Bristol researchers contribute to House of Lords report on obesity and diet

Press release issued: 4 December 2024

"The Government needs a plan to fix our broken food system and turn the tide on the obesity public health emergency, says Lords committee.". This is the key conclusion reached by the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee in a report published today. The report, ‘Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system’, finds that obesity and diet-related disease are a public health emergency that costs society billions each year in healthcare costs and lost productivity.

The University of Bristol's Professor Richard Martin and Dr Helen Bould have contributed to House of Lords report on connections between diet and obesity, and their effects on ill-health (including cancer).

The report published in November focuses on the role ultra-processed foods, and foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar play in healthy diet and tackling obesity. Professor Richard Martin, lead principal investigator of ICEP and co-lead of the BRC’s diet and physical activity theme, is today attending the launch as one of the invited guests.

Obesity has been linked to at least 13 types of cancers. According to the report, researchers have predicted obesity will overtake smoking as the main preventable cause of cancer in women by 2043.

The report also notes that two-thirds of UK adults are overweight and just under a third are living with obesity, which costs the NHS billions each year. It sets out key actions, as part of its proposed strategy to tackle the obesity crisis. Some of these actions include:

Making large food businesses report on the healthiness of their sales
Introducing a salt and sugar reformulation tax
Commissioning further research into the links between ultra-processed foods and adverse health outcomes and reviewing dietary guidelines to reflect any new evidence

The full report can be found here.