Today Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, , secured a commitment from the Prime Minister to
work together to ensure that people with eating disorders are
consulted in the drafting of the details for the Obesity
Strategy.
Acting in her role as Chair of the newly re constituted All Party
Parliamentary Group on Eating Disorders, flagged the concerns which have been raised by
multiple charities and advocates.
Speaking at Prime Ministers Question Time today, she said:
“In the week in which the Prime minister announced the
Government’s new strategy on obesity, the eating disorder
charity, Beat, experienced a 165% increase in the number of
people mentioning obesity when contacting their Support Services.
“I am pleased that Prime Minister is so focussed on obesity –
which is a very serious issue in our communities but as the Chair
of the APPG on eating disorders many individuals, who have
themselves suffered from eating disorders, have approached me to
raise concerns about certain aspects of the obesity strategy.
“Will the Prime Minister take these concerns seriously and commit
to arrange to a meeting between myself, representatives affected
by eating disorders, and the relevant Minister in his health
team?”
The Prime Minster responded by affirming that “yes” he would
arrange the meeting and that he was “acutely conscious that there
are no glib, easy answers in this area of public policy” and he
would “happily undertake that the relevant Minister should meet
with the honourable lady as fast as possible to understand her
concerns”.
Following the exchange said:
“I am pleased that the Prime Minister had agreed to work with me
on this serious issue.
“Across the UK there are an estimated 1.25 million people who
suffer from eating disorders. Eating disorders have the highest
mortality rate of all mental health conditions and yet funding
for research remains consistently low. Eating disorders are
poorly understood – even by some GPs – and this creates an
environment where incredibly harmful policy proposals, such as
calorie counts on menus, can be considered.
“The key thing now is to ensure that people affected by eating
disorders are part of the conversation as the Government
finalises details for the Obesity Strategy.”
