| Obesity should not be a government concern |
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| Written by Tom Clougherty | |
| Wednesday, 17 October 2007 | |
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According to the BBC, the largest ever UK study into obesity has concluded
that "individuals can no longer be held responsible for obesity and
government must act to stop Britain 'sleep-walking' into a crisis."
Although the authors admitted there was scant proof that any
anti-obesity policy would actually work, they insisted that 'something
must be done'. Don't they always... Their top recommendations included increasing employer responsibility (why?), "targeting" those most at risk and staging "early life interventions" (sinister), controlling high calorie foods (of course), and "making towns more physically demanding". That last one is particularly barmy – what exactly do they have in mind? Getting rid of motorised transport? More hills? Obstacle courses on pavements? How long is it going to be before we're all lining up at 6am to do our mandatory, state-controlled exercises for the good of the country? Government action is not the solution to obesity. Indeed, government interference is already at the root of the problem. Socialized healthcare, for instance, prevents people from bearing the full impact of their lifestyle choices and undermines personal responsibility for health. If people had to buy private health insurance in the marketplace, factors like weight would be factored into premiums and people would have a far greater incentive to look after themselves. The other big problem is the cost of food –it's often cheaper to buy a Big Mac than it is to buy fresh, healthy ingredients and prepare a well-balanced meal. But how much cheaper would fresh produce be if it weren't for our farm subsidies and agricultural tariffs? If we want good food to be cheaper, free trade is the obvious way forward. So as usual, more freedom and more responsibility is the right answer. More government is not.
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