesity levels to those found in the 1980s. However, linking this caloric decline to an inevitable decrease in the profitability of the food industry seems less compelling, and might even backfire. It would be optimal if the food industry became helpful partners, not adversaries, in countering the ‘obesity epidemic’. It is less likely to do so if hectored about substantially slashing its profits.

“By switching to the production and promotion of less caloric but equally attractive foodstuffs with a pricing strategy that stabilises their profits, the food industry could even become a force for good. Government policy that differentially fiscally incentivised low vs high calorie versions of the same products could play an important role. ‘Pie in the sky’ perhaps? But if the pie could be just as tasty, less calorie-dense and cheaper to the customer than the original, so people were attracted to buy it, then we could all benefit.”

‘Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013’ by Ng et al. published in The Lancet on Thursday 29^th May.

Declared interests
Prof Sir Stephen O’Rahilly states: “I have no affiliation with the food industry but consult on the development of new medicines for metabolic diseases with AstraZeneca, Medimmune and Pfizer.”